Digital Camera - Tech Support

Boycie83

Boycie83

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Location
Devon
I know there's a few camera aficionados here so thought I'd pick your brains first.

20220828_120101.jpg

I have a Nikon J1 that I've had for a few years and it's always functioned fine. It's been in a drawer for a while. I took it out and charged the batteries to give it some use. The camera now struggles to do any form of autofocus and does not adjust the aperture to adapt to light despite being in auto. I'm not sure what's wrong with it. Here are two photos:

20220828_120046.jpg This is a picture taken with my phone. The picture below is a picture of the J1 photographing the same thing. The camera is on but you'll see in the screen that the image is very very dark despite being in a reasonably lit room. The camera struggled to focus as well.

20220828_120030.jpg

An idea what could be wrong? Are any of you technically savvy enough to have a look at it for me? I don't want to abandon the camera unless it's absolutely goofed.
 
On a more technical note 1/2.5th of a second is a slow shutter speed. It’s almost as if the auto ISO is not kicking in and keeping the shutter speed at a sensible level. Is there a way you can check if auto iso is on?
 
De 2 said:
On the assumption that the replacement batteries were good I would try shutting it down for 2 minutes and then back on for a system reset.
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I fully charged both batteries (1 x original and 1 x new). The camera operates the same with both. Tried turning it off and leaving it a few times with no success. I also left it for a few days with no success.
 
shiny said:
On a more technical note 1/2.5th of a second is a slow shutter speed. It’s almost as if the auto ISO is not kicking in and keeping the shutter speed at a sensible level. Is there a way you can check if auto iso is on?
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I'll have a look when I get home - I'll probably be back with some Qs on how to check this.
 
Boycie83 said:
I fully charged both batteries (1 x original and 1 x new). The camera operates the same with both. Tried turning it off and leaving it a few times with no success. I also left it for a few days with no success.
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Do the other functions of the camera work ok? For example to view pictures and to go through other functions.
 
wooky114 said:
Try giving the lens sensors / connectors a clean with a bit of Isopropyl.
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wooky114 said:
Or go thru the menu's and reset everything to default to see if that helps.

The manual is here, in case you've lost yours.
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I've reset the options in the menu but it's still having the issue. Are these 'gold' connector points the bits you mean? I don't have any isopropyl alcohol to hand. Anything else that can be used?:

20220828_172325.jpg

@shiny - it seems to start higher then winds down to 2.5. Couldn't find anything regarding the auto ISO and the settings reset didn't make a difference.

@De 2 - all other functions seem to be ok. I can look at pictures on the memory card and cycle through the menus with no problems.
 
Boycie83 said:
I've reset the options in the menu but it's still having the issue. Are these 'gold' connector points the bits you mean? I don't have any isopropyl alcohol to hand. Anything else that can be used?:

View attachment 92560

@shiny - it seems to start higher then winds down to 2.5. Couldn't find anything regarding the auto ISO and the settings reset didn't make a difference.

@De 2 - all other functions seem to be ok. I can look at pictures on the memory card and cycle through the menus with no problems.
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My next question would be does it work outdoors (in a brighter situation). If it works outdoors in brighter light but starts being naughty in conditions with less light then it is more likely an auto setting not kicking in. If it’s the same outdoors as indoors then it might be a bit goosed and time for a change.
 
shiny said:
My next question would be does it work outdoors (in a brighter situation). If it works outdoors in brighter light but starts being naughty in conditions with less light then it is more likely an auto setting not kicking in. If it’s the same outdoors as indoors then it might be a bit goosed and time for a change.
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It's only marginally improved. Here's two pictures outdoors (it's bright outside here):

At full zoom:

20220828_174122.jpg

Pulled back:
20220828_174155.jpg

Picture darkens considerably when pulled back (unzoomed?). It remains unable to zoom. The pictures are bright once taken but incredibly blurry due to the exposure (I think that's the correct term):

20220828_174810.jpg

The pic above is the result of the dark second thumbnail you see above in this post.

I know my garden's a mess - I've got kids :)

@shiny @De 2 @wooky114 - thank you for your help with this chaps. I knew TSR would be able to assist with this, even if we can't remedy it.
 
Boycie83 said:
It's only marginally improved. Here's two pictures outdoors (it's bright outside here):

At full zoom:

View attachment 92562

Pulled back:
View attachment 92561

Picture darkens considerably when pulled back (unzoomed?). It remains unable to zoom. The pictures are bright once taken but incredibly blurry due to the exposure (I think that's the correct term):

View attachment 92563

The pic above is the result of the dark second thumbnail you see above in this post.

I know my garden's a mess - I've got kids :)

@shiny @De 2 @wooky114 - thank you for your help with this chaps. I knew TSR would be able to assist with this, even if we can't remedy it.
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It could be that the lens has a problem when it is zoomed or it could be that actually the picture is properly exposed (as shown on the third picture) but it’s the screen on the back of the camera whose brightness is out of kilter. But if it’s out of focus (but you focused correctly) then it still points to a sticky lens. It’s hard without having the camera in my hands. If you want to PM me, I will give you my email and if you send me one of the photos I can see what info my diagnostic photo programs show up. Might show us something we are missing.
 
If you have them, trying things out with a second lens and a spare battery might help.
With the screen being so dim and AF being funky, it might be power supply issues.
Or, as suggested, the lens is misbehaving.

Out of curiosity, from what you can see on the screen, does it look like the aperture is wide open?
 
Boycie83 said:
I know there's a few camera aficionados here so thought I'd pick your brains first.

View attachment 92545

I have a Nikon J1 that I've had for a few years and it's always functioned fine. It's been in a drawer for a while. I took it out and charged the batteries to give it some use. The camera now struggles to do any form of autofocus and does not adjust the aperture to adapt to light despite being in auto. I'm not sure what's wrong with it. Here are two photos:

View attachment 92546 This is a picture taken with my phone. The picture below is a picture of the J1 photographing the same thing. The camera is on but you'll see in the screen that the image is very very dark despite being in a reasonably lit room. The camera struggled to focus as well.

View attachment 92547

An idea what could be wrong? Are any of you technically savvy enough to have a look at it for me? I don't want to abandon the camera unless it's absolutely goofed.
Click to expand...
Most Nikons have a two button reset - if not actually physical, which I suspect with your model, there will be a command buried in a menu somewhere that will reset everything to the way it arrived out the box. - cheers - I.
 
slapo said:
If you have them, trying things out with a second lens and a spare battery might help.
With the screen being so dim and AF being funky, it might be power supply issues.
Or, as suggested, the lens is misbehaving.

Out of curiosity, from what you can see on the screen, does it look like the aperture is wide open?
Click to expand...
Tried a couple of batteries - they seem to be ok. Aperture is small - stays small even in the dark despite being on auto.
Digimonkey said:
Most Nikons have a two button reset - if not actually physical, which I suspect with your model, there will be a command buried in a menu somewhere that will reset everything to the way it arrived out the box. - cheers - I.
Click to expand...
Managed to get to a basic reset but it's not had the desired effect. Annoyingly my J2 doesn't have the two button hard reset other Nikons have. Also tried a firmware update as well with no success.

@shiny has had a look at the pics and can see the auto settings are wrong.
 
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