Nikon F4 troubles

[Clay Pierce]

Picked up two Mint nikon F4 cameras recently that seem to hardly be used and were stored in a hard case for 15 years, but I can not get either of them to turn on. I have tried giving the contacts a clean, using different batteries, swapping and matching the battery holders, removing the prisms but i can't get either to turn on. I've tried using the pictured batteries, fresh alkaline batteries and rechargable batteries. The only sing of life is the battery check button. Has anybody had a similar experience, is it worth getting them professionally looked at?

 

[Pieter12]

I assume you have batteries in the base as well as the grip. What are you doing to turn on the camera? I haven’t used an F4 in ages, does it need to be loaded with film to turn on?

 

[Clay Pierce]

I assume you have batteries in the base as well as the grip. What are you doing to turn on the camera? I haven’t used an F4 in ages, does it need to be loaded with film to turn on?

Yeah I have put batteries in the grip and it should just fire without any film, I had one a few years ago and I'm pretty sure it would fire with no film.

 

[Pieter12]

I just remember it wouldn’t fire with the back open unless you pressed a little lever inside.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to Photrio!

 

[rcphoto]

Maybe I'm wrong but I believe the F5 had a setting to turn shooting empty on or off. Does the F4 have this setting?

 

[MFstooges]

Send them to me they are definitely junk!!

j/k set the ISO to 100 and close the back.

 

[reddesert]

I don't think the F4 is guaranteed to work with AA lithium batteries. Those have lower voltage than the AA alkalines that were standard when the F4 came out. Get a set of AA alkalines and try again.

Edit: I see the OP said they tried fresh alkalines. Question remains as others said, is it that the camera doesn't light up any displays, or that it doesn't fire?

 

[Clay Pierce]

I don't think the F4 is guaranteed to work with AA lithium batteries. Those have lower voltage than the AA alkalines that were standard when the F4 came out. Get a set of AA alkalines and try again.

Edit: I see the OP said they tried fresh alkalines. Question remains as others said, is it that the camera doesn't light up any displays, or that it doesn't fire?

there are no signs of life besides the LED battery light

 

[Oldwino]

I run my F4 with AA lithiums. No issues.
Unfortunately, I have no advice for the OP...Never experienced anything like that.

 

[MFstooges]

An old thread

New to me Nikon F4 not firing.

Just bought a Nikon F4 from a camera swap meet. Popped it open and found some newer batteries that had leaked. Just a leak, no real corrosion to speak of. A quick swab and it was all cleaned up. According to the battery check (on the MB-21 winder), it has power (two red dots with LR6...

www.photrio.com

 

[Chan Tran]

I don't see the battery holder for the base. Do you have them? you need 3 batteries in the base and 3 in the grip. I used my F4 wth EBL Li-Ion rechargeable batteries and it works fine.

 

[Paul Howell]

I am shooting with my F4 right now, I use standard non alkaline batteries in mine, works find, will get as many rolls as I shoot a roll or 2 before moving to another camera does not matter.

 

[Henning Serger]

there are no signs of life besides the LED battery light

Looks like there is an interruption in the electrical power connection from the batteries / battery compartment to the camera controls / mainboard.
I have never experienced such or a similar problem with my F4s (which I bought used). I have always used Panasonic Eneloops in my F4s, never had any problem.
I would have get the two cameras checked by a Nikon repair specialist. Both look like being in a condition that a repair could be worth it.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Pieter12]

Just for grins, I dug out my F4s from mothball storage (the box under my desk), popped in 6 batteries and it fired away like always. Sweet sound.

 

[Chan Tran]

Just want to confirm if the OP put 6 batteries in the camera.

 

[Clay Pierce]

Just want to confirm if the OP put 6 batteries in the camera.

Yeah i did, I think im going to get them looked at by a professional

 

[Clay Pierce]

Looks like there is an interruption in the electrical power connection from the batteries / battery compartment to the camera controls / mainboard.
I have never experienced such or a similar problem with my F4s (which I bought used). I have always used Panasonic Eneloops in my F4s, never had any problem.
I would have get the two cameras checked by a Nikon repair specialist. Both look like being in a condition that a repair could be worth it.

Best regards,
Henning

Thank you, I will send them to a professional and hopefully i get many years out of them.

 

[choiliefan]

https://www.photrio.com/forum/members/andreas-thaler.86221/ has written extensively of his adventures inside the Nikon f4. Might be worthwhile contacting him.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I suggest sending it to KEH.com for repair or a Nikon repair person.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

The operating voltage is obviously not reaching the other electronics in the camera as @Henning Serger assumes. The two battery contacts in the battery compartment into which the second battery holder is inserted could be the problem here. I would work on these intensively with electronic cleaner and an eraser.

I would definitely check the output voltage on both battery holders with a multimeter, it should be at least 2 x 4.5 volts with fresh batteries. If it is less or 0 volts, a contact problem could be the cause - clean as described above.

If that doesn't help, the camera must be opened to check whether voltage can be measured at the inputs on the circuit board for the operating voltage. However, disassembling the F4 is not trivial.

From then on it becomes difficult to check because you need to know the circuit to do so. The troubleshooting tips in the service manual or SPT journal for the F4 may help. But that is already very special.

It is interesting that both F4s show the same error after a long period of inactivity. Nothing should actually break on its own there, so I suspect a problem with the power supply/contacts by (invisible) oxidation.

 

[MattKing]

Thread moved to the Camera Repairs sub-forum, because that is what its about