<p>In case anyone comes across this thread in a Google search (as I did) I would like to post an update.<br /> I had trouble believing that cleaning the contacts in the battery compartment would make any difference. This very clean F3 I purchased for $120 (serial # 1468487) looked spick and span in the case of all the contacts and it had worked ok for a couple of months after purchase. Then nothing. New batteries - no difference. <br /> So, laughing at myself, I did what is suggested in the posts above. It seemed pointless; the contacts looked fine. <br /> Jiff (a creamy, light abrasive cleaner) and light steel wool on the inside floor of the battery compartment cover - the thing you screw off with a coin. That was after pulling out the black plastic battery guides. Then I reamed out the threads of the cover with a fine blade.<br /> I put a fine wood spatula under the flexible contact in the body of the camera (so it wouldn't get pushed flat when I scraped it) and then scraped that contact with a small screwdriver blade. Suddenly it started to look very shiny! And that made me think there might be something in this ... so I gently scraped the floor of the battery compartment cover with the fine blade also ... and it came up remarkably shiny.<br /> Put everything back together and the dear old F3 worked like a charm first go. Thank you all so much for your advice.<br /><br /></p>
