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p65 won't power on

Wayne Fox

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Strangely, this morning my p65 won't power on. Yesterday when shooting things seem weird ... it would power on for a couple of captures then shut down. I assumed my batteries were problematic, as the only 2 I had left "charged" were pretty old ones and have been having trouble holding charges.

So I charged my good batteries overnight, but now the back refuses to power on. Tried with firewire, same problem.

I assume the back is dead, but before shipping it out thought I'd mention it here to see if anyone has thoughts from similar experiences. Seems very strange that overnight just sitting in the case it decided not to work anymore.

As luck would have it, fall colors are peaking right now :cry:
 
T

thomas

New member
Guy Mancuso said:
Wayne maybe try reloading firmware to the back.
Click to expand...
how, when the back refuses to power on?

Wayne, have you tried to clean the battery contacts (on the back)?

If the back is set to "battery" power in the config.settings it won't power on when you connect via firewire. Only if the the back is set to "auto select" it will do so.
 
Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Bummer Wayne. Can C1 see the back when connected to your computer?
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
thomas said:
how, when the back refuses to power on?

Wayne, have you tried to clean the battery contacts?

If the back is set to "battery" power in the config.settings it won't power on when you connect a firewire. Only if the the back is set to "auto select" it will do so.
Click to expand...
The computer will hopefully see the back to make a update. With the firewire cable the mac might be able to actually see it as a drive and may not have to be on. It's worth a try.
 
Wayne Fox

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
thanks for the suggestions.

I did look at the battery contacts, and tried to clean them a little. I'm pretty sure the back was set to Auto Detect on the power so Firewire should have worked, but not positive.

I'll try to see if the firmware updater can see it. I've never updated the firmware, so it is pretty old.

Barring a miracle it sounds like it's headed to Phase and on to Denmark tomorrow.
 
T

thomas

New member
have you removed the CF card? maybe give it a try...

Wayne Fox said:
Barring a miracle it sounds like it's headed to Phase and on to Denmark tomorrow.
Click to expand...
do you have any idea what could have caused the issue? Would be interessting for our little "knowledgebase" here.

Good luck! Hope it's an easy and quick fix.
Must be pretty new your P65+ ... don't you get a loaner? (to shoot the fall colors you have mentioned above)...
 
Wayne Fox

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Talked to my new dealer right away, not really much they can do. I'm sure the dealer I bought the system from can't do much either. It's just dead, so all they can do is send it on.

Wish I would have known about the value added warranty (maybe they did mention it but this is my 4th phase back and they've been so reliable I just didn't think I needed it.)

Anyway, already been contacted directly by Phase in NY to arrange getting it sent back in for repair. Now to decide whether to rent another one to finish up shooting this fall, or use this as a reason to finally grab a D3x and Sony a900 from the back room and learn how to actually use them.

thanks for all the suggestions. I'll report back exactly what was broken (isn't there a little switch that powers the back off when you eject the CF card? Sort of suspecting that, since it won't even attempt to power on at all.)
 
GrahamWelland

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Good luck with getting your P65+ fixed. These things always seem to happen at the wrong time.

I'm shooting fall color with my D3x at the moment also but I'm missing the look of my Schneider/Rodenstock glass though.
 
Wayne Fox

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
GrahamWelland said:
Good luck with getting your P65+ fixed. These things always seem to happen at the wrong time.

I'm shooting fall color with my D3x at the moment also but I'm missing the look of my Schneider/Rodenstock glass though.
Click to expand...
I was anxious to see how my new Alpa captured some of my favorite fall aspen scenes with the Schneider/Rodenstock glass ...

I saw the thread on your misfortunes and sympathize - especially since it happened on a planned event to a special place. I almost signed up for a Maine fall workshop but decided to wait ... sort of glad I did now.
 
Bob

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
crossing fingers:
I'll be heading up to Vermont next week.
Anybody know the proper incantations to the camera gods?
-bob
 
H

hcubell

Well-known member
Wayne Fox said:
Talked to my new dealer right away, not really much they can do. I'm sure the dealer I bought the system from can't do much either. It's just dead, so all they can do is send it on.

Wish I would have known about the value added warranty (maybe they did mention it but this is my 4th phase back and they've been so reliable I just didn't think I needed it.)
Click to expand...
Wayne, it may not be too late to purchase a Value Added Warranty for the future. Check with the guys at Capture Integration. I have way too much experience with digital backs going down at the most inopportune times. As a result, I would never buy a back without a hot swap warranty.
 
Wayne Fox

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Since I started this thread, for those curious, things are looking up.

First , I bought my Alpa system from Optech and they have been terrific - made me a killer deal on a week long rental for a p65+ which has already arrived and will be put to good use over the weekend ... local aspen groves are peaking right now and look good.

And then I found out why my previous dealer didn't tell me about the Value Added Warranty ... they just included it in the quote and I didn't notice it. So Phase has a back on the way for me to use until my back is repaired.

Things have worked out great. Only missed one planned shoot with the phase, and took the opportunity to shoot a D3x (man was I lost. How in the world do I do a mirror up/self timer at the same time). Nice camera though and got a couple of nice things. Here's one I like. Probably go back and reshoot this with the Alpa tomorrow.
View attachment 35986
 
J

JGR

New member
Sorry to hear about your misfortune Wayne.

I just wanted to say, shoot with confidence with the D3x and take advantage of the 10x zoom for checking focus, you can get absolutely gorgeous prints from that camera.

Do you by an chance have the Nikon tilt shift lenses? They are superb.

Love the shot you posted, beautiful!
 
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