Nikon F6 Battery Indicator Issue

ccbob · Aug 8, 2006

I was wondering if anyone is aware of a known issue regarding the F6's battery indicator. My new F6 exhibited some fluctuations of the battery indicator during the initial two weeks that I have had it.

Essentially, the indicator would drop a notch during shooting, then return to full power shortly thereafter. This began happening only halfway through the first roll of film and continued throughout the period of use.

I posed the question to Nikon Support and the reply was:
"The battery indicator reading you describe is a recognized issue with the F6 that requires sending the camera directly to Nikon. This issue is covered by the warranty. For warranty service, please ship the camera to ..."

Well, I've only had it two weeks and will surely miss it. Hopefully it is something simple, like a firmware update, and it will soon be back in my hands. Until then, I guess it's back to the N80.

Dave Parker · Aug 8, 2006

Geeze, I didn't know any of us here could even afford the F6, let alone have a problem with one!!!!

LOL

Dave

roteague · Aug 8, 2006

Bummer I'd love to have an F6 myself, but can't justify the cost. I understand how you must be feeling though, I have an F5, but have been using my N80 (which I used to love) the past few weeks (trying to get used to it again before my next trip).

ccbob · Aug 8, 2006

Hi Robert,
Yeah, it kinda sucks having to give the up the F6 so soon, but I too have really enjoyed using my N80, which I still feel is a very respectable camera.

Good luck on your next trip.

Pinholemaster · Aug 8, 2006

If I could afford and justify the purchase, I sell my F100s for a couple of F6s simply for the iTTL technology alone. The new SB800 / SN600 strobe iTTL system is fantastic. The F6 does what Nikon's digital does with iTTL. Sweet!

Meanwhile, the F100 camera is still my favorite 35 mm file SLR camera.

Chan Tran · Aug 8, 2006

What is so great with i-TTL?

copake_ham · Aug 8, 2006

ccbob said:
I was wondering if anyone is aware of a known issue regarding the F6's battery indicator. My new F6 exhibited some fluctuations of the battery indicator during the initial two weeks that I have had it.

Essentially, the indicator would drop a notch during shooting, then return to full power shortly thereafter. This began happening only halfway through the first roll of film and continued throughout the period of use.

I posed the question to Nikon Support and the reply was:
"The battery indicator reading you describe is a recognized issue with the F6 that requires sending the camera directly to Nikon. This issue is covered by the warranty. For warranty service, please ship the camera to ..."

Well, I've only had it two weeks and will surely miss it. Hopefully it is something simple, like a firmware update, and it will soon be back in my hands. Until then, I guess it's back to the N80.

Two thoughts come to mind about this:

1) Has the problem been "fixed" on newer versions?

2) If you want a F6, you better buy a USA-warranty version. Nikon won't "fix" a grey market one.

ccbob · Aug 8, 2006

Mine is a newer one, or so I thought. The S/N is in the 24xxx range.

Also, I only buy USA versions, so the warranty is not an issue.

Daniel_OB · Aug 10, 2006

Do not send your F6 for "repear". F6 has no fault (A-N-Y). Fault is in the battery. When one battery is of higher capacity than second one it happen with batt. indicator, what you see. Change your batteries and somehow make sure they are both "full".
I have two F6 and batteries lasted nearly one year even F6 is "full time" ON on both cameras.

One advice: when you closing film compartment door take care. There is a pin that the door will push-in when closing and it indicate to the camera that the door is closed. It is a switch and can bend easily while closing the door. When the door is about to close due to spring it slides a little downward draging on the pin. So while closing the door pull out rewind know and press-close the door and after that release the rewinding knob. Hope it is clear.

What is full ser. # of your F6. How you enjoy your F6. Did you know that the shutter of F6 is hinged on the rubber to minimize vibration so you can shoot one to two speed step longer than with other cameras producing the same camera shake.

www.Leica-R.com

ccbob · Aug 10, 2006

Hi Daniel,

According to Nikon, it is a "recognized issue with the F6 that requires sending the camera directly to Nikon". That's good enough for me. The camera is already on it's way to El Segundo. When I get it back, I will post the details of what they did (or didn't do on this thread).

FWIW, I was using a fresh set of batteries with less than 12 exposures taken when I first noticed the indicator fluctuating.

For the two weeks that I have had the F6, all I can say is 'Wow!'. Simply put, I love it.

As for the shutter, yes, I was aware of the fact that there was a dampening mechanism, but I was unaware of the details. Thanks!

ccbob · Aug 21, 2006

I received my F6 back from Nikon today and thought I'd post the repair details for any others who may experience the same issue I did:

ADJ ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT
CKD BODY FLANGE BACK
CKD AUTO FOCUS OPERATION
ADJ BATTERY CHECKER
CKD AE OPERATION
CKD SEQUENCE OPERATION
GENERAL CHECK & CLEAN

Nikon F6 Battery Indicator Issue

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