Nikon f3 lens lock issue

Austin_Jessup · Mar 29, 2017

Hi everyone

I just picked up a Nikon f3 and noticed that all lenses have an issue with locking to the camera body. They'll do it eventually but it requires repeated attempts. Does anyone know of common reasons this occurs and some ideas on how to fix them? I'm hoping it's a stickiness issue with the mount pin that could be fixed with some lubricant, but it doesn't seem to stick when I'm inspecting it without the lens.

Any help is appreciated as always!

Leigh B · Mar 30, 2017

I've repaired a lot of F3 cameras, and still own three of them.
I've never encountered such a problem. I don't understand it.

There's a lot of clearance around the retaining pin, so I can't imagine it binding.

I think there's dirt or corrosion built up in the lens mount restricting lens rotation.

- Leigh

Austin_Jessup · Mar 30, 2017

Thanks Leigh I'll work on giving it a good cleaning tomorrow. Always appreciate your help!

ac12 · Mar 30, 2017

Watch carefully.

Does the lens turn all the way to lock or is it stopping just short of lockup position.
Is the pin that is not coming out?
That it is happening with several different lenses tends to point to the camera as the problem.
But check the lenses, with a magnifier, as they might all have a common problem of grime on the bayonet mechanism.

John Koehrer · Mar 30, 2017

A suggestion. If you're cleaning the back of the mounting flange, an old tooth brush
works well.
A drop of Naptha on the release pin will do no harm but NO WD-40, 3 in 1 or other household oils, they're too thick
or leave a residue(WD-40).
BTW that's a SMALL drop.

vlasta · Mar 30, 2017

Maybe retaining pin is bent?

bdial · Mar 30, 2017

Are these auto-indexing lenses with a notch in the f/stop ring?

EdColorado · Mar 30, 2017

I actually had this exact problem on my F3 a while back. It ended up being some dirt around the release button. I cleaned it and all is well.

Austin_Jessup · Mar 31, 2017

ac12 said:
Watch carefully.

Does the lens turn all the way to lock or is it stopping just short of lockup position.

Is the pin that is not coming out?

That it is happening with several different lenses tends to point to the camera as the problem.

But check the lenses, with a magnifier, as they might all have a common problem of grime on the bayonet mechanism.

The lenses both turn all the way on the F3 body and lock positively on a Nikon digital body I use for scanning negatives, but I haven't done a worthy inspection of grime yet and will definitely do so.

John Koehrer said:
A suggestion. If you're cleaning the back of the mounting flange, an old tooth brush
works well.
A drop of Naptha on the release pin will do no harm but NO WD-40, 3 in 1 or other household oils, they're too thick
or leave a residue(WD-40).
BTW that's a SMALL drop.

Is Naptha the paint stripping stuff? I'm just getting into handiness around cleaning and fixing cameras so I apologize if that's an obvious question. I will definitely try this out for cleaning both the lenses, the pin and release button and hopefully that frees things up.

bdial said:
Are these auto-indexing lenses with a notch in the f/stop ring?

Thanks for responding Barry - one is ai-s and one is ai so yes I believe they both have the notch.

EdColorado said:
I actually had this exact problem on my F3 a while back. It ended up being some dirt around the release button. I cleaned it and all is well.

I'm hoping this is the issue based on your experience and noticing yesterday night that the release button seems to show signs of sticking while attaching the lens. It's hard to see what the pin is doing at that time. When no lens is attached the release button and pin appear to move freely. What did you use to clean around the button?

Thanks again everyone!

EdColorado · Mar 31, 2017

Austin_Jessup said:
Is Naptha the paint stripping stuff? I'm just getting into handiness around cleaning and fixing cameras so I apologize if that's an obvious question. I will definitely try this out for cleaning both the lenses, the pin and release button and hopefully that frees things up.

I'm hoping this is the issue based on your experience and noticing yesterday night that the release button seems to show signs of sticking while attaching the lens. It's hard to see what the pin is doing at that time. When no lens is attached the release button and pin appear to move freely. What did you use to clean around the button?

Thanks again everyone!

Naphtha is lighter fluid, or white gas (Colman fuel), not paint remover. Its a fine degreaser and used a lot on cameras. I wouldn't soak something painted in it, but it wont normally wipe paint right off. It's also what I used to clean my F3's release button. I just cleaned what I could reach from outside the camera (I didn't try to remove the button) and then put one tiny drop of light oil in where the button meets the camera body. Loosened everything right up and now works fine.
It was hard to see what was wrong, as you mentioned you cant see the pin when mounting the lens. I first spent time removing the lens mount assembly and cleaning everything, looking to see if the mount was worn, all the more time consuming things before cleaning and lubing the silly button. Should have been a 2 minute job...

Austin_Jessup · Mar 31, 2017

Thanks Ed! I've got my fingers crossed for that to do the trick.

Austin_Jessup · Mar 31, 2017

EdColorado said:
Naphtha is lighter fluid, or white gas (Colman fuel), not paint remover. Its a fine degreaser and used a lot on cameras. I wouldn't soak something painted in it, but it wont normally wipe paint right off. It's also what I used to clean my F3's release button. I just cleaned what I could reach from outside the camera (I didn't try to remove the button) and then put one tiny drop of light oil in where the button meets the camera body. Loosened everything right up and now works fine.
It was hard to see what was wrong, as you mentioned you cant see the pin when mounting the lens. I first spent time removing the lens mount assembly and cleaning everything, looking to see if the mount was worn, all the more time consuming things before cleaning and lubing the silly button. Should have been a 2 minute job...

Happy to report this worked out perfectly! Thanks again Ed and everyone who contributed!

EdColorado · Apr 1, 2017

Excellent, that's good to hear. Happy I could help!

Erik D. Herrmann Sr. · Apr 14, 2017

Interesting that this came up. I just got a new (to me) F3 and I have had the same issue. That's three of us so far. My copy had been in storage for quite some time before I got it, and the pin is sticking less often the more that I use it.

Nikon f3 lens lock issue

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