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Yesterday, I was taking multiple photos of a subject for a focus stack in live view in a hot room. After a bit, I couldn't change the settings for shutter speed, ISO or anything like that. Live view was still on at this time. Then I turned off live view and the screen didn't display anything. I couldn't reenter live view or enter file playback. I could still take photos. I took the card out and put it back in. Nothing happened. I took the battery out and put it back in. When I turned the camera on, the settings for date and time showed up and I could change the settings there, only once I had done that, I still couldn't do anything that requires the screen. I also couldn't enter the menu.

I noticed the screen was quite hot, so I took the camera to a cooler room. Once the screen had cooled, the camera worked... fine. I was wondering if the Nikon D5300 has a thermal shutoff for the screen or is it something worse? I also forgot to check if that was an error message in the viewfinder.

Thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions, please answer. Thanks again.

P.S: I also had problems before with the camera not taking photos or entering live view, while the screen worked. I thought this was something to do with the card. We had a replacement on the way, so, when it came, I formatted it and placed it in the camera. It seems to be fine now, but I've only had the card for a week or so. Just thought I'd mention this.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What was the room temperature? Nikon says 0° to 40°C. The additional heat from live view might make that tolerance a bit shorter at the top end. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetsujin
    Jul 17, 2022 at 13:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ It was probably around 30-32 C outside, maybe less. I wasn't really watching the temp. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tom
    Jul 17, 2022 at 14:21

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I was wondering if the Nikon D5300 has a thermal shutoff for the screen or is it something worse?

I doubt the camera has a thermal shutdown for the LCD screen. It has a thermal shutdown for the sensor temperature or system (e.g. mainboard) temperature.

When using Live View the sensor is required to stay on all of the time. This creates more heat than when using the optical viewfinder which allows the sensor to be unpowered between shots. In marginal shooting environments, the extra heat from using LV might be just enough to push the entire system over the edge.

Based on your description, it sounds like what happened to your camera is that the sensor/system temperature was too high and the camera shut down to protect the camera.

Another possibility may be that the camera's internal battery/capacitor used to preserve time/date and settings is getting older and weaker. Heat also affects the efficiency of batteries. That may have been enough for the backup battery/capacitor to fall below the needed voltage. To fully recharge a "super capacitor" or rechargeable button cell soldered to the mainboard used as the internal backup battery, leave a fully charged EN-EL14A battery in the powered down camera for two days.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What I don't understand is that the camera still allows you to take a photo when this problem is going on. It happened again last night when the temp was cooler (still warm for nighttime) and I could still take photos, I just couldn't do anything with the screen. Another thing I should add, I do use a remote shutter release. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tom
    Jul 19, 2022 at 6:00

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