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D7000 Flash Buzzing

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Lare

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Joined: Oct '12
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Let me preface my inquiry by telling you all that I've been lurking on this forum for about a year while I made up my mind to switch from Canon to the dark side. (What? Because of the lens colors, of course!)

Anyway I picked up a D7000 on a really good deal and this last weekend I took it out to put it (and me) through some paces.

I came across something and I don't know if it's indicative of a problem or not, so who better to turn to than the people who have been teaching me about Nikon for months?

I was out in about 29 degree (that F, about -2 C) temperatures and I went to use the on-board flash for some fill. When I flipped it up, instead of charging quickly and silently, there was a very audible buzz that lasted for about a second. Having the flash-ready indicator on, I took the shot. The exposure was accurate and there was no more buzzing. I switched the flash off, took a bunch of available light shots, then needed fill flash again. Same thing. About a second of buzz, then everything seemed to be normal.

I can't reproduce the noise at room temperature. And I've since moved back to my home climate which is about 25 degrees warmer. (I live in Arizona.) The battery pack was fully charged (and had been inside my nice warm car) immediately before the first instance. The second time, the battery pack had fewer than 60 shots on it.

This happened once with the camera in aperture priority mode, standard picture type and once in program mode. Nothing strange in the settings that I can think of. No flash compensation dialed in.

D7000 owners in particular: Is this normal, or is there something wrong with my beautiful new toy?

Posted 7 months ago #
spraynpray

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Joined: Feb '10
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If, by 'buzzing' you mean a sound which has an irregular, elecrical arcing sound to it, then you have a fault. If it is a high pitched whistle which increases in pitch as the flash circuit charges, then that is audible on most cameras to a varying degree. My D7000 has only the feint increasing pitch whistle of the flash charging.

Are the pictures correctly exposed? Does the sound occur after a 'heavy' discharge? By heavy I mean if you just point it up in the air so there is nothing for it to illuminate.

As it sounds like you have only had it a few days, I would take it back to the shop and swap it if I were you. At least you could compare it with another as one persons description of a sound can be subjective.

HTH.

Posted 7 months ago #
msmoto

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Joined: Mar '10
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If it works properly, I would not worry about it unless it is under warranty in which case I would contact Nikon with the question. If the camera was in the cold for an hour or more, the unit may simply make noise as it warms up. Others on NRF may have some other ideas.

The primary concern when going from cold to warm is to have the camera in a bag so it will acclimate to the ambient temperature slowly and thus prevent condensation.

Posted 7 months ago #
Lare

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Joined: Oct '12
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Well, I was able to duplicate it and I'll post the steps I took:

I put the camera in program mode, popped up the flash, waited for it to charge (I can almost hear the capacitor charging), then I press and hold the DoF preview button. The flash comes on--actually on, not just a flash--and buzzes for about a second, then the flash goes off and the noise stops.

I can press the preview button again and repeat it. But if i I try a third time, the flash won't come on nor will it buzz. If I wait a few moments, then I can repeat the whole thing. I'm inclined to think that this noise is something that will just happen with the flash staying on for that length of time but would appreciate hearing if someone else can get the same effect.

This was a mail order purchase, so if I can avoid sending it back--especially if there's nothing out of the ordinary--that would be my preference.

Posted 7 months ago #
msmoto

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Joined: Mar '10
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Just to make certain this is not something else...some of the VR lenses make a "buzzing" sound as they are in VR mode. But if this is occurring with you and it is not a VR lens, that would not be a factor.

I do believe I would contact the seller and inform them of the situation. Request they acknowledge the information from you in case a more severe problem presents later on, such as a failure of the flash unit. Larger flash heads can make noise, but I have not heard of this with a built-in flash.

Posted 7 months ago #
parke1953

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Joined: Jul '12
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Lare- This is normal. It is the modeling flash going off. Look in your manual under modeling flash. The flash is repeating.

Posted 7 months ago #
spraynpray

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Joined: Feb '10
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I would suggest you do a two button reset to get you back to factory settings.

Posted 7 months ago #
Lare

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Joined: Oct '12
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@msmoto, Good thought. Turned off the VR and no difference. (And I never would have thought of checking that!)

@parke1953, Thanks, among the 400+ pages of the manual I'd forgotten this feature. I concur that it's what is happening, but is the sound normal while it does it? At this point I couldn't swear that my frozen fingers didn't hit the DoF button by accident when it first happend.

Posted 7 months ago #
parke1953

senior member
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 100
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Late- I think the sound is normal. My D80 and D800 do it only when there is repeating flash. Everyone can try it?

Posted 7 months ago #
Lare

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Joined: Oct '12
Posts: 11
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I dropped by a local retailer and, although they didn't have a D7000 handy, they let me try it with a D600.

Besides making me want a D600, I can report that the D600 makes the same sound as my D7000 while the modelling flash is firing.

Thanks, everybody.

Posted 7 months ago #

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D7000 Flash Buzzing

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