[Rorys]

Help! Well an old habit may have just broken my new mint 645n I just got, I went to turn the shutter speed dial and lifted up to turn instead of depressing the center button on the speed dial and the dial and center button came right off into my hand. Nothing appears to be broken or missing, i can put the center button back in place and depress it and the speed dial turns without the actual indictor knob in place, Problem is how does the knob stay snapped down . like I mentioned i had turned the knob without problem and after reading the manual when i recieved thecamera, just had a Nikon brain fart and lifted this time and off came the works. Nothing looks broken, being all plastic that is usually easy to spot. Does the knob just snap back on, i don't want to force it. It sure didn't take much to have the 2 parts jump off the camera!

Rory

Well upon closer inspection and better light with a magnifier it looks like the 3 posts inside the speed knob that attach it to the actual turning assembly while depressing the release button in the center all "sheared" flush or became "unglued" so I couldn't feel them and the left no debri inside the speed indicator knob. Glue failure from age? Camera is flawless and shows no signs of wear or abuse. I'm shocked, either were partially broken and I caused the final failure or that knob is very fragile because I pulled up but it wasn't like I stood on the thing and yanked!

Any ideas? someone know where I can get it repaired. This is a major bummer!
paperclip in attached photo points to 1 of the 3 posts that appear to have broken !

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Last edited by Rorys; 07-11-2010 at 09:10 AM. Reason: sad news

[Adam]

First off, it's the shutter speed knob, not the film speed knob, but I think that may just be a typo

It looks like the three plastic fixtures have indeed broken. If you put the knob back on with no problem, then it might be worth to super-glue it back on- just make sure that it's aligned properly!

[Rorys]

Adam, Your correct that was a typo. I was thinking the same thing about using some super glue. As far as getting the knob indexed correctly I was thinking I could line everything up by using the shutter and turning the shutter speed dial until I know it's set on Bulb! Internally on the knob there is no notch or "key" to just set it back in a specific place to know that what it's set at is what your getting after I glue it!
Any thoughts on indexing the knob?
Thanks.

[akfreak]

why not call KEH and see if they have an OLD parts junker and can sell you a new part?

[Rorys]

I was thinking the same thing, closer inspection shows that the speed knob is assembled from the bottom up, the 3 posts I mention were actually "threaded plastic towers" in the knob with 3 really tiny brass screws run through the bottom up to attach it to the knob that does change the speed vs, the knob top we see and turn. I have a shop here locally that i've used in the years gone by but I think most their techs haven't ever had a film camera apart! UGH.

[Rorys]

Well, I took a chance with Super Glue on the 3 posts and re-attached the speed dial knob.
So far it appears to have worked, i guess time will tell for how long. I'm gonna keep some Super Glue in my camera bag!

[Smolk]

Somehow the 645N feels less solid than the 645. I've got both, and while I find the 645N much more convenient and intuitive, the built quality of the 645 has prevented me from selling it. I just can't.