Nikon D70s appears to be dead . . . ideas?

[Whoozit]

I switched on the camera this morning to check it over before a family christening this afternoon. It wouldn't switch on with the card inserted. With the card ejected it works fine, metering and firing the shutter no problem, flash popup if needed, menus work fine, etc. Swapping lenses or having no lens on the body makes no difference. Finally, if I insert the card when the camera is switched on, the top display freezes and nothing works. At no time does the green activity light flash (i.e. this isn't precisely the BGLOD issue early model D70 owners typically had). I should mention this has occasionally happened when I've inserted the card, but a routine of switching off, re-inserting and switching back on has fixed it previously.

I've tried the two button reset and the hard reset on the bottom plate, nothing. I've also tried a known good card (new in Jessops) and same issue. The pins at the bottom of the compactflash slot look ok. Battery was freshly charged this morning.

I've run out of ideas. Any great minds have any further suggestions before I give in and send it back to Nikon (out of warranty, of course . . . )

[toothlessjim]

Is there anything on the card that could be affecting it?

[Whoozit]

I reformatted the card in a reader then popped it back in. Even if it were a problem, the card I tried in Jessops should have got round that.

[toothlessjim]

Must be a software problem in the camera thats finaly killed it then. Is there a nikon customer support line, ring and ask them.....you never know they might have a clue

[V6GTO]

Whoozit said:

Nikon D70s appears to be dead . . . ideas?

Bury it.

[lowdrag]

I reckon you have bent one of the pins inside the card aperture. Did you by any chance try and put the card in the wrong way round to start with? It seems that the problem isn't the camera but the connection with the card. You'll need to send the camera back to Nikon for repair.