>Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 16:55:24 -0600 >From: Alfonso Betancourt Guerra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Problems with MF-26 [v04.n148/17] >Message: 17 > >Hi: > >I have a Nikon N90s with a MF-26 data-back. >The problem I have is that when I try to set >any function in the MF-26, as soon as I press >any button, the camera focus the lens and shoot!! > >Also, when I connect the camera to the Nikon >Photo Secretary, and try the option 'Link-> >Control of MF-26 Settings', the software >displays the message: 'Control of MF-26 Settings >cannot be selected unless the MF-26 is attached' > >I also removed the batteries from the data-back >and from the camera, but still have the same >problem. At the databack I have the original >batteries (1.3 years old) and at the camera >a set of fresh NiCd¥s. > >The camera has never been dropped or abused. > >I'm thinking about removing for a while the >databack and using the normal back, but >right now the camera has a film. > >Does anyone have any idea about this strange >behavior? > >Thank you, > >Alfonso Alfonso (and other problem MF-26 users), I too was having trouble with my MF-26 back on my N-90s until I cleaned the contacts, both on the body and on the back itself, though neither appeared to need cleaning. With the MF-26 attached, my camera would sometimes act "haunted" right after loading a roll of film. It would focus by itself, and only aperature and shutter speed would be visible on the top deck. No controls, including the shutter release would work. The quick way I found to correct the problem was to open and close the back, ruining the first part of the film. Not a good solution. I cleaned all of the contacts about two weeks ago, and so far (knock wood) the camera has not failed once since, under fairly heavy use (one or more multi-roll high school sports assignments per day). The contacts on the body are small and recessed, and impossible to clean with the old "pencil eraser method," and I would be very concerned about eraser crumbs gumming up the works. Instead, I bought one of those pen-like tools that are meant to clean battery contacts. The kind with a tiny stiff "brush" that telescopes out of the pen, like lead from a mechanical pencil. The brush fits partially into the tiny contact indentations, at least enough to clean them with the edge. Their "male" counterparts on the camera back are easier to clean. I bought the brush at a camera store. My guess as to why this has worked (so far) is that maybe the new contacts had some sort of glaze on them that kept them from making good contact. >From some of the posts I'm reading here, I'm starting to wonder if there is a tie-in to the clear rubber coat that they put on the N90s and F90x. The thin rubber coat on just the battery door of my MF-26 wore off completely in the first week I had it. I thought it was just there for shipping purposes, because it wore off so quickly and completely. The back looks completely normal without it, and none of the rubber coating on the camera body or the rest of the MF-26 was affected. So, maybe a tiny bit of that same temporary coating found its way onto one or more of the contacts during application???? The "haunted MF-26" complaints have been fairly common on the lists that I read, but it is such a nice tool that I'd rather not return to the regular back. Maybe our list's expert Ed Yost can shed some light on this, if he hasn't already in the past. Good luck, Jon - =================================================== Jon Cunningham Freelance Photographer Aurora, IL Online Portfolio: http://pwp.starnetinc.com/jonc29 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===================================================
