Help

Been to the lakes for a week and an old problem has occurred, first noticed in october thought it was the lens but it has returned... if anyone had experience of this or any ideas... you can see for the image what the issue is but some background may help you to help me...

Only occurs on long exposure with a 10stop.
It is not the filter as i swapped filters with a chap at blea tarn and the same thing happened
It is not the lens as i am using a new one, i assumed it was the lens when i first noticed it but this was taken with a different lens
it is therefore the camera
my d800 is 6months old bought from the no longer with us Jessops....

BTW this is the most severe it was, it is often slighter and the last shot i took it was not there!

Any ideas on diagnosis or course of action would be great....

If it were a film camera I say it was a light leak! Your nearest Nikon dealer should be able to help - I'd take it to them for a looksie.

It could be internal stray light reflections - Do you use a shutter blind to block out light entering through the eyepiece if you do not have your eye to the camera back/eyepiece on long exposures?

I used to get this with an old Zenith camera many years ago and, as Dawn says, it was down to a light leak. With a long digital exposure I think that light getting in through the eyepiece is the first thing to check. Most recent camera come with a little piece of plastic to block the viewfinder for this very purpose.

David

Thanks all, oh now thats very interesting, i did not think about light coming into the back of the camera via the view finder... i shall experiment in the am.... thanks all, David was that the d600 that had that piece of plastic? i will check the 800 box...

That is exactly right,Phil. I almost threw it away as a useless piece of plastic, but it is beginning to appear more useful! Good luck.

David

Hi Phil what lens did you have on the camera.

Phil.

Thanks David, Hi Phil, first time in october 24 - 70 then with this 24pce...

Well it does not look like lens flare nor shutter so I will agree with above comments.

I would go with the need to cap off the viewfinder Phil. If you can't find the plastic cover use a piece of thick material draped over the top of the camera. I usually wear a cap and sometimes use that sat over the top of the camera.

Nick.

Phil
The D800 is known to have several firmware problems that still haven't been fixed so far, a friend of mine has one that either shuts down every so often and he has to remove the battery or it displays only half the image on the rear display and a few times he has had a similar thing happen to yours, unfortunately updating the firmware hasnt cured any of them on his. as far as i know he is not the only one with these continuing problems. Nikon are still trying to sort them out.

Ian

The shutter blind is a habit you need to get into Phil, but it would not produce this effect if you are manually exposing UNLESS there's actually a light leak around the edge of the focussing screen.

I'd naturally suspect the knuckle of the PCE for this, but if you had the effect with a 24-70 as well then that's a little doubtful.

Has it only occurred with the camera a la portrait orientation, and if so was the camera tipped on a side you don't usually tip it on - loose lens mount screw could be a possibility if that's the case - tip one way it's under compression, but the other way there's a minuscule gap???

Clutching at straws perhaps, but it sure needs sorting fast.

Hi Phil some of the 24-70 leak light from the focus distance scale on the lens, i've not heard of any on the PC-E lenes but have you had the mod done on the PC-E.

Phil.

Hi Phil, the ice (like all my lenses) is second hand, I am unaware of it being modified though...

Hi Phil this is the link for the mod on the PC-E.

Phil.

pce link
https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/24683

24-70 light leak
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-10053-10796

Cheers Phil