NSXType-R said:
Loosening the bayonet may not be a good thing, the plane of the lens will be affected and that will affect you autofocus accuracy and such.

True, but considering the fact that since the bayonet ring isn't flat to begin with, not too much more damage can be done :) Besides I'm not turning them that loose, just a tad bit before you start needing real force to tighten them any further. The lens isn't wobbly or anything. I've not really seen any significant changes in my captures. I'll just try to get me a broken F90 now.

Loosening the bayonet may not be a good thing, the plane of the lens will be affected and that will affect you autofocus accuracy and such.

NikoDoby said:
So you took it apart and now have a totally useless camera? Sorry to hear. That's why I never recommend people tackle camera repairs unless they have a detailed repair manual or have previous experience. Maybe you can search Ebay for another non-working F90 and replace the one part you need. Although I would still just buy a working camera instead.

Post a pic of your camera so we can better understand the problem. That might help in suggesting another possible solution.

Yes I took it apart, but it's not useless now, it was an easy procedure.
Sample F90:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/2591355385_72bab2668d.jpg
The bajonet ring (metal circle that pairs with the lens you attach) was slightly bent due to some sort of impact suffered while the previous owner had it. Now the aperture-registration mechanism (can't remember the proper name) won't run smoothly. If you look at the bajonet ring, at 11 o'clock there's a tiny black block. This is part of a ring that's housed underneath the bajonet ring and it pairs with the aperture ring on the lens, facilitating the connection between camera and lens. However, since my bajonet ring was bent, this mechanism suffers from too much friction. My current solution was to slightly turn the screws that hold the bajonet ring loose, but this is far from perfect as you can imagine :) Salvaging a broken F90 for parts may be a good idea, I only need a bajonet ring.

So you took it apart and now have a totally useless camera? Sorry to hear. That's why I never recommend people tackle camera repairs unless they have a detailed repair manual or have previous experience. Maybe you can search Ebay for another non-working F90 and replace the one part you need. Although I would still just buy a working camera instead.

Post a pic of your camera so we can better understand the problem. That might help in suggesting another possible solution.

Well actually this part isn't too terribly difficult to replace, I actually took it out and tried unbending it carefully, but it was simply too rigid and the chance of making mistakes too large.

However I'll consider the other option you guys suggest, it's just a real bummer that I basically threw $100 down the drain. But yeah, life goes on. Thanks.

+1 with Jared. Also if you have never opened up a camera to tinker inside, even if you find the part you might make things worse. Then you'll be out of the money on the part and the camera. Just find a newer film camera for under $50 as Jared suggested.

What NikoDoby is saying, is that parts are no longer made and you will be hard pressed to find anyone to work on it. Realistically everyone threw out or sent back the parts long ago. If you do, you will spend much more than what the camera is worth. You can buy a F90X for $50-$150 on ebay.

I have a N75 (which works with all G and VR lenses) just because I could buy one for $30. Great film camera and does everything I want it too. Right price as well.

I would if money weren't an issue to me, but considering that I'm a student and don't make money by the 100s, getting hold of a spare part would be a much more feasible option to me :)

F90's are a dime a dozen. Just buy another one.

Hey guys,

Recently, I bought an F90 (analog) body. It seemed fine to me at the time, since I didn't yet know a whole lot about these older bodies. However when I started using it, it turned out I couldn't adjust the aperture in any other way than using the S-mode. However, this option is highly uncontrollable, since changing light conditions would mean the camera changes the aperture to maintain the same shutter speed. Some Nikon reps were at my local camera store today (asked them about a D700 replacement, no news from them..). They had a look and it turned out the bajonet ring was blocking some sort of lever that (in a nutshell) takes care of telling the camera you turned the aperture ring. After careful examination, we found out the bajonet ring was quite severely bended, that is if we put it down on a flat surface, one end would come up like 2 mm. This was blocking the lever. Now I tried to carefully bend it back myself but to no avail. My question: any suggestions on getting hold of spare parts for an old camera like this? Nikon stopped producing this model in like 2001 so I don't reckon they still have spare parts lying around. Also, the camera doesn't have any emotional value to me so I wouldn't want to buy another copy of it and salvage it for spare parts. Any tips are welcome!