Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Discuss older Nikon-based Kodak digital SLRs, including DCS 100, DCS 200, NC2000, DCS 400/600/700-series, etc. Ask questions, post general comments, anecdotes, reviews and user tips.
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Ashley_Pomeroy
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Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by Ashley_Pomeroy »

I spoke too soon. The "not sure if it works, no battery or charger" DCS 760 that I bought recently seems to have gone wobbly. It worked fine for a week, and I shot a few hundred images, but now I get this:
Image

That's a string of eight shots in quick succession. It's frustrating, because some of the shots are relatively normal, but they are few and far between. I assume the logic board in the camera has blown a fuse, or has malfunctioned in some way (perhaps the battery that holds the time and date has leaked), and the camera is unfixable.

The menu system works fine; the camera side of thing is still awesome; it has worked with these cards and this battery in the past; I have tried using it with mains power, and a freshly-charged battery, but the same problem occurs. Leaving the camera turned off with battery removed for a while seems not to make any difference.

Before I try removing the back and blowing into it, and then selling it on eBay for the parts, is there some kind of "system reset" feature that reverts the camera to its factory state?
NikonWeb
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by NikonWeb »

Try this: "To reset your camera's functions to the default settings, press and hold the BKT button and the CSM button simultaneously for a minimum of 2 seconds. Both buttons are located on the camera back."

http://faqs.kodak.com/kodakprofessional/FAQ_57_699.shtm

Instead of shooting "in quick succession", have you tried a slower approach, capturing single frames? Different memory cards?

Jarle
Ashley_Pomeroy
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by Ashley_Pomeroy »

Thanks for the quick reply. I've tried resetting the camera, but it just seems to turn off the custom functions and revert the Nikon F5 portion of the machine to programmed auto, centre focus point, no exposure compensation etc. The manual explains it in a bit more detail; it doesn't affect the digital side of things.

I've tried several different cards, shot fast and slow, with different lenses (and indeed no lens). If I pull out the battery and card, leave the camera sitting for a few minutes, and try again, the first shot I take seems to be relatively normal - albeit with purple lines - but subsequent shots are corrupted as before. I wonder if something inside the camera is heating up or shorting out very quickly? I'm not an electrical engineer.
Ashley_Pomeroy
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by Ashley_Pomeroy »

In fact I now just get black frames. The heart of an immense darkness. The corrupted images above were the last things the camera saw as it died in my hands. A glimpse into the electronic afterlife. Perhaps those purple wavey lines are the shadows of electronic angels. The body still functions but the mind has gone to camera heaven.

I hope it's gone to camera heaven, anyway. It didn't deserve to die like this, it was building a house. It I have no idea what was in the 25,000 images it captured before it died. Horror beyond imagination; or thousands of shots of sofas, automobile parts, catalogue models, etc. We will never know.
snapabraham
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by snapabraham »

Hi Ashley,

Sorry for the trouble you've been having with the DCS 760. Here's one on Ebay I saw:

http://cgi.ebay.com/KODAK-DCS-760-NIKON ... 3a5aaefdf5

It may end up going for a high price though. Good luck.

What will you do with the dead one?

Christian
Ashley_Pomeroy
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by Ashley_Pomeroy »

Alas, I live in the UK.

I left the camera unpowered overnight, and the first frame it took this afternoon was perfectly okay, but subsequent frames were black. It's vexing. Perhaps it will simply fix itself.

I'm not really sure where to go from here. I sold the DCS 560 in order to fund the DCS 760 purchase, which in retrospect was a poor decision, but I was not to know in advance that the DCS 760 would die. I wonder if it's the same problem that destroyed this DCS 760:
http://qman.fotokala.ee/Kaamerad/DCS760/page3.html

Now I have a busted DCS 760, which I could sell for the parts (the DP-30 viewfinder is stock F5, as far as I can tell) and the charger and batteries and IR filter, but that would essentially end my Kodak DCS adventure. I planned to use it for infrared photography with my Samyang 14mm, with an infrared gel filter stuck where the IR blocking filter goes, and my longer-term plan was to save up and have a look at the SLR/n. I'm going to have a gin and tonic and cry a little bit.
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by snapabraham »

Ashley_Pomeroy
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by Ashley_Pomeroy »

Cor, perhaps Stan Disbrow is selling off his Kodak DCS gear. Those two cameras would probably still make a decent wedding / event combination nowadays, if you had big muscles. Put a 70-200mm on one and a 24-70mm on the other and you'd certainly look the part. You'd probably need a little trolley to carry them though. Or R2-D2 with a tea tray on his head, or a small child or urchin.
Stan Disbrow
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

Post by Stan Disbrow »

Hi,

Sounds like the buffer memory packed it in. It might be a poor surface mount device solder connection, or it might be that the part itself suffered a fault internally. The working, then not working, then partly working, and back again nature leads me to think it's something like that, and with the buffer memory as opposed to the sensor itself.

Not that you can find anyone to work on these things nowadays. Not that it'd be worth the cost if you could.

No, I'm not giving up on the Kodaks - not yet, anyway!

I use my 760 and 560 quite a bit - the 760 being the field camera and the 560 having replaced the Nikon E-series for my website photo shooting. My 720x gets far less use, but gets enough to where I don't want to part with it - not yet, anyway!

I just used the 760 last Saturday. Our youngest daughter is getting married end of October, so it was 'try on lots of wedding dresses day'. She wanted some shots of her in each one, and the bridesmaids in the various options they were trying, just to have for reference later. Don't ask my *why* once they picked out what they're going with. I learned a *long* time ago, not to ask why - just do it! :P

Everyone in the place, and it was packed, was shooting every girl in every dress, most with pocket digicams or (shudder) cell phones. One other dad was using an SLR, and he kept on looking, and looking at the 760. He finally just had to ask what the beast was!

He even knew what Kodachrome was (imagine that!) and understood the colors I can get from the 760, so that was amazing in itself. Most folks just look puzzled by the reference to film these days. He knew what an F5 was, too, and why I like those. He even asked where to get one and how much they cost. He wasn't put off by the size and weight even next to the D70 he was using.

Wadda ya know?

Anyway, the only suggestion I have regarding the busted 760 is to just get another one and keep this one for a spare body if nothing else.

Oh, and if you want to just dump it, send it to me! I'll put it into the 'spare parts bin'..... ;)

Later!

Stan
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer
snapabraham
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Re: Unfortunate DCS 760 problem

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