Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/04/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]EEPROM corruption? On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 2:52 PM, Howard Ritter <hlritter at bex.net> wrote: > I have a Nikon N80 film SLR that sat unused after 2005, when I got my > first digital SLR, until yesterday. I want to use it again for an idea I > have about film astrophotography, so I put new batteries in it and turned > it on. No result--nothing on the LDC data panel, no autofocus, no shutter, > no LCD panel illuminator. Pushed the two-button reset. No result. Batteries > out, batteries in, turned it on, turned it off, reset it, etc. etc. No > result. After a few minutes I noticed that the LCD info display on top now > showed a big -E-, meaning no film in the camera, as it does when the camera > is off--progress! Turned it on and the LCD went blank. On & off again. No > result, not even the E. Another minute or two and the E was back, and when > I turned it on, it now showed camera data, as is normal. Push the shutter > button and all goes blank. A few minutes later and the display is normal > again, and now pushing the shutter button causes the lens to auto-focus and > the shutter to fire. From there it's been working normally. > > So, as that the N80 is as much a computer-controlled electronic device as > a mechanical one, it clearly has circuitry. Apparently some circuit > component underwent a change in 9 years of not being powered up that > disabled the device, then recovered function in a gradual or incremental > manner once power had been applied. What is it? > > An internal intermediary battery that gets charged by the main batteries, > purpose being to preserve the computer's data when the main batteries get > discharged, and without a charge on which the camera won't work? And as it > charges up, starts to run the camera incrementally? The manual makes no > mention of an internal battery or of a period of recovery if the camera's > been unused for years (maybe Nikon didn't even know this could happen). > > An electrolytic capacitor that loses its polarity in years of non-use, > then re-forms over several minutes after new batteries are installed? > > Anyone know or have thoughts? > > --howard, n7exn > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- // richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com> // http://facebook.com/richardmanphoto