First “freeze” with a Z8

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ajrmd

ajrmd

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I’ve had my Z8’s for over a year and through several FW iterations the bodies have never experienced as much as a functional hiccup. Today, while shooting in mid-70 degree, low humidity, early morning conditions, the Z8’s EVF suddenly went dark without warning. I took my eye away from the evf and the back lcd didn’t turn on. The shutter still fired and it took a manual power down to restore the evf/LCD and reset the camera. Battery level was about 1/3rd, it was attached to my 800 PF, a 650 MB cobalt CFE and latest camera/lens fw. After the freeze the camera functioned normally, without any further issues the rest of the shoot. Has anyone encountered this glitch?
 
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I’ve had a Z8 since early January. I’ve used it in cold wintry weather, during cool drizzly days, and in more recent warm humid weather. No problems with it whatsoever.
 
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ajrmd said:
I’ve had my Z8’s for over a year and through several FW iterations the bodies have never experienced as much as a functional hiccup. Today, while shooting in mid-70 degree, low humidity, early morning conditions, the Z8’s EVF suddenly went dark without warning. I took my eye away from the evf and the back lcd didn’t turn on. The shutter still fired and it took a manual power down to restore the evf/LCD and reset the camera. Battery level was about 1/3rd, it was attached to my 800 PF, a 650 MB cobalt CFE and latest camera/lens fw. After the freeze the camera functioned normally, without any further issues the rest of the shoot. Has anyone encountered this glitch?
Click to expand...
Yep, mine froze for the first time just two days ago. Latest firmware installed. Popping the battery out and replacing it resolved the problem. I’ve had other bodies do the same, so not overly worried at this point. Will keep an eye on it, though.
 
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Jerry Heitschmidt said:
Yep, mine froze for the first time just two days ago. Latest firmware installed. Popping the battery out and replacing it resolved the problem. I’ve had other bodies do the same, so not overly worried at this point. Will keep an eye on it, though.
Click to expand...
Similar issue or something different and would you care to describe?
 
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A black body in 70 degree temps in direct sun can easily raise the temps of the camera by as much as 20° or more before even considering the normal heat the camera creates when in use. With the known issue that the camera has with heat disapation, that could be enough maybe cause some hiccups like this.

Myself along for almost a dozen friends shoot together regularly with the Z9 haven't ever had any hiccups or hear issue. One friend got the white Arctic Snow camo RolanPro lens cover and an Arctic Bank body skin for the sole purpose of reflecting the sun as he shoots about 19 air shows wl every summer. Using a heat/temp gun, he said those covers make about a 25° temp difference than without them .The tarmac's he's on often can reach as high as 140°f. Again before he got those Arctic covers, he still had no issues with heat with the Z9
 
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EricKlees said:
They haven't. I have one on my Z9 as well. Have been in 4° and as high as 114° with a black camo skin on my Z9 and I've never seen a hot camera or card working
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You’re taking Z9. I also shot the blue angels with a Z9 under the Florida sun. The angel bird card throttled. Not the Z9.

My questions is about the Z8, would a skin help with its heat, dissipation issues
 
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Jerry Heitschmidt said:
Yep, mine froze for the first time just two days ago. Latest firmware installed. Popping the battery out and replacing it resolved the problem. I’ve had other bodies do the same, so not overly worried at this point. Will keep an eye on it, though.
Click to expand...
ajrmd said:
Similar issue or something different and would you care to describe?
Click to expand...
It was locked up upon powering up. The top LCD panel was on, but nothing else was responsive, including the power switch. Just popping the battery out and replacing solved the issue. (Heat had nothing to do with it.)
 
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JoelKlein said:
You’re taking Z9. I also shot the blue angels with a Z9 under the Florida sun. The angel bird card throttled. Not the Z9.

My questions is about the Z8, would a skin help with its heat, dissipation issues
Click to expand...
I use the Cobalt card and have since day one with the Z9. The Cobalt cards asking with the Delkin Black cards are the 2 coolest running cards. I've heard of the Angel Bird throwing his card warnings.

The skins may help when in the sun with regards to hear, bit the Z8 is already known for it's hear issues so you'd have to try it. I would venture at best it's 50/50 it's a skin will help
 
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I don't think my "freeze" was heat or card related as both the LCD and EVF went black though the top LCD was still working as was the shutter and it continued to take pictures. It seemed more like an operational glitch and I provided the context for completeness.
 
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ajrmd said:
I don't think my "freeze" was heat or card related as both the LCD and EVF went black though the top LCD was still working as was the shutter and it continued to take pictures. It seemed more like an operational glitch and I provided the context for completeness.
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Nikon needs to know about this.
 
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I've probably had 3-4 camera lockups since getting the Z8 about year ago. In all cases it was quickly resolved by either turning the camera Off and back On or by removing and reinserting the battery.

I don't have any pattern. Definitely not related to overheating or highest frame rates. Always was with Z lenses.

It has never been a serious enough issue to contact Nikon about service or even to report the issue. I have no ability to replicate the issue. I'm not worried about it.
 
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ajrmd said:
I’ve had my Z8’s for over a year and through several FW iterations the bodies have never experienced as much as a functional hiccup. Today, while shooting in mid-70 degree, low humidity, early morning conditions, the Z8’s EVF suddenly went dark without warning. I took my eye away from the evf and the back lcd didn’t turn on. The shutter still fired and it took a manual power down to restore the evf/LCD and reset the camera. Battery level was about 1/3rd, it was attached to my 800 PF, a 650 MB cobalt CFE and latest camera/lens fw. After the freeze the camera functioned normally, without any further issues the rest of the shoot. Has anyone encountered this glitch?
Click to expand...
WOW isn't that strange, My 4 week old Z8 is going into Nikon, Thursday night city shoot using the 50mm 1.8s, twice the Z8 locked up going fully off and totally unresponsive, took several restarts each time to get it going.

At several stages could not pull up images taken to review, it just wouldn't respond.

Also at several shots the focusing just wouldn't respond at all.

Its the similar issue to the Z9 in the early days till it finally had a dummy spit.

Not happy
 
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Nikon QC issues when they happen generally have a habit of reoccurring several times ???

I am not going through this risky agonizing drama like i did with the Z9, i am demanding a replacement Z8 or else.

Not happy again
 
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I haven't had this happen with my Z8. Yet.

Last Wed I shot a very exciting band who did their encore by coming down into the audience and singing cantando surrounded by their fans. If the Z8 had frozen up then, I think I would have stroked out.

o_O
 
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Never happened on my Z8, but it is a bit alarming that it has happened to more than one person here. (Especially given the two recalls they had to do with the first batches). I live in Tucson so I definitely shoot in the heat. However, I do not do high frame burst or video, so maybe that is a factor?
 
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Jerry Heitschmidt said:
Yep, mine froze for the first time just two days ago. Latest firmware installed. Popping the battery out and replacing it resolved the problem. I’ve had other bodies do the same, so not overly worried at this point. Will keep an eye on it, though.
Click to expand...
I had a Z7II that would lock up on me at the worst possible moments, wedding event. I sent the camera back to Nikon three times. They even asked me to send in my memory cards which I did. They didn't find anything wrong with the cards. Since they forgot to ask me to send the batteries and it was my third time sending it back they gave me a new body. They couldn't be 100% but they were 99% sure it was one of my batteries causing the issue. They suggested I discard the batteries and buy new. I did just that. I bought brand new Nikon batteries for the new Z7II body they sent me and haven't had a problem since. When I got the Z8 I bought an extra battery for it, a brand new Nikon battery. I've done a pet photo shoot, wildlife, photoshoot at the shelter and the northern lights (which were visible at my latitude) and I haven't had that problem. For now I'm inclined to agree about it being the batteries. As a side note, Steve is correct about memory cards when there is a problem with formatting them in camera. It's best to throw away the card and buy new. Not all batteries and cards are perfect even the battery that came in the box with the camera body. I now label my batteries so that if one is potentially causing a problem I know exactly which one it is. Yes, I change batteries during a shoot, I toss them in the bag etc. etc. with all the other batteries. I'm better organized now.
 
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I have two Z8 cameras and have never had a lockup on either one and I've shot thousands of shots with them. I do have an Angelbird 1T card, will I have problems with that? Maybe not a good buy? I also have Delkin cards but thought having a 1T would be good since the Delkins are only 150GB. I had a Z9 and it never locked up either. Is it a problem due to the most recent update? I haven't put that one on yet.
 
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Patty said:
I had a Z7II that would lock up on me at the worst possible moments, wedding event. I sent the camera back to Nikon three times. They even asked me to send in my memory cards which I did. They didn't find anything wrong with the cards. Since they forgot to ask me to send the batteries and it was my third time sending it back they gave me a new body. They couldn't be 100% but they were 99% sure it was one of my batteries causing the issue. They suggested I discard the batteries and buy new. I did just that. I bought brand new Nikon batteries for the new Z7II body they sent me and haven't had a problem since. When I got the Z8 I bought an extra battery for it, a brand new Nikon battery. I've done a pet photo shoot, wildlife, photoshoot at the shelter and the northern lights (which were visible at my latitude) and I haven't had that problem. For now I'm inclined to agree about it being the batteries. As a side note, Steve is correct about memory cards when there is a problem with formatting them in camera. It's best to throw away the card and buy new. Not all batteries and cards are perfect even the battery that came in the box with the camera body. I now label my batteries so that if one is potentially causing a problem I know exactly which one it is. Yes, I change batteries during a shoot, I toss them in the bag etc. etc. with all the other batteries. I'm better organized now.
Click to expand...
A battery failure would likely cause the camera to lock up entirely. That's not what happened in my case where the EVF/LCD suddenly went dark while the shutter and dials still worked and captured images. So, it probably wasn't the battery, card, or some user input which makes the whole thing a bit more un-nerving. The fact that after the power off/reset it started functioning properly may point to a FW issue which of all things would be the better outcome rather than a failing board, connector, etc. We'll have to see how it pans out.
 
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ajrmd said:
I’ve had my Z8’s for over a year and through several FW iterations the bodies have never experienced as much as a functional hiccup. Today, while shooting in mid-70 degree, low humidity, early morning conditions, the Z8’s EVF suddenly went dark without warning. I took my eye away from the evf and the back lcd didn’t turn on. The shutter still fired and it took a manual power down to restore the evf/LCD and reset the camera. Battery level was about 1/3rd, it was attached to my 800 PF, a 650 MB cobalt CFE and latest camera/lens fw. After the freeze the camera functioned normally, without any further issues the rest of the shoot. Has anyone encountered this glitch?
Click to expand...
I had this issue three times since new. The last time it wouldn’t even turn off. Had to do a battery pull. I just got around to the strap recall return last month. I really don’t use the normal straps so it wasn’t a priority for me. But since Nikon was paying for the shipping, I filled a second claim on the freeze-up issue. Their response was to replace the main board. Since then no issues.
 
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JoelKlein said:
My questions is about the Z8, would a skin help with its heat, dissipation issues
Click to expand...
Joel, I'm not sure I would talk about heat dissipation issues on the Z8. The camera has been out for like a year now, and I don't remember reading on any forums about the Z8 overheating to the point of locking up. Yes, it may run hotter than the Z9 in some scenarios, especially when doing video work, and these cameras have thermal cut-out switches built in to protect them from an overheating situation. Also, there have been numerous reports about some memory cards running warmer than others, especially with video work. Calling it a heat dissipation issue in the Z8 implies bad design, and I'm not sure I buy that.
 
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