memory access light blinking intermitent with camera turned off

brighamuk

New member
hi all. My 3 three year old D750 has started doing strange things with the Memory access light and draining the batteries overnight. at first i thought it was the vr lens as vr was switched to on, switched it off and light still blinks. looked at a couple of other forum sites and i feel i am not on my own as one chap having the same problem on a D800e and then it also cropped up on people using D90,s. so far i can only stop this from happening if i remove batteries or leave batteries in and remove memory cards.
I have live chatted to nikon uk but because i am using trancend sd xc i cards and not allways nikon official batteries they were not much help apart from asking me to send it to nikon
my question after all this is . anyone with a D750 having the same problem ?
cheers
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I haven't experienced this but am having shutter errors that I think are software related. In conversations with Nikon, there isn't any way for them to remove and replace the software so I am tolerating this problem. They don't think that replacing my shutter will alleviate the problem. I have no idea whether your issue is software related though.

You can always remove the cards overnight and see if that stops the battery drain. If possible, try another brand card even if you only use one of the slots.
 

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
Memory access light........... light still blinks

The blinking light means the camera is trying to write to the memory card... If in fact, a picture has not been taken, and the light is blinking, that means the camera's memory card is "seeking" the memory card... IOW, the camera thinks it should be seeing something on the card that it isn't. Typically this is either a physical problem with the memory card, or a problem with the card's FAT (File Allocation Table)

Try formatting the card in the camera and see if this resolves your problem... If that doesn't fix it, then there may be a physical problem with that memory card... If after formatting a new different card in the camera, the problem persists, then I'd suggest there's something wrong with the camera's card slot...

If the D750 has two card slots... I'd try the above processes in each of the slots to see if only one slot is creating the problem
 

brighamuk

New member
Hi hark. Yes my only options now are 1. Remove battery 2. Remove memory cards. I just wasn't too happy with Nikon cos I know from being on other forums that this issue is more widespread in its affect. Reports from d800 and d90 owners having the very same problem. The Nikon operative went thru the standard list of checks, ie firmware updates , Nikon authorised memory cards, Nikon only batteries in use. After passing all these test it is left only to return the camera to factory, bearing in mind that this has already been the subject of 2 recalls, I feel somewhat peeved
 

brighamuk

New member
hi Fred thanks for getting back to me on this issue I have taken onboard what you say and will give it a go and get back to you later
 

hark

Administrator
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Super Mod
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....After passing all these test it is left only to return the camera to factory, bearing in mind that this has already been the subject of 2 recalls, I feel somewhat peeved

Performing the factory reset only clears the shooting menu (according to a Nikon rep I spoke with). Not sure that is going to do anything. Like Fred mentioned, if the light is blinking, it might mean the card didn't fully write the images.

When the camera is off and I insert my card(s), the light blinks. So it might be a connection issue inside the card slot. I'd suggest starting with the card and reformat it like Fred mentioned. If you have a different card, reformat it first and give it a try. If the card is bad, using a different card should fix the issue unless there is a problem inside the card slot.

Since you said the problem doesn't happen if you remove the cards but leave the battery in the chamber, the issue definitely seems related to the card or the connection inside the card slot. Good luck!

EDIT: and be sure to visually check the metal connectors on the cards. Maybe they are scratched or damaged in some way.
 
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brighamuk

New member
hi hark. i now think that it could be the card slot issue as i have tried all suggestions and it still lights up intermittently. thanks for your help i may have to bite the bullet and send it back to factory. cheers
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
hi hark. i now think that it could be the card slot issue as i have tried all suggestions and it still lights up intermittently. thanks for your help i may have to bite the bullet and send it back to factory. cheers

If it were me, I'd take a flashlight and shine it in the card slot. Maybe there is a hair or something caught. If you see something, try using a rocketblower, but DON'T insert anything in there. Just my $0.02 as I try to exhaust all options. ;)
 

brighamuk

New member
hi agen hark. well its strange how things pan out i left my cards in camera last night and half expected to see a dead camera this morning and lo and behold its still sat there with a full charge and no blinking. now for the life of me i dont know what caused the fault i went thru all the suggestions in this forum ie .battery check.formatting of cards in camera.latest firmware installed(already uptodate).card removal.battery removal and battery grip removal,last thing blow out the slots. touching wood as we speak its holding at the moment thanks for your continued support on this matter i am very grateful
 

brighamuk

New member
hi moab man. ok thanks for the suggestion but that was one of my first moves and at the time it made no difference however as you can see by my last post to" hark" things seem to have sorted themselves out now, dont ask me how cos it could of been any one from 10 all i know is it seems to be behaving . thanks again
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
If there is a card reading problem, it can be in the card or reader. If you suspect the reader don't use a blower, because the contacts would not read at all if debris was preventing connection. If there is contact oxidation, it is not dirt but oxidation of the plated surface and can only be cleaned off with deoxidizing agents such as DeOxit which removes the surface oxygen binding with the metal forming an oxide of the metal, which is an insulator.

All metals react with oxygen but in varying degrees. The camera contacts are plated with a gold and other tougher metal mix and the other metal is more subject to oxidation, as are the card contacts. You can apply a very little amount of deoxidizer to the card contacts and insert the card a few times to resolve that problem if it was the cause in the first place. Since it seems to have been intermittent, and is working again, it just might be oxidation, the usual symptom. This happens most with contacts that are not used often so those who leave a card in all the time see this problem more than people swapping cards everyday.
The wiping action of insertion and retraction is usually enough to keep the contact area oxidation depth small. All metal surfaces become oxidized but frequent use keeps the insulating properties of a thin layer of oxide below the electron barrier potential.
If you ever turn on an old analog stereo that has not been used for a long time, the volume and treble controls are often scratchy sounding but one that is used frequently where the controls or turned, don't have that problem. That is oxidation and a quick application of de-oxidizer resolves that problem instantly.

Controlled oxidation is essential to protect metals and in fact all modern electronics relies on it...every semiconductor in your computer relies on the insulating properties of silicon oxide blocking the flow of electrons for example. The un-oxidized silicon is a conductor but applying a thin layer of oxidized silicon allows controlling current flow, only a few molecules thick

The grip contacts on my D800 do the same thing but not on my D7000.
A warning, unless specifically designated as a deoxidizer, don't use anything labeled as contact cleaner on any electronic device contacts, it can only make it worse.
 

brighamuk

New member
thanks for your very descriptive reply stan. you have read my posts/replies on here and i can say now that having followed all the suggestions offered this problem persists, only this morning the access light was blinking and no other way to get it to stop apart from removing the memory cards. have spoken to nikon uk and they hint that its because i am using a non authorised card in the form of trancend 64gb sd xc 1 but i dont see it as these cards have been on the camera since new as it happens i just inserted a nikon authorised card into the camera (sandisk extreme 16gb sd hc 1) and its still flashing. i have taken onboard what you say about oxidation and will defo look for a suplier of deoxit . thanks again i will get back to you with any progress
 
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