Slow startup

fenderbender

Most times when I switch on my new D3200, the green light comes on and a small hour glass symbol appears. This can be on for quiet sometime before it loads the screen, and other times the screen comes straight on.
This can also happen when I take a picture.
I've used two different types of memory cards, both class 10, 8gb; namely a Sandisk and a Toshiba. I've not had any experience with this camera before and I wonder if this is normal behavior? It makes no difference which card I use.
Any advice would be appreciated.

bruto

That certainly does not sound like normal behavior. Mine starts right up, even with old slow cards.

About all I can suggest here is make sure the card is formatted by the camera not by a computer, and that there are no odd or unreadable files on it.

Bigger cards will take a little longer to load. I just tried an empty and properly formatted 32 gigabyte card in mine, and got the hourglass for a couple of seconds.

Otherwise, about the only thing I can think of is that it is having some trouble fixing on a lens. Do you hear any other noises while it's working?

fenderbender

Thanks Bruto. No, there's no other noises and the cards were formatted on the camera, as its a new camera. I'll contact Nikon UK to see what they say.
I've had a bridge Panasonic Lumix dmc-fz28 for years without a hitch, and thought I'd try a D3200. Looks like I'm not having a good start! This is the second camera I've had that does this. I took the first one back as it was worse than this.
I've tried new cards, properly formatted, changed lenses, but with no change.
Thanks again.

bruto

Sorry I can't think of anything else. As I said, mine does not take any appreciable time to boot. The 32 gig card is the longest I've seen at something between one and two seconds.

I had thought earlier that perhaps it would be emptying the buffer into the card if you had shut it off earlier before it had finished, but this is not the case either. I tried this and it finishes emptying the buffer after the power is shut off.

Mine is set with "file number sequence" on, which does not reset the file number for new cards and folders, but is sequential for up to 10,000 shots. I don't know whether this is faster than the other mode, but one might try that.

All I can suggest in addition is that you try one more card to see if it's just bad luck on cards. A fresh 8 GB card of medium speed is pretty cheap and has plenty of room on it if it does work. Freshly format it making sure there are no extra files or folders in it. If you do not shoot movies and don't mind a bit of time taken to empty the buffer, you don't need the highest speed.

ohyeahar

It may be a good idea to remove the memory card from the equation to see if it makes a difference.

Turn off your camera. Remove your memory card.
Then turn on your camera again and see if there’s any difference in startup time.

If there’s a substantial improvement, the culprit is likely your memory card(s).
If there’s no difference, then it’s likely the camera itself. At that point, I would suggest to try resetting your settings to default to see if it makes a difference. The following is taken from Nikon support website:

“To perform a reset you need to manually choose the reset option in the Shooting Menu and the Setup menu. To do this press 'Menu', select the Shooting Menu and scroll through the options until 'Reset Shooting Options' is highlighted, press ok, highlight 'Yes' and press ok again. Repeat this for the Setup menu.”

If nothing works, then contact Nikon support to see what they can do.

bruto

That's a good point above. Mine boots instantaneously without a card.

I don't know of any setting that would change the time, but it's also worth a try.

WilliamHerschel

If anybody is still having this problem: With a 32 GByte card, sometimes the camera functioned without any problem and then for no apparent reason it would be very slow to boot and then tell me the card was unusable. Removing the card and re-inserting it sometimes made it work again but not always. There is nothing wrong with the card since it can be read on a computer. I tried two different brands of cards. The random nature of this problem is frustrating. It never happens with a 4 GByte card, but that can only take 130 images in NEF mode. However after the card was fast formatted on a PC with an allocation unit size of 64 KBytes, I believe the problem has gone away. Knock on wood.

bruto

I've had that problem a couple of times, but without enough consistency or repetition to find a pattern. It seems that a good card formatted in the camera does all right. Make sure there are no extra files or folders that the computer has added that the camera cannot read.

WilliamHerschel

After 24 hours I am growing confident that the problem has gone away. Strangely enough formatting the card using the camera brings the problem back. I have had a similar problem with a Pentax K30 and formatting the card with 64 kBytes allocation has solved that problem too. I have a feeling it's to do with the camera software being 32 bits or maybe even 16.

bruto

Interesting. If the problem ever reappears I'll have to keep that in mind.

WilliamHerschel

After a day shooting, switching the camera on at least 50 times, I feel confident it is working properly with the 32 GByte card. The only reason I think it might be the CPU or the software is that 32 bits can really only address 4 GBytes. But you would think Nikon would have sorted this out. Anyway glad we both have working cameras now.

Mharrison1311

I have been having the same problem! I just recently got my camera. Here in the past couple of weeks, the little hourglass pops up when the camera is starting, or when I am changing the settings. Sometimes it goes away, and other times it just freezes. I am glad I am not the only one having these problems.

fenderbender

Hi, just a update on my first question. In the end nothing worked. I still had the start up problem, so since the camera was new I returned it and bought a D3300 instead.
I have had no issues at all with this one. Thanks to everyone for their replys and advice.

altavares

Thanks @Williamherschel! I formatted an 8GB and a 32GB SD card with FAT32 at an allocation of 64KB, and the camera seems to be working quite well at this point. The 32GB takes a little bit longer at start up, but nothing like we were seeing before.

meemee

I have the same problem as well.

markstod

There is now a firmware update for this problem on the D3200 from C.103 to C.104 on the Nikon website.

WilliamHerschel

Thanks to @MARKSTOD for pointing this out. I never managed to eliminate this bizarre behavior completely. Just when you wanted to take a quick shot it would take 30 seconds to boot. I have installed C.104 and hope this is finally the solution.

bruto

I have not had any recurrence of the problem since I did the firmware update.

Haggis

I think it was a firmware issue. Read instructions twice before attempting an update.

bruto

@haggis makes a very good point. The instructions for the update are not very complicated and they are well stated, but they are specific.

Haggis

My Friend was horrified that I updated my D3200 on week 2, he said you could have ended up with a paperweight.
The instructions are clear from Nikon, but if you don't read them and follow to the letter, the result might hurt.
I did have an issue before update with not reading the memory card that I used taking holiday photos, and lost everything (the card was a fake class 10).
Only buy from an authorized dealer and good make.