Good morning;

Last week I went by one of my favorite camera pushers to hand to him a Minolta SR-1b that needed a CLA (all of the cameras that come to me that are not new in a box are considered in need of a CLA) and met JohnNikonF there also. While we talked, the camera guy was doing things also.

When he finished the business with John, he turned to me, got a funny look on his face, and suggested that he had something that I might like. In just a few more minutes, he brought out and handed to me a couple of Pre-AI NIKKOR lenses in the NIKKOR plastic storace cylinders.

Both of them are nice lenses. One is a Nikon NIKKOR-H Auto 1:3.5 f=28mm wide angle lens, and the other one is a Nikon Micro-NIKKOR-P.C Auto 1:3.5 f=55mm macro lens with the M2 1:1 Adapter. Optically they are in at least EXC+ condition, and cosmetically probably EXC. A nice pair of lenses to go with the Nikon F, F2, and Nikkormat/Nikomat cameras.

The only thing I can think is that the camera guy must have already offered them to John before I got there, and John did not feel that he should do it at that time. That is my guess. Anyway, that is my most recent Nikon Pre-AI acquisition. And, I think that I may have coming a Nikon SA-1 AC Power Supply/Charger for the original Nikon SB-1 Handle Mount (potato masher) Electronic Flash Unit. I still need the Ni-Cad battery pack for the SB-1, in just about any condition. I can rebuild the Ni-Cad pack to get it back into operation. I just need to find one. If not the Ni-Cad pack, perhaps I can find one of the Nikon SD-2 "D" Cell battery holders for the SB-1. Yes, I am still working on finding things for The 1960s Nikon Project.

Enjoy

Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Latest arrivals: After Ralph left Camera Clinic, I picked up my old chrome F that I had last summer. Alas, due to circumstances related to evilBay, it's being returned, since I have a suitable replacement for the black F FTn that I recently sold to fund a Nikon d_____l camera. Also temporarily owned a late model 4-sided waistlevel for said chrome F. That was sold off, along with my Nikon F4e and a Tokina zoom lens, so I could fund the stuff won on evilBay, which included said black F FTn, a chrome eyelevel finder, and some other things...

Tonight, I just scored a decent 50/2 Nikkor-H with factory AI ring for $58.00, including shipping. That will be going onto the F when both items arrive from their respective sellers.

-J

Good morning;

In the continuing yielding to temptation, yesterday I took a Minolta SR-3a into the local shop for its initial CLA having arrived into my photographic equipment inner sanctum, but I did not get out having merely left my camera there. It was an interesting hour or so.

I came out with a black Nikon F2 that needs some parts and some work, along with a Nikon DP-1 Metering Pentaprism to go on top, and a DL-1 Metering Pentaprism Illuminator Accessory for reading the light meter in light levels where you need a flashlight. I admit that this is still one of those curious questions of life: Why do we need a light meter that goes down to EV -4 or -5 when we know that we will need a flashlight to read the lightmeter at that level? You know that it will need to go onto a tripod. The DP-1 is working right now. I need to find some batteries and the bottom battery cap to test the F2 completely. At least the shutter does not need a battery.

Enjoy;

Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Hey, there is no line for the Coffessional Booth this morning. Great. This will take less time than I thought.

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
. . .
Yes, Father, I have done it again, but I admit that it's only an extension of what I did earlier. Do you remember one of my projects; The 1960's Nikon Project? Well, the NIKKOR lenses for it ran from 24mm to 200mm. This one is merely the next one up in that sequence; the NIKKOR-H Auto 1:4.5 f=300mm telephoto lens. Also, this lens was owned previously by another patron of our Church, John_Nikon_F, so it is really already in our Church, Father.
. . .
Yes, Father, I understand that merely continuing a previously admitted sin is not really showing that I have truly learned. Sorry, Father. Yes, Father, I will also do my pennance.
. . .
Thank you, Father. See you next Saturday. Then I can tell you about my new Minolta SR-3a. Bye!

Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Latest arrival: F-36 drive without a battery pack. Already mounted to the F. Need a cordless pack. Drive was said to be working by the previous owner, so it should function once it has juice flowing through it again.

-J

Latest (last ???) NAS attack:-

Y2k S3 c/w Nikkor-S 50mm f1.4 (new, demoed once!)

Nikkor-P 10.5cm f2.5 (immaculate, not even any `cleaning` marks and the lens must be over 50 years old!)

Just off to search for some filters down at Arundel-Photographica, an aladdin`s cave of wondrous mechanical marvels . . . better leave the `plastic` at home

Roger

I picked up a pristine Nikon F with the Ftn meter head yesterday. The story behind the camera was it was discovered in the back room at the Toronto Sun newspaper along with a bunch of other old Nikon gear (pair of F3s, FM2n and lenses). I was looking to get the Nikkor S.C. 50 f1.4 but it looked a little too ghetto for my tastes and was missing the rabbit ears. Some wein cells are in transit and we'll see how my new F performs.

Yet another black F FTn. Nicest of the three black "Apollo" bodies I've owned, cosmetically. Needs a meter overhaul or another meter, though. For a while, last summer, I had a chrome F FTn that had a working meter, but somehow, the lens release pin got stuck. Was able to unstick it, and got the camera working again. Sold that one locally, and sold my previous "Apollo" F to someone here on APUG.

Soon to arrive, an F36 with cordless battery pack. Will be adding that to my F FTn.

-J

Can anyone recommend someone to do a CLA on a F2S? I'm based in London, UK. thanks!

Good morning, D1v1d;

You are in the back yard (or garden) of the Master; Souver Wong, right there in London. See also http://www.soverf2repair.webs.com/

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Good morning;

Yes, things are still growing here. Another Nikon F2 with a DP-1 came. The F2 had a shutter problem, but that was sorted out with the help of John_Nikon_F in a surprisingly short time. The difficulty with the DP-1 will take a lot more work, and it may just be replaced with another DP-1 that is going through a CLA and upgrade to work with Ag-O or Silver-Oxide batteries at this time. And, somehow I managed to get another NIKKOR-S Auto 1:1.4 f=50mm AI lens to go onto the F2. Yes, I know that I have normally extolled the virtues of the NIKKOR 1.4/58mm with its blue lens coating, but that is actually better reserved for the Nikon F for which it was designed, although it does go onto an F2 very nicely.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Good morning;

I see that John_Nikon_F has been as negligent as I have in visiting the forum to confess our latest indiscretions. I will reveal that he has been at it still, but then, I have too. In fact, John has provided some of the Nikon gear that has arrived here, again as part of his continuing effort to promote Nikon Film Cameras to the World.

There are lots of things that have come, the most recent here being a chrome Nikon F with a chrome Photomic FTn viewfinder on top of it. A bit of late 1960s Nikon heritage. Then there is also a Nikon MD-2 Motor Drive with an MB-1 Battery Pack for the Nikon F2. In a clear demonstration of the "slippery slope" or "domino effect," now I am also looking for the MF-3 Auto-stop Film Back for the Nikon F2 when using the MD-2 on it in rewind mode, and a couple of other things. The trials of being a known camera addict.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Latest scores... Around the time Ralph posted his last post, I added a Nikomat FTn with a cracked mirror. Camera had been previously overhauled, but, for some reason, the tech decided to try and remove the mirror glass from the mirror box. Removed one of the hold down tabs and cracked the mirror. For the past few months, the camera has been sitting at Camera Clinic in Shoreline, WA, being overhauled again, then waiting for me to pick it up. At the same time, the FT2 that I handed to Ralph for a resolder job went missing. So far, we haven't seen it. In the meantime, I reacquired a previous chrome FT2, used it for a while, then discovered that 1 and 1/2 second sometimes fired at 1/4 second. Parted it out. Picked up another FT2 that I used for a while in December. Also added a couple black FT2 bodies, one of which would've turned into a real money pit that wouldn't look very clean. Picked up another that needed the same amount of work, but looked decent. Sent that one in for repairs. Will be picked up this coming week. Picked up yet another FTn (this time a black one) which seemed to have the same issues as both black FT2's. Parted it out and sent some of the parts to Northwest Camera Repair to be used on the black FT2 they just completed.

Lens-wise, got a couple factory AI'd Nikkors (a 200/4 Q and a 50/1.4 S). Had a pre-AI 35/2 O for a while, but, returned that, since I really needed to have one that worked on all my Nikons.

-J

Today, added three Nikkors. A 28/3.5 Nikkor-H, a 35/2 Nikkor-O with factory AI ring (need to pay for that one), and a 135/3.5 Nikkor-Q. The 28 and the 135 were $40+tax. The 35 is going to be $125. Also received a 50/2 H with an AI conversion ring on it. The 28 and 135 will be going to the eBay seller microbee for AI conversion. He's somewhat local, so I'll just hand them over to him next time I'm in his area.

-J

Good morning;

There are still some Nikon things coming for the Nikon F and F2 cameras. One is something that is a little embarrassing; several +3 Diopter Viewfinder Optical Correction Lenses. Yes, there are several things needed now that I did not require back in the 1960s and 1970s.

As John has indicated, yes there are still some other Nikon things appearing here. One of the most recent was a Nikon F-36 Motor Drive for the Nikon F, and also an F-36 PowerPack for that F-36 Motor Drive. There is only one more thing to find for this combination. The F-36 PowerPack "Terminal Adapter" that goes between the flat three contact plate on the left end of the PowerPack and the lower left corner connector of the F-36 Motor Drive. It may be possible to get this early Nikon F Motor Drive back into use yet. I think that all I need now is that F-36 PowerPack Terminal Adapter.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Now got FTn's and FT2's coming out of my ears. Won another KEH grab box, containing six Nikkormat bodies. Four FTn's, two FT2's. Also, a MD-4 motor drive, which I have no use for, and a 28/2.5 Tamron Adaptall-2. Ralph, I suspect you'll be getting the Tammy, since I don't need it. Will be parting out one FTn to provide cosmetic pieces for the FTn that's already here (a $20 body from Glazer's Camera in Seattle that supposedly had a dead meter, but actually had a weak battery), then keeping one FTn and one FT2. The rest may wind up being parted out for spares, or, if they turn out to be decently working, passed onto others.

Nikon F-wise, I've added a few items from the late Pete Smith's collection. Decent looking and working F-36 with cordless pack to replace the one that Ralph now owns, which was rather well-used; 28/3.5 Nikkor-H with a small fungus splotch and a factory AI ring; chrome eyelevel F finder that will eventually need a new prism, since the one installed is a bit chipped and has a line of separation in it; and a BC-7 flash unit with box and case. Ralph got his power connector for his drive, another F Photomic T body, and a type III Nikon F clip-on selenium meter that's active, but needs calibration.

I've also passed a couple F2 bodies to him over the past couple months. Both chrome. One is an F2SB that needs a meter overhaul and the slow speeds worked on, the other, an F2 Photomic that came with a DP-12 that I snagged for one of my F2AS bodies. Handed him that with a 50/2 Nikkor-H that I de-AI'd, since I was on the lookout for a Nippon Kogaku version. Happened to have a pre-AI ring, so pulled the AI conversion ring and turned it back into a pre-AI lens.

Looks like I wound up fixing up one of the "parts" FTn bodies. Turns out, it was nicer than the FTn I'd picked up. The other FTn bodies were pretty much trashed. Surprisingly, the FT2 bodies were properly working, unlike what they said in their auction. One of those went to Ralph along with the 28/2.5. The MD-4 was donated to Kenmore Camera after it was cleaned up and made to work.

-J

Just swapped my 85/1.8 H, 50/2 H, and the aforementioned FTn for an 85/1.8 K version with AI ring.

-J

Good morning;

It has been done. The Nikon F Type F-36 Motor Drive is complete. A Nikon F Type F-36 "Terminal Adapter" was located and acquired. It was much more expensive than I had anticipated, but by that point, I had a lot invested in the other parts, and the F-36 "Terminal Adapter" was the one remaining piece needed to make the system work. Now there is a Motorized Nikon F here also. No, it is not going in as a part of "The 1960s Nikon Project." It will remain separate.

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Hmmm, considering that the cordless pack was available in the late '60s, it could go in said project.

Just scored a black eyelevel finder for the F. Finally will have a camera that's all one color.

John ! My pre-AI bodies are sadly depleted only a F with broken prism, F2 with the needle type finder, Nikkormat TN and FT2, and a black EL, so,,,,,if you're giving any bodies or lenses away let me know.....lol... I've retired and cain't afford NAS attacks anymore

A question for John or any of you guys, what is the difference between a F2 photomic and a F2A, F2AS, F2B, F2BS, etc?

Good morning, John Nikon F and Nikon Collector;

John, I agree that the F-36 Motor Drive was available in that time period, but they were not all that common among the "advanced amateurs." The pro's, probably, but not too many amateurs. Well, actually, if you really want to know, there is not very much room left in the bag for The 1960s Nikon Project beyond what is there now. While I would like to include the NIKKOR-H Auto 1:4.5 f=300mm telephoto lens with it, there is not really enough room in the bag for more than the 24mm f:2.8 wide angle to the 200mm f:4 telephoto lenses that are in there now.

NC, the main difference among all of the models you listed is the TTL Light Metering Pentaprism on the top of the F2 body, and you can magically change one F2 model into another just by switching the pentaprism. I will go drag out the reference books and get the listing of the model variants with their corresponding pentaprism model designations.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Thanx Ralph, I used to live in Spanaway near Tacoma, how far are you from there?

Good morning, NC;

About 60 to 70 miles, depending on how I go. And, John Nikon F is about 20 miles east of me.

And, yes, the weather is still the same. The rain overnight ended mid-morning, and the roads are dry right now.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington