Nikon D300 viewfinder shutoff

tintin

tintin

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Name
Barnaby Jaco Skinner
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Hi all,

So I've been trying out some longer exposures with my camera and have noticed that after a variable amount of time the view finder information display disappears with a clicking noise.. is this some kind of shutter that stops light seeping in from the viewfinder?

If so why does it not close immediatly/in tandem with the main mirror flip up? Why does it wait a seemingly variable amount of time before it shuts?

For example last night I was playing with exposure bracketing for the first time and the click happend about 2 seconds in to a 5 second exposure, the pics where being taken in a well lit room. However last month, whilst taking pics of the moon from my lounge with all the lights off, the click occured about 15 seconds in to a 30 second exposure.

Maybe there's some kind of viewfinder 'ambient light-meter threshold cut-off thingamajiggy' that only activates the VF shutter if a certain amount of light is aggregated/collected/sensed from through the viewfinder? Or maybe there's a relationship to the shutter speed as well... :bang:

I'm confuzzed! HELP! :bonk:
 
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Or, another thought, maybe my camera body is faulty? Does anyone else with a D300 have this problem? I've been reading up and it says the viewfinder should blackout c.74-100ms after the main shutter release which mine is clearly not during long exposures. Obv I can't tell on the faster shots...

edit - mods sorry but please feel free to move this to the D300 thread if you want, I wasn't thinking when I posted!
 
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The D300/D300s doesn't have a viewfinder shutter to stop light getting in there, it has a slip on cover that replaces the regular rubber doohicky that it comes with. Mine's packed up in the box it came in, which is in the attic, so I just use gaffer tape.

Not sure what the problem is in your case.
 
That's due to the mirror locking up.

It sounds like you have/had exposure delay mode turned on. Basically it flips up the mirror, then pauses before opening the shutter so you don't get blur from mirror slap.
 
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