Nikon F4: Mission Aperture Lever - two ways to fix the aperture problem

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Andreas Thaler

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I bought the blue antistatic mat, the antistatic bracelet

As far as I can tell from your photo, it's a silicone work mat. I use a very similar model.

However, the mat is not grounded and the grounding bracelet too needs to be connected to ground.

The idea is to equalize all electric potentials - camera, tools, repairman - so that no (high) discharge currents flow that could damage the camera's electronics.



Here in Austria/Europe, I connect my grounding terminals to ground via the power socket, but I don't know how this is regulated in other countries.

Michael, a very experienced colleague in Germany @forest bagger, works on electronic cameras without grounding/potential equalization and is successful with it.
 
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forest bagger

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No. If you are soking wet your body can build up no electric charge against other parts you touch.
 
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Thanks for sharing! I have the same issue. Complete teardown is beyond me, any advice on syringing without dissasembly?
 
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Thanks for sharing! I have the same issue. Complete teardown is beyond me, any advice on syringing without dissasembly? Pics of where to aim the syring would be great!
I found that brushing generous amounts of ISO alc with a fine brush on the aperture inners on the left, and on the pin at the bottom of the mount seems to correct the slow aperture for a while. So it's possible it can work without a full disassemble...
 
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Andreas Thaler

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Thanks for sharing! I have the same issue. Complete teardown is beyond me, any advice on syringing without dissasembly?

See

 

LensReporter

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Hi friend
I already have my F4 at home, the technician did a good job, I just tested it with a roll of Ilford Pan 100 film and I hope to develop it next week, the shutter sounds and looks incredible, this camera made 30 years ago came back to life, the shutter is an old new part that was manufactured 26 years ago, notice how curious it is that the upper LCD has the characteristic bleeding and then in a warm room it disappears, also the LCD of the viewfinder had bleeding marks but when it is in a warm room the marks go away, in any way I can get another body for spares I will look for one that does not have a bleeding LCD.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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Congrats!
 

MFstooges

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Do you have the picture of the underside of this cover? I am curious to see how the VF release lever is attached to the cover and the connection to the release mechanism on the chassis.

 

roger_t

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This is quite a stunning thread. Good on you, Andreas, for tackling this. I recently purchased a used F4 on ebay. It is in pristine condition. Possibly too pristine as it likely sat unused for quite a while. The DOF preview button causes a squeal which I did not recollect with my first F4 from 20 yrs ago. That's how I found this thread. The aperture lever appears to work properly, so I am not too anxious to address the squeal (if it ain't broke, don't fix it), but I will keep your "injector" solution as a possibility. I wonder if this is what a camera repair shop might do if they read about this option?
 
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Andreas Thaler

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Thanks!

I would no longer recommend the syringe method because it is difficult to control. You will then have oil in the camera in places where it doesn't belong. It is better to remove the mirror box and oil this one gear.
 

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Thanks!

I would no longer recommend the syringe method because it is difficult to control. You will then have oil in the camera in places where it doesn't belong. It is better to remove the mirror box and oil this one gear.
Did you find that the errant oil caused functional problems? Or, did the squeal and/or aperture malfunction come back after a time?
 
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Andreas Thaler

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Did you find that the errant oil caused functional problems? Or, did the squeal and/or aperture malfunction come back after a time?

See

{Moderator edit: several threads on the same topic were merged. Just scroll back through the preceding pages to see reports on the earlier repair attempts.}
 
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Andreas Thaler

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The syringe worked, but some of the oil wasn't where it should be. And oil creeps over time.

Only a drop of it is needed to oil the gear axle.
 

roger_t

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Ah! Very interesting. Yes, the graphite is not necessary, good to know. The whole area did look pretty oily. As you mentioned, the key is to deposit a precise amount of oil but is difficult considering that it is being applied blindly. Hmmm.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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Ah! Very interesting. Yes, the graphite is not necessary, good to know. The whole area did look pretty oily. As you mentioned, the key is to deposit a precise amount of oil but is difficult considering that it is being applied blindly. Hmmm.

Perhaps there are now endoscopes that can be used to do this kind of work? However, the area is very narrow and difficult to reach from the outside.

The sustainable solution of removing the mirror box to reach that single gear for oiling is well documented here on PHOTRIO, I would look into it, maybe that would be an option?
 
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Andreas Thaler

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A common problem with the Nikon F4 is a faulty aperture control. The aperture no longer closes completely, the stop down button makes a screeching noise.

The cause is a lack of lubrication for a gear that serves as a photointerrupter.




Possible solutions have already been discussed, there are also excellent repair instructions from @F4user which however do not cover assembling the camera and coupling the front and back sections; {see earlier on in this thread.}

A new feature

would be a complete and detailed step-by-step tutorial from beginning to end that also include my personal experience with this repair (twice successful).

The aim is to give anyone with DIY experience the opportunity to do this work themselves.

Repair shops refuse this job or charge a lot of money for it.

Since the faulty aperture control it is the only weak point of the F4 (except the LCDs), the work is worth it.

What do the F4 owners think about this?
 
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Bearman

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As an owner of 2 F4's with currently working aperture controls, I would welcome such a guide. Thank you for all your tutorial contributions.
 

Sirius Glass

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Thank you for posting the tutorials.
 
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