Photomic FTn meter repair?

[jimrohrer]

Greetings everyone...
The metered prism finder of one of my Nikon F's seems to have bit the dust. Could anyone out there recommend a repair service that is good with Photomic FTn meter repairs? There are times when I really like the convenience of having the light meter built right into my camera!
Thanks much,
Jim

[Pinholemaster]

If you can find one listed on eBay, getting a used prism is sometimes cheaper than a repair.

That said, I can recommend two shops in my area if you ship the prism to them:

Strauss Technical Service
http://www.spts.com/

and Pro Photo

1902 I Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 223-1292

http://photo.net/neighbor/view-one?neighbor_to_neighbor_id=9644

[jimrohrer]

I was afraid of that first solution...
Thanks for the recommendations

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Jim;

I agree that Strauss Photo Technical Service in Washington, D. C. is a good place to try, although it has been 40 years since I was in there.

There is another shop in California, I think in the San Francisco area, that is highly regarded relative to the repair of the older Photomic finders for the Nikon F. I will check for their name and address, but it might take me until Monday to get it, if I cannot find it in one of my records here. While their work is highly regarded, it has been noticed that finding another Photomic finder on eek-bait is a more wallet friendly solution. Then again, when you get a Photomic back from them, it does operate just as a new one would, and with the protective coating they put on the variable resistor, it will continue to operate just as a new one for a very long time.

[jimrohrer]

Thanks Ralph
I would be interested in finding out the name of that shop... It would be nice to get some more years out of that meter

[dynachrome]

There is supposed to be a place in Manhattan which can repair FTN meters. At one time Cameraquest advertised that it could repair them too. If I make it to the Secind Sunday Camera Show in Wayne, NJ tomorrow I will see if I can get more information.

[dynachrome]

Make that Second.

[resummerfield]

Pete Smith of FOTOCAMERA REPAIR at 3095 S Military Trail # 16, Lake Worth, Florida 33463 has done excellent work on my Nikon F, and he re-calibrated my FTN finder a few years ago. He's the only person I trust with the older Nikon F cameras. Give him a call at 561-433-8434.

[Nicholas Lindan]

To expand the search --

Any recommendations for repair of F2 metered finders - specifically a DP-11?

[John_Nikon_F]

There's a guy by the name of Robert Decker who services the Photomic finders for the F. I think he may also do the F2 finders as well. That said, it might be worthwhile contacting the "Yoda" of Nikon F2 repairs, Sover Wong. He bought out all of Nikon's spare parts inventory of F2 parts when Nikon decided it was time to get rid of them. It might be worth sending the whole camera to him for a standard service (about $200, plus shipping to the UK and back). You'll get back a Nikon F2A that's in brand new condition, mechanically, and, possibly cosmetically as well. In some respects, it'll be better than new, since the shutter will be within 1/4 stop, instead of the 1/2 stop that Nikon calibrated it for when new.

Sover's site: http://soverf2repair.webs.com/

From John White's AI conversions.com website:

Robert Decker's Meter Repair: Robert can help you if you have a meter for an F or F2 that needs repair. Contact him at drwyn@aol.com.

-J

[jimrohrer]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. This is some good information to work with...
Jim

[Ralph Javins]

Thanks Ralph
I would be interested in finding out the name of that shop... It would be nice to get some more years out of that meter


Good morning, Jim;

Well, I have not found what I thought that I was looking for, but I may have come close. Doug Dailey of Camera Clinic used to work at a shop in the San Francisco area right across the street from EPOI, Ehrenreich Photo Optical Industries, the importers for Nikon Cameras. He does still have a lot of parts for the Nikon F Photomic pentaprisms, and he is the one who originally told me about the special lubricating coating that you can put onto the variable resistor that greatly reduces the wear of the carbon track and really extends the working life of the variable resistor. It will not help repair a broken resistor track, but if it is still working, this stuff will help keep it going.

Doug Dailey
Camera Clinic
518 NE 165th Street
Seattle, Washington 98155
206-367-2440

This is the guy that John Nikon F and I have been using locally for keeping our older mechanical cameras going.

[fschifano]

If you can get it to a good repair shop, I think it's well worth the extra money to have it repaired. Go out and get another used one from eBay or wherever, and there's no assurance that it will work for very long - if indeed it works at all. The meter prism on my F2 is shot, but I don't really care. I'm good enough at guessing exposures so that 99 times out of 100, the meter is telling me what I already know +/- 1/2 stop. With negative film, that's no big deal. I'm not looking to make fine art from a 35 mm negative.