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Broken D200 CF door lever - Here's how to get card out...
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Hello Nikonians:
I just got back from a photo shoot, and somewhere along the route the lever that opens the CF card door broke right off my D200.
I will take it in to Nikon for repairs, but for the moment, I would like to know if there is a work-around to open the CF card door.
I usually have two camera bodies when I go on assignment, but if the CF door latch lever is going to be a recurring problem, it could be a HUGE problem.
Norm.
Originally posted at 6:39PM, 16 February 2011 PDT
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Norm123 edited this topic 16 months ago.
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Is the piece of lever that broke off missing?
If it's not, a drop of carefully placed super glue might work for a time or two...to get the card out. Then send it to Nikon for professional repair.
Posted 16 months ago.
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The lever portion is "missing in action" and the piece that remains inside the hole just moves freely.
I copied all of the images via the USB cord, and I will take the camera in for repair tomorrow, but my concern is that this might be a recurring problem with the D200, and I often shoot hundreds if not thousands of frames per week during the spring and summer - this is the first time in 35 years of shooting Nikon that I have broken a camera, and it must have snagged a thread or something - it didn't fall or bang into anything.
I was hoping that the D200 would be as durable as my old F4S... perhaps not.
Norm.
Posted 16 months ago.
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don't put any super glue in the camera . the glue may cause a larger repair cost if more than the one part is broken .. tru using a soft pencil eraser .. push down a little (not to hard) and twist the pencil a bit .. this may open the door .. if not .. format the card in the camera several times an sent it and the camera to nikon ..
also get the camera insured .. even a repair can be covered ..
Posted 16 months ago.
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I've not heard of this being a common problem. I do occasionally snag mine on something which opens the door, but have never broken it off.
Posted 16 months ago.
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I don't think this is a common problem, so you seem to have been really unlucky. Once it is repaired you could always put some tape over the lever if you were worried about it happening again, which should stop anything snagging the lever.
Posted 16 months ago.
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Update...
I went to Nikon Canada today for an estimate - the parts are minimal, but the labour is huge, and the bill looks like $259 plus tax, which comes to just under $300.
I think I will just cover the hole with tape, and be happy that there is a 4 Gig card in the slot. It looks like I will be downloading image files via the USB cord for the balance of the useful life of the camera.
Just not worth investing $300 in a five-year-old DSLR camera body.
Norm.
Posted 16 months ago.
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I didn't have to go in that deep to repair mine, but little bit back I fixed a bad command dial on a D200. Involved stripping most of the rubber and pulling off a fair bit of the shell. It wasn't easy, but if you are mechanically minded and OK handling VERY small screws ... you might see if you can find enough into on the www to repair it yourself. It would be a shame to let a nice camera die from a minor mechanical issue like that.
Here's where I started for my repair (click the image)
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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zemlinphoto.com edited this topic 16 months ago.
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Hello Nikonians!
Andy Furst at the Nikon Digital group - www.flickr.com/groups/nikondigital/ -
solved the problem - and it's really easy!
Peel back the rubber to reveal a rectangular slot, with a square "latch release" in the recess - gently push the latch release toward the bottom of the camera, and the CF door pops open!
I can live with this - saves a $300 repair!
I may cut a slit in the rubber grip, to give me access to this secret latch release - I'll cover it with tape to keep the inner workings of the camera clean.
Thank you to everyone who stepped up to assist !
Norm.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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Norm123 edited this topic 14 months ago.
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UPDATE:
I had a few minutes to spare, so I searched the web for a copy of the Nikon D200 service manual, because if I want to upgrade that D200 body, it has little value without that CF card latch lever.
I found the service manual PDF here: elektrotanya.com/nikon_d200_repair_manual.pdf/download.html
Downloaded the file, and the parts list.
The repair requires removing the rubber grips, unscrewing seven or eight screws, and opening the back of the camera - not a very daunting process, since the back plate is well shielded from the internal electronics - looks like about an hour's work, if that.
Nikon will sell me the CF door lever part for $5.
That means the do-it-yourself repair (assuming I can complete it successfully) would cost about $295 LESS than the Nikon service department repair estimate.
I wouldn't attempt a full strip-down of the camera, but this particular repair doesn't look very complex.
It's on my schedule for next week.
Norm.
Originally posted 12 months ago.
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Norm123 edited this topic 12 months ago.
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UPDATE:
Picked up the part this morning. It took about half an hour to open the camera back, replace the lever, and re-assemble the camera.
Aside from the rather delicate electronic connections that have to be unplugged and then reconnected, it is not a particularly complex process, although I would not suggest that you try it unless you are comfortable with working on miniature electronic devices.
Everything works like new, the D200 is ready for the next assignment, and I feel much better, having successfully completed a D-I-Y- repair that saved some cash and restored the trade-in value of the camera body.
Norm.
Originally posted 11 months ago.
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Norm123 edited this topic 11 months ago.
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Remember that every time you send a camera to Nikon for repair they also do cleaning and general checkup, which influences the price of the service.
Not sure what that costs in Canada, but it could easily be that the repair costs $5 for parts, $100 labour (not an excessive amount for a trained technician at all), and $200 for the lube job (sensor cleaning, general cleaning, checking all the nuts and bolts).
On top of the minor repair you're talking about that lube&shine is a major amount, for larger repairs it soon fades into the margin.
But trading in a D200? I know people do it, got my 2nd one that way, but why would you want to? :)
Posted 11 months ago.
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Good point, but in this case, the D200 had been cleaned and lubed less than a year ago, so the repair estimate was only for the replacement of the lever.
My thoughts on the D200 and the trade-in value reflect the reality of a good camera that will someday make its last contribution as part of the payment for a newer model. Without that latch lever, I don't think anyone would touch the used camera - with the $5 part installed, the camera regains a fair market value.
One of these days, I will probably replace the D200 with newer technology - but I am waiting for at least 14 MP in a body with similar features - I passed up a refurbed D300 because at 12.3 MP CMOS it just wasn't enough of an upgrade for the type of photography that I do on a regular basis. I don't particularly like the reports of problems with the D7000, and I don't feel the need for a D700, although I have several outstanding full-frame Nikon lenses from the F4s era.
I often shoot assignments with at least two DSLR cameras - in some cases, I pick one or the other system because of the lenses that I have on hand - in other cases, the CCD sensor produces subtle nuances of tone that I can't seem to match with a CMOS sensor. It's like the old days of film, when some subjects screamed out for Kodachrome, and others were best suited for Fuji Velvia.
I have a Pentax system with a K20D - that gives me a 14.6 MP CMOS body with full weather sealing, anti-shake in the body, and performance that is essentially equal to the D300 in every respect other than focus tracking capabilities, so I am not in a hurry to upgrade my Nikon gear - I just don't like to have a damaged camera in my bag when the repair is a relatively simple process... If Nikon had given me an estimate of $100 labour plus parts, I would have jumped at the chance to have the job done my an expert... at $295 I was quite prepared to eat the loss if I did something wrong - but after more than 25 years of editing photo magazines, and after taking several photo technician training courses, and studying the Nikon D200 service manual, I recognized that this particular repair was well within my capabilities.
Norm.
Originally posted 11 months ago.
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Norm123 edited this topic 11 months ago.
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I posted this yesterday on my blog:
n3wb.com/boolean/archives/2011/09/broken-d300-compact-fla...
the short version is, my D300's CF door release switch broke. I ordered a replacement from Nikon Canada and it arrived the next day. Still haven't done the repair yet and am lifting the rubber back off to reveal the concealed release under it.
Thanks for this thread!
Posted 9 months ago.
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