Deaths in Custody. Is 40 years the limit for Nikon electronics?

Cameras are not like tube amps, where a bad electrolytic capacitor can cause the failure of other critical electronic components. At the low voltages and low capacitances of typical camera circuits, there is not much danger of cascading failures. Electronic flashes, of course, have much larger capacitors than the other parts of a camera. However, even most of my older flashes still work.

I have a pile of Nikons and most of them have working meters. Recently I got a F2 whose meter didn't work. It turned out that it wasn't getting any power from body to the prism. Some tracing with a voltmeter showed that the switch in the bottom of the body (the meter switches on when you pull the wind lever out) had a bit of corrosion. A bit of scraping and some vinegar and it was restored to life. Most repairs are unlikely to be this easy, but experience troubleshooting electronics (not in cameras) shows that electro-mechanical parts (contacts, switches, potentiometers) are far more often the cause of failures, than is breakdown of individual electronic components (resistors, transistors, film caps, etc).

As long as the batteries are available working used cameras are available for the Nikon N745 and F100 I will continue using them.

My FA is fine, thanks.

benveniste said:

My FA is fine, thanks.

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As are both my F3HP and my F3P: Meters are spot on, no LCD bleed, and shutter speeds - as my my most recently returned Ektachromes attest - remain accurate.

AgX said:

In the comparisons of electronics repair versus mechanicakl repair here at Apug I got the impression that many people think a dead circuit principally is dead for good and any mechanical failure can be solved by just tinkering with a screwdriver.

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+1. This.

dkonigs said:

Which is why I'm glad that I see several posts on this thread that refute that assumption.

I think the real issue at hand is that people who repair old cameras and people who repair old electronics are two mutually exclusive groups. The skills are somewhat different, and people often think something they don't understand must be a black art.
Another issue is that cameras probably use some custom components that aren't easily replaceable with off-the-shelf parts and can't be fabricated without industrial facilities. I'm not sure how often these components are the point of failure, but they are something worth considering.

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Couldn't have said it better.

Also note that electronic cameras tend to be mechanically simpler (less gears etc.)

You can transplant electronics and mechanics donor parts, too.

spark said:

My experience is that solid state electronics is most likely to fail due to mechanical problems- cracked solder joints, poor seal on chip leads, loose wires, etc.

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... and those are easy repairs.

I have had many electronic cameras and only one has had an electronic failure --an F3.

But the rest (FE, nikkormat EL, Canon A1, Ae1, New F1, T70, EF, EOS 650, EOS 5)... all of them reliable. Also when my AE1 meter failed the culprit was mechanical, the mechanical wire that connects the speed dial to the meter.

Sirius Glass said:

As long as the batteries are available working used cameras are available for the Nikon N745 and F100 I will continue using them.

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Those two are my only electronic cameras, all the rest are all mechanical by desire and design.

Robin Guymer said:

The new decade of 2020 and onwards means your Nikon electronic cameras are hitting 40 years of age. I am talking about the F3's, FE's, FE2's and FA's. How are your collector cameras holding up? Mine has taken a big hit lately with failures of a FA, a deceased FE and my best F3 has developed an aberration causing a delay in firing. I fear these cameras won't get to 50 yr old. So what's your thoughts, stock up on a few more good users, buy F4's, or does the FM2 and F2 go to Leica M3 levels of desirable collectables?

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I can't find it at the moment but I seem to recall the Modern or Pop Photo magazine review of the F3 when it was first released stated that Nikon believed then that the F3's LCD had a lifespan of less then 10 years and that Nikon had made that part easily replaceable.

Well the F3 had a very long production starting in 1980 and ending in early 2000 so my F3 could be anywhere from 18 to 39 years old - far exceeding the expected lifesapn of the LCD, and it is still in perfect working order. For Nikons of the era I also have the FA, FM2 and FG and all are still working perfectly.

I haven't begun working on my gear yet but I believe your F3 symptom is mechanical in nature rather then electronics and perhaps a CLA is all it needs.

Sure, you can replace electronic parts too, but many parts have been end of life'd by their mfg - ask guys who want to build certain solid state amps

Also, working on PCBs that were never intended to be worked on by human hands is another challenge

I try to avoid Contax RX/AX/ST/RTS III because I've had 3/4 die on me (call it bad luck) with in a month of buying them - all electronics failure
Ended up giving a black chrome minolta XD7 to john titterington for parts because the board was dead

Nikon and Canon pro models have served me well, so I'll stick with that

This reminds me of the early 1990s when everyone was afraid of computerized engine controls. Now nearly 30 years later I own two vehicles of that era and the electronics are among the few bits working reliably.

Anyway, I have a Nikon FE that sat in a storage unit for years, low humidity (Los Angeles) but hot/cold/hot/cold. Great looking camera that was probably well cared for. When I dug it out it turned on but the shutter only fired at one speed. Just got it back from the shop (Camera Max). Not sure what the bad part was (can't read Harry's writing) but a $97 repair on a camera I got for free makes me happy.

Another friend gave me a bunch of cameras including a Nikon FG and a Minolta XG-E, both stored (I assume) in similar conditions (mostly favorable). The FG's electronics are completely dead -- no meter, shutter only works on M and X. The Minolta looks like it's been through a war or two and it still works. So that's a point in favor of the OP's notion that Nikon electronics are troublesome.

The only other electronic camera I have is a low-mileage Minolta RZ430si and that's hardly the same thing. It does work, though, but as a long-time Pentax KX owner it's hard to imagine changing batteries more than once a decade, let alone once a month.

Can't decide what to do with that FG. I have two Nikon bodies which is all I need, and the money I spend getting it repaired could go to another Minolta body and some lenses. But it kills me to have such a cool camera that isn't working. What to do? What to do?

An interesting thread! And of concern to me since I own a Nikon F3 and THREE Pentax LXs. The LX shutter will function without battery from 1/70 to 1/2000, but it would be sad to lose its superlative metering system and the wonderful viewfinder display. I'd guess that donor cameras for the Nikon F3 and later cameras are more plentiful than for the LX, so I'll treasure my trio, get them CLA'd and be thankful for my other primarily mechanical K mount cameras.
The comments about mechanical cameras being perhaps more difficult to repair than electronically festooned marvels is perhaps over simplified. Advance Camera did a fabulous job on my AsahiFlex IIa, a totally mechanical gem. They had to cut a replacement mirror, and fabricate one or more parts. The work wasn't cheap, but it preserves a true classic. Do consider that mechanical watches with numerous "complications" can be repaired...at some cost!
While vintage electronic audio goodies can have some parts that can replaced by you or me - I've replaced some electrolytic caps in vintage power amps - as my Harman Kardon HK590i receiver ages repairs might be more difficult, and this classic has few unique components, as far as I know.

CMoore said:

Are you the original owner.?

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No, I'm not the original owner... sorry for the LATE reply. I never did get an email notice that someone posted to this thread.

Vincent Peri said:

No, I'm not the original owner... sorry for the LATE reply. I never did get an email notice that someone posted to this thread.

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Well, i THINK my point was....... they may have been (without your knowledge) serviced at some point.

Thank you. I already was wondering what your point was. Was very slow on the uptake...