D700 - Auto Off Option?

[AGeoJO]

I received my D700 yesterday and since this is my first Nikon camera, I spent a good time reading the manual, more so than I normally would. I couldn't find any information/documentation on an issue, which is actually trivial but it makes me curious. So, here it goes:

Does the camera have the option of turning itself off after a certain time of inactivity? Or is the camera actually off with the LCD display showing the mode (A, S or M), image quality (RAW and/or JPG), white balance setting, battery status and the number of remaining shots? If I physically turn off the camera, the only display shown is the number of remaining shots and that is documented in the manual. I am pretty sure that this option, if available, on the D300 as well. Can someone enlighten me, please? Thank you!

 

[Per Ofverbeck]

.....Does the camera have the option of turning itself off after a certain time of inactivity? Or is the camera actually off with the LCD display showing the mode (A, S or M), image quality (RAW and/or JPG), white balance setting, battery status and the number of remaining shots? If I physically turn off the camera, the only display shown is the number of remaining shots and that is documented in the manual.....

Well, I haven´t used either the D300 or the D700, but I do own a D200, and there is no timed shutoff whatsoever on it, nor is one needed. Before putting the camera away in the bag, I usually turn it off, but I´ve forgotten to do that literally hundreds of times, and on several occasions it has rested in my bag for a week or more, turned on.

When I take it out at such a time, the full display is still there, just as you describe, and it is ready to shoot immediately. As for the battery, the indicator is just about the same as it was when I put the camera away, so the actual drain must be minimal.

Personally, I think this is GREAT! For the first time I have a digital camera that´s always ready to shoot immediately, without having to "wake it up" to make it respond! (Of course, that´s the way it always were with mechanical film cameras; remember? )

 

[AGeoJO]

Thanks for your reply, Per. Alrighty then. I guess, the battery drain is very minimal in that mode. Not that feature is bad but it is just different than what I am used to, I guess. Talking about mechanical cameras from back then, did you store yours with the shutter fully cocked (the spring in tension position) or do you release the shutter (the spring in relax position) ?

 

[Per Ofverbeck]

... Talking about mechanical cameras from back then, did you store yours with the shutter fully cocked (the spring in tension position) or do you release the shutter (the spring in relax position) ?

Well, if there were film in the camera, it was always cocked; when empty, it was not; a practical way of seeing if it was ready to shoot or not. (Good thing I use cameras, not guns.... And of course one forgets this from time to time, just as with all "rules").

To this day, I don´t know if keeping the shutter springs under tension was indeed detrimental; at present the consensus among experts seems to be that it doesn´t harm the springs.

But I´ll never forget the look of dismay and contempt on the face of an old Leica collector when he once took an old screw mount one out of my display case - and found I had inadvertently left it cocked....:shocked: