I've got a D70

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Padraig - 21 Nov 2006 16:19 GMT

with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
which has begun to develop an annoying problem lately.

It flashes the fault code fEE in the control panel nearly all the time and
of course the camera is inoperable while the fault code is flashing. I can
often make it go away by twisting the lens tighter against the body while
holding down the lens release button on the body, or by turning the f-stop
collar forcefully toward f-32. One or both of those actions will usually
clear the fault code and I can make pictures. But as soon as I put the
camera down on a hard surface and both the lens and body are incontact it
seems like the weight and length of the lens imparts a tiny bit of torque
into the lens mount and now I've got the problem all over again.

The problem never comes up with any of my other lenses.

I'm sure others may have gone through similar situations. There could be
several possibilities. The aluminum lens mount may be slightly loose in the
plastic camera body (unlikely), or maybe it's the contacts just need to be
cleaned (they look fine & I've wiped them with a dry rag).

Any thoughts?

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George K - 21 Nov 2006 16:42 GMT

This sounds like the electrical contacts for the lens chip are not
making contact with the contacts in the camera body either because the
lens is not mounted correctly or the electrical contacts on the lens
are dirty. With the lens off the camera wipe the round contacts on the
base of the lens with a micro fiber cloth, you may need to put one drop
of lens cleaner on it to remove and grease or other sticky material.

> with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
> which has begun to develop an annoying problem lately.
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Any thoughts?

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Dave - 21 Nov 2006 17:04 GMT

> with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
> which has begun to develop an annoying problem lately.
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Any thoughts?

Is this any help. Someone was having same problem but with a D50

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1034&thread=20899254

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Buy_Sell - 21 Nov 2006 17:58 GMT

Thanks for the info, Dave. That was something that I didn't know. I
have never had this problem but several of my lenses use this feature.

-----------------

> > with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
> > which has begun to develop an annoying problem lately.
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1034&thread=20899254

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Thomas T. Veldhouse - 21 Nov 2006 18:28 GMT

> with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
> which has begun to develop an annoying problem lately.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> plastic camera body (unlikely), or maybe it's the contacts just need to be
> cleaned (they look fine & I've wiped them with a dry rag).

Flip the little switch to lock the apeture ring in place. Your problem should
go away. It looks to me like you are overriding the apeture setting and the
camera doesn't like that.

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Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: D281 77A5 63EE 82C5 5E68 00E4 7868 0ADC 4EFB 39F0

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DoN. Nichols - 22 Nov 2006 03:29 GMT

According to Padraig <clovers@pacbull.net>:

> with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
> which has begun to develop an annoying problem lately.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> seems like the weight and length of the lens imparts a tiny bit of torque
> into the lens mount and now I've got the problem all over again.

[ ... ]

> Any thoughts?

    Yes -- mix up a little bit of epoxy and apply it to build up the
section of the tab on the AI aperture ring which contacts the sensor tab
projecting from the body at about the 8:00 position (as viewed from the
front of the camera). This sensor is what tells the camera body that
the lens has been stopped down to the minimum aperture, and if it does
not move far enough, it will be reporting that the lens' aperture ring
has not been turned far enough. It sounds as though you only need about
1/32" or less to accomplish the task. (You could simply cut a piece
from a rectangular toothpick, and glue that in place if you want
something easier to remove at a later time.

    Enjoy,
        DoN.

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Email: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
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George K - 22 Nov 2006 16:28 GMT

A possible solution, but it may devalue your lens or you may advance to
camera that does not need the lens aperture locked and it would affect
your warranty. Another solution could be cutting gaffers tape to fit in
the aperture lock switch slot so the aperture lock would be held in the
locked position and then could be removed if you needed warranty
service or had to mount the lens on a camera that does not need the
lens aperture locked. Of course the cheapest technique is just to check
that the aperture is locked. This is similar to making sure the M/A- A
switch is locked on the 17-50mm kit lens.

> According to Padraig <clovers@pacbull.net>:
> > with several lenses including a Nikon ED AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 D
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
> --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

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