My ETRS has not been used for some time and now the shutter won't fire, even after I fitted a new battery

Sounds like your shutter is stuck. Given that the camera is only worth about $100 -- or even less -- it's probably not worth sending in for repair. You can buy a good used "upgrade" like the K200 or even the K-50 for about what a shutter replacement would cost.

Are battery's new?

i could be that the rechargeable batter is weak. try replaceing the battery for a new one. also check that the connections for the battery are clearn.

I hope this was useful.

When you jump started the vehicle, it started as normal and you drove to a shop to have a new battery installed.?? Correct??

1. Who removed the old battery and installed the new one?

2. Did the car start normally immediately after the new battery was fitted? How frequently were you able to drive the car on the new battery before the problem you described appeared?

3. Has anything been done to the vehicle since the new battery was fitted.?

M90 is a battery independent setting - it requires no battery power to function. If it won't advance until put on M90 from other settings, then either you're not allowing for proper exposure, have the settings incorrectly set (film speed, etc), or you have shutter issues. The shutter is electronically controlled on all settings except M90. In the auto setting, your lense MUST be set to the smallest aperture (biggest number). On any other setting, you can use it however you'd like. I'd suggest unloading any film, setting the shutter speed dial to 1/125 or so, opening the back and looking thru and firing the shutter. If it's not snapping open and immediately closed, theres an issue and you need to consult a repair technician either locally, through Nikon, or through KEH Camera online.

The answer to your question can be found at...

This website

All but the very best flashes can not recycle atthat flash rate. For burst mode, you probably want to use focus modeAF-C or AF-A.
Morris

Page 73 in the manual; If the flash fires in L or H mode (pg. 65), only one picture will be taken each time the
shutter-release button is pressed. The shutterrelease may be briefly disabled to protect the flash after it has beenused for several consecutive shots. The flash can be used again after ashort pause.
The flash can take several seconds to recharge andduring that time the shutter is disabled. NR will also reduce thenumber of frames per second that you can take, and of course yourshutter speed has to be fast enough to allow for 4.5 fps.
In AF-S the shutter won’t fire unless the camera has achieved an in-focus state and the focus is locked.
In AF-C the camera continually focuses, but that isnot the same thing as being in focus. As you move the camera or yoursubject moves, the in focus state will come and go, but the camera willattempt to continuously re-focus. BUT, the shutter will fire even ifwhen the AF system has lost the in-focus state and the picture is outof focus.
In the D90 manual it indicates that the AF-A modewill only fire when the green in-focus light is on, just like in AF-S.The problem is that you probably won’t get 4.5 fps unless both thecamera and the subject are stationary and no time is lost between shotswhile the camera re-focuses.
--
Brooks
http://bmiddleton.smugmug.com/

Are the batteries good ,is the battery cap and contacts clean? Can you fire the shutter? Move select off auto and try to release the shutter. If the shutter fired off auto and will not fire on auto with good batteries. Either the shutter or flex circuit must be replaced. There are no new parts avail. for the X700.
One other item for the X700. check to see if the shutter fully traveled on the last shot.

There are several situations when this message happens and the camera locks up, and almost none of them has anything to do with the cause stated in the camera manual: film DX coding error. (If it is truly a DX-coding error, manually setting the ISO speed of the film should solve the problem. This could happen in cold weather.) Scenario One: when using Alkaline batteries and the batteries are almost exhausted, and yet one continues to shoot. The battery may not have enough power to complete the shutter firing operation (which usually includes: mirror up, close down diaphragm, shutter fire, mirror down, open diaphragm, advance film, and charge the shutter for next frame). The camera could be lock up in the middle of the operation, left with a dimmed viewfinder. Usually an indication appears quite early if one pays attention: when the batteries are almost exhausted, the film advance becomes noticeably slow. In normal situation film advance is very fast and one cannot distinguish it from other noise such as mirror flipping. When the batteries almost exhausted, the film-advance could take almost 1 second, and the noise of film advancing has been mistakenly identified by some as "beep". I think those is the result of over-adjustment for the Premature Battery Indication problem. This scenario is particular to using alkaline batteries, due to the peculiar behavior of the alkaline battery: even when its power is almost exhausted, it still has a pretty high voltage. Solution: replace the batteries and fire the shutter once should solve the problem. I am pretty sure this is normal, since it happened to me several times, and I once deliberately repeated this happening. Scenario Two: At the end of a roll, when the remaining film is too short for one more frame but long enough to fool the camera, the camera could end up with "Err" message. Solution: rewind the film and load with the new one, and possibly fire the shutter once could solve the problem. (This has never happened to me, but summarized from other’s reports.) Scenario Three: I've heard of two reports: happened in the middle of a roll, with sufficient battery power. I have no idea what’s going on. (Could be really a DX-coding problem, which does not necessarily occur just at the beginning of a roll.) Solution: probably should send the camera in for a check. (Also, both reports of this problem occurs while using Kodachrome films.)

I don't know, but it's worth a try. I took mine to the camera store, because my shutter wouldn't even work anymore, even with fresh batteries in it. He again tried new batteries, and turned the shutter speed knob from Automatic all the way over to "B" for Bulb, and back to the Auto. Guess What! I haven't used the camera in 3-5 years because I thought it was broke and going to need factory repair. Well, this tricked worked for me. I was so thrilled, because my daughter wanted some double exposures and special filters shots for her wedding. Also the weight of the camera I couldn't handle anymore with a health problem, so I went to digital, but would love a Nikon good digital.
Good Luck!