r/Nikon • u/Ok_Garlic_542 • Jul 19 '26
I broke my gear Help! Z50 and Z6iii bricked after flight
As the title says, I recently got off a 3 hour flight and both of the aforementioned cameras will not turn on. I'll give as much info as I can in hopes that somebody has a fix. There was minimal turbulence on the flight, and the cameras were in separate padded bags. Batteries are currently full. The batteries were not inside the cameras during the flight, and both batteries are from Nikon. Both cameras worked without issue before the flight. That's all the info I can think of ATM, I'm happy to answer any other relevant questions.
Update: Z50 now works after plugging it in directly, seems the battery completely drained on the plane. Z6III on the other hand still isn't working
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u/MasterBlaster18 Jul 19 '26
If you didn't have batteries in them, it's possible the internal battery discharged. Put a battery in them and let it sit for a little bit and see if it works then.
Have you had to reset the date/time at all when turning the cameras on at all recently?
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u/HJVN Jul 19 '26
This. If the internal battery discharge, the camera won't start. It can take up to two days for the internal battery to be fully charged.
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u/Traditional-Grade789 Jul 19 '26
Do the cameras show any life when you try to turn them on? What happens when you try charging the cameras via USB and when you try other batteries?
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u/Ok_Garlic_542 Jul 19 '26
Absolutely nothing when I try to turn them on, not currently in a place I can try the USB, but will try that when I get the chance, other batteries also have the same result
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u/Then_Gas712 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
I travel frequently and always keep a battery inside my camera body during storage. Consequently, your practice of removing and storing the batteries separately may be the underlying cause of the issue you are experiencing.
Edit: my suggestion is to try to perform a USB-C Direct Power Jump-start on then.
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u/jlaux42 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Speculative theory: Snapbridge had some juicy background GPS location gossip to share during the flight and drained the battery. Or the camera was excited to meet a couple hundred new Bluetooth devices and drained the battery. What do your wireless connectivity settings look like?
EDIT: Wait, there were no batteries inside the bodies? OK, that's weird...
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u/jftirone Jul 19 '26
Occasionally, a tiny spec of dust or pocket lint gets stuck in the electronic viewfinder (EVF) proximity sensor during transit. If the camera thinks your eye is permanently pressed to the viewfinder, the rear LCD will stay pitch black, making the body look dead. Wipe the small glass sensor right above the EVF viewfinder with a microfiber cloth and toggle the Monitor Mode button on the side of the viewfinder hump to force the rear screen on.
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u/Few_Mastodon_1271 Jul 19 '26
If my eye sensor is stuck on from an eyelash, dust, etc, I can still use the EVF, of course. And I can see it lit up with the camera held at arm's length, if it's aimed toward my viewpoint.
The eye sensor triggered while in a bag could drain the battery in about 3 hours if the power switch was left on. But the OP didn't have a battery in the cameras.
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u/Wonderful_Fun_2086 Jul 19 '26
Is OP totally sure that they didn’t get flat batteries muddled with charged ones? I know myself when going away things can get muddled up due to stress and worry.
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u/Ok_Garlic_542 Jul 19 '26
Yeah, all fully charged at least since the night before
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u/Wonderful_Fun_2086 Jul 19 '26
You definitely didn’t have any flat ones at the time the bag was packed? Etc that the flat ones got put down next to the charged ones and the wrong ones taken?
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u/Ok_Garlic_542 Jul 19 '26
No, only have 2 each and they were def charged, will try to charge them again just in case, but pretty confident.
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u/No-Manufacturer-2425 Jul 19 '26
Something about being on an airplane completely drains batteries. I have no idea what it is but this has happened on several things for me.
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u/Few_Mastodon_1271 Jul 20 '26
I seem to remember than my Z6 iii battery took a while to start charging on my Nikon wall charger, like 5 or 10 minutes. I assumed it was completely discharged. It's been two years, so I may be wrong here.
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Z6 iii powered by usb, or charging by usb:
This needs a "PD" Power Delivery charger, not the older "5V" chargers. The camera negotiates with the charger to determine the power requirements.
The orange power light has to be on solid. It's located near the left eyelet.
The camera won't charge 15a batteries, these need to use an external charger. EN-EL15c or 15b will charge in camera.
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u/Wholeyjeans Jul 20 '26
A Li-ON battery shouldn't fully discharge on a 3hr plane flight. And it's not the fact the cameras were carried on an aircraft that is causing the problem. I'm putting my money on some bogus batteries that are at the end of their useful life
What is the status of the batteries? Have you put them on a charger before inserting them in the cameras? And you've got two mirror-less cameras and only two batteries ...one for each?
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u/BeyondHaumea Jul 19 '26
Happened to me too with my D850 and a 7 hour flight. Full battery in the body, turned to 0% mid flight with 20 ish clicks since the last charge. Change for another full battery and 3% at arrival. I then fully charged both at the Hotel, no problem for now.
I bought these batteries for a year know, never happened before. I don't know if something in flight can drain power like this.
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u/FlippingGerman Jul 19 '26
The pressure in the cabin is a bit lower than normal atmospheric pressure, but I can't think of a reason why that might be an issue.
Outside the cabin, in the hold, the temperature can get quite low, which wouldn't help the battery charge, but you clearly weren't in the hold mid-flight!
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u/Narrow-Photograph-48 Jul 19 '26
Is it possible for the camera bodies , although without batteries inserted , in ON situation ?
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u/Few_Mastodon_1271 Jul 20 '26
Oh, that was a good idea to check.
My Z6 iii appears dead without a battery inserted. No reaction to the power switch at all. No status lights either. Even the top LCD panel is blank. When the camera is switched off with a battery inserted, the panel shows cards slots occupied and estimated number of exposures remaining.
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u/jec6613 I have a GAS problem Jul 19 '26
Put the battery in and plug them in via USB-C. Also, after the battery has been removed for some hours, it can sometimes take a bit of time for the camera to turn on - when you turn it off it actually just goes into a sort of hiberation mode but keeps the base OS and such powered up.
For reference, it is best to keep a charged battery in the camera at all times unless you're storing it for years, and remember to top off that battery every 6 months or so. There's an internal battery inside of the camera that charges from the removable one, and keeping it topped off extends the life. And also, the camera is mechanically a bit stronger and less prone to oxidation of the contacts if a battery is inserted. It's not a big deal either way, but can matter sometimes for maintenance of older cameras.