A little bit of caution to the Z9/Z8 users

[Akira]

The shutter curtain to protect the sensor from the environmental dusts doesn't seem to be made as durable as the conventional shutter mechanisms...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJNbElHrJlw

[John Geerts]

Thanks for the link Akira.  There was a topic here about the quality of that screen in March 2023:  https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=10645.0

[Akira]

Yes, I remember the topic.  But I was rather surprised by the fact that the hinge of the shutter curtain is broken when he dropped the camera on the soft ground.

He didn't notice that the curtain had been partially melted until he dropped the camera and the hinge of the shutter was off.  That means the protection curtain had worked without any hitch.

[Thomas G]

During my studies, I carried out a design project for a sample changer in a concentrated sunlight beam. The samples were to be heated and cooled quickly in a series of cycles. Cooling was no joke - I remember that precautions were taken to prevent uncooled operation at all (cost).
As soon if sun light focusses up and gets on a light radiation adsorbing surface the heat goes off it the truest sense.

Thin layers of material have almost no thermal capacity and there fore can not store the energy they get exposed to.
Without intense cooling compensating for that deficit they'll heat up beyond what they can bear in probably fractions of a second, sufficient (light) radiation given.
The protective curtain is sitting in the cam body like in a heat chamber.
No cooling. Obviously prone to risk to melting or evaporation in very short time.

I think it needed just very short time of exposure to sun light for the damage to happen - just the if the lens cover fell of and got immedialtely returned. Or until the bag has been closed...

[Birna Rørslett]

The miror of the DSLR surely helps alleviate such thermal issues. However, even these can be "overcooked" if you really try doing your best The only camera I --literally -- put on fire was a modest Nikon D70 back in 2004, when I shot the Venus Transit. I had mounted a B.I.G. (sic) 500mm f/5.6 Russian mirror lens on the camera, and underestimated the blocking capability of the filter over the lens. I sniffed burning electronics just in the  nick of time to pull the card from the camera before open flames told the final fate of the poor camera.

This is the last image the camera delivered before meeting its maker. The CCD already showed strong signs of overheating .... Venus is the tiny dot on the lower part of the solar disc.

[ColinM]

camera.

This is the last image the camera delivered before meeting its maker. The CCD already showed strong signs of overheating .... Venus is the tiny dot on the lower part of the solar disc.

Amazing episode and wonderful image Birna.

[Ann]

Getting that image was surely worth the subsequent combustion and camera destruction?

[Øivind Tøien]

A very memorable image bringing found recall of the discussions in the thread of the last Venus transit, well worth the destruction I would say!