Or maybe remedy isn't the word, either?
Anyway, after reading around for weeks online when my Coolpix 8800 died in mid-June this year, I gave up on it and got my Rebel XT (which I'm glad I did, anyway). It appeared there was no cure for the System Error 2, which would lock up your 8800 after taking just a single shot, and you'd have to reboot. According to many, even sending it in to Nikon just delayed the problem for a while. So yeah, I gave up.
Then, I got this brilliant idea just now. I wished I had a spare camera body to convert for IR use (after reading Chip's thread, and also discovering the R72 filter is pretty useless on a 350D). Man, wouldn't it be great if my 8800 still worked?! On a whim, I called Nikon tech support, luckily open 24/7. After sorting through the canned solutions I expected to hear, "Robert" (if that was his real name) suggested something I had not read before... "Haf ju tried resetting the cameera?"
"no... no, I haven't. I wasn't aware there was such an option."
He showed me how to do it, very simple stuff. So I don't know how many of you have had this error, but it's a pretty popular model, and an extremely common issue, so if only for the sake of helping people who are searching Google for an answer, here's how to fix it.
Rotate the control dial on the top of the camera to the SET UP position.
Cycle through the menu options down to where you see "reset camera"
It will erase all your settings, but you don't really care at this point, do you?
Select "yes"
Take a shot. If you still get the message, turn it off and try the resetting again. On my third attempt, after resetting, I was able to take five shots before it locked up again! FIVE! Then, when I rebooted, I took three, had to reboot, and then I took NINE!
I don't know how long this little trick will work, but for now, it appears my camera is healing!
The answer seems so obvious, but not once did I come across it online, not even among Nikon's suggestions.
"OMG!!" (taken with iSight, when I got an all-time "high score" of 17 pictures with the 8800 before it locked up)
Anyway, after reading around for weeks online when my Coolpix 8800 died in mid-June this year, I gave up on it and got my Rebel XT (which I'm glad I did, anyway). It appeared there was no cure for the System Error 2, which would lock up your 8800 after taking just a single shot, and you'd have to reboot. According to many, even sending it in to Nikon just delayed the problem for a while. So yeah, I gave up.
Then, I got this brilliant idea just now. I wished I had a spare camera body to convert for IR use (after reading Chip's thread, and also discovering the R72 filter is pretty useless on a 350D). Man, wouldn't it be great if my 8800 still worked?! On a whim, I called Nikon tech support, luckily open 24/7. After sorting through the canned solutions I expected to hear, "Robert" (if that was his real name) suggested something I had not read before... "Haf ju tried resetting the cameera?"
"no... no, I haven't. I wasn't aware there was such an option."
He showed me how to do it, very simple stuff. So I don't know how many of you have had this error, but it's a pretty popular model, and an extremely common issue, so if only for the sake of helping people who are searching Google for an answer, here's how to fix it.
Rotate the control dial on the top of the camera to the SET UP position.
Cycle through the menu options down to where you see "reset camera"
It will erase all your settings, but you don't really care at this point, do you?
Select "yes"
Take a shot. If you still get the message, turn it off and try the resetting again. On my third attempt, after resetting, I was able to take five shots before it locked up again! FIVE! Then, when I rebooted, I took three, had to reboot, and then I took NINE!
I don't know how long this little trick will work, but for now, it appears my camera is healing!
The answer seems so obvious, but not once did I come across it online, not even among Nikon's suggestions.
"OMG!!" (taken with iSight, when I got an all-time "high score" of 17 pictures with the 8800 before it locked up)