<p>Just adding my experiences with the Nikon F3. I bought mine new about 30 years ago and it worked reliably on all my profesional work for nearly 20 years, then suddenly failed to power up. I simply packed it away assuming that its 1980's electronics had given up.<br>
Couple of years ago my passion for shooting black and white film was re-awakened so I thought the F3 might be worth trying again. Put new batteries in to discover it would intermittently power up the metering circuit and fire the shutter using the shutter release button mounted on top. Obtaining a copy of the service manual it was apparent that depressing the shutter button closes two switches, first of which powers up the lcd and meter circuits then the second triggers the shutter electromagnet. Assuming that the switch contacts were contaminated I removed the top right handside cover (which required special tools to be fabricated) and sprayed aerosol switch cleaner into the compartment beneath the shutter button. The switches are buried beneath layers of components which look too complicated to disassemble. I also wiped clean the battery compartment and batteries with isopropyl alchohol. The result was same as before, lcd would show shutter speed and + & - indicators in manual mode, shutter would fire at correct speed, would consistently repeat this cycle multiple times then go completely dead. I repeated this process two more times, with last actually flooding the switch area with alchohol from a syringe. The camera would operate normally for many shutter firings giving me the confidence to try with film loaded but annoyingly went dead halfway through a roll.<br>
Afer re-reading this thread I thought a more aggresive cleaning of the battery compartment might do the trick. I used an abrasive fibre glass eraser pen to rub the interior spring contact, threads of the battery cover and threads of the battery well, also inside of the battery cover, finishing off with liberal doses of IPA on a Qtip. Voila! the camera now works reliably.<br>
The issue is certainly poor continuity in the battery circuit and also the F3 is very voltage sensitive. The batteries ground (-) through the battery cover and in turn through the camera baseplate and the slightest oxidation of the different metal surfaces could be the cause. Half exhausted batteries showing 1.35-1.4 volts each will not work reliably in the F3 but will happily power a different electronic slr camera I own.</p>