Sticky AI follower on my D800

This just started today, and I haven't seen it on a Nikon before, but I'm leaving for a vacation in the morning and I'd like to know whether

it's something I can resolve myself or whether I need to swap out all my manual lenses. Fortunately I shot with my 28mm AIS this

morning so I noticed it.

 

The AI tab on my D800 is sticky. If the lens is stopped down, and then I open it up to 2.8, the tab won't move all the way and it reads f/4

or f/5.6. If I fidget with the ring a bit it will free up and read correctly.

 

What causes that? Do I take off the mount ring and clean it? (If I do that, will a bunch of springs come out all over the place and get eaten

by the cat?) when this happened on my Minolta XD11 it was a warp in the ring and it needed a new part, but I don't think that's the case

here.

<p>Just noticed the same problem on my D3. It is not much of an issue if you are using AF lenses, and using the camera to control apeture, since the lens (and tab) would normally be indexed to the smallest opening anyway. Not sure, but AIS lenses might be able to be controlled that way, also. (Others, chime in)</p>

<p>Parts probably would go all over and be eaten by the cat if you took the front apart. Biggest issue would be making sure that the lens mount went back into good alignment after re-assembly, and that the AI ring transmitted the correct signal.</p>

<p>I think my male cat "marked" my D3, at least it smells that way.</p>

<p>One possibility is that the aperture follower tab is slight bent. If that is the case, as long as you are very careful, you may be able to bend that back a bit. If there is a lubricant problem, that may need repair.</p>

<p>Andy, you may try a simple cure first. Take a suitable piece of paper etc and with the edge "wipe" both - front and back side of the Ai-follower.<br>

Often the stickyness is because dirt is gathered within the small slots at the Ai-follower.</p>

<p>Sometimes it is as simple as adding a little isopropyl alcohol to the mechanism to free it up. The alcohol evaporates after re-arranging the old lubricant, therefore no risk of oils creeping into places that shouldn't be. I did this with my 180mm 2.8 ED, and it worked.</p>

<p>Strange to hear of this problem on newer cameras. I have an FE2 that I bought from my brother that has gotten a little sticky. He also gave me a complete F3 setup that he got from that website with the name Craig including tons of other Nikon stuff, that had a sticky ring. I fiddled with it so much that I broke the string. Ended up buying a bare bones F3 (no back, finder or focusing screen) from KEH for $25 rather than fix the other body.</p>

<p>Thanks guys. I tried Kari's idea, and since Don mentioned old lubricant tried just turning the aperture ring on a mounted lens back and forth a lot. It seems to have freed up. I'll also rejigger the lens selection for the trip a bit so I'm less reliant on non-chipped AIS lenses.</p>

<p>That D800 can't be more than 18 months old and shouldn't be suffering from a sticky tab at that age. It sounds more like damage to me. What lenses have you been fitting to it Andy?</p>

Only compatible ones and a current model compatible body cap. I haven't bent the tab. It has to be becrudded somehow.

 

Now it's a bit sticky again. If it just needs to be taken off and cleaned does anybody have a recommendation for a shop in

the SF or Berkeley area that would do it quickly? That's where I'll be for a few days.

<p>Like Kari, I had this problem on my FE2 several years ago. Dirt had somehow got in between the ring to which the tab is attached and the camera. I got it out by means of a piece of stiff paper slid in about 4-5 mm and slid/rotated around between the ring and the body. Can't recall if this was on the body side or the flange side of the ring (Kari says both). Problem never returned. Might be worth a try - no possibility of damage and might save loosing the camera while it's fixed.</p>