Oh, no.....

Have a Nikon D70S. Couple of years old now but hardly used and still in perfect condition. All worked ok until I didn't use it for 6 months and the battery went flat. Recharged it ok and everything appears normal except that when taking a photo all I get every time is a black background with a large magenta splodge taking up the right hand side of the window (see attachment). Tried resetting to defaults but no change. Does anyone recognise the symptoms and able to give me a clue what could be wrong......? Many thanks. Kev

Can you post an image of exactly what you are seeing? It is hard to venture a guess on what is happening without something concrete to visualize what you say is going on.

Image uploaded! Thanks.

And this is what you see, regardless of where you point the camera?

Yes, every image taken is the same. Altering exposure settings etc makes no difference either. No error messages showing and camera works ok in every other respect - just does't take photos!

That one needs to be sent off to Nikon for sure. Enclose a print of that image in with the camera so they can see what is going on.

Will do. Thanks for your help.

Dollars to donuts that's an image sensor problem right there. Was the camera subjected to high heat or humidity while it was in storage? That's one common cause of CCD corruption but not the only possible cause to be sure.

I was hoping nobody would say that! Sounds very expensive! The camera hasn't been abused - just stored in a cupboard in our main sitting room in the house with normal temperatures etc.

Yes.

That is a fairly old camera. What is the shutter count?

Question #1: Was the camera stored with the battery still in it?

Question #2: When you recharged the battery, was it fully charged before taking any shots?

Sure looks like a sensor problem to me. Definitely a Nikon factory repair job.

Yes - battery left in camera. Yes, fully recharged. All menus etc work fine and no error messages showing.

Not sure how I find the shutter count, but it would be low as I tend to use the smaller Leica most of the time now as the D70 is very big and heavy for tourist use....

kev999 said:

Yes.

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I'm no camera surgeon but that pretty much confirms for me you have a failed sensor.

​Definitely a job for the Mother-ship or a certified repair facility near you. Good luck with it.

Thank you all who responded with helpful suggestions. Not the answer I wanted to hear but all very much appreciated. I've since contacted Nikon and they confirm it's probably the sensor or possibly the associated electronics and have asked for it to be sent back to them. They suggest it's still economic to repair if the repair cost is below £165, but obviously won't quote what it'll cost until they see it. It cost me £750 new 8 years ago. So that'll be the next big decision comparing with what an equivalent camera would cost me now new.... Thanks anyway. Kev

Hiiya mate if you are still happy with the d70, there are quite a few on ebay well below the £165 that nikon quoted, ive seem them for just short of £100 so it could be an option.

i have a d70 as backup to my d5100 and i still love it, as much as i love the 5100, the d70 just feels right in every sense.

kev999 said:

Not sure how I find the shutter count

Click to expand...

Use this link for shutter count
Camera Shutter Count