Aperture lever sticks on nikon d50 and auto setting doesn't work.

Check to make sure that you have not set it for some sort of manual setting or delay. Also check to see whether it will take a picture if you use manual focus or another manual option. I had a Nikon D50 that would not shoot because the aperture lever had gotten knocked aside. I had to convince the camera to keep the lens at f22 to get it to shoot.

Turn the aperture ring on the lens to its smallest setting (largest f/number). You can control the aperture from the camera body the same was as with a lens without an aperture ring.

First, the "r06" message is NOT an error code. It indicates the number of shots remaining in the internal memory buffer, before the camera must prevent additional shutter actuations so that it may transfer those images already in the buffer to the memory card. This "r" number will decrease with each shot taken in rapid succession until it reaches 0. The shutter release will no longer work until the buffer is transferred to the memory card, then shooting may continue again.

As far as not being able to even see through the viewfinder, it sounds like something may be obstructing the light from reaching the meter and viewfinder. The problem is most likely the position of mirror inside the camera body. With the lens off the body, the mirror should be plainly visible at about a 45 degree angle to the opening. A side view drawing of this is below. The solid red line is the mirror in the normal position. The red dashed line is the up position of the mirror when the shutter is released.



When the mirror is in the "normal" position, the light from the lens is projected on a screen so that the image is visible in the viewfinder for composing and can be metered. When in the "up" position (when the shutter release is fully depressed), the light from the lens is projected on the camera's sensor for as long as set by the manual settings or program; based on ISO, aperture, etc. At the end of this time, the mirror returns to the "normal" position.

If your D100's mirror is not in the lowered 45 degree angle position, the image seen in the viewfinder is inside the camera - not that which the lens would project. Hence, the dark viewfinder, long exposure times and - I'm guessing - severely overexposed pictures because way too much light is striking the sensor because the meter is only seeing darkness.

If the mirror is ok, with the lens removed from the body, look for the aperture lever as shown in the yellow circle in the picture below:



By default, the aperture is at minimum. The camera moves the lever from this position to full open (and anywhere between) as needed. You should gently move the lever to the other end of its travel to open the aperture to maximum. Point the lens away from a light source but preferably at a light colored background. Look through the lens. There should be no obstructions and be clear. Next, look at a dark colored background to find the same results. If you want, you can even allow sunlight to shine through the lens onto a sheet of paper (like a magnifying glass). The result should be a bright circle with no obstructions. Obstructions in the lens will prevent the meter in the camera from getting accurate information about the scene and if significant enough, prevent viewing through the viewfinder.

You may wish to have the camera & lens professionally cleaned and serviced to repair a mirror or lens issue.

If this was helpful, please rate it as such. Good luck!

It sounds like the mechanical lever in your camera that normally couples the aperture to the camera to lock it to the widest opening for focusing is locked into the fully closed position, or that the electronics are not allowing the lens to open to fully open, depending on the type of lense being used.

Also, it could be an issue with the lense.

The simple way to test this will be to remove the lense, and to rotate the aperture ring while looking through the lense. If you see the aperture getting larger/smaller the lense aperture is fine. If it is not - the lense is damaged and needs to be replaced, or at best serviced. This can be done through Nikon, a local shop if you have one, or through online shops, I'd recommend KEH Camera in Atlanta if you have to go that way.

To test the camera side, if the lense appears to be working is also simple for the mechanical lever. With the lense removed, hold the camera in front of you looking into the lense mount. On the left side, you should see a small lever like piece. With your finger, see if this piece will move downward - it is spring loaded and should smoothly go down and pop back up. If it doesn't go down, or doesn't spring right back up, then the issue is on the camera mechanical side.

If both of those check fine, you may try a manual focus Nikon mount lense if you have access to one - to eliminate the camera electronics from being an issue, and the lense from being an issue as if this lense doesn't work, it's a mechanical issue. If you have access to another AF lense you know is working, and it doesn't work on your camera, you've narrowed it down to either the mechanical lever, or the electronics.

Most likely culprit is the lense itself.

Hi tin_080 , the aperture actuating lever was bent or loose and is ahead of the control mechanism of the diaphragm opening in the camera body.
Check this: point the lens towards you notice that the diaphragm is closed.
To avoid more costly damage you take it to a workshop for servicing.
Best regards

Hi,1) Your camera has damage to the aperture control mechanism.
2) If you look in the viewfinder the image darkened, mayhave bent the aperture control lever.
In one must turn for service.
In two carefully can solve You can also check whether the mechanism malfunctions diaphragm aperture setting to full and see that this does not close completely,pressing the shutter release button.
Best regards

At first it sounds like a faulty aperture blade that is stuck after your first press. However you mentioned that this happened in other lenses as well. Seems to me that there is a problem with your camera (e.g. mirror lockup problem or something else). Pls have it looked at by Nikon

It sounds as if there is a problem with aperture blades not fully opening.

A quick test...

With a known good lens on the camera, set it to shutter priority mode. Point the camera at a plain wall or ceiling, half press the shutter button and note the aperture reading suggested by the camera. (Play around with the shutter speed settings until you get something around about f11.)

If possible, switch to another good lens and do the same. (You will need to point the camera at the same wall or ceiling!) You should find that without altering any settings, you will get the same, or very similar, aperture reading as before.

Now try the suspect lens. If there is a a fault with the aperture, the camera will almost certainly suggest that a significantly different aperture setting is required.

Hope this helps!

Take the lens off and look at the lens opening on the body - at the 9 o'clock position is the aperture stopdown lever. It should be square to the edge - not bent sideways or too far from the side. It's a pretty flimsy lever and easily bent. You can bend it back square by grabbing with pliers and pushing toward the left side. Common problem.

That would explain the darkness if the lens is stopped down. It would seem the aperture control is faulty on the camera body. Normally, the aperture remains open until you take the picture. It is only closed down while the shutter is open.