Can this Nikkormat be repaired at home?

T

Tim Murphy

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Dear Board,

I purchased a Nikkormat FTN from an on-line auction. I was so interested in the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens that I didn't read the very last line of the item description. It read mold and debris in the viewfinder. I had already won when I re-read the listing so now, I have the camera.

The camera is in very nice condition save for the viewfinder. Shutter seems accurate, the foam is not all deteriorated and crumbly, the lens controls and mirror lock all seem to work correctly. I got the 50mm f1.4 and 3 additional lenses with numerous lens caps, body caps, filters, etc. The camera is unusable as is, so I may attempt to clean the mirror myself.

Judging from the picture below, would any of you attempt to clean the mirror, or would you just junk the camera? I really don't want to spend more to get this repaired as I have working Nikkormat FTN's in chrome and black.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg, PA 🙂

Nikkormat viewfinder.jpeg
 
Off course I would try it. It looks bad but who knows, mould doesn‘t always etch into the mirror/prism. Good luck!
 
If you're interested in trying to remove the prism and clean it and the focusing screen there is a Fix Old Cameras video for Nikkormat FTn you can watch that may help. Take a look...attempt it if you think you can, leave it be if it looks too complex.

 
Beemermark said:
Are you sure it's just crumbling foam from the mirror bumper?
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm certain it's not foam because the bottom of the focusing screen is clean as a whistle, as is the mirror itself. Whatever it is, it is definitely in the mirror box between the eyepiece and the top of focusing screen.

I am in no hurry to fix it, but I'm probably going to try anyway. The worst thing that will happen is that an inoperable camera will still be inoperable.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂
 
halfaninchawater said:
If you're interested in trying to remove the prism and clean it and the focusing screen there is a Fix Old Cameras video for Nikkormat FTn you can watch that may help. Take a look...attempt it if you think you can, leave it be if it looks too complex.

Click to expand...


This video was my inspiration! It may also be the death of this camera, we shall see! ;-)

Regards,

Tim Murphy

Harrisburg PA 🙂
 
There's nothing more worrisome than seeing people talk about "cleaning the mirror" of an SLR.. Those reflective surfaces aren't anything like an ordinary mirror, and scratch even with the slightest touch.
 
SLR mirrors can be astoundingly delicate... As a sample of one in my experience, I tried to brush some dust or lint off the mirror of a Pentax S3/H3 (IIRC) with a lens brush... one of those lipstick type with a very soft camel-hair brush. One extremely gentle swipe across the mirror left fine scratches on it. Mirror reflective coating is very soft aluminum I'm told. It would sure make sense to toughen that surface to survive cleaning efforts!
 
The mirrors in an SLR are aluminum deposited on glass to form a surface layer of only microns this. Light reflects directly on this exposed surface without traveling through the glass on which is it deposited first. This is in contrast to an ordinary bathroom mirror where the light first travels through the glass, hits the silvered backside and is reflected back through the glass; there the glass forms a strong protection on the front, and a plastic cover is a protection on the backside.
 
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