# Nikon F3 Shutter speed problem



## Canoneer (Jul 15, 2014)

Okay now, but worrysome when it happened.  Why did it happen?  Anybody have the same problem?

Here's what happened:   I picked up my F3 (no film) to use it to check a light meter reading against a recently acquired Nikkormat.  Found the F3 with shutter speed dial set on "A" showed a shutter speed of 1/80 regardless of light conditions.   I tinkered with the dial.   Moved between bright light and dark.   Turned it off and on.  Removed batteries and replaced them.   Replaced them with fresh batteries.  Opened and closed the back.   Still showed 1/80.    Did not try slamming it against a table.  

Next day I rotated the shutter dial several times.   Fired off the shutter with the dial set on different speeds.  Used the mechanical 1/90th lever.   Locked mirror up and put it down.   Found the shutter speed would change with the dial from 2 sec to 1/60, then it would go to 1/80th and stop when the dial was set to 1/125 and faster.   Rotated the dial a few more times and, la voila, it went to the higher shutter speeds.   

Why?   

My F3 btw was made about 1982, so it has a bit of wear but is not beaten up.   Was I not using it often enough?


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## gsgary (Jul 15, 2014)

Conections under the shutter speed button were probably dirty


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## Canoneer (Jul 15, 2014)

Thanks, Gary, that is likely considering how it seems to have gone away, after rotating the shutter speed dial.    BUT the problem showed up when the shutter speed dial was set to "A" and hadn't been moved for days.    And why 1/80th?  Is there something in the electronics that predisposes a setting for 1/80 when there is a failure? 

I will be taking the F3 less for granted now.


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## webestang64 (Jul 15, 2014)

Here's a manual if you need one......    http://www2.webster.edu/acadaffairs/asp/mediacenter/Photo/equipment manuals/NikonF3User.pdf


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## Derrel (Jul 15, 2014)

1/80 is the F3's single, mechanically-timed speed. As gary mentioned, sometimes contacts/connections on older mechanical cameras become oxidized/dirty, and running the controls through the FULL range, over and over, can clean off oxidization or light film of whatever has been deposited. ALSO, I shot the F3HP for 15 years: the battery connections MUST be 100% clean on those two button cells...even some finger oils on one or both cells can prevent it from working. it sounds weird, but if you clean the batteries with a cloth or tissue and then put them in, and also clean the battery cap, it can bring a NON-working F3 to life. Also, and I know it sounds silly, but you also need to ensure that both batteries, both clean batteries, are installed with the right polarity... (ask me how I know this!!!).

I hope you get it straightened out!


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## compur (Jul 15, 2014)

+1 on the clean battery bit.

There is a Nikon service center near me and I used to go there to buy parts. I'd place my order and, while they got the parts, I'd watch as people came in and brought their cameras in for repair. There was a technician there at the service window who would take each camera, tell the person to wait a moment and then remove the batteries, test them, clean them with alcohol and put them back in and re-try the camera. 

The technician told me this "fixes" about half the cameras that come in for service to the amazement of the customers.

I don't know how many cameras I've "fixed" just by doing this.


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## Derrel (Jul 15, 2014)

compur said:


> +1 on the clean battery bit.
> 
> There is a Nikon service center near me and I used to go there to buy parts. I'd place my order and, while they got the parts, I'd watch as people came in and brought their cameras in for repair. There was a technician there at the service window who would take each camera, tell the person to wait a moment and then remove the batteries, test them, clean them with alcohol and put them back in and re-try the camera.
> 
> ...



Ummmmm...yeahh...dizzz-actly right....I used to work in a camera store in the "A-76 days". OMG....maybe once a day we'd have a customer come back in with "dead batteries"...same scenario...open compartment with nickel...dump out finger-printed A-76 cells (or equivalent), clean 'em, put them in properly, clean the cap, BOOM!!! I could usually guilt them into buying a $10.99 3-pack of film for the effort.


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## cgw (Jul 15, 2014)

All this aside, did you actually check your F3 against a meter at various settings? The only electronics that can cripple or kill an F3 is a bum FRE:

Modern Classic Camera Series - Nikon F3 - Part III


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## table1349 (Jul 15, 2014)

Derrel said:


> 1/80 is the F3's single, mechanically-timed speed. As gary mentioned, sometimes contacts/connections on older mechanical cameras become oxidized/dirty, and running the controls through the FULL range, over and over, can clean off oxidization or light film of whatever has been deposited. ALSO, I shot the F3HP for 15 years: the battery connections MUST be 100% clean on those two button cells...even some finger oils on one or both cells can prevent it from working. it sounds weird, but if you clean the batteries with a cloth or tissue and then put them in, and also clean the battery cap, it can bring a NON-working F3 to life. Also, and I know it sounds silly, but you also need to ensure that both batteries, both clean batteries, are installed with the right polarity... (ask me how I know this!!!).
> 
> I hope you get it straightened out!



Darrell, actually 1/60th is the mechanically timed speed.  In the case of battery failure that is what the F3 falls back to.  That was my one big gripe of the F3 over my beloved F2's.  It may be a power issue, or it may be another more serious issue.  Your suggestions are the ones to try first.  I used to have a name and address of a man that still worked on F2's and F3's.  If I can find it I will get it to the OP.  Been a long time since I last saw it.  He was a retired Japanese gentleman that worked building Nikon cameras for years.


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## Derrel (Jul 15, 2014)

gryphonslair99 said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > 1/80 is the F3's single, mechanically-timed speed. As gary mentioned, sometimes contacts/connections on older mechanical cameras become oxidized/dirty, and running the controls through the FULL range, over and over, can clean off oxidization or light film of whatever has been deposited. ALSO, I shot the F3HP for 15 years: the battery connections MUST be 100% clean on those two button cells...even some finger oils on one or both cells can prevent it from working. it sounds weird, but if you clean the batteries with a cloth or tissue and then put them in, and also clean the battery cap, it can bring a NON-working F3 to life. Also, and I know it sounds silly, but you also need to ensure that both batteries, both clean batteries, are installed with the right polarity... (ask me how I know this!!!).
> ...



First off, for the second time in less than a year, I'm gonna ask you, can you cease and desist with your continued, deliberate mis-spelling of my name?

Look at the spelling of my name and respect it. Okay? 

I KNOW you know you can hunt and peck out *D e r r e l if you wanted to.
*
This is the second time I have brought this up with you. Stop deliberately misspelling my Dad's name and my Grandfather's name and my name. It's my real name, not some fake B.S. you hide behind. Respect it, okay.

And sorry, your attempt to correct me is also wrong, like the spelling of my name in a hundred of your prior posts. The only mechanical speeds on the Nikon F3 are T (for Time exposure), and the X speed, which is 1/80 second. The red 60 on the dial is an electronically-timed speed.

"Backup Mechanical Shutter Release lever to activate the operation.[FONT=Trebucht MS, Arial, helvetica]"X" provides a shutter speed setting of 1/80 sec."[/FONT]


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## compur (Jul 16, 2014)

Canoneer said:


> Okay now, but worrysome when it happened.  Why did it happen?  Anybody have the same problem?
> 
> Here's what happened:   I picked up my F3 (no film) to use it to check a light meter reading against a recently acquired Nikkormat.  Found the F3 with shutter speed dial set on "A" showed a shutter speed of 1/80 regardless of light conditions.   I tinkered with the dial.   Moved between bright light and dark.   Turned it off and on.  Removed batteries and replaced them.   Replaced them with fresh batteries.  Opened and closed the back.   Still showed 1/80.    Did not try slamming it against a table.
> 
> ...



This is covered in the F3 manual. Read the part called "Controls in Detail" under the section "Frame Counter."

Some other Nikon models from the F3  era have the same quirk.

http://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/archive/F3.pdf


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## Canoneer (Jul 19, 2014)

According to the manual the mechanical shutter speed on the F3 is "approx. 1/60 sec. regardless of the setting on the shutter speed dial."     They seem to be saying that the "60" on the dial is electronically set and the only way to set off the mechanical speed is via the lever on the front.    

I was thinking the mechanical speed was 1/90 because of the "M90" shutter speed on the FE dial -- think the EM is 1/90 too.  1/60 makes a lot more sense for exposure calculations.  Better design on the F3 versus the FE & EM.

I don't know exactly what I did that "fixed" my F3.   Could have been rotating the shutter speed knob, could have been firing the shutter off the manual lever.  Best guess as gsgary said it was rotating the shutter speed knob.  

Getting too many cameras and not using them all.   Need to divest.   

I always clean batteries before putting them in.   Pull out my shirt and wipe both terminals in the shirt hard repeatedly.     Not a battery problem this time.


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## compur (Jul 19, 2014)

*Did you read this part of the manual?*


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## Canoneer (Jul 19, 2014)

Thanks Compur!    This explains part of what happened, but it doesn't explain why it now shows varying shutter speeds on the "A" setting depending on the light -- still with no film in the camera.  

I'm not going to worry now.   Probably there is nothing wrong.


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## compur (Jul 20, 2014)

Canoneer said:


> ...but it doesn't explain why it now shows varying shutter speeds on the "A" setting depending on the light -- still with no film in the camera.



That's what it's supposed to do in "A" mode. You pick the aperture and the camera picks the shutter speed based on the light.


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## Canoneer (Aug 21, 2014)

Here's the problem there.   When the shutter speed appeared stuck on 1/80th, and later after the problem disappeared, there was no film in the camera.   The F3 manual quoted above says something like, "when making blank shots with the shutter speed dial set on "A," the camera will take the shots at 1/80th until the frame counter reaches 1."    

My F3 with no film in the camera and taking shots with lens uncapped was showing a shutter speed of 1/80th regardless of light conditions until after fooling with the camera -- then it showed a readout of accurately metered exposures varying according to the light, still with no film in the F3.  

We know where that odd 1/80th speed came from -- it's the blank frame shooting speed -- but it was not consistently applied by the camera.


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