Help, On holiday,Nikon F3 shutter problem

[jaffa_777]

I know this is rangefinder forum, but I know many people here use this camera and may be able to help me out.

The shutter button on my F3 works intermittedly. Sometimes I pick it up and it will fire and work for a couple of days, then bammo it stops working for a week. Batterries are fine, and I have fiddled and played with every button, switch and the lens. It's driving me insane because I love using it.

Is this a common problem? Is there a fix?

Cheers people.

 

[Ken Ford]

When the shutter button fails, does the manual release next to the lens mount still work? Does the meter keep working?

 

[jaffa_777]

Yes the meter still works, and I can use the manual shutter still. 1/60th is rather limiting though. It's just the button won't seem to trip the shutter. I think it must be an electronic fault.

 

[KoNickon]

I'm sure it's an electronic fault. I haven't heard of this before but that doesn't mean anything. Probably just a bad contact, which should be curable.

I think the manual shutter trips at more like 1/90th -- somewhat better than 1/60th but still not as useful as the FE2's 1/250th manual shutter speed.

 

[Ken Ford]

Yes the meter still works, and I can use the manual shutter still. 1/60th is rather limiting though. It's just the button won't seem to trip the shutter. I think it must be an electronic fault.

Just trying to narrow things down, that's all. You weren't clear if the camera was completely dead when this happens or not.

Have you tried a cable release? Do you have an MD4 with remote release? If you can determine it's just the actual shutter button, that may be helpful.

 

[jaffa_777]

Well, back from my holiday. Sent my camera in for a quote to get repaired. To make a long story short, there is a short circuit somewhere in the camera which is draining the battery within a few hours. They are going to send it to nikon for a repair. Ughhh, I usually wouldn't bother and just buy another one for a few hundred bucks, but this one is in such good cosmetic and mechanical condition that it deserves fixing.

Thanks for peoples input anyway.