From: cptomes (cptomes@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu May 01 2003 - 12:02:52 EDT
Took the 4300 to my local shop (where it was bought) and they are
sending it in. They claim a 2 week turnaround. We'll see. I'v
gotten used to having it around (~30 pics/week are keepers) and I'm
definitely going to miss it.
I'm willing to bet it's a software problem that put the hardware into
an unrecoverable state. A flaw in the hardware, either design or
manufacturing, then allowed the fault mode to kill the hardware.
I've seen it a few time on PC desktop and server equipment. Not a
happy way to discover a weakness in the software...
--- In NikonCoolPix@yahoogroups.com, "cptomes" <cptomes@h...> wrote:
> I'm having a pretty ambivalent reaction to Nikon. Of course the
> first thing they said was "Try these links and see if they help."
> Both were completely unrelated to my problem, and in fact if the
tech
> had bothered to read the note I sent (basically what I posted here)
> and thought about it for 10 sec he would have figured out that I
had
> already tried the easy stuff.
>
> I'm working through my local dealer now to see what's going to
> happen. I'm going to try to wrangle a loaner while mine is off.
> That will go a long way towards making me feel better about Nikon.
>
> --- In NikonCoolPix@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Newton" <p.newton@o...>
> wrote:
> > System Error indicates are malfunctioning lens mechanism, if the
> unit is still covered under warranty take it in for repair
> > ASAP, if it is not covered under warranty don't even bother to
find
> out what it will cost to fix as it is usually more than the camera
> > is worth!!
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> >
> > Paul
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: cptomes
> > To: NikonCoolPix@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 1:04 PM
> > Subject: [NikonCoolPix] Coolpix 4300 "system error"
> >
> >
> > I was taking outdoor shots of a motorcycle event. Filled one
> 256mb
> > card, switched to another. Got about 40 shots into it, and it
> locked
> > up.
> >
> > Firmware was 1.4, I just upgraded to 1.5 to see if that fixed
> it. No
> > go. Firmware comes up as 1.5 now and symptoms are identical.
> >
> > Symptoms:
> >
> > -lens "stuck" out.
> > -power on, in any mode except "setup" and ">" (play) and you
> > immediately get "system error" in red over the background.
> > -when powered on with turret in "setup" and then rotate it to
any
> > picture-taking mode, the lens RETRACTS AND THEN COMES BACK OUT
> and
> > the "system error" message is displayed.
> >
> > conditions:
> > -fully charged battery
> > -cf cards formatted in this camera
> > -camera brand new as of 12/2002 and has been pampered (no mars
on
> > case, no drops/shocks/water/grit)
> >
> > attempted remedies:
> > -power off and on
> > -pull battery, move switch to on, then off, then replace
battery
> (to
> > see if it needed some caps discharged somewhere...) and switch
on
> > -replace cf card with previously used card (no effect expected)
> >
> > WTF??? I expect a Nikon to work as well as or better than a
> Sony.
> > My father's DV camcorder worked flawlessly in the same
> environment.
> > I had to give up on the still images and use the camcorder
> instead,
> > despite needing more stills. I'll do frame grabs from the
video
> but
> > DAMN this sucks. I have a $500 paperweight and I'm getting
> pretty
> > unhappy. I'm a computer systems administrator and if Nikon
isn't
> > going to give me a usable camera I'm going to return it for
> something
> > that works. I'm finding LOTS of hits for "system error" on
> various
> > Coolpix cameras and it looks like a hardware problem,
apparently
> > stepper motors?
> >
> > What happened? I thought Nikon film cameras were the gold
> standard
> > of the industry. Are their digital cameras just eye candy and
> not
> > worth buying until you pay for a D1?
> >
> > This was going to be a paying gig until the still camera
crapped
> > out. Now I have some 35mm and the video to work with.
> >
> > CP Tomes
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