Nikon D7200 Stuck in 1.3 Crop Mode?

Just wondering if anyone has ever encountered this issue before. I noticed recently that my D7200 wasn't including everything that was in the viewfinder. I'd seen the 1.3 at the side and wondered what that was about, checking the menu the camera is definitely set at DX and not 1.3. Tried switching back and forwarded between the two settings, images are definitely being cropped to 1.3 every time. I saw a mention of a soft reset online, tried that, no difference whatsoever. I've never used the camera with the 1.3 crop mode before, checking back I can see that the camera changed from DX to 1.3 crop about a month ago.

I seem to be "lucky" with these glitches as both my D7200 and D800 have to have their sensors cleaned in Live View as the menu mode for cleaning the sensor leaves the shutter stuck in front of the sensor these days!

In the full DX mode, the D7200 should generate a 6000x4000 RAW image, hence it is 24MP. In the 1.3x crop mode, it is 4800x3200. It should be straight-forward to determine when you open an NEF or JPEG file. When the camera is in the 1.3x mode, there is a frame inside the viewfinder to depict the capture area and the 1.3x indicator should be visible in the top right corner.

Several years ago, during a whale-watching trip, somehow my D7200 entered the 1.3x crop mode by itself. Not sure how that happened, but I noticed it soon enough to switch back to DX. If you cannot switch it back and forth, it sounds like the electronics inside your camera is malfunctioning.

I find it highly unusual that one cannot change between DX and 1.3x crop but the rest of the camera is functioning normally.

There is a two-button reset. As a last resort, if we need to take the battery out to reset, I would leave it out overnight.

Just double checking, as I have a D7200 in front of me as I post. There are two ways to get between DX and 1.3X mode. You can do it in the shooting menu or in the "i" menu. It's on the top of the second page in the "i" menu. When you look there, is it set to DX? On the D7200 I'm holding, either of the menu options produces the result, and a change in one is a change in the other, but it occurs to me that if there's a glitch somewhere in the electronics or the firmware, perhaps if you have not changed it in one of those places it would be worth a try to see if it makes a difference.

I don't have much experience with malfunctions, thankfully, but wonder if corrupted firmware might be an issue.

In the 1.3x crop mode, it is 4800x3200.

That's not right surely?

4800 x 3200 is still a 3:2 ratio. Shouldn't it be 4000 x 5200? Or thereabouts.

That's not right surely?

4800 x 3200 is still a 3:2 ratio. Shouldn't it be 4000 x 5200? Or thereabouts.

Both FX and DX are 3:2 (with some rounding errors). The 1.3x crop on top of DX still maintains the 3:2 aspect ratio.

1.5 x 1.3 = 1.95, which is roughly a 2x crop from FX. The D2X also has that feature, but they call it a 2x crop from FX.

Both FX and DX are 3:2 (with some rounding errors). The 1.3x crop on top of DX still maintains the 3:2 aspect ratio.

 

1.5 x 1.3 = 1.95, which is roughly a 2x crop from FX. The D2X also has that feature, but they call it a 2x crop from FX.

OK.

I've had my D7200 for a few years now, and never felt the need to use the crop mode. In fact I didn't even realise it had one, being DX format already.

I've now just been prompted to read the relevant section of the manual.

I saw the mention of a 1.3 crop and thought it referred to a 1.33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio crop. Now that I would be tempted to use, with appropriate frame lines in the finder.

Cropping DX all round in camera seems like a totally useless feature to me, unless you're absolutely desperate to squeeze one extra fps, or fraction thereof, out of it. But having had a premature shutter failure on my first sample, I now tend to treat its shutter like eggs. It's not a camera I'd willingly and regularly treat like a machine gun.

Cropping DX all round in camera seems like a totally useless feature

Agreed. I mean, you already have small, medium and large for total pixels reduction AND basic, normal and fine for jpeg reduction.

The only 'benefit' of an in-camera crop from DX would be 5:4 for straight OOC images to print at 10 x 8.

The 1.3x crop brings the D7200 down to 15MP, and the frame rate goes up by 1 from 6 fps to 7 fps @ 12-bit RAW capture (or from 5 fps to 6 @ 14-bit). I have almost never used that crop mode, except for the time the camera somehow entered the 1.3x crop mode on its own. I assume I might have pressed some wrong button somewhere.

I have never used the i menu either, but based on Matthew Currie's post above, I tried to set the image area from there on my D7200. If I change the image area from the i menu, I can easily change it back from the photo shooting menu. I don't understand how it can get stuck in the 1.3x crop mode. If this were an FX body, I can understand that mounting a DX lens could automatically change the area to DX. (In the case of the Z6 and Z7 mirrorless bodies, you cannot override the auto DX crop.)

The 1.3x crop mode (or DX crop mode on FX) could be useful if you are capturing a small or distant, stationary subject that only occupies a small portion of the frame. Why waste file space for areas outside of the subject that you are going to crop in post processing anyway? For moving subjects such as birds in flight, I prefer to use a larger frame because I have a hard time keeping the subject in the center. I crop afterwards to improve the composition.

I rarely use the crop mode, since memory and computer speed make file size pretty unimportant, but it also increases the number of shots the buffer will hold, which makes a difference on a D7100. An increase of two to five shots may not seem like much, but if you're trying to catch whales or leaping monkeys anything that adds to the D7100's measly buffer may be worth it.

edit to add: although it seems almost all the changes between the D7100 and 7200 are improvements, I make exception for the "i" menu. On the D7100, this comes up as an info screen with all the options shown. ON the D7200 it comes up as a multi-page menu screen, in which you cannot know all the available options if you don't navigate further, which seems as if it reintroduces the very thing an "i" button was meant to avoid.

Just double checking, as I have a D7200 in front of me as I post. There are two ways to get between DX and 1.3X mode. You can do it in the shooting menu or in the "i" menu. It's on the top of the second page in the "i" menu. When you look there, is it set to DX? On the D7200 I'm holding, either of the menu options produces the result, and a change in one is a change in the other, but it occurs to me that if there's a glitch somewhere in the electronics or the firmware, perhaps if you have not changed it in one of those places it would be worth a try to see if it makes a difference.

 

I don't have much experience with malfunctions, thankfully, but wonder if corrupted firmware might be an issue.

Thanks Matthew! When I checked the camera again this morning after putting the battery back in. No surprise it was still stuck with the 1.3 crop mode but showing DX in the main menu. I tried i button which took me back to the same menu, except that this time the menu showed 1.3 selected rather than DX. So I was finally able to put it back to DX. A very strange software glitch or so it would seem!

Thanks Matthew! When I checked the camera again this morning after putting the battery back in. No surprise it was still stuck with the 1.3 crop mode but showing DX in the main menu. I tried i button which took me back to the same menu, except that this time the menu showed 1.3 selected rather than DX. So I was finally able to put it back to DX. A very strange software glitch or so it would seem!

I played around with my D7200 this morning, and it didn't behave like that at all.

Do you have the latest firmware for the D7200? Apparently it is 1.04 for the C firmware:

Nikon | Download center | D7200 Firmware

I'll try leaving the battery out overnight and maybe another reset to see if that changes anything

Always reminds of that Urban Myth (or not?) that stolen car stereos that have a unique Access Code can be reset to factory defaults by popping it in the freezer for a week...:cool:

I played around with my D7200 this morning, and it didn't behave like that at all.

 

Do you have the latest firmware for the D7200? Apparently it is 1.04 for the C firmware:

Nikon | Download center | D7200 Firmware

Hi Shun, just checked and on my camera it says C 1.02 and L 2.09, so obviously not running the latest software version. I don't tend to have much luck with electronic devices, they often seem to behave in strange ways!