Here we go - Mansurov has found an issue with the DF Shutter

This could be interesting to follow. If you have a Df, give this a shot and let us know what you discover.

Nikon Df Shutter Issue

I have not noticed any shutter capping issues on mine, which is one of the first 2000 or so made. I've taken maybe 1000 pictures with it, ISO from 100 to 20,000. I usually go for a higher shutter speed, a lot at 1/4000th at low ISO. The shutter is microcontroller-controlled electro/mechanical. If it caps only at High ISO then the problem is firmware based. If the problem is on the mechanical side, then it is the shutter itself and it should not matter what the ISO is set to. I've also used the camera in 5Farenheit, no problems with the 55/1.2 wide-open shooting pictures of ice covered trees. I've had shutter capping problems on several cameras, mostly those from the 1930's through the 1960's using horizontal travel cloth shutters. If the Df starts capping, back to Nikon. If my SP started capping, I have the service manual and would adjust it myself.

Basically, in some situations where the shutter speed is above 1/250 and ISO is set to a high value (typically above ISO 3200 is where I saw it the most), the shutter seems to “drag” in images, blocking off a portion of the frame. The result is a very uneven image that can look like exposure inconsistency, but in reality it is not – it certainly has to do with shutter operation. This blockage or dragging can happen anywhere in the frame – top, middle or bottom and it is a rather nasty issue. While top and bottom exposure inconsistencies in an image can be fixed in post-processing, the ones in the middle are much more painful to deal with.

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After looking at his example photos, I am having difficulty spotting the light-to-dark or dark-to-light parts of the photos. To me one image looks like it is either under- or over-exposed when compared with the other. The photos are definitely different from one another, but I'm having trouble spotting any gradient type of effect.

I checked my SN, 1565th. New cameras always have "birthing problems". I knew someone that bought two brand-new Nikon F2's from the first batch of 1600, took them on a trip to Africa. Both locked up, and he stuck with Nikon F's and never tried another F2. "Being a collector", I found two Nikon F2's from the same batch at a Photorama show, $80 for one and $150 for the other. Both were thoroughly used, work perfectly. The early F2's have all-metal advance levers, did not use Plastic tips.

hark said:

After looking at his example photos, I am having difficulty spotting the light-to-dark or dark-to-light parts of the photos. To me one image looks like it is either under- or over-exposed when compared with the other. The photos are definitely different from one another, but I'm having trouble spotting any gradient type of effect.

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Looking at the bottom of the two images: look close to each other exposure-wise. The top of the image is dark. This is typical in capping problems.

What the...? The second example of the girl with glasses has been removed from the link. THAT one was darker at the top and bottom in comparison to one another. The one of the Christmas lights does seem to be close in exposure at the bottom but darker all above it. The second example was the one that really had me wondering; however, it's gone now.

Ah...there is an update which states:

UPDATE: Looks like the issue is related to lubricants used on the shutter. At below freezing temperatures, the shutter might get slow and cause below uneven exposure problems. Haven’t seen this issue on the D800/D800E/D600 cameras though, which I have used at much colder temperatures without any problems.

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I had one "bizarre" fluke with the Df- using with a Deckel adapter and Schneider Xenon 50/1.9: the mirror would hang after the exposure on Single Shot mode, but work perfectly in "Quiet Mode". The latter has the mirror return when you specifically let up on the shutter release. This could be a firmware issue, I need to verify that the adapter does not somehow made contact with the lens contacts. I just use the camera in "Q" with this lens. Another case of cleverly hitting buttons and turning knobs until the device does what I want it to. The mirror clears the end of the lens.

If the problem is with Lubricant, it might be "birthing problems" to get amounts and types correct. I've had my Df out in very cold weather for a few hours at a time. I had a Nikon S3 (circa 1958, horizontal cloth shutter) that developed capping problems in less cold than the Df was used without problems. Of course, easier to flood clean the S3. Never had an F or F2 do this to me.

As Emily Latilla would say- "Never Mind".

The original article and all of the comments regarding the Df shutter issue has been yanked and replaced by "Light Frequency" issues. The date has been left the same, Jan 25th- yesterday. Problem is, the article was posted Today in place of the article claiming the Df had a faulty shutter. It would have been much less confusing if the author posted the new article as an explanation of the uneven lighting that he previously attributed to a faulty shutter. I wonder if he's ever taken a picture of a CRT?

That is a painful to all of us, Nikon users. I mentioned the problems of this kind many times on many forums (not that I am the first one to talk about it, no Sir), that is: the dangerously huge degradation of the production quality checking. Companies (not only Nippon Kogaku) act as if they expect the end of the world to happen today, at about supper time, instead of taking care of their reputation (and a little bit, of their customers too)...:blue:

Just to be clear- the original Author, Mansurov, posted an apology regarding what he thought was shutter capping. The problem was actually the lighting that he was shooting under. The lighting was flickering with the 60hz AC current, producing uneven lighting in the image. As slower shutter speeds, the problems went away as the flickering was averaged out of the image. This is similar to shooting a CRT with a fast shutter speed, or shooting with an electronic flash at faster than the Sync Speed.

Oh, I think this is the article that explains it: Light Frequency Issue