Nikon Coolpix L840 won't turn on anymore.

[DHemstock]

My Nikon Coolpix L840 won't turn on anymore. Have changed batteries, tried different SD cards, and tried one person's suggestion to hold down Power and Image buttons at same time. Nothing works. I've barely used this camera. What can I do?

 

[wordofmitch]

Hi there,

I am sorry that you are having problems with your camera. There are a few things we can try to rule out what is going wrong with your camera.

First step is to test if the problem lies with the battery. If you have access to a second battery, have you tried that? If not the camera may have come with a direct power cable that could come in the form of USB power or via a DC cable. Try running your camera off that to rule out any issues with the battery. Good news is that if it does turn out to be your cameras battery it may be a reletively easy fix (Just buy a new battery).

If not the problem may lie deeper than that.

If you could answer a few questions to help me determine any other problems.

1) How old is the camera?

2) Where has the camera been stored? Was it stored in a damp location?

3) Have you powered the camera using 3rd party batteries or power cables recently?

I hope this all helps, get back to me ASAP so I can help you fix this issue promptly~!
- Mitch

 

[DHemstock]

Hi there,

I am sorry that you are having problems with your camera. There are a few things we can try to rule out what is going wrong with your camera.

First step is to test if the problem lies with the battery. If you have access to a second battery, have you tried that? If not the camera may have come with a direct power cable that could come in the form of USB power or via a DC cable. Try running your camera off that to rule out any issues with the battery. Good news is that if it does turn out to be your cameras battery it may be a reletively easy fix (Just buy a new battery).

If not the problem may lie deeper than that.

If you could answer a few questions to help me determine any other problems.

1) How old is the camera?

2) Where has the camera been stored? Was it stored in a damp location?

3) Have you powered the camera using 3rd party batteries or power cables recently?

I hope this all helps, get back to me ASAP so I can help you fix this issue promptly~!
- Mitch

 

[DHemstock]

Hi, Mitch.
My camera uses 4 regular AA batteries, not a rechargeable bettery pack. I've tried several different brands of new batteries and none worked. I had purposely bought this particular camera because I wanted one that used this type of battery since I am out in the field a lot and rechargeable batteries were a problem: either never charged when I needed them or ran out of power before I was done. It was easier for me to just carry a good supply of AA batteries.

I also tried to start it without the SD card, and with other brands of SD cards. None of that works.

The camera is probably about 2 yrs old. It's been stored in a camera case in my office, so no damp location. I probably haven't even taken 200 photos with it. It stopped after only owning it for less than a year, but due to some family emergencies, it was left until now when I finally have time to try to deal with this again.

As I remember, I had just finished downloading photos to my computer using the USB cable, and when it was done, it shut itself off and I have never been able to turn it on again. I've read other people's comments on many sites stating they've had this same problem.

As for power cables, the camera did not come with a power cable. I did find a DC IN port on the side of the camera, but of course it's not the same size as the power cord I have for my small rechargeable video camera. And my manual says absolutely nothing about using a power cord to run this camera.

I have contacted Nikon, and they asked me almost the same things that you did! They have no solution other than for me to send it in and probably get charged as much to fix the camera as it did to buy it in the first place. sheeeeesh!

If you have any other ideas, I would be more than happy to try them. I appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Deborah

 

[wordofmitch]

Hi, Mitch.
My camera uses 4 regular AA batteries, not a rechargeable bettery pack. I've tried several different brands of new batteries and none worked. I had purposely bought this particular camera because I wanted one that used this type of battery since I am out in the field a lot and rechargeable batteries were a problem: either never charged when I needed them or ran out of power before I was done. It was easier for me to just carry a good supply of AA batteries.

I also tried to start it without the SD card, and with other brands of SD cards. None of that works.

The camera is probably about 2 yrs old. It's been stored in a camera case in my office, so no damp location. I probably haven't even taken 200 photos with it. It stopped after only owning it for less than a year, but due to some family emergencies, it was left until now when I finally have time to try to deal with this again.

As I remember, I had just finished downloading photos to my computer using the USB cable, and when it was done, it shut itself off and I have never been able to turn it on again. I've read other people's comments on many sites stating they've had this same problem.

As for power cables, the camera did not come with a power cable. I did find a DC IN port on the side of the camera, but of course it's not the same size as the power cord I have for my small rechargeable video camera. And my manual says absolutely nothing about using a power cord to run this camera.

I have contacted Nikon, and they asked me almost the same things that you did! They have no solution other than for me to send it in and probably get charged as much to fix the camera as it did to buy it in the first place. sheeeeesh!

If you have any other ideas, I would be more than happy to try them. I appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Deborah

Sorry about the late reply!! Easter break means I have been away from my work computer for some time and thats where I read a lot of these comments from!

It sounds to me like the camera may be a lemon, especially if other people are saying they have the same issue. Unfortunately these things do happen. Usually the manufacturer covers you for these sorts of things but only for the first 12 months. You may be out of warrenty now which will be a problem.

The reason I wanted you to plug the camera into DC power via a cable was to check to see if the issue with powering on was the fault of the mechanism that holds the battery. But it seems that the problem goes deeper than that.

The best I can advise you to do now is to push the manufacturer to repair or replace the product (even if it is out or warrenty). If you are persistant they might just do it for you.

I am sorry, but this is all I can offer you now. I would recommend that if you are going to replace your camera then buying Canon is a good option if you are looking for battery life. They have some outstanding batteries.

Goodluck!

 

[DHemstock]

Hi, Mitch.
My camera uses 4 regular AA batteries, not a rechargeable bettery pack. I've tried several different brands of new batteries and none worked. I had purposely bought this particular camera because I wanted one that used this type of battery since I am out in the field a lot and rechargeable batteries were a problem: either never charged when I needed them or ran out of power before I was done. It was easier for me to just carry a good supply of AA batteries.

I also tried to start it without the SD card, and with other brands of SD cards. None of that works.

The camera is probably about 2 yrs old. It's been stored in a camera case in my office, so no damp location. I probably haven't even taken 200 photos with it. It stopped after only owning it for less than a year, but due to some family emergencies, it was left until now when I finally have time to try to deal with this again.

As I remember, I had just finished downloading photos to my computer using the USB cable, and when it was done, it shut itself off and I have never been able to turn it on again. I've read other people's comments on many sites stating they've had this same problem.

As for power cables, the camera did not come with a power cable. I did find a DC IN port on the side of the camera, but of course it's not the same size as the power cord I have for my small rechargeable video camera. And my manual says absolutely nothing about using a power cord to run this camera.

I have contacted Nikon, and they asked me almost the same things that you did! They have no solution other than for me to send it in and probably get charged as much to fix the camera as it did to buy it in the first place. sheeeeesh!

If you have any other ideas, I would be more than happy to try them. I appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Deborah

Sorry about the late reply!! Easter break means I have been away from my work computer for some time and thats where I read a lot of these comments from!

It sounds to me like the camera may be a lemon, especially if other people are saying they have the same issue. Unfortunately these things do happen. Usually the manufacturer covers you for these sorts of things but only for the first 12 months. You may be out of warrenty now which will be a problem.

The reason I wanted you to plug the camera into DC power via a cable was to check to see if the issue with powering on was the fault of the mechanism that holds the battery. But it seems that the problem goes deeper than that.

The best I can advise you to do now is to push the manufacturer to repair or replace the product (even if it is out or warrenty). If you are persistant they might just do it for you.

I am sorry, but this is all I can offer you now. I would recommend that if you are going to replace your camera then buying Canon is a good option if you are looking for battery life. They have some outstanding batteries.

Goodluck!

Hi. Sorry for my late reply, too! Same situation...been away teaching and very busy. I appreciate all of your help with this. I will try to see if the manufacturer will help, but won't hold out much hope. Thanks again.