lasselarsen

Just wanted to follow up on the progress. F3 has been running perfect shutter speeds for a week now. Have run some 100-200 shots on it. Have put film in and it is still going strong. For anyone with similar problems, here is the link again to the guide I followed. Link: Nikon F3 all speeds were slow - quick fix Hopefully it keeps going for years. I really appreciate all the responses and it's great to know that there is still a strong Nikon F community here with real technical expertise.

Richard Haw's blog is really good. I gave the shutter ring another try with just my hands. Turns out you just need to pull the wind lever rather strongly clockwise while turning the top ring counter clockwise. Feels a bit wrong, like you might break something. But I got it off. I followed Robin Guymers steps though without spraying lubricant. Just fast drying contact cleaner. Quick spray down the "shutter button hole". Tiny drops on the electronics visible on the underside when removing the bottom metal cover. Let it dry. For about 100 shots all the shutter speeds were reverted to the exact correct speeds! I was very pleased. I then left it to sit over night. Next morning the shutter speeds down to 1/60 were correct. But all the slower speeds were again way off by seconds. Now I have repeated the process, but with more Contact Cleaner on the electronics under the bottom cover. Currently it shoots exactly correct speeds on all settings. But I have to let it sit for a couple of nights to see if anything changes. If shutter speeds go off again my next step will be to remove shutter dial and see if I can spray contact cleaner more directly on the electronics through there. Otherwise I might have to disassemble it further and get into the specific components that are acting up. Will update again when testing later this week.

Actually I found a post about my exact problem. Nikon F3 all speeds were slow - quick fix Now I just need to figure out how to disassemble the ring around the shutter button. Pulling, pushing and/or turning it doesn't seem to do anything. If anyone has a good tip on disassembly it would be greatly appreciated. I looked at the official repair manual but can't find heads and tails in it. It refers to several tools i don't know. But of course I could just pay a pro to do it as well.

Thanks so much for the quick responses. Had heard the the FRE might be the problem. But if the FRE is only affecting Aperture Priority, then it wouldn't be that. I would have to look at schematics to full understand what is going on. As far as I know, time intervals in a chip is decided by processor clock cycles. Do you think the 5 bit encoder could be affected by stuff like lubricants or water? The camera smelled like 'rifle oil' when I bought it. Don't know if wrong lubrication could hinder the transistors. The fact that the shutter dial setting affects the speed when the camera is OFF and triggered via mechanical trigger makes me a bit worried. Will probably bring it in for a CLA and then in worst case sell it for parts.

Hi all, I have an odd problem with my Nikon F3. Preface: Batteries are brand new. Battery connectors have been cleaned. The problem is the same on “A” as on manual shutter speed setting. The problem persists no matter which frame I am on 0-40. Problem: When I shoot at speeds slower than 1/250 the shutter stays open for much longer. Examples: 1/125 = 1/10 (or as long as you keep the release button pressed) 1/60 = 1/5 1 = 30 sec 4 = 120 sec to make matters weirder, the mechanical shutter will also stay open for too long. The mechanical shutter is supposed to be 1/60 no matter what. But it follows the pattern above. It does so even when the camera is off. It will still have too slow speeds and the speed will depend on the manual shutter speed setting. The only way to get the true mechanical shutter speed is by removing the batteries. Then the speed will stay at 1/60. If anyone has any clue to what could cause this, I am very excited to hear ideas. Is it simply just fried ?