Nikon Df issues

[Arkady001]

As above. I recently had a glitch with the display on my Df which had some banding appear - it was still usable so i carried on as I couldn't afford a replacement at that time. After a couple of months, the display went completely dead, though the camera still functioned properly otherwise: images were unaffected.
On removing the battery later I noticed a faint white 'bloom' or residue similar to that produced by leaking batteries inside the battery compartment, although both my EN-EL14a's were fine. I wondered if maybe the permanent battery that runs the clock (which is not user-accessible) might have been compromised and if any other DF users had experienced similar issues?
Still waiting for a quote from my local repair shop but due to Covid they're being incredibly slow to respond...

 

[Winslowe]

As above. I recently had a glitch with the display on my Df which had some banding appear - it was still usable so i carried on as I couldn't afford a replacement at that time. After a couple of months, the display went completely dead, though the camera still functioned properly otherwise: images were unaffected.
On removing the battery later I noticed a faint white 'bloom' or residue similar to that produced by leaking batteries inside the battery compartment, although both my EN-EL14a's were fine. I wondered if maybe the permanent battery that runs the clock (which is not user-accessible) might have been compromised and if any other DF users had experienced similar issues?
Still waiting for a quote from my local repair shop but due to Covid they're being incredibly slow to respond...

Where did the banding occur, and what died, the control panel or monitor? I just checked mine and the battery compartment is clean. I bought it new a little over 7 years ago - no issues so far. Please let us know what your repair technician says, as I'm sure all of us Df owners are concerned. Thanks.

 

[sk66]

I wondered if maybe the permanent battery that runs the clock (which is not user-accessible) might have been compromised

It's possible, but these days it's usually a board mounted capacitor and not a battery in the traditional sense. Still, capacitors can also fail/leak...

 

[Arkady001]

Where did the banding occur, and what died, the control panel or monitor? I just checked mine and the battery compartment is clean. I bought it new a little over 7 years ago - no issues so far. Please let us know what your repair technician says, as I'm sure all of us Df owners are concerned. Thanks.

The banding occurred across the LCD screen/monitor and at the same time there was a loss of definition and increased pixellation - like looking at an image shot at 640,000iso. The images were fine though - no change there. The next time I switched it on the screen looked normal for a few seconds, then the banding and 'grain' reappeared. The time after that the screen didn't work at all.

I'll keep you all up to dat once the techs get back to me. They keep disappearing since it's just a small shop in Dortmund - though Nikon-approved, they keep erratic hours...

 

[Winslowe]

The banding occurred across the LCD screen/monitor and at the same time there was a loss of definition and increased pixellation - like looking at an image shot at 640,000iso. The images were fine though - no change there. The next time I switched it on the screen looked normal for a few seconds, then the banding and 'grain' reappeared. The time after that the screen didn't work at all.

I'll keep you all up to dat once the techs get back to me. They keep disappearing since it's just a small shop in Dortmund - though Nikon-approved, they keep erratic hours...

Well, that's a bummer! You cannot even reformat the card without the monitor. Thank you for keeping us informed.

 

[Arkady001]

OK... semi-update - I hadn't heard anything from the repair shop in a while so contacted them yesterday and due to Covid one of the techs has had to self isolate and won't be back until August 4th. So i won't know anything until at least then...

In the meantime here are the photos I originally sent them with my initial query - you can see why I was rather alarmed. Just to confirm there is no sign of leakage on either of my 2 batteries: the 'bloom' appears to originate behind the light grey panel below the screw in the battery-compartment...

 

[Winslowe]

OK... semi-update - I hadn't heard anything from the repair shop in a while so contacted them yesterday and due to Covid one of the techs has had to self isolate and won't be back until August 4th. So i won't know anything until at least then...

In the meantime here are the photos I originally sent them with my initial query - you can see why I was rather alarmed. Just to confirm there is no sign of leakage on either of my 2 batteries: the 'bloom' appears to originate behind the light grey panel below the screw in the battery-compartment...

View attachment 325686View attachment 325687View attachment 325688

OK... semi-update - I hadn't heard anything from the repair shop in a while so contacted them yesterday and due to Covid one of the techs has had to self isolate and won't be back until August 4th. So i won't know anything until at least then...

In the meantime here are the photos I originally sent them with my initial query - you can see why I was rather alarmed. Just to confirm there is no sign of leakage on either of my 2 batteries: the 'bloom' appears to originate behind the light grey panel below the screw in the battery-compartment...

View attachment 325686View attachment 325687View attachment 325688

Let's hope the solution is simple and inexpensive!