Nikon N75 mirror locked up. Help!

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

I got my Nikon N75 in the mail today. The mirror is locked up. I set everything to default and nothing else I've tried works to release it. The autofocus tries to work with a shutter release half press and everything else seems to want to work fine, but can't with the mirror up. It has fresh batteries.

It came with the 28-80 lens on it, but it wouldn't autofocus. That was the first sign of trouble. I switched to my 50mm and same result. It has the 50mm on it now that it is trying to focus but can't. I put the 28-80 and the 50 on my other N75 and they work just fine.

Can some of you geniuses help?

ic-racer · May 13, 2022

Brand new batteries? Even so, try another set.
May be that it just cost more to get a working one these days. New they were almost $300 and worth it.

MattKing · May 13, 2022

Clean all electrical connections, particularly the battery terminals.
Switch the batteries with your working one and see what happens.

FotoD · May 13, 2022

KerrKid said:
It has the 50mm on it now that it is trying to focus but can't

How do you mean?

The camera has an internal battery that can drain if left without batteries in it. It recharges when you put in fresh batteries, but that takes a while. I don't know if it can cause those problems though.

4season · May 13, 2022

There's a slight chance that the mirror cushion foam has become sticky, and that the mirror can be freed by gently pulling it down. But I doubt it - more likely it's gear driven, and there's something wrong with the gear train.

I don't have an N75 to refer to, but if it's anything like the Pentax ZX/MZ-series of cameras, a cracked pinion is a possibility:
http://m.ipernity.com/#/doc/five/album/677141

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

FotoD said:
How do you mean?

The camera has an internal battery that can drain if left without batteries in it. It recharges when you put in fresh batteries, but that takes a while. I don't know if it can cause those problems though.

Put more new batteries in. No change. Everything seems to be working just fine except for the mirror locked up.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

4season said:
There's a slight chance that the mirror cushion foam has become sticky, and that the mirror can be freed by gently pulling it down. But I doubt it - more likely it's gear driven, and there's something wrong with the gear train.

I don't have an N75 to refer to, but if it's anything like the Pentax ZX/MZ-series of cameras, a cracked pinion is a possibility:
http://m.ipernity.com/#/doc/five/album/677141

It's not the foam. The mirror isn't touching it. Has to be broken or something in the settings that isn't letting the shutter fire. From reading the manual there's any number of things it could be. It did work a couple of times and fired the flash, too. Then. Nada.

Paul Howell · May 13, 2022

Bummer, it is a nice camera.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

MattKing said:
Clean all electrical connections, particularly the battery terminals.
Switch the batteries with your working one and see what happens.

Done. No difference. Regardless, it shows 100% charge in LCD.

Blinks "FEE" in the LCD when I half press shutter. I'm at the default camera settings.

Wish there was a way to push a release pin somewhere and get the shutter down.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

The mirror just dropped. What a lovely sound. I turned the program wheel to "M" and the lever on the body to "M" and fiddled with the aperture ring. I got an ERR in the LCD. So, I turned the camera off, waited awhile, and turned it back on. That's when the mirror dropped. I'm not sure what's going on, but it's down for now. Wonder if it'll eat another roll of film. I'm hesitant to find out.

But, I was so disgusted prior to the mirror dropping that I jumped on ebay and bought another one with the 28-80mm lens for $41. I know, I know, now I have three of them. I'm a very sick man.

You're all responsible for this .

ic-racer · May 13, 2022

Could have been stuck in a very long time exposure. I have had that before, especially if you fire the camera in an Auto mode with the lenscap on. You are good with 3 of them. I have 3 of them too.

gone · May 13, 2022

Actually, you did the right thing. Those cameras, the N65, N70's, etc are pretty cheap. W/ electrical issues like this, the next time you turn your current camera on it may keep the mirror up and never let it back down. There is no way to know, but it's already bit you once. Time to list on eBay. You could keep it as a spare, but again, it's already acted up.

It would help if you bought an $8 multi-meter, then you would always know exactly how much volts you have. Even new batteries can be down if they've been on a shelf a long time or were exposed to high temperatures.

Paul Howell · May 13, 2022

You might want to think about getting on of the three serviced, cleaned, lubed, and what ever adjustment, maybe new seals if the N75 has light seals.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

ic-racer said:
Could have been stuck in a very long time exposure. I have had that before, especially if you fire the camera in an Auto mode with the lenscap on. You are good with 3 of them. I have 3 of them too.

I never thought of that, but that very well could have happened.

What??? You have three of them, too? Lol. So it's not just me. They are just such a good value. It's hard to resist buying them.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

momus said:
Actually, you did the right thing. Those cameras, the N65, N70's, etc are pretty cheap. W/ electrical issues like this, the next time you turn your current camera on it may keep the mirror up and never let it back down. There is no way to know, but it's already bit you once. Time to list on eBay. You could keep it as a spare, but again, it's already acted up.

It would help if you bought an $8 multi-meter, then you would always know exactly how much volts you have. Even new batteries can be down if they've been on a shelf a long time or were exposed to high temperatures.

Yes, with cameras this cheap they're almost disposable. Not to say I have money to throw around. I do have a very nice multi-meter. I'll see what these new Panasonics are reading.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

Paul Howell said:
You might want to think about getting on of the three serviced, cleaned, lubed, and what ever adjustment, maybe new seals if the N75 has light seals.

I'll consider that. I'm going to wait to see which one is in the best condition. I don't think there is much in the way of seals. Both of the ones I have are pristine inside and out.

ic-racer · May 13, 2022

KerrKid said:
I never thought of that, but that very well could have happened.

What??? You have three of them, too? Lol. So it's not just me. They are just such a good value. It's hard to resist buying them.

I got a silver one and two black ones. The light weight and small size are huge advantages. Just this last weekend I specifically left my F6 at home and grabbed an N75 because of its light weight and small size.

reddesert · May 13, 2022

The camera can't actually autofocus with the mirror up.

The "fEE" message was just trying to tell you to set the lens aperture ring to the minimum value. It will display that and refuse to fire in a mode where the camera needs to control the aperture, like "P" or "S." See https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/na/NSG_article?articleNo=000025667&lang=en_SG

With all of these types of cameras it doesn't hurt to take the batteries out, put them back, set the camera on M, etc to reset any oddball locked-up state.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

ic-racer said:
I got a silver one and two black ones. The light weight and small size are huge advantages. Just this last weekend I specifically left my F6 at home and grabbed an N75 because of its light weight and small size.

I’d love a black one but I thought those were the F75 and hard to get here in the states. Silver body and a silver lens looks kind of cheesy, but what the heck. I put a 50mm F1.8 on one of them and I like the way it handles, but the 28-80 handles well, too.

KerrKid · May 13, 2022

reddesert said:
The camera can't actually autofocus with the mirror up.

The "fEE" message was just trying to tell you to set the lens aperture ring to the minimum value. It will display that and refuse to fire in a mode where the camera needs to control the aperture, like "P" or "S." See https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/na/NSG_article?articleNo=000025667&lang=en_SG

With all of these types of cameras it doesn't hurt to take the batteries out, put them back, set the camera on M, etc to reset any oddball locked-up state.

Very interesting. I thought I was being careful to keep the minimum aperture value, but some other setting was amiss. I believe I ended up doing what your last paragraph says to do and that worked. Thank God!

John Koehrer · May 15, 2022

If you want a black lens to match a black body the Af-d lenses are black and usually
more rugged than the kit lenses. Also heavier.

I kinda like the 28-105 myself but you know what they say about opinions.

KerrKid · May 15, 2022

John Koehrer said:
If you want a black lens to match a black body the Af-d lenses are black and usually
more rugged than the kit lenses. Also heavier.

I kinda like the 28-105 myself but you know what they say about opinions.

Yeh, opinions. For everyone that likes a lens there's someone else who says it's no good.

I have the black 50mm f1.8 af-d. I like it and the weight isn't bad. Helps that it's short.

Sirius Glass · May 15, 2022

KerrKid said:
Yeh, opinions. For everyone that likes a lens there's someone else who says it's no good.

I have the black 50mm f1.8 af-d. I like it and the weight isn't bad. Helps that it's short.

Whatever you buy a bunch of members will jump in and tell you that you made the biggest mistake of your life and you need to buy the drug lens of their choice.

KerrKid · May 16, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Whatever you buy a bunch of members will jump in and tell you that you made the biggest mistake of your life and you need to buy the drug lens of their choice.

That’s like buying the 50mm f1.8 instead of the f1.4. Oh the humanity. You find out that at the aperture you usually use there isn’t a single difference between the two except cost. Or the less expensive one is actually better.

Besk · May 16, 2022

FWIW, I have three N75's also, plus some N70's. These cameras are now disposable - not worth repairing.
I like the 28-70 G lens for snap shots. Pretty sharp, light and compact.
The motor winder is nice too - uses AA's.

Nikon N75 mirror locked up. Help!

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