nikon D40x help

I am new to digital, I was taking pictures at an outdoor party late evening, I took a few pictures in the programme mode the camera worked fine and then the shutter would not click. I tried all the different modes, auto to manual, the auto focus light would come on but the shutter still would not operate. Following morning I took pictures in dayliht and the shutter worked fine. Any ideas and suggestions please.

Hi Jalal,

My initial thought is the battery may have been too discharged (from flash use) to take more, assuming it was the camera's on-board flash in use.

Another possibility is that it got darker and the subjects were just a little too far away for the AF to achieve focus lock, even with the assist light, so no focus, no shutter release - putting lens to manual focus would prove this, but almost inevitably result in soft pictures if you couldn't manually focus well enough.

Cheers,

If it is not the battery maybe the card is full or has gone bad. Try another card. You can also try to reset the camera (usually by pressing two buttons simultaneously) - see the manual for the relevant buttons.

Dave nailed it, no focus = no shutter release. In manual it would release.

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I tried all the different modes, auto to manual

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Think it must be something else. Jalal, I periodically have the same problem with the Nikon D80. Sometimes just turning the camera off and on helps, sometimes turning it off and remounting the lens does the trick.

Solution: Buy a Canon! (Just kidding) :)

Dave said it right, with minimal light the camera have a hard time focusing and wont release the shutter. Using your flash should solve this problem(I think).

thanks Dave, the failing light and lack of focus lock may be the answer, will try to recreate the conditions and have a go at it

thanks Kit, runing into the problem is not good, but it is good to know that somebody else also had to face the situation. the suggestions will be tried if I run into the problem again.
cheers

love your suggestion (buy a canon), only problem divorce settlement with nikon could be expensive.

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Originally Posted by jalal

love your suggestion (buy a canon), only problem divorce settlement with nikon could be expensive.

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:)

First time i experience this problem jalal, i blamed the lens right away and did not even consider the lighting conditions.

Yep, lighting conditions, and the focus assist light has a limited range.