# D800 randomly changing shutter speed while in manual mode



## joholt

I had three studio shoots on my new D800 before I had a problem.  on the 4th shoot, i was synched with a pocket wizard as I always am to my alienbee and this means shutter speed can't be over 160 or you get a lovely *ok not so lovely* black stripe at the bottom of all your images.  So, I'm in manual as I am for everything I shoot, and I set my shutter at 160 and fstop 2.8 (same as i shot before and on my D700 with a newborn shoot) and I take a picture and the shutter speed would adjust on it's own anywhere from 60 to 320 but would not hold where I set it at 160.  I could dial it back to 160 while focusing but why is it not holding?  Has anyone else had this problem?  I will not be able to use this camera with, say, a two year old that is on the move because i need to be able to set that shutter and go.  I sent Nikon a message about this and haven't yet heard back from them.  Any advice is much appreciated.


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## tirediron

Are you 100% certain that you weren't accidentally rotating the rear command dial while you were working?


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## coastalconn

did you accidentally turn on bracketing???


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## cgipson1

Have not seen that issue... I shoot manual with flash / pocket wizards a lot. No issues so far! Keep us up to date on what you find out...


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## KmH

The flash x-sync speed of the D800 is up to and including 1/250.

If you're getting a black bar at 1/160 I recommend you look closely at your radio triggers.

I suspect the issue is you aren't yet familiar with your tools features and functions, nor understand at a fundamental level how your tools work.

I recommend you review pages 181 to 192 of the D800 user's guide. In particular I wonder what you have menus e1 and e2 set to?


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## joholt

110 % sure


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## gsgary

Why were you shooting at F2.8 in the studio that is ridiculous


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## joholt

gsgary said:


> Why were you shooting at F2.8 in the studio that is ridiculous


I shoot wide open with newborns so i get that beautiful bokeh on the blanket in the background.


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## gsgary

joholt said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why were you shooting at F2.8 in the studio that is ridiculous
> 
> 
> 
> I shoot wide open with newborns so i get that beautiful bokeh on the blanket in the background.
Click to expand...


And not enough DOF to get all the face in focus :thumbup:


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## joholt

tirediron said:


> Are you 100% certain that you weren't accidentally rotating the rear command dial while you were working?


110% certain


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## joholt

gsgary said:


> joholt said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why were you shooting at F2.8 in the studio that is ridiculous
> 
> 
> 
> I shoot wide open with newborns so i get that beautiful bokeh on the blanket in the background.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> And not enough DOF to get all the face in focus :thumbup:
Click to expand...

yeah maybe if your POF is their feet and not their face.  I didn't come in for for cc on my settings, but rather to find out if someone had similar issues with shutter speed randomly changing. Thanks for NOT answering my question.  I'll just look for a more informative forum.


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## Robin Usagani

gsgary said:


> joholt said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why were you shooting at F2.8 in the studio that is ridiculous
> 
> 
> 
> I shoot wide open with newborns so i get that beautiful bokeh on the blanket in the background.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> And not enough DOF to get all the face in focus :thumbup:
Click to expand...


I am a fan of shooting wide open in the studio.. maybe because I dont like my skin and my ears ahhaha.


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## joholt




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## joholt

well, i did a reset by holding the QUAL and +/- buttons and it is allowing me to be in control of my shutter speed once again. It doesn't answer the question as to what I may have done while shooting to change the setting but at least it's fixed and I don't have to send my camera in to Nikon.  (just for those of you who were interested in the outcome.)


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## coastalconn

Still sounds like you accidentally turned on bracketing.  Especially if the 2 button reset fixed it...


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## cgipson1

coastalconn said:


> Still sounds like you accidentally turned on bracketing.  Especially if the 2 button reset fixed it...



Kind of hard to accidentally turn on Bracketing on the D800... but who knows!


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## cgipson1

Schwettylens said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> joholt said:
> 
> 
> 
> I shoot wide open with newborns so i get that beautiful bokeh on the blanket in the background.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And not enough DOF to get all the face in focus :thumbup:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I am a fan of shooting wide open in the studio.. maybe because I dont like my skin and my ears ahhaha.
Click to expand...


You need to reshoot that with the lens cap on! Best way to improve it quickly!    lol!


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## joholt

coastalconn said:


> Still sounds like you accidentally turned on bracketing.  Especially if the 2 button reset fixed it...


Maybe so.  it would be easy enough to do since the bracketing can be changed on the dial now.  theres a good chance that's what i did since i was shooting a commercial shoot in an extreme low light situation Saturday night and then Sunday morning is when i had the newborn shoot where i noticed the problem.  Thanks for the suggestion.  i'm just relieved the reset fixed it.


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## scottsady

I just finished my first corporate shoot (all strobes on location all manual settings on camera) with my d800 and came across this forum when I got home and decided to see if anyone else has had an issue with shutter speed changing.  It ruined about 30 shots before I caught on to what is causing it. Basically, for whatever reason, if you chimp (look at your screen and zoom in or scroll around to make sure eyes are open etc, the shutter speed changes as you use the controls)  I had this happen many times (took 3 times before I caught it and then remembered to check my settings EVERY time I looked at an image.)  I can tell you from much experience, that the d3, d3s and d700 do not do this. It seems like the shutter speed changes on the d800 if the wind blows too hard, but it is not exactly random. Anyone have a contact at nikon I can email, because I would like to report this also as none of their other pro cameras behave in this manner.


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## joholt

scottsady said:


> I just finished my first corporate shoot (all strobes on location all manual settings on camera) with my d800 and came across this forum when I got home and decided to see if anyone else has had an issue with shutter speed changing.  It ruined about 30 shots before I caught on to what is causing it. Basically, for whatever reason, if you chimp (look at your screen and zoom in or scroll around to make sure eyes are open etc, the shutter speed changes as you use the controls)  I had this happen many times (took 3 times before I caught it and then remembered to check my settings EVERY time I looked at an image.)  I can tell you from much experience, that the d3, d3s and d700 do not do this. It seems like the shutter speed changes on the d800 if the wind blows too hard, but it is not exactly random. Anyone have a contact at nikon I can email, because I would like to report this also as none of their other pro cameras behave in this manner.




EUREKA!  Thank you for your input!! as far as Nikon contact, i have an account with them with all of my equipment listed and I just clicked on the 'contact' link.  I don't know of a contact or email other than that.


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## Robin Usagani

wow... that is one thing that kept me from switching, not having a thumb wheel control.


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## mjhoward

Schwettylens said:


> wow... that is one thing that kept me from switching, not having a thumb wheel control.



Huh?


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## joholt

Schwettylens said:


> wow... that is one thing that kept me from switching, not having a thumb wheel control.



there's thumb wheel control still for aperture and shutter....


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## dv1930

Hi Joholt.

I have the same problem and is more serious than yours.
It happens on all settings, M, A, S, P.
On M, the shutter speed will jump from 1/125, 1/250 to 1/500, then goes back to 1/125. Same thing for all settings. Called Nikon support and will send it back for fix.


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## MLeeK

dv1930 said:


> Hi Joholt.
> 
> I have the same problem and is more serious than yours.
> It happens on all settings, M, A, S, P.
> On M, the shutter speed will jump from 1/125, 1/250 to 1/500, then goes back to 1/125. Same thing for all settings. Called Nikon support and will send it back for fix.


You have bracketing turned on. It's changing your exposure by one stop every time and then resetting to the original exposure.


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## joholt

dv1930 said:


> Hi Joholt.
> 
> I have the same problem and is more serious than yours.
> It happens on all settings, M, A, S, P.
> On M, the shutter speed will jump from 1/125, 1/250 to 1/500, then goes back to 1/125. Same thing for all settings. Called Nikon support and will send it back for fix.



dv1930 - check your bracketing before sending it off.  I know this is what it was.  I was in a low light situation the previous evening and being a newer piece of equipment, fumbling around and somehow turned on bracketing when I was adjusting ISO.  I have not had this problem since my reset and I've had nothing but great results with the D800.


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## coastalconn




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## 2WheelPhoto

You can get Internet advice, or perhaps simply call Nikon tech support free at 1-800-645-6687


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## cgipson1

Looks like the D800 is a hit.. even with people that don't know how to use it! lol! Remember the thread from the guy who bought one, and was complaining it didn't have an AUTO mode? 

I predict there will be a lot of D800's on the used market soon... as some purchasers realize it is an expensive piece of hardware that they really don't know how to use!


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## EladioGomes

Hello Guys,

It's my first post in the forum and it is to thank for this thread, 

I run into the same issue on a shoot this Saturday, I was upset because it changed sometime during the shoot, I thought it was by itself but after reading this I'm pretty sure I changed it accidentally! After reading here I went back and checked and of course it was set in the BKT to 3 shots. 

Having the setup on top of the left dial is convenient, but also easy to change accidentally, anyway now I know and will add to my checklist when configuring for a shoot

Tks for sharing your knowledge!


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## KWRPhotography

Definitely have had the same issue for several days. Finally got it figured out. Definitely the Bracketing that was causing the issue. Forgot I had played around with the settings on the top control and had left it on. Set it to no bracketing and your settings will hold. Thank goodness for the internet.


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## soa882

had the same issue, today. Thanks for this forum, thought it was a malfunction.


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## DivaLyn

Thank you all, I too must have hit the BKT button while searching for the ISO button mid shoot, (and in the middle of a wedding) soldiered on until I had a chance to check forums.  Thanks all good now - bracketing back where I want it, and reset for insurance.


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## Monica2014

Thanks so much for the tip Jo. I had no idea what was going on while shooting a Christening on Sunday and again today.  The shutter speed seemed to randomly reset to crazy settings like 1/13 sec or 1/40 when using flash. I thought I was going to have to spend a fortune on camera repairs!! 
All fixed thanks to your post!  Lovely image BTW


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## Imagin

coastalconn said:


> did you accidentally turn on bracketing???


I have the same problem, I was just about to email Nikon when I read this. I checked! and yes I had left the bracketing on (3 frames) I had turned the NUMBER OF SHOTS (in camera) back to one., but left the BKT at 3F instead of 0F - All is well now. Thank you for the hint


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## ak_

It does seem like bracketing .. is it changing to 1/80, or 1/320 each time? That's +/- 1 stop from the sync speed your're using.  If you are only shooting single frames, the next time you take a picture it will change the speed to complete the sequence.


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## Solarflare

I really would like to know why Nikon doesnt do it like one would expect - if you have braketing on, the camera takes 3 (or whatever you demanded) pictures, every time.

I find Nikons way highly nonintuitive.


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## wfooshee

Nikon has you switch to continuous shooting to use bracketing, and it limits the shutter to the number of trips your bracketing is set for. It takes both controls, and the only way they're linked is that continuous shooting stops at the bracket count if bracketing is set, rather than filling up the buffer while you hold the button down.

When done with bracketing, you have to remember to reset BOTH controls......


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## Solarflare

I know how to use braketing, I simply complained that its not solved in a more intuitive way.


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