I can’t use my Nikon D50 any more, and it’s not what you think

Nikon D50: If you like a camera, you should stick to it but, uh, maybe not literally.

(Image credit: Rod Lawton)

So is it the 6MP sensor? Not exactly. That is pretty pitiful by today’s standards, true, but if you’re shooting images for your website or social media, 3000x2000 pixels is fine.

Is it the lack of video? No. I’ve got plenty of other gadgets I can use for video.

So is it the pretty dreadful fixed screen on the back, or the basic 5-point AF system, the total lack of live view or the single SD card slot (not even SDHC)? No, it’s none of those things.

My Nikon D50 has gone sticky.

Nikon must have inadvertently used some kind of degrading rubberised leatherette material for the grip, so that while my D50 still works perfectly, it’s just too horribly sticky to pick up and hold.

I only found out a couple of weeks back when I took it out of my old camera cupboard (I need a bigger cupboard) just to remind myself what it was like… and it wasn’t like this.

So is it the pretty dreadful fixed screen on the back, or the basic AF system, the total lack of live view or single SD card slot? No, it’s none of those things.

It’s not the only electronics product I’ve got that’s gone sticky, and I suspect it’s because a lot of these things have carried on working long after the makers imagined they’d be useful. I had to get rid of my dual-port USB charger last month for the same reason. It still charged my gear, but it had become stickier than a toddler’s face at dinner time.

STOP PRESS: Scores of DCW readers have sent in their de-sticking tips, and my D50 is now as good as new! Find out what made my D50 unsticky.

There are other things in my cupboard that have not suffered the same fate, including my Fujifilm S3 Pro (great images, rubbish 4xAA power, hugely long RAW capture times), Pentax K20D (a noisy lump but likeable) and a Sony R1, the first and only APS-C bridge camera.

I should open a camera museum.

Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com

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