Nikon F2 Shutter issue

[Huss]

As an aside, when 'you' use Sover, he sends you images of the work on your camera in progress! You get to see it apart in pieces, with him showing you what is being fixed/replaced.
Not only is his work incredible, but he is also cheaper and quicker - shipping to England and back - than my local Los Angeles shop.

 

[Highway 61]

I sent it back to the first shop and when I get it back, if it still isn't fixed, I'll probably buy a body from Sover. This body has had a hard life and I'm not interested in spending any more money on it. I'll use the finder, focus screen, back, etc. on another F2 body.

I don't know how much you are sentimentally attached to that F2 body of yours, and how much you are eager to spend on another repair, but you might want to look very, very, very closely at eBay item #141704373765.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Not sentimentally attached to this F2 at all. Purchased it a year ago off eBay because I was looking for an inexpensive beater camera to have with me all the time. I'd heard how bullet-proof F2's were and thought it would be a great candidate. Didn't work out so well.

If this camera comes back from the shop and still has issues, I'm binning it and buying a body from Sover that he has already fully serviced. That one on eBay is a good price, but so was the one I bought last year, and we see how that worked out. My concern with any of the bodies on eBay is that I don't know the history and they may have just as many problems as my current F2.

 

[Highway 61]

I don't think a 78xxx s/n F2 body which looks as clean as this one listed on eBay might have a single problem. I have used enough F2 bodies to be almost certain of that.

The price is low because there is no finder and there is nothing to worry about IMO. The focusing screen is scratched and the foams may have to be replaced (which is a very easy DIY job if you have some Q-tips, a bottle of acetone, a ruler, a cutter, a bit of neoprene glue and an old mousepad to cut foam strips off it). Apart from this, nothing serious.

Nowadays (digital age) we can get very clean F2 cameras for not much money. Beater (that means, abused and worn out) bodies should be left where they ought to... 😉

 

[Timmyjoe]

The body on mine (not the DE-1 finder) is externally in as good of shape as that auction you linked to. That didn't tell me anything. It had intermittent internal shutter problems that don't show up on eBay. Regardless of the serial number, that body looks like it's had a hard life too.

 

[colyn]

Given that there is a significant lack of spares, even more so when it come to the greater modules, like curtains, crates or escapements, if they did not lie entirely about that "new", anything new that got added probably was limited to dousing the shutter with fresh WD40. :bang:

This will ruin a camera very fast so I don't know of any repair tech who would do this except for a few of the Russian sellers..

 

[colyn]

I suspect that the issue is the shutter brake rubbers need adjustment. I have remove the tripod mount for easy viewing which is also the stop for these brakes. 2 and 4 are the brakes and 1 and 4 are the adjustment points.

To adjust you need to loosen the top most screw slightly and turn the lower larger screw clockwise very slightly then test... A lot of techs don't properly adjust the brakes during overhaul..

 

[Timmyjoe]

From reading everything the last few days I thought what you are saying is the solution. But an experienced camera tech on another forum who studied the video I made presented a case for this not having anything to do with the curtain brakes, something to do with curtains buckling because of an obstruction in the curtain plane path.

I don't know what it is exactly, but the shop I paid hundreds of dollars to is supposed to know, and I'm going to give them one more chance to make it right.

 

[colyn]

But an experienced camera tech on another forum who studied the video I made presented a case for this not having anything to do with the curtain brakes, something to do with curtains buckling because of an obstruction in the curtain plane path.

I seriously doubt this other persons evaluation is correct. The issue is too consistent to be an obstruction and that's over 40 years of experience talking. I cut my teeth on the Nikon F's and F2's as well as the Topcon Super D and DM while in the Navy back in the 70's.

In order for it to be an obstruction, it would have to be thicker than a sliver of film. So my question would be how did something that thick get into the curtain path and why has it not left a straight mark/scratch on the curtains..plus...it would leave marks/scratches on both curtain lathes..

Raise the mirror and look for these marks on both sides of both curtains..

 

[Huss]

If there was an obstruction in the curtain plane path, wouldn't it affect all the speeds?
You're only seeing this issue on some of them.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I don't know guys. The camera is at the shop so I can't inspect it right now. The guy who did the last service is convinced it's a simple shutter bounce so I'm going to let him deal with it and I'll see what it's like when I get it back.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Just to clarify Gus, I am a trained and certified ARRI motion picture camera technician with over a dozen years of servicing motion picture cameras. I would not consider my adjustment of the opening curtain brake eccentric, as per the Nikon service manual, to be "unskilled tampering".

 

[Highway 61]

Looks like everyone is knowing what they are doing. Good luck and best wishes with that camera.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Looks like everyone is knowing what they are doing. Good luck and best wishes with that camera.

Thanks, I hope the tech who has the camera in his hands today knows what he's doing. At this point I couldn't care less what the problem is, I just want it fixed so I can go back to shooting with it. I find the F2 fits the way I like to shoot. At least when it's working. 😛

 

[Highway 61]

It's difficult to shoot with something else than an F2 when you've addictily got used to it indeed. 😉

 

[Timmyjoe]

Just heard from the shop (they have the camera), they're saying it's definitely shutter bounce and they should have no problem fixing it. So we'll see if it's fixed when I get it back.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Well I got the camera back and they fixed it. Not sure what they did, but the shutter bounce is gone and all the speeds are accurate. Very happy.