Nikon fesses up to new CCD malfunction problems

The Great CCD Failure of 2005 doesn't look like it's going to be Nikon's last. The camera manufacturer has just discovered a similar flaw in its Coolpix 5400, 5000, 4500 and 3500 shooters, and surprise, surprise, the manufacturing flaw is from the very same CCD manufacturer to blame for the last debacle. The official blame is on "CCD soldering degradation caused by aging" which means moisture and heat slowly wears down the CCD and kills the camera in its prime. Nikon got advanced warning of the problem by noticing an increase of malfunctions in a particularly hot and humid area in summer 2006. After some voluntary tests, Nikon noticed the CCD problem had reemerged, and is offering up free CCD replacements for victims -- like last time you might be seeing abnormal colors, distorted images or even no images. No word on how exactly to go about that, but we suppose Nikon isn't too terribly hard to track down.

[Dan @ Jan 31st 2007 4:43PM]

Does anyone know if current Nikon Coolpix 4500 owners can get the CCD replacement even if they aren't experiencing problems yet? How about actually going about getting it replaced?

[kevo77 @ Feb 5th 2007 12:29AM]

Dan,
I just returned my 5500. Went to their website, downloaded the form, sent the camera and form in, and had it returned cleaned (with updated firmware) within 10 days. I don't think you have to have it malfunction. Just return it.
Kevooooooooooooo

[prateeko @ Jan 31st 2007 5:12PM]

I have a Nikon 5400, exactly what should I look for to be sure that I have the problem and how the hell woudl I go about getting it fixed?

[optV @ Jan 31st 2007 5:56PM]

The 5400 was announced in May 2003 and released short after. Should Nikon really be taking the heat for issues with a 4 year old model? These things haven't been sold new from camera stores for at least 2 years, well outside the 1 year warranty Nikon offers. My 5400 works fine BTW.

I work at a camera store and whenever we look at a camera that is 4+ years old and needs a repair, its almost always declared beyond economic repair by the manufacturer.

[Vexorg @ Jan 31st 2007 5:57PM]

My Dad had the CCD in a Coolpix 4500 that failed like this on a hot day last July. I'm not sure if he ever got it fixed though.

[Rastaman @ Jan 31st 2007 7:16PM]

From what I understand the CCDs in Nikon are made by Sony. So with that said its Nikon's fault for letting sony develop their CCDs. Btw its not the only camera that uses this CCD. Sony, Canon, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta(Now sony, Ricoh and olmpus all have some point and shoot cameras with this failing ccd.

[Etruscan @ Jan 31st 2007 8:00PM]

You can only have the repair done if you experience the problem (it's not a recall, it's a service advisory). To do so you visit http://nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1 and click on the appropriate grey button for your camera. Print out the form, fill it out, and send the camera in. You don't even need to call them in advance.

[m4xn00b @ Feb 1st 2007 2:55AM]

Ah damn, my sony camcorder (bought in 2003) broke oine month after warranty, fucking hate sony! It was the CCD that broke btw. They offered $200 to fix it! It cost 600, like 1/3 the price to fix it, and it was defective! Jesus Christ, I hope the people at Sony burn in hell!

[rev aaron @ Feb 4th 2007 11:43AM]

I hope this doesn't mean bad things for my D100, D70, D2H, or D2X

[waggss @ Feb 5th 2007 11:36AM]

Thanks a lot Nikon for the giving the evil Canon enemies ammunition.

[high5apparatus @ Feb 5th 2007 4:38PM]

Monitoring this blog has just paid for itself! My coolpix 5700 blew up just a day after Xmas, with the pics looking exactly like the ones in your post. I went to Nikon to see that the 5700 is covered as well... and I'm mailing it in tomorrow.

Thank you!

[hpscott @ Feb 10th 2007 8:38AM]

high5apparatus:

I just sent my 5700 in a couple of weeks ago for this problem, and although I don't yet have it back, they did send a letter to me saying that it would be repaired, free of charge.

My father also has a 5700 (both are from ca 2003), and he went through this several months ago. They fixed his free of charge as well. I'm very impressed to see them standing by a 3.5 year old camera. In fact, I'm so impressed that my next digital camera will be a Nikon as well-- perhaps they know what they're doing!