Nikon D50 dead battery

[Dapph2]

Is there a button cell powered memory inside your camera that holds the basic programming .. it's likely it has died if there is

 

[reb78]

What does the battery state indicator in the LCD show?

If you put an SD card in it, will it take photos?



I've got an old D50 that I haven't used for years. My memory is a bit hazy, but IIRC, the rear display might only used for image playback - I don't *think* you can get a 'live' view on it.

I've got it on charge as I type to see whether the battery / camera still work. Happy to lend you battery and/or charger if they're still OK.

So, both the battery and the word clock flash when you turn the camera on. The manual says the flashing battery icon means the battery is exhausted and needs replacing. Flashing clock means the clock isn't set. So I bought a new battery but that hasn't changed things. It could be a faulty new battery (I did go for a brand though and bought duracell).

If you leave the camera on, eventually the flashing stops. But press any button and it starts again. It won't take photos, focus automatically or anything. When the battery isn't flashing if you press the menu button on the back there's the briefest flicker of an egg timer on the screen and then it's dead and the flashing starts again.

If you do have a known good battery, a try with that would be brilliant. I'd pay post etc of course! It would at least pin point the issue then!

 

[reb78]

Is there a button cell powered memory inside your camera that holds the basic programming .. it's likely it has died if there is

It does. And I suspect this may be the issue. It's a pretty involved strip down to get to it though and whilst I could probably take it apart I am not sure I'd succeed in not breaking it more!

 

[Misterg]

So, both the battery and the word clock flash when you turn the camera on. The manual says the flashing battery icon means the battery is exhausted and needs replacing. Flashing clock means the clock isn't set. So I bought a new battery but that hasn't changed things. It could be a faulty new battery (I did go for a brand though and bought duracell).

If you leave the camera on, eventually the flashing stops. But press any button and it starts again. It won't take photos, focus automatically or anything. When the battery isn't flashing if you press the menu button on the back there's the briefest flicker of an egg timer on the screen and then it's dead and the flashing starts again.

That behaviour sounds a lot like dirty / corroded battery contacts (the ones in the camera, probably) - might be worth giving them a scrape with a scalpel, or similar (they're tucked way up inside the battery compartment).

PM sent.

 

[Wozzaaah]

If you can see the contacts inside the battery compartment, dip the end of a wooden skewer in some ipa or contact cleaner and give them a good clean.

 

[Dapph2]

If you can see the contacts inside the battery compartment, dip the end of a wooden skewer in some ipa or contact cleaner and give them a good clean.

I did that to a pair of donated Makita 12 volt battery drills that I got given , they needed new batteries as they hadn't been used for over 20 years . Couldn't located genuine Makita batteries , so found suitable ones on AliExpress

Neither drill would work . On looking into the battery socket they were reasonably clean but to be sure I cleaned them with IPA . They still wouldn't work .. relooking in the battery hole I noticed that the rh contact on both drills was not as far into the chamber as the opposite contact. A quick adjustment with a long thin screw driver to bend it to the middle a bit more . refitted the batteries and suddenly both drill worked .

I wonder if the out of place contacts on both drills was the reason the drills had been abandoned to a work bench cupboard with the batteries still in place . Also in the cupboard there was also two intelligent chargers each with a battery in the socket and another two spare totally dead batteries on the same shelf .

I used one drill to pop four 6mmm holes through 1" mild steel bar without any problem yesterday afternoon fully discharging one battery and using a new fully charged one for the last few mm of the last hole .

 

[reb78]

If you can see the contacts inside the battery compartment, dip the end of a wooden skewer in some ipa or contact cleaner and give them a good clean.

Thanks. Tried that. Its definitely registering the battery too as the LCD display on the top comes on when the battery is inserted. But it wont perform any functions and the rear screen wont work at all. Tried a new battery too.

I've since bought a second hand D610 which has about four times the megapixels than the D50. I wanted something that would utilise my dads lenses as these are pretty good and the D610 will do that well.

I might try and get the D50 repaired as he has one DX lens that I think can sit on that, but the others weirdly were all FX so will work better on the D610 as a full frame camera I think. Trouble is I could buy another D50 for about £50 and I suspect a repair will cost a lot more than that. I havent got to it yet but will contact @Robotstar5 s friend at some point.

 

[Farside]

I've since bought a second hand D610 which has about four times the megapixels than the D50. I wanted something that would utilise my dads lenses as these are pretty good and the D610 will do that well.

You'll like the D610.
I got a D600 a couple of years ago, on the basis that the shutter problems were likely sorted out and I had a year's warranty to cover it anyway.
It's been a peach of a camera. More than sufficient resolution for my old F-mount manuals and it's no slouch with modern-ish F-mounts either.

 

[reb78]

You'll like the D610.
I got a D600 a couple of years ago, on the basis that the shutter problems were likely sorted out and I had a year's warranty to cover it anyway.
It's been a peach of a camera. More than sufficient resolution for my old F-mount manuals and it's no slouch with modern-ish F-mounts either.

Excellent. It seemed to suit landscape and portrait pictures more than some others. Looked at the D7100 as well but perhaps less suited to my lenses and more for wildlife from what I read. The D610 certainly seems to take a nice photo from the few I have taken so far.

I used to be quite into photography back in the days of the traditional film SLR - had a nice camera and lenses back then but kinda fell out of love with it as a hobby when all my kit suddenly became largely obsolete. We want pictures for the house and had been looking at local landscapes as taken by local photographers - we are between Dartmoor and Bodmin and there is a are a lot of scenic areas here. We walk a lot and it stimulated me to get dads old camera out as i thought why not take those photos myself as getting them printed on frames is dead easy these days. Hence i got to this point of buying a new camera!