Nikon F5: Known vulnerabilities and problems?

[Andreas Thaler]

I up-graded from the F4 to the F5 when they first came out. I used it for years as a professional sports photographer. It's a wonderful camera and likely the best of the AF Nikon film cameras... well maybe the F6 is better but they came out too late for most of us, as the pro shooters had already switched to digital by the time the F6 came out. I only have a F3 now but if I was considering an AF model, I would likely get the F5 or F6. One advantage of the F6 is it's lighter and smaller since the motor drive comes off.

You must have used the F5 intensively and it seems to have held up. That is a testament to the quality of the F5

A German photo reporter reported in a forum that the bayonet of the F4 was too weak for the heavy, fast telephoto lenses. And the shutter could not withstand the constant stress of reportage use and had to be replaced.

 

[Paul Howell]

Where were you deployed?

We worked out of Thailand and covered all of Southeast Asia, South Vietnam, Laos Cambodia and places still classified. When not in county I had assessments in Alaska, Japan, Guam, and stateside.

 

[Chan Tran]

So my F5 had very little use. I don't think I shot 50 rolls with it. A good number of blank rolls though but still I am sure not 100.

 

[GregY]

I did have issues with the Nikon F5. Previously I had been a Nikon user, but switched to the Canon EOS1. When the F5 came out i sold my Canon bodies and glass & bought the new F5 (1996) from the first run. It was in the shop for 3x within the first months with battery power issues. It wouldn't rewind a roll of 36 without killing the batteries. Nikon never did fix that one & i gave up and sold it & the new lenses & went heavily into LF & MF.
My current Nikon is an early black F with pentaprism (for nostalgia's sake) and some LF & enlarging lenses.

 

[MattKing]

I ask for Christmas amnesty for this thread, which is also interesting because it is currently running OT

No amnesty required - if that post was intended for this thread, than that's fine.
It just seems to be more lost than off topic.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

We worked out of Thailand and covered all of Southeast Asia, South Vietnam, Laos Cambodia and places still classified. When not in county I had assessments in Alaska, Japan, Guam, and stateside.

What were your duties as an Air Force combat photographer?

I'm very interested, I didn't know this role before.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

So, I bought a broken F5 with the dreaded "no power, nothing" issue. The seller told me the camera worked a few months ago but was now dead after just sitting in the drawer. I work with electronics so I'm fairly capable of repairing most things electronic, this would be a good challenge.

Nikon F5 - No Power Repair

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Nikon F5 - No Power Repair

It's a shame that this fuse cannot be accessed via a service hatch. As you can see, changing it is quite a hassle.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

When this fuse starts to deteriorate (slow increase in resistance) you will have all kinds of issues when the camera wants power (running AF and/or winding film). When the fuse breaks completely you will have nothing, but the +6V on the data back connector.

It is new to me that fuses are subject to an aging process under normal circumstances, i.e. no exposure to moisture, heat, battery electrolyte, etc.

In this case, it is an encapsulated SMD version that should be protected.

Can someone explain this?

 

[Paul Howell]

What were your duties as an Air Force combat photographer?

I'm very interested, I didn't know this role before.

In the 60s and 70s Air Force combat photographers were not assigned to a base level photo shop. We worked on various assignment's including in the field, aircraft recovery, mission assessment, air crew recovery, most of what I did is still classified, due for review in 2027. The Air Force declassified the Lima sites, a series of navigational aid sites in Laos that the strike aircraft used on bombing runs into North Vietnam. Several were overrun by the Pathalao and North Vietnamese regulars, these were active in the 60 but had been closed down by the 70s. After the Paris Accords the Air Force and Navy closed down it's combat photography units only to reinstate the career field after 911. Today the Air Force uses the term photojournist, a term I am not happy with. As combat photographers we were armed and expected to engage in combat as needed. A photojournist is a neutral party, not armed, does not engage in combat.

 

[forest bagger]

Can someone explain this?

I can't - because for me as an technician who wants to get paid for his work it's of no use to know why the fuse is broken - I simply have to replace it.
I have broken fuses at least one time a year, until now they all broke due to a heavy short circuit like ram a CF-card in the card slot of a DSLR the wrong way.
Maybe the fuses in small digital cameras like Nikon 1 V1 and V2 broke because of detoriating, I had these problems some years ago.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

In the 60s and 70s Air Force combat photographers were not assigned to a base level photo shop. We worked on various assignment's including in the field, aircraft recovery, mission assessment, air crew recovery, most of what I did is still classified, due for review in 2027. The Air Force declassified the Lima sites, a series of navigational aid sites in Laos that the strike aircraft used on bombing runs into North Vietnam. Several were overrun by the Pathalao and North Vietnamese regulars, these were active in the 60 but had been closed down by the 70s. After the Paris Accords the Air Force and Navy closed down it's combat photography units only to reinstate the career field after 911. Today the Air Force uses the term photojournist, a term I am not happy with. As combat photographers we were armed and expected to engage in combat as needed. A photojournist is a neutral party, not armed, does not engage in combat.

Thanks for the interesting insights!

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I can't - because for me as an technician who wants to get paid for his work it's of no use to know why the fuse is broken - I simply have to replace it.
I have broken fuses at least one time a year, until now they all broke due to a heavy short circuit like ram a CF-card in the card slot of a DSLR the wrong way.
Maybe the fuses in small digital cameras like Nikon 1 V1 and V2 broke because of detoriating, I had these problems some years ago.

Have you ever had this problem with an F5 on your workbench?

It's similar to the F4.

For what is essentially a trivial repair (a drop of oil for the lame aperture control), the front and back parts of the F5 also have to be separated in order to change this fuse.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I did have issues with the Nikon F5. Previously I had been a Nikon user, but switched to the Canon EOS1. When the F5 came out i sold my Canon bodies and glass & bought the new F5 (1996) from the first run. It was in the shop for 3x within the first months with battery power issues. It wouldn't rewind a roll of 36 without killing the batteries. Nikon never did fix that one & i gave up and sold it & the new lenses & went heavily into LF & MF.
My current Nikon is an early black F with pentaprism (for nostalgia's sake) and some LF & enlarging lenses.

I looked around on the web and it seems to have affected the first F5s produced in series.

Here is some information on the serial numbers and production period of the F5:

Serial numbers of the Nikon F5 started at 3000000; the last serial number - confirmed by the factory - is 3235612. Mid 2004 production was stopped.

Nikon F5

 

[forest bagger]

Hello Andreas!

Have you ever had this problem with an F5 on your workbench?

Within the last 15 years I had broken fuses only on digital cameras, never on cameras for film.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Hello Andreas!
Within the last 15 years I had broken fuses only on digital cameras, never on cameras for film.

Thank you very much, that gives me some orientation!

 

[Andreas Thaler]

This is an opportunity for me to get back to work with meta35.

This is a set consisting of software for Windows and Mac, a USB adapter and a connection cable for a specific SLR.

I have the cables for the Nikon F5 and Canon EOS-1V.

These can be used to load metadata from the camera's data storage and assign scans.

In addition, individual camera functions can be set, for example on the Nikon F5.

Nikon's software for this was Photo Secretary in conjunction with certain MC data cables.

It's a pity that meta35 was discontinued in 2021.

https://promotesystems.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000899867-Meta35-Demos-Downloads

 

[Chan Tran]

View attachment 386228

This is an opportunity for me to get back to work with meta35.

This is a set consisting of software for Windows and Mac, a USB adapter and a connection cable for a specific SLR.

I have the cables for the Nikon F5 and Canon EOS-1V.

These can be used to load metadata from the camera's data storage and assign scans.

In addition, individual camera functions can be set, for example on the Nikon F5.

Nikon's software for this was Photo Secretary in conjunction with certain MC data cables.

It's a pity that meta35 was discontinued in 2021.

https://promotesystems.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000899867-Meta35-Demos-Downloads

I have the Nikon software and I used it to ease the shooting data and set the custom function. I use the custom function to eliminate P and S modes.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

You must have used the F5 intensively and it seems to have held up. That is a testament to the quality of the F5

A German photo reporter reported in a forum that the bayonet of the F4 was too weak for the heavy, fast telephoto lenses. And the shutter could not withstand the constant stress of reportage use and had to be replaced.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

When I started shooting sports full-time the F4 was the current camera and I used those. I shot with a 400 f2.8 and 600 f4.0 mostly and the mount would last about a year on the camera. It wasn't from the weight of the lens which was on a monopd, but from the constant weight of the camera hanging from the end of the lens, plus your hand adds more weight. This day-in-day-out pressure would eventually ruin the mount on the camera and the AF wouldn't work right. Simple fix, send it to Nikon for a new mount, and all was great again. I replaced the mount on the F4 about once a year but don't recall having to replace the F5 mount. As I said earlier, I had an F6 but the heavy days of shooting film were over by the time it came out.

 

[Horatio]

View attachment 386228

This is an opportunity for me to get back to work with meta35.

This is a set consisting of software for Windows and Mac, a USB adapter and a connection cable for a specific SLR.

I have the cables for the Nikon F5 and Canon EOS-1V.

These can be used to load metadata from the camera's data storage and assign scans.

In addition, individual camera functions can be set, for example on the Nikon F5.

Nikon's software for this was Photo Secretary in conjunction with certain MC data cables.

It's a pity that meta35 was discontinued in 2021.

https://promotesystems.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000899867-Meta35-Demos-Downloads

Didn't Nikon use proprietary plugs/adapters on the cables? Why didn't Nikon use USB?

 

[Chan Tran]

Didn't Nikon use proprietary plugs/adapters on the cables? Why didn't Nikon use USB?

When the F5 was introduced USB was very new. The F5 10 pin connector are for both serial communication and discrete controls like remote shutter release.

 

[Ben Hutcherson]

From what I remember, the Nikon 10 pin adapter is their own proprietary serial implementation and dates back maybe to the N90? They actually pretty freely shared it with Kodak to build the DCS 200 and 400 series digital backs, which use that port to sync the digital functions of the back with the camera body. The DCS 600 and 700 series are based on the F5 body and I think use the protocol internally(leaving the port on the front free). I've been inside my DCS 760, though, and it very much looks like a "Digital back for an F5" just without the obvious place to detach it. The DCS 14/n and SLR/n have this same sort of feel also, although use a lower end body.

The original MC-34 and MC-35 cables for use with Photosecretary used the then common peripheral ports-DB9 RS-232 for the PC version and Mini-Din-9 RS-432 for Mac. BTW, I have the Mac version of the cable(along with the Meta-35 set-up) but have never found a copy of the Mac version of the software. If anyone has a lead on any version of it, please let me know!

Unfortunately too, for those of us who use Macs, we've been left behind by Meta-35 also on our current computers since AFAIK they never updated to 64 bit. The only version I have runs on I think OS X 10.9(Mavericks) or so to macOS 10.14(Mojave). I wrote to them at one point and asked for an older version of the software that would run on 10.6.8, since that's what my scanning workstation runs(compatibility with NikonScan...) but I don't think the version they sent me worked...

 

[Horatio]

From what I remember, the Nikon 10 pin adapter is their own proprietary serial implementation and dates back maybe to the N90? They actually pretty freely shared it with Kodak to build the DCS 200 and 400 series digital backs, which use that port to sync the digital functions of the back with the camera body. The DCS 600 and 700 series are based on the F5 body and I think use the protocol internally(leaving the port on the front free). I've been inside my DCS 760, though, and it very much looks like a "Digital back for an F5" just without the obvious place to detach it. The DCS 14/n and SLR/n have this same sort of feel also, although use a lower end body.

The original MC-34 and MC-35 cables for use with Photosecretary used the then common peripheral ports-DB9 RS-232 for the PC version and Mini-Din-9 RS-432 for Mac. BTW, I have the Mac version of the cable(along with the Meta-35 set-up) but have never found a copy of the Mac version of the software. If anyone has a lead on any version of it, please let me know!

Unfortunately too, for those of us who use Macs, we've been left behind by Meta-35 also on our current computers since AFAIK they never updated to 64 bit. The only version I have runs on I think OS X 10.9(Mavericks) or so to macOS 10.14(Mojave). I wrote to them at one point and asked for an older version of the software that would run on 10.6.8, since that's what my scanning workstation runs(compatibility with NikonScan...) but I don't think the version they sent me worked...

Ah. I had never considered the remote release interface. That makes sense. I've forgotten how frustrating the old computer systems were when it came to peripherals.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Someone has made Photo Secretary available for download here:

Nikon AC-2WE Photo Secretary II (for Windows)

Nikon AC-2WE Photo Secretary II (for Windows) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

This is a zip file containing the Nikon AC-2WE Photo Secretary II (for Windows) software. This software will run on Windows 10 (64-bit) with no compatibility...

archive.org