Nikon D90 Troubleshooting

The camera will not power on when trying to turn it on using the on/off switch.

The camera may be out of battery. You will need to try and recharge the battery. First, remove the battery from the camera and place the battery in the battery charger. The battery may take several hours to charge. When the battery is completely charged, place the battery back into the camera. This process should allow the camera to turn on.

The battery compartment may be dirty. With the battery removed, take a cotton swab with a small amount of rubbing alcohol. Now clean the inside of the battery compartment. Try and remove any dust you may see that may be preventing the battery from making a strong connection with the camera itself.

The battery may be bad. You might need to purchase a new one. If you charged the battery for a couple of hours and the camera still not turning on, your battery may have died completely. You will need to purchase a new battery. Make sure that the new battery is the same model as the previous one because inserting the wrong type may cause damage to the camera.

When attempting to save images to the memory card, you are unable to do so and may have been prompted with a message.

Your memory card may not have room for more images. Try to make room on the card. You’re going to need to plug the memory card into your computer. Next, copy and save all the images from the memory card to the computer. Then, delete the pictures off the memory card. This process should free up space on the memory card. Another option is to buy a new memory card of the same model to replace the full card to take more photos.

Memory card may be damaged or corrupted. Try using a different memory card. If the camera is able to save images to this new card, then the original card is corrupted.

When attempting to take a picture using the camera flash, the flash does not operate.

The flash on the camera will not work if there is not enough battery power to work it. Charge the battery or replace it with another battery that has been charged. Now attempt to take another picture using the camera’s flash.

The bulb may have burnt and needs to be replaced. Visually observe the light bulb within the camera’s flash and check if the bulb is covered with a black residue. If so, the camera’s light bulb is burnt out and needs to be replace. The best option is to order a bulb through Nikon. Replace the bulb with this guide.

When attempting to take a picture with the camera, it will not autofocus.

The AF (Autofocus) / MF (Manual focus) switch on the camera body and/or the camera lense may be switched to MF. If either of these are switched to MF, the AF is automatically turned off. Check to make sure that the AF/MF switch on both the camera body and the camera lense is switch to AF.

The AE-L (Auto exposure lock) / AF-L (Autofocus lock) button on the camera may have been set to AF-On (Autofocus on). If on, you can only autofocus using the AE-L/AF-L button on the camera rather than using the release button. To fix this, look for user setting f3 and switch the AE-L/AF-L button so that AF-Off.

Dirty electrical contacts between the camera and the camera lense may cause issues with the autofocus. Turn off the camera, and use a microfiber cloth along with a small amount of alcohol to clean the electrical contacts on the camera and lense. Allow the electrical contacts to air dry for a few minutes, reassemble the camera and lense, and then see if the issue is resolved.

When the Nikon D90 camera is turned on, it freezes. The buttons are unresponsive and the camera may or may not show an error message.

A dirty lense or improper mount may be causing the shutter freezing. First check the lense and make note of the type of lense being used. The lense could be dirty or just not mounted properly. Remove the lense and if you notice dust or dirt, gently wipe it off and also check the mounting brackets for dirt as this may lead to an improper seated lense. After you have checked and cleaned both, properly reattach the lense and power up your camera. If the problem is not resolved, continue to troubleshoot. There have been reported problems with the Sigma 70-200 2.8 lense on the D90 model. The lense has been found to be incompatible with some of the D90’s. If it is a problem with the lense you can send it back to the company and they will replace it free of charge.

Shutter freezing of the camera could be due to the focus settings. Most commonly, the camera has been found to freeze if the setting is f/16 or above. The reason it happens is usually due to the focus setting on the camera. The Nikon D90 will not activate the shutter if the camera isn’t focused, rendering all the other buttons useless. Try adjusting the the focus settings and restarting your camera. If this doesn’t fix the issue, then there is another possible solution for the focus. Turn the camera so it is facing the sky and press the shutter key. This has been found to focus the camera allowing for normal operation.

There have been some issues found with brand new D90’s. The issue has been with the contacts between the lense and the body so the camera produces an error message on the LCD screen. Most of the time the contacts just need to be worn in. If you hold down the lense release button and turn the camera from stop to stop without removing the lense it will wear the contacts in enough to where the connection should be strong.