Expert: John Oliverio - 5/26/2007

Question
I bought this camera on ebay in December. I have taken 2 or 3 rolls of film with it, and the "electronic" parts have stopped working. I replaced the batteries, but it did no good. The LED is not working. The shutter sticks until you move it to B mode. Am I doing something wrong, or is something wrong with the camera?  I had an older Nikon for years, but it wasn't quite as complicated as this one. Please help!  Thanks!  

Answer
Anita,

 You are experiencing a defect that is common with several Nikon cameras that have an electronic shutter.  It is a problem that usually starts slowly.  Your mirror will lock up, you go to bulb or the M125 or M250 setting and the mirror drops.  Then it may not happen again for months (or many rolls of film later).  But slowly it starts to happen more often until eventually it happens constantly and the camera becomes unusable.  So, your camera is now defective.  Really not much you can do about it.  You could get it fixed, but it would be MUCH cheaper to replace it.  I can't imagine the seller didn't know, but I guess it's possible.  I'd try and get my money back.

John