Nikon F5 mirror not going down

[marlinspike]

I bought a Nikon F5 (not locally sadly). It worked fine at first, but then the mirror stuck up. It doesn't stick all the way up, but almost all the way, and with gentle pressure if you push it it will go down, but still not all the way. If you push down with a little bit of force (still not a lot, but more than the gentle pressure of above) it will click and drop the rest of the way, but same problem next time you take a frame. Anybody seen this before and have any ideas for me? Whatever is wrong is on the left side (as you face the lens mount), or at least this is what is catching that won't let it down all the way.

 

[GregY]

Time for service!

 

[beemermark]

40+ years old. Needs some love, a CLA from your repairman. And before you ask where to find someone to work on it, go to the Nikon website and look at Authorized Repair sites. Not Nikon repair, they won't touch it.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Agreed time for a service. Stop touching the mirror they're not a robust item even on the F5.

 

[marlinspike]

Time for service!

40+ years old. Needs some love, a CLA from your repairman. And before you ask where to find someone to work on it, go to the Nikon website and look at Authorized Repair sites. Not Nikon repair, they won't touch it.

Agreed time for a service. Stop touching the mirror they're not a robust item even on the F5.

Paying someone is more than these are worth. Got a $50 parts body that had a good mirror mechanism in it (tested by having the seller move the mirror lock up lever) and swapped the front units. Easy job needing only a little bit of soldering.

 

[mshchem]

Paying someone is more than these are worth. Got a $50 parts body that had a good mirror mechanism in it (tested by having the seller move the mirror lock up lever) and swapped the front units. Easy job needing only a little bit of soldering.

Well done! F5 is wonderful!

 

[MartinCrabtree]

As a retired machinist/mechanic some of my tools are beyond cash value to me. My F5 is one of them.

I tried to have a Snap-On torque wrench repaired and calibrated. Very disappointing to discover parts unavailable. The new ones are crap, lots of plastic. That wrench made some difficult jobs easy and new equivalent are not the same. Circumstances nudged me into early retirement shortly afterward.

 

[mshchem]

As a retired machinist/mechanic some of my tools are beyond cash value to me. My F5 is one of them.

I tried to have a Snap-On torque wrench repaired and calibrated. Very disappointing to discover parts unavailable. The new ones are crap, lots of plastic. That wrench made some difficult jobs easy and new equivalent are not the same. Circumstances nudged me into early retirement shortly afterward.

+1

 

[GregY]

Paying someone is more than these are worth. Got a $50 parts body that had a good mirror mechanism in it (tested by having the seller move the mirror lock up lever) and swapped the front units. Easy job needing only a little bit of soldering.

IMO a smooth running machine is worth the effort. I don't stop putting gas in my old pickup because it's now $100 a tankful.
The Rolleiflex i've now been using for over ten years....I paid $300 for it, and then had Harry Fleenor overhaul it and install a Maxwell screen for $645....still a flawless maching.

 

[marlinspike]

IMO a smooth running machine is worth the effort. I don't stop putting gas in my old pickup because it's now $100 a tankful.
The Rolleiflex i've now been using for over ten years....I paid $300 for it, and then had Harry Fleenor overhaul it and install a Maxwell screen for $645....still a flawless maching.

My self-repaired unit is as flawless as anything anybody else would have done. Light tight, shutter speeds accurate, all functions function. I don't know when exactly the switch happened, but sometime within my lifetime everybody who does labor decided they should charge the same as a doctor, and everybody else decided they should pay it because surely it takes a master to do plumbing/electrical/repair/you name it.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

The one thing about the F5 is the shutter. If it sees a problem it cannot take care of itself it shows ERR and won't fire. If it operates when asked the speeds are accurate.

 

[GregY]

My self-repaired unit is as flawless as anything anybody else would have done. Light tight, shutter speeds accurate, all functions function. I don't know when exactly the switch happened, but sometime within my lifetime everybody who does labor decided they should charge the same as a doctor, and everybody else decided they should pay it because surely it takes a master to do plumbing/electrical/repair/you name it.

Repair as a hobby is not the same as paying for your mortagage, car, kids, health....
You might be living in the past....

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Repair as a hobby is not the same as paying for your mortagage, car, kids, health....
You might be living in the past....
View attachment 426403

No one here is seeking employment. He said his camera works.

 

[marlinspike]

Repair as a hobby is not the same as paying for your mortagage, car, kids, health....
You might be living in the past....

I think that's right. I don't know where everybody else got their money, but it must have come too easy to pay it out the way they do these days. I just fix everything I own myself at this point. I can't imagine what the last few days alone would have cause me between the camera, a sunroof, a secondary air pump, and a full service on two cars. I had a lens repairer quote me $800 to fix infinity focus on a cy 50 1.4. Took me a few minutes of fiddling. I suppose the cost was in part because as an artiste he can only fix a lens he fully services. I myself later tore it down and cleaned every element... about an hour.

 

[marlinspike]

As a retired machinist/mechanic some of my tools are beyond cash value to me. My F5 is one of them.

I tried to have a Snap-On torque wrench repaired and calibrated. Very disappointing to discover parts unavailable. The new ones are crap, lots of plastic. That wrench made some difficult jobs easy and new equivalent are not the same. Circumstances nudged me into early retirement shortly afterward.

If you ever need another torque wrench, Norbar, unless you want to spend for Stahlwille.

 

[BrianShaw]

Some people have that talent to fix things themselves; others not so much...

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Some create. A couple of mine.