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TIL a stuck shutter on an old Nikon FE can sometimes be fixed with a simple battery check.
A guy brought one in last week saying the shutter was locked up and wouldn't fire at all. I was about to start taking the top plate off, but on a hunch I popped in a fresh 1.5v silver oxide battery instead of the alkaline one he had in there. The meter needle moved and the shutter fired perfectly. The old battery had just enough juice to show a reading but not enough to actually run the electromagnet. Anyone else run into this with older electronic film bodies?
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the_ben13d ago
Oh man, that's the golden rule. Fresh batteries are step one, always. I've seen so many "dead" cameras get a second life from a simple battery swap. It's crazy how a weak battery can mimic a serious mechanical failure. Saves you from tearing into something for no reason.
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max_schmidt7713d ago
Yeah that "mimic a serious mechanical failure" thing is so true. I had a similar panic with my dad's old FM2, thought the film advance was totally busted. Spent an hour trying to fix it before I realized the rewind button was stuck down from the last roll. Felt like a total genius after that.
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