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Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 36
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 11:21 pm: | 
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i've been thinking of getting a non-perfect Nikon F and repairing/restoring it to good condition, but there's not much on the F out there (is there?)...
is the F difficult to work on?
what can you do with wrinkled shutters? are they a big problem?
any special things to look at before buying? |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 260
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 04:57 pm: |
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You may find that wrinkled 'curtains' still work, and the shutter functions normally. If this is so, leave well alone. Any attempts to remove/straighten the wrinkles will only make matters worse, leaving you with a bigger problem.
The F is no more difficult or easier to work on, than any other make of similar slr of that era.
I would personally not purchase a body with damaged/wrinkled 'curtains'. A camera with an honest worn exterior, indicates a well journeyed piece of kit.Where as cameras with wrinkled 'curtains', probably damaged by poking fingers, just indicates poor camera handling techniques. I know which camera I would rather purchase. |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 37
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 09:40 pm: |
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hey, i poked the shutter curtains of... all the SLRs i've uesd (including a Canon F-1)(hey! i's curious.) and nothing bad happened.
but if it's well journeyed, wouldn't it also be well worn?
if the shutter functions normally, why not? is it more likely to break...?
so, as easy as the Canon FTb (the only camera i've worked on... and it is pretty simple)?
thanks! |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 101
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 10:16 pm: |
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Here's a link to a PDF of the Nikon F service manual. Grab it while you can.
http://www.ss-it.de/arcticwolf/nikon/service.htm
I would not worry about a well worn F that works. They're very hard to wear out. Like Glenn, I'd rather have a beat up one that works well than a minty looking one that shows damage, or doesn't work.
F parts are getting a bit scarce, so I'd beware of anything that seems to need actual replacement parts unless you know of sources. |
David_ritchie
Tinkerer
Username: David_ritchie
Post Number: 27
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 01, 2008 - 12:53 pm: |
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I hope that you are aware of the fact that the Nikon F did not use a cloth shutter. It is made of titanium and is not smooth like a cloth curtain. There are many small ridges in the curtain which one might mistake for wrinkles. Without seeing the shutter,I cannot pass judgement, but keep this in mind. |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 261
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 02, 2008 - 07:13 pm: |
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That is why I put inverted commas around curtains in my original post. The wrinkles, that can be seen in some damaged shutters, have nothing to do with the small stiffening ridges in the titanium. They can only have been caused by people sticking their fingers into the shutter aperture.
As I previously stated, poking the shutter blinds/blades/'curtains' is just bad handling technique in my view. It is the quickest way to wreck a titanium 'curtained' shutter, and in the case of the Nikon F produced a paper weight - as far as I know sources of spare shutters dried up years ago. |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 38
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 02, 2008 - 10:12 pm: |
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thanks for the link, that will probably be useful if i ever get one.
ah... how can you tell the difference between a camera that's gummed up with coagulated grease and one that's actually broken? i'll attempt to find the former, since chances are it'll be much cheaper.
i've seen the F's shutter, and the one i had in mind had a big crease on it that was obviously a wrinkle.
thanks, all! |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 102
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 08:09 am: |
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It is quite possible to wrinkle or dent the shutter in an F, because the foil doesn't rebound like cloth. I guess a little wrinkle doesn't matter, but obviously it must be slight enough not to distort the shape of the curtain or impede its travel.
For gummed up versus broken, I'd look for one that has a shutter that works but lags in some way, or that works on high speed but not low, but I'd be wary of something that does not work at all.
The one mechanical problem I've had on my main working F, that actually sent it to the repairman, was a broken something-or-other in the linkage of the rewind mechanism. Make sure that the little collar around the shutter button, that controls rewind, works and that you can feel the detents. |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 41
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 09:59 pm: |
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so it should work but not work...
another thing that came up: if you clean and lubricate the escapement, do you still have to adjust it? should't the factory settings be ok...
but if it's totally kaput, it'll still make a nice paperweight  .
do you have any pics of the innards of the F?
thanks, that's really helpful. now i gotta find one within my price range... |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 105
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 09:19 pm: |
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Escapement problems usually seem not to require readjustment. The high speeds, which depend on other mechanisms, are more complicated.
I have an F in pieces right now, which unfortunately got damp inside. I ended up stealing some parts off it and putting them on a more functional camera, and may never finish putting it back together now, but in my playing with it, I found the low speed escapement pretty easy to work on. Once freed up, it was fine. It's quite accessible. The high speeds came back without disassembly, all but the 1/1000 speed, which might be fixable with a curtain tension adjustment. but the speed adjusting portion of this mechanism is not nearly as friendly to disassemble. The self timer wouldn't restart with just cleaning, so if I ever do finish the job, I'll have to take it apart. That is a unit that can be taken out whole.
I don't doubt that this would have been possible to get going with some more work. But when I bought another supposedly broken F body expecting to steal its self timer and some other shutter parts, I found it less broken than advertised, and mechanically perfect, so I reversed the process. |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 42
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 10:56 pm: |
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pictures...? please...
hmm... i can somewhat relate to that... the FTb that i disemboweled is fairly straight-forward, but the high speed escapement (?) is buried. and i know my limits, won't dig further on a camera that works, even though it was supposed to have a busted lightmeter... (and yes, that's my only experience...)
do self-timers explode like egg timers do when you take them apart? a tightly wound clockwork spring is a nightmare.
is ebay a good place to look for a F? or should i go local (we do have used camera shops here... just haven't been)
thanks! |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 106
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 - 04:47 pm: |
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Dragunov, I don't know where is best to look for your tired F. I got mine right here (sold as "jammed and inoperative," but with no prism degradation in the meter head, which was my main interest). I'd try local first, because if you can handle it and try it, you'll have a pretty good idea what you have. KEH is another possibility, but they usually remove the backs, prisms, etc. from their broken "as-is" specials, so they're really only good if you already have an F. You might find a decent bargain in a complete one with an inoperative meter, though.
One reason I have not taken apart the self timer is the very fear that it will indeed explode into a shower of little gears and springs and I'll never get it back together.
I'll try to get a picture of my F carcass later, but I'm a little busy tonight, and my digital camera is pretty marginal. |
M_currie
Tinkerer
Username: M_currie
Post Number: 107
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 03:02 pm: |
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Ok, let's see if I can post a couple of images from my crummy digicam (very poor macro performance!). On the frontal view, you should see an F with its mirror box removed. At the bottom is the low speed escapement, easily accessed. Note that some gears are actually rusty. It works, nonetheless. The high speed mechanism lives under the shutter speed dial, and requires some pretty fancy removal to get at. Getting the body to this stage of disassembly is not terribly hard if you have the manual and keep track of the little bits.
The bottom view shows some more of the mechanism, and you'll see the very easily accessible adjustment barrels for the curtain tension.  |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 43
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 07, 2008 - 09:42 pm: |
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many thanks! |
Puderse
Tinkerer
Username: Puderse
Post Number: 26
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 11:30 am: |
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I'll dive into an old folder but my nikon f is a bit much. Any feed back on an old guy in Dallas that repairs manual "Classic" SLRs known as TED BANNAI? Present or past. I would rather deal face to face than into the ozone.
PS:I'm an old goat too!
SID |
