Nikon F Photomic T finder woes

[MacReady]

Hi folks,

I got a really good deal on this 1965 F (thanks to a very honest ebay seller) but unfortunately the finder just does not catch properly at the front. I've managed to get it to hold on, briefly, but it just won't hold.

I know they have a reputation of not always being a tight fit but its unusable as is. Can anyone see any glaring problems? it looks like it has been rubbing for a while so I wonder if the pin has worn down too much.

I had the top plate off and the mechanism looks OK and seems to function fine. The ground glass is facing the right way too. I'm lost

Any ideas?

Cheers

Pictures here - https://imgur.com/a/FGRa3nP - Sorry about the quality, currently down to one arm!

 

[Sumarongi]

Is your F perhaps one of the very early ones? Then it's not unusual that metering prisms don't fit perfectly.

edit: is the finder 1965, or the F?

 

[MacReady]

Camera body is I believe, serial 6728556. It does have the missing notch as far as I can tell. Prism serial is 774616

 

[madNbad]

The name plate on your camera doesn’t have the notch for the Ft or FtN finders to latch into. After 1965, Nikon changed the name plate by adding cutouts for the attaching levers on the front of the Photomic finders. From the photos of the finder, it looks like the latch mechanism has been removed to make the finder fit.

 

[MacReady]

Well, blimey. That would certainly explain it, I thought it just connected via that single prong underneath. There is a screw missing on the bottom of the finder now you mention it..

Bugger

 

[madNbad]

I’m wrong about the attachment points. After some more research, the early Photomic T and TN, finders only had a single attachment pin at the front of the finder. Check the Cameraquest site about early Nikon finders, you may discover more information there.

 

[nikon_sam]

The two pins that hold the focusing screen in place look like they're riding high...mine are more flush with the screen frame, plus the frame has two 45° notches where those two plns make contact with the focusing screen.
Have you tried mounting the prism without the focusing screen in place to see if it locks...???
The same two pins on my F2 look more like your pins on the F...

 

[MacReady]

The pin nearest the rear of the camera does appear to be bent upwards slightly. The finder feels a little more secure without the the screen in place but still not ideal. I'm starting to wonder whether it's a combination of worn out/abused parts just not meshing correctly.

I got four classic lenses with it so it wasn't the worst deal but it would have been good to get it going.

Cheers

 

[iphoenix]

My Photomic T finder has 2 clips at the front of the prism and 1 at the back.

To just have 1 at the front on one side is wrong and is bad engineering. Nikon would never have designed it this way.

 

[MacReady]

Got a picture? Unless you're talking about the ones that clip round the name plate that came on the FTN finder.

I agree it was a strange design choice though, but mine seems to match all the ones I've seen online.

 

[Sumarongi]

For detail pictures, look here: http://destoutz.ch/accessories_finders_f_photomic_t.html
then e.g. here http://destoutz.ch/acc_finder_photomic_t_776446.html

... 🙂