Thanks lamarfrancois thats the nearest anyone has come to identifying the fault.
R8R Does my other D700 and the 4 D200's I have count as back up?

sportsunday said:
I suppose what I mean is the camera is shooting but not recording anything and the mirropr is staying locked up after each shot.

This indicates something is faulty, and needs to be repaired. I don't think any suggestion here is going to fix it. Internet forums don't replace parts, repair technicians do. Just cause one guy on the phone was stumped doesn't mean it can't be fixed. Send it in.

And if you earn a living with this D700, why do you not have a back up for it? That's what backups are for.

I had to get my D300 recently serviced for something sounding like this - the mirror would return up after the shot and wouldn't return unless the dof preview was tapped (and a lot of the time the lens had to be removed entirely). When the mirror was up the shutter worked fine and an image would be recorded - the camera didn't give an ERR indication , so auto-exposure (and phase-detect AF) didn't work at all.

This kind of fault will get worse over time - first it was say 1 shot in 5 , then I could force it to stick the mirror up if I shot over f/8 or so nearly every time. Then it would do this nearly every time even at f/2.8 (and I'd have to take the lens off to get the mirror back up) at which point I had to get it serviced. The aperture lever module ("I base plate") and main charge capacitor base plate had to be replaced , set me back £350 or so over here.

From what I gather it's quite common amongst D300 and possibly D700 bodies to develop this fault with the aperture lever mechanism , so definitely worth looking into.

I suppose what I mean is the camera is shooting but not recording anything and the mirropr is staying locked up after each shot.
As for changing lenses with camera switched on or not switching off during transit come on, I've earned my living as a photographer for the past 25 years so leave out the lectures.

>>When mirror locked I can still take a pic so lond as I focus on manual or take of the lens. Of course I dont get an image as nothing is in focus because the mirror is up.
<<

You are not making sence at all here : you can only take pictures when the mirror is " up" , you cannot take a picture with the mirror down cause the mirror is in the lightpath then...

From what you write it seems to me that you do not switch off your camera when changing lenses or on transport so my advice :

Do not take your lenses off when the camera is switched on, this may cause electrical damage to your camera ( RTFM ..)

Always switch your camera off when on transport, this locks the VR in the lens as well as the mirror in down position , protecting your camera better

Furthermore I'd say : try seting the auto cleaning to off, because when autocleaning is busy, you cannot take a picture, and it looks like the mirror is "up"during that process, mirror cleaning is only neccesary when its dirty..

Not sure about liveview working, next time it jams I will try.
R8R I have spoken with Nikon a few times and the guy said it would probably be a waste of time and money sending it in as the fault is so erratic the would not be able to reproduce it.
From what I've heard of Nikon repair centre they are not very good.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Nikon's technicians could probably diagnose the issue better than some amateur photographers through their keyboards on an internet forum.

Whatever it is, it should probably be repaired. To have it repaired, it should be sent in. If you send it in, they can clean, lube and adjust it too. Win/win.

Or you could hold the camera up to your monitor and let it read all of these posts and see if it self-corrects based on our suggestions...

Can you use LiveView during this time? What do you mean by "I don't get an image"? Is it totally black or just out of focus?

If it's totally black then it might be a shutter problem instead of a mirror issue...

Thanks everyone.
The cleaner is "on".
When mirror locked I can still take a pic so lond as I focus on manual or take of the lens. Of course I dont get an image as nothing is in focus because the mirror is up.
I do not get an ERROR message.
R8R Thanks but when I am out working I dont have the time for experiments but good idea.
Keep em coming.

@ R8R... I agree...place camera in plastic bag, into freezer for an hour, then go out in the cold and see if the problem exists simply because of the cold.

sportsunday said:
There is no point sending off to Nikon as I cannot reproduce the fault and I know it will come back as "fault not found".

I'd have to disagree. Send it in for servicing/cleaning/lubrication/calibration. Sounds like something is sticking in the cold and having it serviced might solve this.

One thing that may help to replicate the problem at home is to carry a thermometer with you when out on a shoot. Record the temp and find out what the humidity, barometric pressure is, etc. Try to replicate all of the conditions as closely as possible back at home and see if this is repeatable. All of this info might help them replicate or at least understand the issue when you send it in.

If it doesn't solve this, at least the camera would be cleaned and serviced which is never a bad idea.

heartyfisher said:
When the mirror is "locked up", did you say you can still take picture? IE. is the power still going to the main systems?

I will assume this is the error that comes up and says something along the lines to hit the shutter to reset the mirror and then it will proceed to take pictures as normal. I have only seen this happen with I dropped my camera.

DutchNikon said:
Question : Do you switch your camera off after usage ?
If switched of there should be no effect what so ever when "bumping" the camera controls during transport.
Question 2 : DO you have set sensor cleaning upon switching the camera on, to On ?
If so then the camera needs a sec or so before you can use it after switching on.

You make a good point...the only way this could be happening is if the camera either has power and is giving the camera the signal to put the mirror up. Or the camera is being jostled. Even if not being jostled in the bag itself, but the bag being banged around...but this usually take a bit to get the mirror to do this...mine took a drop from ~5 ft onto rocks for that to happen.

When the mirror is "locked up", did you say you can still take picture? IE. is the power still going to the main systems?

Question : Do you switch your camera off after usage ?
If switched of there should be no effect what so ever when "bumping" the camera controls during transport.
Question 2 : DO you have set sensor cleaning upon switching the camera on, to On ?
If so then the camera needs a sec or so before you can use it after switching on.

@ sportsunday

This phenomenon has occurred with automobiles. When cold enough, the wires may contract and connection is lost in one of the mechanical connectors. The result for the automobile was no electrical service in the vehicle. This occurred in a fuse box connection on a car in about the 1970's. A baffling situation as the car would be fine when in the shop and kept warm, but when home with its owner...

I wonder if there is a connection somewhere possibly with the mirror or the motor/servo which drives the mirror which could be creating the same temperature related electrical connection issue?

Thought this might stump you!
More info, Fault first showed on 21.July 2012 on a race in the lakes.
After camping overnight the morning was cold and damp (not raining)Camera was kept in a PELI case. Not banged or knocked to my knowledge. Since then I have shot numerous weddings with it (both indoors and out but warmer).
No rain water penetration.
Have spoken with Nikon UK a coupla times and its got them beat as well.
It seems to be a cold temp/mirror lock up issue.
Have uploaded updates to no avail.
Really frustrating as when it works its great but when I really need it the camera lets me down.

Have tried carrying camera round my neck and on a sling, no diffrent.
I can almost forecast that if I use the camera at home, no probs. If I drive to a location and transport the camera any distance it will not work.

Have tried leaving it in the cold outside for a short while and also fridge and could not reproduce the fault.

Could one of the controls have been bumped in the bag? Or the camera switched on in the bag? Second release button...bumped in bag? As this is not reproducible out of the bag, it would seem the most likely issue is one of the controls being moved while in transit.

How cold is cold sportsunday? I'm guessing we're not talking arctic!? Can you reproduce the problem by puting the camera in the fridge at home? If you can, you could at least confirm it's the temperature that's the problem and nothing else? I presume you don't have a problem in the summer?

If anyone can solve this they are a genius.
My D700 is perhaps 18 months old.
I shoot a lot of sports events.
If I take the camera out of its bag at home it works fine, no probs with anything.
When I am at an event which may mean walking say 1 mile along a track in a forrest and take it out of the bag this is what happens. The mirror locks up and I need to fire the shutter again to restore.
Last week I carryed the camera about 2 miles, in a bag so no knocking or bumping. The first shot and the mirror locked, I then did approx 130 shots with no change and no images.
I put away the camera and shot the job on my D200.
I have just pulled the camera out of the bag and it worked fine right away.
I seem to have no problem on weddings just when its out in the cold.
There is no point sending off to Nikon as I cannot reproduce the fault and I know it will come back as "fault not found".
Using full batts,grip on or off does not make any difference, nor does changing lenses.
I have tried all things such as cleaning batt contacts.
Solve this if you can.