[Reader]

Andy or anyone else that might help me.


Today, whilst photographing a Redwing, I had a System Error message come up on my monitor. The camera then wouldn't allow me to take another photo. I turned it off then back on again but it was totally dead; not even anything showing in the LCD display. It was though there weren't any batteries in it. I removed the batteries for a while then put them back again but still it was dead. I tried attaching the dual force battery pack but that did nothing. At first, when I switched off, the LCD display would show with ERR in the bottom right hand corner but it would only show for a milli second then go off. Even that stopped after a while. 6 hours later it was still the same.

Anyone else had this happen to theirs? If so what happened to rectify it?

My camera is a Nikon Coolpix 990.

[Ashley beolens]

Some one told me that if you leave the battery out for 12 hours it resets, It didn't help my problem, but might be worth trying.

[KCFoggin]

Oh John, don't tell me this. Have you tried any of the 990 websites to see if this problem has happened to anyone else?

Here's one board you might try and hopefully find a solution.


http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi

[Andy Bright]

Sorry to hear this, John. I've had a 990 for 3 years and haven't had a permament problem like this, nor heard of one so serious..... usually taking the batteries out cures any odd system errors (they crop up every now and again).
Check out the site K.C. mentioned as well as Yahho groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coolpix990/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NikonCoolPix/

Goood luck,
Andy

[Reader]

Good news on the camera front.

I had left a message on IanF's answerphone yesterday asking his advice about this problem. He rang back and told me about leaving the batteries out for 12 hours or more. Well. I put the batteries in this morning, some 15 hours after I took them out, and, hey presto!! it works again.

What a day to choose to go down on me though. If you want to know what I missed, go to a thread I put in the News, Views and Reporting forum about agonies piling on. Yesterday was totally unreal for me, regarding how close I got to certain birds. There were so many photo opportunies that I got very frustrated in the end, which was a shame as it was a fabulous day out.

[Reader]

Thanks for all the above help. I have added the three links to my favourites for future use. Hopefully it won't hapen again.

The timing, of the camera fault, was particularly bad as I am going up to Ian's next weekend and my Spanish trip is only 3 weeks away. I really thought I might have to send my camera back for repair. If that had happened I doubt if I would have had it back in time for my holiday. You can't imagine the relief I had run through me when that monitor came to life this morning.

[Andy Bright]

I'm sure I could've let you borrow my 990 if it came to the worst, John.
Although having two Nikons is a bit over the top, I sleep better at night knowing I have a back-up camera.
Glad you got it sorted out, never realised that a 12 hour break was needed for some of these things.... usually it's just a case of opening the battery cover.
Andy

[Reader]

Thanks a million for that offer Andy. I will keep that it in mind for any future problems I might encounter. That is such a thoughtful offer on your part. I really do appreciate it.

I am hoping that there isn't a problem building up with the camera though. Remember I told you of things that seem to happen that even you couldn't understand. It just makes me a little uneasy at the moment when I get these messages. I just hope, and pray, that it doesn't go down on me when out in the field in Spain. You might never get those opportunities present themselves to you again, like yesterdays birds. I can't ever imagine being as close to the birds, as I was yesterday, ever again.