Nikon FA - shutter/ DOF preview button problem

[lightistic]

Hello!

I purchased a Nikon FA one year ago on ebay and it worked perfectly until last week. I went out to shoot in a cold day and the shutter sometimes didnt want to fire. I was first thinking it might be too cold and that would be the problem. After I used the DOF preview button (which from beginning when I bought the camera was quite loose), it got uncoupled -first i thought i broke it completely- from the head of the screw that was controlling the DOF preview mechanism. The camera is since then stuck on DOF preview. Afterwards it simply didnt want to fire anymore. I also changed the batteries. When I turn the camera on (pulling the lever) and halfpress the shutter button, it reads the exposure but when I press it completely it does nothing. Also, the exposure reading is not shown anymore until I let it a day or change the battery and turn it back on.

When I put the camera in Manual mode and move the shutter to M250, it also doesnt fire, because I thought first the problems might be the batteries.

Do you think there is a problem with the spring the DOF preview button ? and does it have an impact on the shutter?

Or is it about a stuck shutter problem?

Did anyone encounter such problems or know a fix? It would mean a lot if someone would help.

Regards,
Bogdan

 

[reddesert]

Nikon FA service manual: https://learncamerarepair.com/product.php?product=184&category=0&secondary=0

If the camera is stuck in "DOF preview" (stop-down) mode, it means that the aperture stop down lever at the photographer's right of the lens mount (left as you look into the mount) is stuck in the down position. Normally this lever comes back up at the end of an exposure. It may (I'm not sure) be preventing the shutter/mirror cycle from completing so that the shutter cannot be cocked and fired. The stop down lever is marked B 238 on pages 9-12 of the service manual, which show the complex series of linkages on that side of the mirror box and describe the actuating sequence. Later pages of the manual show assembly / disassembly etc.

 

[pbromaghin]

Ken Rockwell's FA review includes this in the "Weaknesses" section:

"Watch out for used ones with sticky depth-of-field preview levers. This often means the aperture control pin is sticky, which means that even though the FA will seem to operate perfectly and the pictures will look fine, that the lenses never stop down and shoot wide-open all the time instead."

 

[jetttt]

Ken Rockwell's FA review includes this in the "Weaknesses" section:

"Watch out for used ones with sticky depth-of-field preview levers. This often means the aperture control pin is sticky, which means that even though the FA will seem to operate perfectly and the pictures will look fine, that the lenses never stop down and shoot wide-open all the time instead."

I'm curious about something you mentioned - despite the aperture control pin becoming sticky, the pictures still turned out fine. I understand that when this pin becomes sticky, the lens may not stop down properly and might shoot wide-open, but I'm confused about why the pictures would still look good in this situation. Could you please explain how this works? I'd appreciate learning more about your experience with this issue. Thank you in advance for any insights you can provide.

 

[jetttt]

Ken Rockwell's FA review includes this in the "Weaknesses" section:

"Watch out for used ones with sticky depth-of-field preview levers. This often means the aperture control pin is sticky, which means that even though the FA will seem to operate perfectly and the pictures will look fine, that the lenses never stop down and shoot wide-open all the time instead."

I'm curious - if the lenses are actually shooting wide-open due to the sticky aperture control pin, why would the pictures still look fine? Wouldn't shooting at maximum aperture all the time affect exposure?

 

[pbromaghin]

I'm curious about something you mentioned - despite the aperture control pin becoming sticky, the pictures still turned out fine. I understand that when this pin becomes sticky, the lens may not stop down properly and might shoot wide-open, but I'm confused about why the pictures would still look good in this situation. Could you please explain how this works? I'd appreciate learning more about your experience with this issue. Thank you in advance for any insights you can provide.

I have no experience with it, I had recently been gifted one (since re-gifted to a deserving and broke college student) and was checking what Ken Rockwell had to say about it. Specifically to your question, I imagine that in aperture priority, the camera would adjust the shutter speed to produce a good exposure. It might not be noticed unless the photographer was intending a more deeply focused field or some motion blur from a slower shutter.