S-36 Motor Drive

[imagephile]

Hi,

I would appreciate hearing from someone who could shed some light on this. I am trying to fit a S-36 motor drive, an early model, to my S3 Olympic but a close observation reveals that a couple of small pins are getting in the way and the drive and the body don't come together completely. Is a conversion work available to modify the bottom plate of the camera to accommodate the pins? I wonder how you go about this...

 

[BillBingham2]

I think there may be some drilling involved. I would check with the Nikon Repair Guy in Florida (forget his name) or post the same question on the Nikon Historical Society page. Many of them are over here now so you might get a good answer.

This was before my time, I was using a Kodak TLR and flash bulbs then!

B2 (;->

 

[rbsinto]

Fred,
Unless I've misread the original post, Imagephile is inquiring about an S-36, not an F-36.

 

[imagephile]

Re: S-36 Motor Drive

B2 and Fred,

Thanks for quick responses and a detailed photo! Yes, my question involves S-36, not F-36, so the size and shape are already compatible. The only obstacles, as I see, are the little pins sticking out from the bottom surface of the inside of the drive. So, B2 may be right. A little drilling may take out just enough metal to fit the pins but there could be other areas that might come in the way. Was there a special plate available to modify the camera for this purpose then?

--Cheers.

 

[aoresteen]

The S3 needs a 'motor drive' plate on the botton of the camera to use the S-36 drive. This plate has a hole in it. If yours doesn't then that's the issue.

Post a picture of your bottom plate.

 

[NIKON KIU]

B2 and Fred,

Thanks for quick responses and a detailed photo! Yes, my question involves S-36, not F-36, so the size and shape are already compatible. The only obstacles, as I see, are the little pins sticking out from the bottom surface of the inside of the drive. So, B2 may be right. A little drilling may take out just enough metal to fit the pins but there could be other areas that might come in the way. Was there a special plate available to modify the camera for this purpose then?

--Cheers.

You need a motor plate, or you can modify the one on your S3( not suggested)



Kiu

 

[CameraQuest]

S36 motor plates are not cheap. They can sell in the $700 + range, since they are rare and without them your motor is only a nice paper weight. After you get one and install it on your camera, the camera / drive connection will probably need adjustment (shimming) to work together properly.

Stephen

 

[rbsinto]

Fred,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you once told me in a thread at the Nikon Historic Society site that the motor plate from an F could be used in an S3/SP by simply cutting a measured section out of the middle and screwing the two end pieces into the bottom of the rangefinder.

 

[imagephile]

Re: S-36 Motor Drive

Hi all,

Thanks for many tips and insights into this subject. I'm new here but this forum is already very helpful! It looks like a little drilling is the way to go but I am not confident doing that. So I will first look around for the plate in town just to make sure.

Cheers.