Problem with Nikon MD12 winder

[FrankS]

Thank you to those who suggested shorting the winder contacts that interface with the camera. A dead MD12 made some motor noises and winding action while off the camera, but is not cycling properly. Any other ideas?

I did clean the contacts inside the winder.

 

[Dwig]

Did you:

• clean the contacts on the body?
• wind the camera before mounting the MD12?

 

[FrankS]

Yes and yes.

 

[FrankS]

Pressing the winder shutter button with the winder off the camera results in no action.

Pressing the winder shutter button with the winder off the camera while shorting out the contacts on top of the winder results in a winding action, but then nothing. The drive of the winder has to be rotated manually before this can repeat.

 

[rbsinto]

Which body are you mounting it on?

 

[FrankS]

Hi Rob. It's an FM.

 

[rbsinto]

Seems to me the early FMs have a shutter lock and whether it is engaged or not has a bearing on whether the drive works.
Check the manual as I think the lock must be engaged on the body for the drive to work.
I remember this as I had an early FM/MD-12 and initially had trouble getting the drive to work until I sorted out the shutter lock business.
see this:
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Nikon_FM

 

[FrankS]

Rob, m new to me FM is one of those early ones. I admit that I had zero confidence in your suggestion because I thought that the camera shutter lock was just a mechanical block, but I tried it anyway, and low and behold, it works properly! There is no way I would have figured this out on my own. I'd lie to buy you a beverage whenever we meet again in Toronto. Thank you, Rob!

 

[rbsinto]

Rob, m new to me FM is one of those early ones. I admit that I had zero confidence in your suggestion because I thought that the camera shutter lock was just a mechanical block, but I tried it anyway, and low and behold, it works properly! There is no way I would have figured this out on my own. I'd lie to buy you a beverage whenever we meet again in Toronto. Thank you, Rob!

You're very welcome.
I couldn't get it to work either until I asked my local repair person who showed me how.
Have we met before?
Forgive me if we have because I don't remember.
If you frequent Kensington and Chinatown we'll bump into each other at some point and you can buy the coffees.
Robert

 

[FrankS]

One time briefly at a bar in Kensington. It had a religious connotation name.

 

[FrankS]

 

[nikon_sam]

Seems to me the early FMs have a shutter lock and whether it is engaged or not has a bearing on whether the drive works.
Check the manual as I think the lock must be engaged on the body for the drive to work.
I remember this as I had an early FM/MD-12 and initially had trouble getting the drive to work until I sorted out the shutter lock business.
see this:
http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Nikon_FM

Yup...Forgot about this...nice troubleshooting...😀

 

[farlymac]

Same happened to me after many years of not owning one, and then thinking I could remember all the functions without looking at a manual. Welcome to the club, Frank.

PF

 

[FrankS]

From the link: Early production FM's had a knurled rotating collar/switch located concentrically around the shutter release button; this switch functioned as a shutter release lock when the camera was used alone; however,when either a Motor Drive MD-11 or MD-12 was attached, the switch was supposed to be turned after attaching the motor drive but BEFORE turning on the MD-11 or MD-12. Rotating this concentric switch to the ON position after the motor drive had been mounted and then turned ON would immediately lock up the camera,rendering the camera inoperable, and it was then necessary to remove the MD-11 or MD-11 from the camera base,and to touch the motor drive's exposed contacts with a penny to clear the jam caused by the out-of-synch camera/motor combination.

 

[newsgrunt]

Last Temptation

 

[FrankS]

Last Temptation

That's it. I was thinking along the lines of Promiscuous Nun. 😉

 

[ronnies]

I've had a similar jam with an FM2n and MD-12 when I pulled the wind-on lever out to the stand off position by mistake.

Ronnie