larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Some of you may know that I have something of a passion for older equipment. It started with refurbishing and repurposing older radio equipment for use on the amateur bands and has extended itself (at least occasionally) into my photography hobby. These restoration projects are undertaken "for the fun of it" and without a lot of worry around whether they are economically feasible, or whether they make any sense to any other person. So here goes...

I was looking through some older files the other night, and when I came across some photographs taken at the exhibit of Dale Chihuly's glass work near the Space Needle in Seattle, I was struck by the impact (to me, at least) of several photos taken of some of the exhibits there with my D200 a few years ago. That camera has since been given away to someone who is interested in photography but not able to buy equipment, but the truth is that its CCD sensor could easily do things that newer CMOS sensors require more work to accomplish.

Fortunately, it turns out that I still have a D200...it was part of a collection of equipment that I bought at a very attractive price a while ago. It is in very nice condition, with a low shutter count, and everything about it works just like it is supposed to...except the flash. Neither the internal flash, nor the hot shoe nor (at least as far as I can determine) the 10 pin connector function. (Now that I think of it, I have not tried an intervalometer on the 10 pin connector to see if those functions work.)

From what I have learned so far, the possible sources of failure include the main circuit board, the "flash" circuit board, and the electrolytic capacitor.

My question here is, "Are there other boards or possible points of failure that would cause the entire flash system to fail and that I need to be searching for?"

There are identified sources of some parts for this camera, and I'd like to gather all of the parts that might possibly need to be replaced before asking my local camera repair shop to help me with the attempted repair. Also...good rubber grip replacements seem to be no longer available, so the goal will have to be reusing the ones that are on the camera. This will obviously require great care in removal and good suggestions for proper double-sided tape for reinstallation. Your suggestions for the best tape choice will be appreciated. I have no intent of using any kind of glue, cement, or other adhesive to put everything back together.

(If I can't get to a point of reasonable success, then I'll consider doing an IR conversion instead.)

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Its not the capacitor if a hotshoe flash does not work as they have their own capacitor. Probably the flash control system has failed. The D200 does have a PC connector so I would try that before tearing the body apart. By the way, good D200 bodies can be had for $150-$200 so it may not be worth the repair. I would suggest just using it outdoors and enjoy the color range and saturation that old CCD gives you.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Thanks for your reply. It sounds like if I do proceed that a flash controller and a main board are likely to cover anything that might be wrong.