The two most common 'squeakers' in the
camera world are the Canon 'A' series cameras (A1, AE-1, etc..), and
auto focus lens motors (mostly Nikon brand). Neither
one is quite detrimental to the equipment, but it can
cause issues with the operation and will surely annoy you and anyone
else around.
On the Canon 'A' series of cameras,
most people think that the squeak comes from the shutter, since you
hear the squeak when you fire the camera. I thought this for quite a
long time also, but this is not the case. The squeak that occurs in
these cameras actually comes from the mirror governor/mirror dampening gear train/aperture control unit. This is
caused by a dry bearing in the mechanism (also
sometimes called the side plate). While there is no physical harm
that comes from this item drying out, it can cause a delay in the
execution of the shutter. The system is set up to make sure the
shutter doesn't open until the aperture is opened correctly. If you
are hearing the squeak, you may miss a shot if it throws your timing off, or the mirror
may obstruct your images. Fortunately, this is easily remedied by
re-lubricating the bearing.
The more annoying of the two squeaks
has to be from the auto focus motors in Nikon lenses. The
high-pitched squeak is not the best way to get candid shots or go
unnoticed at a wedding or while photographing on the street. At one
point, the preferred method for fixing this issue was to replace the
entire AF motor. This expense however, is not really required. A
competent repair shop should be able to go in and repair/polish the
AF motor, which will completely take care of the issue.
If you start
hearing squeaks or other odd sounds coming from your photo equipment,
it is never a bad idea to have your camera repair shop check your
equipment. Often if you start hearing squeaks, there might also be
other things that need maintenance at the same time. On the Canon 'A'
cameras for example, if the oil has dried out, it's likely that the
cameras foam (light seals) have also deteriorated and needs to be
replaced.
If you're hearing squeaks and would
like a repair quote from the KEH Camera Repair Center, click here or
call 770-333-4210.
- Sean McCreery
OK...so I have a 80-200, 2.8 IF AFS
ReplyDelete...and last year I paid nikon about $250 large ones to fix this very squeak. Six months later the squeak is back like it never went away. So my question is, how long is the fix supposed to last and how can I get Nikon to actually do the work they charge me for without taking them to court?
I'm not sure about Nikon's repair policy, but they should have some kind of warranty on their repairs, so I would check with them to see how long that time period is.
ReplyDelete