F4s Red Alert Light

Could someone tell me why the red alert light flashes on my F4 after every shot?

 

With a new roll of film in the camera I might be able to click off 7-8 frames before the red alert light

begins to flash after each shot. The film wind forward OK and if I turn the camera off and on again it will

fire again, but the alert light always comes on. I had sent this camera to Nikon for a CLA and to have a

look at this problem, but it keeps occurring with both the MB-20 and MB-23 battery packs. Kind of

annoying. I have the camera ISO set to match the film and it does the same thing set to DX.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

You might check with the person that started with this thread, and see if their problem was solved:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00M3AK

 

None of the answers posted by other members seemed to get to the bottom of it.

Definitely not normal. The only possible "user errors" that I am aware of that will cause the LED alert to flash are:

 

1) Film speed set to "DX" with no film in the camera, or failure to read a DX code with film loaded. Camera locks up and the shutter won't fire.

 

2) R2 lever not returned to the UP position, either because there is a part bent/broken internally that prevents automatic reset when the back is opened, or because the user accidentally pushed it down. Film will advance but it sounds like it is in Cs mode.

 

It doesn't sound like your problem applies to either of the above. Anything other than the above usually indicates an electronic fault that requires service. Apparently Nikon either missed this when they serviced your camera, or they were unable to duplicate the fault (if so, they should have told you). Perhaps you should contact Nikon and let them know they did NOT fix your problem, ask why, and politely demand that they look at it again.

 

Good luck.

I'm a bit baffled by this. With about 5 frames left on the roll, I changed to a manual focus

AIS lens and to a non-D AF zoom and was able to click off the remaining shots without

the red light flashing. Is there something about D lenses (I was using a 50mm 1.4D) that

could be causing the problem? I don't see what the relationship would be and everything

that I've read says that D lenses should work. I'm wondering if there is some problem in

the film transport that is giving the error although the film winds OK apparently. Put the

50mm 1.4D back on and bingo, the light comes on. Replace that with the non-D Zoom

and no problem. Very odd. I've got a new roll in and will continue to evaluate tomorrow to

see if the error reoccurs. It may well be that Nikon could not duplicate the problem so

they couldn't fix it.

The F4 can't even read the "D" encoder strip data, so I would think that would not be the source of your problem. This is certainly a puzzler. Very odd indeed.

I need to make a correction. The AF zoom that I put on the camera and had no problem is a

Nikkor 24-85 f2.8-4D lens. This makes the problem even stranger and I'll have to test other

D lenses tomorrow. Contacts look fine on both the camera and the lenses and I already

cleaned the camera contacts. This is an older D lens compared to the 50mm and a new 105

Micro that also had the same problem last year.

It must be this particular 50mm lens that has some quirk or chip issue. It works fine in the

D200. I tried other D lenses and they appear to work ok. After a little more playing with the

50mm on the F4 I find that it works in A and M modes, not in P mode, and sometimes in S

mode.

<p>Just for the history:<br>

The blinking red led after each shot means a sequence error. In your case the Camera cannot close the aperture automatically properly and thus an error is returned with a blinking red led and a halt of the camera. You can verify this by setting the camera in S, selecting a speed that would leave the aperture fairly open and see your lens being stopped down to f/22 when the shutter is tripped.<br>

This could be due to inability of the camera to communicate with the lens properly, or a failure the aperture setting mechanism on the camera.<br>

(also when in P and S modes, the DOF preview button closes the lens down to f22 no matter what).</p>