D300 cold weather problem?

Hi all,

I got my D300 a few weeks ago. Last week and the week before I noticed a problem in cold weather (actually, not that cold).

The meter usually shuts down after a few seconds of inactivity, that's normal. You half-depress the shutter release and everything comes back to life. That's what I've been used to with the other 6 Nikon bodies I've owned.
What I noticed with my D300 is that in lower temps, after the meter shuts down, the camera won't come back to life by depressing the shutter button (or any other button for that matter--can't access the menus either). I have to turn the camera off and then back on and then everything is fine until the meter shuts down again. This happened at about 40 degrees F and also at about 20 degrees, temeratures that shouldn't really affect the camera. The batteries each had at least 75% charge on them.
The rep at Nikon service had not heard of that problem before and I'm wondering if anybody else has run across it.

I've tried the usual tricks of pulling the batteries out and putting them back in. Looks like more experimentation is in order.

any thoughts?

In about 5000 cycles of winter use I have once had the Nimh batteries in the grip appear dead as per the camera. I have used it in much colder conditions than you describe for hours without issue. However, there is a discussion on NikonCafe that you might find interesting. It discusses a number of D300 problems.

Scott

I was using one in freezing temperatures last weekend and experienced no problems ( apart from my hands seizing to the tripod legs !)

If the battery is over half charged, this doesn't sound normal. I've been using my D80 for the past two months in temperatures that were generally below zero (F) wtih no problems. Camera didn't have the problem you report you had at +20 when I was using mine at --25. Maybe the D300 just pulls a lot more current because of the live view etc? Try shutting off the live view maybe?


Kent in SD

No problems here. Haven been freezing my butt of twice while using this camera. The camera is definately more cold-proof than I am.

Basil

I'm not using live view and I have the camera set so the display does not come automatically, so I don't think it's a battery issue unless the camera is incorrectly reading the battery levels. I think that happened with early versions of the F100. Who knows.
I haven't been able to find a chance to test it further. Maybe I'll stick it in the refigerator for awhile
thanks for all the suggestions

Really Rod, from what I've been hearing on other sites in addition to this discussion, you ought to be able to put it in the freezer (other than the battery).

I've had mine in 4 degrees F with no problem. Sorry to hear yours is giving you difficulty. Now I've got to go check NikonCafe because my 300 has been superb. It actually seems to pull less power, as far as the battery life goes.