20 Most Recent Nikon D50 Digital Camera - Page 2 Questions & Answers

You should check two switches. First, on your lens, be sure it's set to M/MA not M. That puts the lens in auto focus mode. On the camera there should be a switch that shows C/S/M. If switched to M, it's on manual focus. Change this to S for single auto focus or C for continuous auto focus.

Hi all - I know its been some time for this thread, but it helped me! When I pressed the shutter release I would hear a high pitch winding - thought it was the shutter and almost took it in for repair. Saw solution #5 - turned the AF switch on the lens to manual and back to auto - took care of the problem completely.

Unfortunately, this probably won't be a good situation. Most of the time the ERR(or) message you're getting shows when there's an internal problem, and most likely a shutter error. Not an uncommon problem with the older consumer models like D40, D50, etc.

When a Nikon camera says Err, something is wrong with the memory card. Perhaps it is not inserted correct. Or not a card inside at all. Perhaps you can't write to the card or it should be formatted. When you have a Err, the camera won't do a thing, to avoid the user can think he is shooting pictures and the camera won't save one.

I had the same problem but then I realized the lens was not "in" all the way.  It had not clicked into place when I changed lenses.  This might work for you....it did for me.

fix it

The unit is in need of service / repair

Try to load Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 from Nikon sites.It\'s free for 30 days.

I had the same issue. The flash is set to go off, the camera assumes it went off, (as the record metadata shows) but it doen't go off at all, and the piture is underexposed.

I bought the 100 page repair manual, which is ONLY a dissassemble/reassemble manual with NO diagnostics. (Got it on ebay) So I was atleast able to get to the capacitor and flash bulb. I saw 300V across the capacitor leads, and the same 300Volts across the flash bulb leads. SO I am assuming that there is a transistor or relay that drops to ground to fire the flash that isn't working, or the electronic signal to drive that isn't working.

It seems most people replace the entire flash circuit board(which is near the capacitor under the left hand side). But it seems Nikon only sells parts to it certified repair facilities.

Ugh.... Looks like I'm buying a SB-600, as this is the cheepest solution. Too bad, because the on-board flash is more than decent. I hope the SB-600 thrills me enough to change my mood. :)

NatD, The D50 and indeed most SLR digital cameras [ I have a D40 ] does not allow you to take pictures using the LCD display ... this is by design, you are meant to use the viewfinder and the image you see through it is straight through the lens via a mirror block [ called a reflex pentamirror or prism ]. When the mirror is down such that you can see the image in the viewfinder it is obscuring the sensor [ the bit that takes the picture ] and when you take a shot the mirror lifts and the picture is recorded. Its this reason that DSLR's dont use the LCD to shoot, however there are a few now available that do let you do this, such as olympus, new panasonic one and higher end Nikon and Canon cameras. Hope this explains it without getting too detailed!