Confirmed: Nikon D3 Firmware Corrupts Images

April 21, 2008 | Mark Goldstein | Digital SLR Cameras | Comment |

Nikon D3The version 1.10 firmware update for the Nikon D3 DSLR has been removed from Nikon’s support site following customer feedback. Image data may be corrupted if the D3 is upgraded to v1.10 and a certain combination of camera settings is made. Nikon are instructing anyone who has upgraded their D3 to the v1.10 firmware to shoot with different settings until a revised firmware update is released in late April.

Nikon Europe Support Statement

D3 Digital-SLR Camera Firmware Ver. 1.10 Download

On April 15, 2008, an announcement was made on the Nikon website that the Ver. 1.10 firmware update for the D3 digital-SLR camera was available for download.  However, it has been confirmed that when the following settings are applied with the updated firmware, image data may, in some rare cases, be corrupted.  Therefore, we have terminated the firmware update download.  We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.

? Release mode:  Continuous high speed (Ch), or Continuous low speed (Cl) with Custom Setting d2 set to 9 fps
? Image area:  FX format (36x24) or 5:4 (30x24)
? Image quality:  NEF (RAW) or NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine/normal/basic
? NEF (RAW) recording>NEF (RAW) bit depth:  14-bit

*The issue related to NEF (RAW) recording>NEF (RAW) bit depth may occur regardless of the option selected for NEF (RAW) recording>Type (Lossless compressed, Compressed, or Uncompressed).

If you have downloaded the D3 Ver. 1.10 firmware update but have not yet updated the camera’s firmware, please do not perform the update.  If you have already updated the D3 firmware, please do not shoot with the combination of settings indicated above.  This issue does not occur with other combinations of camera settings (for example, when NEF (RAW) bit depth is set to 12-bit, or when shooting in continuous low speed (Cl) release mode with Custom Setting d2 set to 8 fps or lower.)

The download version of the revised firmware update is expected to be available in late April.

For more information regarding this matter, please contact us.

Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.

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