Sudden Death of Nikon D70

I was uploading photos to my laptop from the D70 using USB cable,

after upload, I noticed that the top LCD screen went blank. I

changed a fresh battery and didn't think too much about it. But

when I tried to turn the camera on later, nothing happened. Then I

realized that the top LCD should always display the number of

possible pictures and should never be blank.

 

Now I can't turn the camera on and it's as good as dead. Has anyone

ever had this problem before? Is sending it to the repair shop my

only option? It's just over a year old so it's out of warranty

period.

 

Thanks

 

Lynn

Lynn, this happened to me a few months ago. My D70 worked flawlessly for sixteen months and then boom, The Blinking Green Light of Death (BGLD) syndrome hit without warning. I took it to the local camera shop where I bought it and they sent it in to Nikon for an estimate to repair. Nikon said it was $329.00 to fix. Because of similar posts here on PN, I knew that this was not an isolated problem so I called the camera store and asked if they could use their influence with Nikon to help me out. I don't know exactly what happened but I ended up getting it repaired, cleaned and shined up like new for zero, zilch, nada. This made this cheap tight-fisted Milwaukee lad very happy indeed. This is why I always try to buy from a local store, if there is a problem, you at least have a chance to get some help. Good luck with your situation, I hope you will be as lucky as I was. The only negative about my problem was that it took me six week to get my D70 back.

"It's just over a year old so it's out of warranty period."

 

If you live in a Uniform Commercial Code state (which most are) there is still a implied warranty of merchantability for a "reasonable" period of time. The product must sold by a merchant. The implied warranty can be waived by a conspicuous disclaimer of the implied warranty made available to the buyer PRIOR to the actual sale.

 

It could have to be enforced in small claims court which can be a hassle but may be worthwhile for a $1,000.00 product. Some merchants honor the warranty upon the mere mention of it since they don't want hassles from knowing customers who do not accept being stuck with defective products.

I had recently a rear LCD with 1 dead pixel replaced on a D70 that was 2 weeks out of warranty. All done for free. I just wrote a nice letter and sent it all to Melville, NY. Got it back a week later - new LCD, clean sensor, adjusted meter and AF. If it's just over one year old, write a nice letter and send it in. Worth a try!

Lynn, Contact the dealer you bought the camera from. If it's just out of warranty they should be able to sweet talk their local rep. to authorize a courtesy repair. Technically the rep. dosn't aurhorize anything but she/he talks to regional VP about it. If your camera is less than 2 month out of warranty I think it is very likly that they will fix it. If you bought the camera on line then your out of luck. What most likly happened to your camera is that you forgot to switch it off when you unplugged it from your computer. That could have caused a voltage spike in the camera. The other possibility is that the main circuit board which the usb connector is attached to might have cracked.

Lynn: Try the reset button on the bottom of the camera. I honestly don't think it will work but you have nothing to loose. You might ask the manager at the store where you bought your camera if he could sell you an extended warranty on a post-dated receipt. This is a bit sneaky but it would get your camera fixed.

Lynn: Try the reset button on the bottom of the camera. I honestly don't think it will work but you have nothing to loose. You might ask the manager at the store where you bought your camera if he could sell you an extended warranty on a post-dated receipt. This is a bit sneaky but it would get your camera fixed.

Send it Nikon for BGLOD. They (D70) all die sooner or later.

It's a major manufacturing defect. It happened to me too. Sent it back to Nikon USA and they repaired it for free. Make absolutely sure you send it back to the Nikon factory repair facility in your country with a detailed letter explaining that many users report this problem. They will probably fix it for free. DO NOT just drop it off at a local camera store or repair place.

 

Good luck.

You don't happen to be in Europe right?

If you are, the one-year warranty is false, you have in fact a warranty period of two years.

On second thought, not if it was purchased before the first of january 2005, which it is, I realise now. Anyway I guess you are in the US so it doesn't matter all that much.

 

Good luck!

1. The European 2 year rule started on the 1.1.2002, i.e. long before anybody thought about a D70.

 

2. I have a D70 too, about 11 months old, which is functioning flawlessly up to now. I have read, that the BGLOD affects early models only and has been traced to a faulty design of a circuit board, which works itself loose over time, and the design has been altered since then, so that later models are not likely to be affected. Since the discussion was already going on when I got mine (which I fortunately bought with a 5 year worldwide MAKS guarantee anyway)in late Oct. 2004, can I assume mine won't be affected? Is there any knowledge over serial numbers upto which the error occurs?

Russ -- "DO NOT just drop it off at a local camera store or repair place" I did and got mine fixed for nothing, not even freight charges.

Many, many, D70 owners have had this same problem--it's clearly a manufacturing defect and Nikon has been quietly yet consistantly repairing the BGLOD problems even when 6 mos. or more out of warranty.

 

In an apparent effort to stave off a class-action lawsuit (by admitting culpability), Nikon's official response to owners is that they've never heard of the problem and just send it in, but there are hundreds of people who have had this problem fixed by Nikon even when outside of warranty--and rightly so.

 

Send the camera to the nearest Nikon service center, along with a polite but stern note informing them that you're aware of the

BGLOD problem, and that you expect Nikon to fix this manufacturing defect free of charge (even though your camera is slightly out of warranty) as this is a known defect and that they have avoided bad publicity by not recalling the affected D70's (which unfairly puts the burden upon their customers.....) and instead are choosing to quietly repair them free of charge.

 

I'm glad to hear that Nikon is doing the right thing by fixing them, but I have heard of many attempts by Nikon to charge unwitting D70 owners for the repair until said owners pointed out that the problem is a well-known manufacturing defect--and that's not cool.

 

Good luck!

I had the same thing happen to 2 D70 units I purchased, One got the problem in 5 months and the other in 18 months. Nikon fixed the first one Ok and for the second they wanted to bill me $250.00. After a couple of letters they fixed for free and shipped back. When I opened the box and tested yesterday, the last D70 had the same issue, blinking green light, non funcioning LCD and no focus. I guess no one at Nikon tested it before shipping back. They never fixed it. I sent another email to Nikon today and lets see what happens now. I am very dissapointed with Nikon. Sent an pray it works out well for you.

I just got a letter back from Melville re the repair on my D70. I was having an erratic metering issue. I was 15 months into the purchase and I was pleased to find out that they were going to fix the problem for free... I didn't have to follow-up to request complimentary service. The repair estimate was just under $230 and they've had the camera for about two weeks now.

 

Hopefully I'll have it back soon... and in working order.

 

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for all your helpful answers! I think I might have forgotten to turn off the camera when I unplugged it from the USB, will buy a card reader when all this is over!!

 

I'm in a somewhat difficult situation though, I bought the camera from Ritz Camera's online store, but I actually live in Japan (one good thing about that is that the service ctr is only 20 minutes away on the subway) so I will have to convince the service ctr to honor the US expired warranty, and demand this camera be repaired for free, all in Japanese!

 

Wish me luck!

 

BTW, I tried the reset button and it didn't work =o(

Good news!

 

Just when I was getting ready to call and bark at the Nikon people, I decided to do one more thing. I slipped the "old" battery that the camera died on back into the camera and voila! The top LCD screen came on!!

 

I did this so many times last night without any response. Now I feel like I'm sitting on a time bomb waiting to go off!

I just sent my camera off to Nikon in El Segundo this afternoon for the same problem. I had called the tech support people and was assured that even though the camera was bought from Cameta as a "refurbished" unit, Nikon considered it under warranty. He also said 7-10 days turnaround. Guess we'll just wait and see.

 

The complication was that I had packaged up a D2H to send to a buyer, and I haven't received my D2X yet, so that left me cameraless. (well-digital) (Marc, if you're reading this,I had no choice, I'll send the 2H as soon as the 2X arrives.) Question: What does one do for a backup? Sure can't have two D2X's. There is, of course the FM2, but what if you need a digital backup? It's kind of like the blind leading the blind as far as reliability is concerned.

 

Michael A Shapiro

After speaking w/the guy at Nikon Digital Support, I also just sent my D-70 to El Segundo (west coast Nikon repair), for a free fix. Apparently this problem is so common that I wasn't asked if the unit was still under warranty (it's not). However, after conferring w/the local Nikon-authorized repair dealer, the critical thing may be whether or not the camera was bought through Nikon/USA or gray market - the dealer strongly doubted that Nikon will cover a gray-market camera, i.e., one bought new through a non-Nikon/USA dealer.

 

To expedite the repair process, contact the Digital Tech Support number (800.645.6689). Don't bother contacting your dealer, or sadly, your local camera repair, unless you need ultra-fast service and don't mind paying for it. I'd much rather give the business to the local repair store, but they're simply unable to afford the training and equipment specific to each camera. Failure rates and growing repair problems for ALL digital cameras are issues that go begging for greater awareness.

Hi,

 

Just wanted to comment on the "Europe warranty" that was mentioned. I think this should read "European Union", not "Europe". Not all European countries are members of the EU. In Norway we aren't, but Norwegian law gives us rights to go back to the shop with things if something goes wrong within 5 years, that has to do with the manufacturing of the item etc. Actually the law divides things into 3 categories, 1 year, 2 years and 5 years, depending on how long items are meant to last. A digital SLR camera comes into the last category, so in cases like this, you have full rights within a 5 year range. So even if the manufacturer warranty period is over, you still have rights. This wouldn't apply to things that would be regarded as maintenance etc. though, only to faults that suddenly appear which e.g. is a weakness due to the manufacturing. There are certain words for this, but I have never found the English equivalent to this word, so forgive me if my explanation isn't too good... In this case, bottom line is that you could still go back and get a free repair (or replacement) 4 years and 364 days after purchase. You of course would have to have proof of purchase, and the place you should go to, is the store you bought it from.

 

Might be useful for some, if they search for this problem... You never know... :)

Go to Nikon, they will replace free of charge even after warranty expires. In my country, at http://www.nikon.com.sg/service/D70.htm.

My D70 went into BGLOD about two weeks ago, two days before my son's birthday party.

On learning about the Nikon Service Advisory I shipped the camerat to Nikon only to receive a letter saying I'd have to pay $220 for the repair or have the camera shipped back unrepaired.

I'm not in the mood of begging Nikon to carry out the repairs as some have recommended. But, whether I choose to pay for the repairs or simply buy a different brand, I'll make sure Nikon doesn't get away with this.

If anyone is interested in joining a class-action lawsuit, I'd be happy to listen.

So far so good... I have not had the "sudden death" issue with my D70. But I did have an

issue where the apeture step-down preview locked up while still under warranty. I could

not go back to the store which I bought it from since I had moved, but took it to the

nearest location of that national chain. They told me I had to deal with Nikon directly.

Called the store's customer service, was told this was wrong and they apologized. When

mentioning this to a local mom and pop shop, they said they would be happy to handle it

for me even though I had not purchased the camera from them. Instead I did contact

Nikon directly, was told to return the camera with an explanation and was even furnished

me with a corporate shipping account number to cover the costs at their expense. I was

warned by shops and friends that I could expect to be without my camera for 5-6 weeks,

but if was returned in 10 days. Fully repaired, sensor cleaned and auto focus recalibrated!

Nikon USA now has a service advisory posted regarding the "blinking light" issue, they will

fix it at no charge. I am trying to get them to cover the costs of shipping again since it is a

documented defect and plan to return it so that I am assured it will not die suddenly

without warning... preventive maintenance. As of this week, there is no listing of serial

numbers affected by this problem like they did with the EN-EL3 battery recall, but at least

they now admit there is a problem and are doing something about it.

As noted in other posts you can call Nikon at 800-645-6689 or download the return product form is available at http://www.nikonusa.com/

- click on the camera on the left column

- click on the service advisory D70-D2H-N55 button on the right column

 

Thanks to all - as your posts saved me $220+. My local dealer said the Nikon service would charge for the repair