Thank you for the results being posted here... I am changing the title so it is more clearly found.

I am sorry to reply so late!
It is a D800.
I have a FX lens mounted, of course. If I had mounted a DX lens then there would be no point in posting. Lens data did not reset anything by moving from FX to DX lenses.

It appears it was a software fault, I took the main battery out, turned the camera ON (to ensure open circuits) and let the on board battery run down completely. When I put the EnEL15 back in, I had to reprogram everything, meaning; even the copyright and artist bank. The grey bars are gone while in the FX mode as they should be, I can now mount FX or DX and have it default correctly and not leave a 5:4 crop view with cutouts for the VR on the right side.

A strange software glitch, but after over 40 years as a programmer I know that once in a while software just "hangs up" for no reason and sometimes only does it once. A complete restart from ZERO often solves the issue as it did here, what we used to call a software lobotomy by alloiwng all power to completely dissipate.

However, if it happens AGAIN, then off to Nikon Europe it goes!

I bet its a D4. Lens data should cancel out the crop mode if you change between a DX and FX lens. Let us know more, I might know of some basic suggestions to help. I am decent at troubleshooting Nikons from time to time...

1 question, which lens is mounted ( FX or DX ) ?

This sounds like a D800 or D800E...maybe you could be so kind to let us know. Then, we will start a new thread on specific problems of whatever it is... or is it a D4?

After several hours of trying to get the viewfinder view out of the 5:4 crop view (the photos still come out in total coverage), I got ahold of Nikon Europe for a resolution. They have none and suspect a software fault.

So here is what I have and so far I am the only one who has reported it:

Screen Mode is set to FX but displays grey "crop" area on the right and left of the view screen, the viewfinder gird is off and there are clear lines running to where they would be black if I was viewing the grid in FX mode.

There is a cutout that fits the FN Assigned Virt. Horizon Meters on the right side. When I change to 54 I get the same grey bars but without the clear artifacts and cutout I get in FX mode.

So 5:4, 1:2 and DX all display their views correctly. Only FX is the problem, and yet I am able to take full photos. The grey bars are the same darkness as the other crop views.

Yes, A5 is set to OFF.

This happened AFTER I downloaded the Lens Distortion Firmware Update 1.006, I have currently A=1.00 B=1.01 L=1.006. This is a Euro Nikon with Euro numbers and will be serviced in either the UK or Russia, depending on where I send it.

I can live with this, as this is a minor problem, but as an ex-programmer I know that minor problems may be the flag for something else. The great news is that I do have an early Euro serial number and there are NO AF ISSUES, so YAY!

Nikon Europe is aware that I have this problem and the moment I am unable to get FX photos, as if the screen view would force my format to 5:4 crop, in it goes for a some software tweaking.

So why am I not sending it in now? Well, it is under warranty, they have recorded my problem and I will continue to shoot to see if there are any other issues that might be related. Perhaps if this happens to someone else we may come up with a reason and or fix for it. Too many years of debugging software under my belt to just give up!

Otherwise, this is an amazing camera and I am absolutely 100% satisfied with my output, well, except for my occasional soft photo due to me NOT staying still.