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Michael B. Pinkey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 09:13 am: | 
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I have had my trusty Nikkormat since 1972 and it has always worked perfectly for lo so many years...until a few weeks ago when I dropped it on the hardwood floor. This camera has been dropped before, once onto the SIDEWALK by a guy I lent it to, without any operational damage--and, also, it was purchased from a co-worker while I was serving as a photojournalist in the Marines, so it saw plenty of rought treatment before it came into my hands. After hitting my floor, however, the light meter is no good. At first I thought it was completely dead, but later I found (after coaxing the shutter-turns-meter-on mechanism) that, while the needle will settle in on "totally underexposed" or "totally overexposed," it wobbles erratically when brought into the range where it is supposed to indicate proper exposure. Can this be just now needing a new battery (the one in was years old)--can such a fall conk an old (but still fine-working) battery out? Or do I definitely have more dire problems? |
Ed
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 02:33 pm: |
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I sounds like the resistive rings around the lens mount are bad--there is one that is just a contact strip and another that is a variable resistor. These are the shutter and diaphragm/asa rings. If the coating on the resistor ring is bad, and it does happen from wear, you've got a problem. sometimes the contact ring gets a little corrosion and can be cleaned--sometimes it comes uncemented. All of these things typically cause an irratic needle. To tell you how to repair these is beyond the scope of the forum, especially when it is not certain exactly which is the problem. Not sure if there is a manually that would cover this, but maybe. |
Will
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 04:41 pm: |
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Hi Ed,
This was a timely topic. I just picked up a Ft-n with a bad light meter (I think). Can I spray some contact cleaner in around the rings you mentioned in your post? Any other quickie checks I can perform?
Thanks,
Will |
Ed
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 12:53 pm: |
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Haven't tried this--seems like you might have to flood it as ring surfaces are a little remote--don't know if I would recommend this method--I've always taken it apart. |
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