FEE error puzzle (advice needed!)

Paulc

Senior Member
Hi everyone.
I was shooting with my D700 today, and dropped my camera. No immediate panic, since I had a hood on my 70-200mm f/2.8, and it appeared that only the body received a slight wound. All good, or so it seemed. Upon returning to my desk for post, discovered that the AF D lens I popped on after putting my lens away was giving me the FEE error. So, checked to make sure the aperture was open and locked. It was, and same error. Mounted a few of my other AF-D lenses, and same FEE error! All apertures properly locked. All gelded lenses work fine! No obvious damage to camera mount, everything looks pristine. Compared mount to my D300, all identical. Clearly, i’m Having an issue with the aperture mechanism, but I can’t see why. Have read various forums all afternoon for similar problems, and I’m perplexed. Any ideas? Am I possibly looking at a costly repair?
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Well, a camera drop can do damage that cannot be seen. Since the problems started just after the fall, I strongly feel that you should send it to a good repair shop for an estimate. The aperture arm portion that you see is only a portion of the mechanism that communicate aperture with your camera. I'm not a repair person, but think you have a problem. You might want to check with your homeowner's insurance and maybe file a claim. I have a friend who had his D500 and lens replaced after the shop totaled the camera and lens after a fall. And it was still working but they couldn't be certain that problems could not develop later.

All camera parts are meticulously aligned and a fall can through things out of alignment, severely lowering the image quality.

Hope this helps even if I feel I haven't told you much.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Do you have all the lenses set to the smallest apertures when they are mounted?
 

Paulc

Senior Member
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, Marcel. You are echoing my own suspicions. It's a bummer, because this D700 has less than 300 actuations! Crazy -- but true. Purchased recently from a Canadian Government auction -- part of a lot of gear that sat on a shelf for 10 years, unused. Camera still had plastic film on screen protector. Mint, just no box.

The drop today was not catastrophic -- lens hood took the brunt of the fall from end of arm's reach. I suspect the weight of the lens cantilevered and stressed the mount somehow. No apparent damage, but who knows?

Now to find an appropriate repair shop in the Montreal area! I'll let you know the results.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, Marcel. You are echoing my own suspicions. It's a bummer, because this D700 has less than 300 actuations! Crazy -- but true. Purchased recently from a Canadian Government auction -- part of a lot of gear that sat on a shelf for 10 years, unused. Camera still had plastic film on screen protector. Mint, just no box.

The drop today was not catastrophic -- lens hood took the brunt of the fall from end of arm's reach. I suspect the weight of the lens cantilevered and stressed the mount somehow. No apparent damage, but who knows?

Now to find an appropriate repair shop in the Montreal area! I'll let you know the results.

When the D lens is on, check the depth of field button to see if the lens' diaphragm works. If they do, it could be a contact that got twisted or warped. The FEE error is usually just a communication problem. But if it works fine with your AFS lenses, you might consider using only them for a while...
I've heard of a few repair shops and one in Québec City that has a great reputation. Do a google search for camera repair shops in QC.
It's a bummer when this happens, but it does.

And please let us know how things turn out for you.
 

Paulc

Senior Member
FEE error update:

I brought the camera to a repair shop here in Montreal. They took about a week to open it up, and confirmed today that the "contact for the diaphragm link" was damaged. Further, Nikon Canada says that they do not have this part, and I've been instructed to find it myself if I want the camera repaired. I have no part number, nor am I certain as to what the part is called! My best guess following a quick research, is the "ceramic resistor plate". Does this make any sense to anyone? Thanks all!
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Paul... the camera shop's suggestion of buying the part yourself is a euphemism for buying another camera off eBay for parts... It'd be easier to find a parts camera than the part...and probably cheaper too... There's a D700 on eBay for about $60 that is functional and can probably provide what the camera shop needs...
 

Paulc

Senior Member
@;
Paul... the camera shop's suggestion of buying the part yourself is a euphemism for buying another camera off eBay for parts... It'd be easier to find a parts camera than the part...and probably cheaper too... There's a D700 on eBay for about $60 that is functional and can probably provide what the camera shop needs...

Frank, that makes perfect sense, and I will take your advice to pick up a parts camera. Further, I have determined that a “usual” mechanical cause of the lack of communication with AF-D lenses, is the Aperture F-FO Base Plate Unit, which I just ordered (refurbished / China).

Item pictured below (screen grab; not my image):

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Paulc

Senior Member
UPDATE: The diagnosis of the problem was the easy part. It was clear when the camera was opened up, the the F-F0 base plate had cracked in the drop, and somehow this prevents it from communicating aperture of AF-D lenses. The fix will involve me finding these parts, since the repair shop says that they are not available from Nikon, nor were there any part numbers given. I did find a Nikon D700 Repair Manual (arcticwolfs.net), and gleaned the part numbers from this. I believe that I need the Lens Contact Unit (#BG5008) and the F-F0 Base Plate Unit (#B5024). I thought that a quick call to the parts department at Nikon Canada for parts would somehow work, but I was told that by Corporate edict, the Nikon D700 went out of service in October of 2018. Further, parts are not ALLOWED to be sold for this camera. Both interesting and annoying at the same time. The human at Nikon was sympathetic, and suggested that some authorized repair places might have ignored the edict, and will still have these parts available. Back to square "Fred" it would seem, and considering his suggestion to pick up a parts camera. My concern with this, upon reflection, is that the PCB F-F0 base plate is fragile by all accounts, and this part in a donor camera may be already be suspect or damaged. I've elected to look for the individual parts myself. I've already found the F-F0 base plate on eBay (likely a Chinese AliExpress seller), and it will arrive here in early November. The ribbon cable (Lens contact unit) is somewhat more difficult to find, but I will keep looking. It is possible that my repair guy can save the old one, but my experience with electronics is that it will be wise to have one on hand when he is trying to complete the repair. Meanwhile, if anyone knows of a good source for repair parts, please let me know. Cheers all!
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
UPDATE: The diagnosis of the problem was the easy part. It was clear when the camera was opened up, the the F-F0 base plate had cracked in the drop, and somehow this prevents it from communicating aperture of AF-D lenses. The fix will involve me finding these parts, since the repair shop says that they are not available from Nikon, nor were there any part numbers given. I did find a Nikon D700 Repair Manual (arcticwolfs.net), and gleaned the part numbers from this. I believe that I need the Lens Contact Unit (#BG5008) and the F-F0 Base Plate Unit (#B5024). I thought that a quick call to the parts department at Nikon Canada for parts would somehow work, but I was told that by Corporate edict, the Nikon D700 went out of service in October of 2018. Further, parts are not ALLOWED to be sold for this camera. Both interesting and annoying at the same time. The human at Nikon was sympathetic, and suggested that some authorized repair places might have ignored the edict, and will still have these parts available. Back to square "Fred" it would seem, and considering his suggestion to pick up a parts camera. My concern with this, upon reflection, is that the PCB F-F0 base plate is fragile by all accounts, and this part in a donor camera may be already be suspect or damaged. I've elected to look for the individual parts myself. I've already found the F-F0 base plate on eBay (likely a Chinese AliExpress seller), and it will arrive here in early November. The ribbon cable (Lens contact unit) is somewhat more difficult to find, but I will keep looking. It is possible that my repair guy can save the old one, but my experience with electronics is that it will be wise to have one on hand when he is trying to complete the repair. Meanwhile, if anyone knows of a good source for repair parts, please let me know. Cheers all!

If true, this totally sucks! The replacement D7000 was discontinued in December 2014. This means that if you bought one then, Nikon would only support it for FOUR years! Can you image buying a car you could only get parts for 4 years! And I though Sony was bad in this regards!
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Just for clarification, Nikon has been resistant to sell parts to Non-Nikon approved service authorized dealers for a long time. That's not a new position.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Just for clarification, Nikon has been resistant to sell parts to Non-Nikon approved service authorized dealers for a long time. That's not a new position.

The actual quote I was referring too is, "I was told that by Corporate edict, the Nikon D700 (assume he meant D7000) went out of service in October of 2018. Further, parts are not ALLOWED to be sold for this camera." This, to me, says no one can get replacement parts for this camera, not even Nikon approved service facilities. Thus, if your 4 year old camera needs a replacement part, Nikon is saying, ."throw it in the trash and give us more money for a new camera."
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
It's a general statement Brent. Nikon doesn't care whether the camera is still current or discontinued. They won't sell parts for any of their stuff except to their authorized service dealers. They have a very stringent dealer program. And only certain dealers are authorized to perform certain specific repairs on certain cameras...
 

Paulc

Senior Member
What I understood from Nikon Canada, is that they consider my D700 to be unrepairable. They no longer have, nor can they get these parts.
 

Paulc

Senior Member
Update: Parts arrived from China (Aperture plate, sensors, and ribbon cable -- brand new), and have been delivered to the repair guy. Should have the camera back in a week. $40 CAD for the parts, $200 CAD for the repair.

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Paulc

Senior Member
For the curious, my D700 was returned by the shop good-as-new, following repair with part from China. Looking forward to many years with this camera.

Cheers!
 
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