Nikon D60 Help

[DannyC71]

So I have a Nikon D60 and the mirror is stuck in the up position. I have a fully charged third party battery in it, I do have a genuine Nikon battery on the way. But I don’t believe it’s a battery issue. The lever inside the lens mount, as shown in the attached images, is stuck, won’t move at all. My F90X has a similar lever and it moves freely. So is there a way to get this lever unstuck that doesn’t involve a pricey repair? TIA

 

[koraks]

Consider the possibility that the stuck lever is not the cause of the problem, but a symptom. It sounds like the shutter release/mirror cycle got interrupted/stuck and the result is that this lever is not released and the mirror stays in the up position. The question remains what the cause is of the exposure cycle being interrupted.

I have a fully charged third party battery in it

How old is that battery?

 

[DannyC71]

Consider the possibility that the stuck lever is not the cause of the problem, but a symptom. It sounds like the shutter release/mirror cycle got interrupted/stuck and the result is that this lever is not released and the mirror stays in the up position. The question remains what the cause is of the exposure cycle being interrupted.



How old is that battery?

The battery is brand new.

I do get the “press shutter button again” error and some of the menu options are grayed out, including mirror lock up. But that lever won’t budge at all.

 

[koraks]

The battery is brand new.

As in, fresh production or potentially old stock? It's a bit of a long shot, but this may still be the problem.

I do get the “press shutter button again” error and some of the menu options are grayed out, including mirror lock up. But that lever won’t budge at all.

I've done some searching (as I trust you have, too) and sadly, I see only a few isolated reports of similar problems but no solutions...

 

[Chan Tran]

Did you recently replace the foam around the focusing screen? The problem could be that the foam is too thick. Try pushing the mirror up as it may not be all the way up.

 

[DannyC71]

The batteries are brand new, and I haven’t done anything with the foam either. I can pull the mirror down easily and it pops right back up.

Fortunately I got the camera cheap and it won’t be a big loss if I can’t fix it.

 

[Chan Tran]

The batteries are brand new, and I haven’t done anything with the foam either. I can pull the mirror down easily and it pops right back up.

Fortunately I got the camera cheap and it won’t be a big loss if I can’t fix it.

I meant to push it up not to pull it down. The mirror may not go all the way up yet so it won't come down.

 

[DannyC71]

I meant to push it up not to pull it down. The mirror may not go all the way up yet so it won't come down.

My bad, I was just stating that it could be pulled down easily and wasn’t jammed up. I did try pushing it up and it seems to be all the way up.

 

[reddesert]

Some Nikon DSLRs were/are more prone to getting stuck because (I think) one of the main gears in the shutter mechanism gets sticky or dirty. I think the D60 is a model that is more often affected. IIRC, this gear is fairly easy to access under the bottom plate of the camera, so you can reach and try turning it to complete the shutter mirror cycle, but it has a strong chance of re-occuring. There is an instructables here that shows you what's going on (in a D40, which looks a little different, but same idea). I don't think his recommendation of using a spray grease is a great idea, but you could try something less likely to get everywhere.

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-fix-Press-Shutter-Release-Button-Again-er/

 

[DannyC71]

Some Nikon DSLRs were/are more prone to getting stuck because (I think) one of the main gears in the shutter mechanism gets sticky or dirty. I think the D60 is a model that is more often affected. IIRC, this gear is fairly easy to access under the bottom plate of the camera, so you can reach and try turning it to complete the shutter mirror cycle, but it has a strong chance of re-occuring. There is an instructables here that shows you what's going on (in a D40, which looks a little different, but same idea). I don't think his recommendation of using a spray grease is a great idea, but you could try something less likely to get everywhere.

https://www.instructables.com/How-to-fix-Press-Shutter-Release-Button-Again-er/

Thanks, it worked, but got stuck again after a few frames, but I didn’t use any kind of lubricant either, so I’ll have to get a hold of some and try that.