Nikon SP Repairs

irq506

just curious
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Nov 24, 2006
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I have a Nikon SP currently which has a broken rewind shaft (the internal bit not the flip out handle and not the fork inside the film cartridge chamber -basically the bit thats in between the two).
I have no luck trying to get to this part myself and have had no luck finding a technician here in the US or even in Japan or Nikon themselves.

Any suggestion on how a repair like this could be achieved- there are no parts available unless someone wants to donate me a part body- so I will probably haVE TO bond it some way, but the issue is actually getting in to it.
:confused:
 
Sounds like you need this gear wheel. A guy is listing new aftermarket versions on the Yahoo Japan auctions for 7,900 yen.

http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b47189732

yallu2000-img600x450-1073621829cimg0075.jpg


yallu2000-img600x469-1073621846dsc00070.jpg
 
Wow...
Now, how do I actually get into the camera to get at the part....? Thats the bigger issue...!
 
I have a Nikon SP currently which has a broken rewind shaft (the internal bit not the flip out handle and not the fork inside the film cartridge chamber -basically the bit thats in between the two).
I have no luck trying to get to this part myself and have had no luck finding a technician here in the US or even in Japan or Nikon themselves.

Any suggestion on how a repair like this could be achieved- there are no parts available unless someone wants to donate me a part body- so I will probably haVE TO bond it some way, but the issue is actually getting in to it.
:confused:

Revisiting an old thread here.... how did you go with the SP repair?

I think the only way to open up this SP would be to:

1. Drill a small diameter hole from the top down into the centre shaft that the rewind handle screws onto

2. Screw something into the hole that you can hold to prevent the centre shaft from spinning

3. Unscrew and remove the rewind handle while preventing the centre shaft from spinning (after unscrewing the locking screw of course)

From there, its straight forward to disassemble the rest of the camera. Finding replacement parts is the bigger problem.
 
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RFF is an incredible resource where fine people like jonmanjiro will help out a complete stranger halfway around the world whose got a big problem!

I would think Cameraquest's repair guy in CA could do the work too. I expect he has a lot of Nikon RF experience too.
 
The book called Nikon Camera Repair Handbook. You should find it on Google Book. In fact to remove the rewinding shaft, techanically it is easy but you must have a small screw driver. For the top plate, a 1mm screw driver. It took me sometime to find one.
 
Many gears are standard parts one can order from catalogs, although often custom machining has been applied to them. Any gear can be machined if you have the skill or money to pay someone else to do it. This is how vintage machines at some point must be maintained if they are to be maintained, i.e., one makes one's own parts.

Wow...
Now, how do I actually get into the camera to get at the part....? Thats the bigger issue...!
 
The culprit is the part indicated by the arrows in the photo below. It's a shaft with a gear on the bottom and the top. On later SPs, this part is one piece, but on early SPs it is two pieces (the gear at the top is a separate piece that just sits on top of the shaft).

My guess is that on early SPs any *play* between the gear sitting on top of the shaft and the shaft itself or between the gear it meshes into will cause the gears to strip and create the problem the OP mentions. Nikon obviously moved to a one piece part with later SPs to rectify this.

With my SP, I switched the two piece part for a later one piece part. But the job was far from simple as I also had to dremel the finder housing (indicated by the small arrow) so the later one piece part could be installed.

4409713679_117a74e994_o.jpg
 
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I can remember 20 years ago having my SP diassembled this far. I had to repair the jammed frame masks on the finder -- a tiny spring had broken and needed to replace it. It's been so long since I've done this level of camera repair that it would probably be best to send it to someone comfortable with disassembly and drilling.
 
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