Any way to salvage a kinked shutter curtain? (Nikon F100)

[Mikkornat]

The curtain is not working right. There's that nasty kink at the bottom right. Please tell me this is a DIY fix. I checked Nikon's website and they gave me an estimate fix cost of $200. That's more than I paid for the camera

Thanks in advance.

 

[bdial]

Think of it this way; An F100 with a brand new shutter and fully checked out by Nikon is worth more than a random used F100.
As it sits, the camera is worth much less than a random used, but in good working condition one.

 

[Mikkornat]

Hmm. I don't know. The camera cost $100. Plus the estimate cost that's $300. I don't think I can sell a F100 for more than $300. Plus I want to use it and that adds wear and tear factor.

 

[skorpiius]

1 - I'm happy to hear they'll even fix it!
2 - Did you receive it like this? Did it simply kink just from firing the shutter? Or was there some other misadventure involved?

 

[shutterfinger]

How did it get kinked?

 

[John Koehrer]

You're in the realm of "got nothing to lose" aren't you?
I've "fixed a couple of shutters with similar but not as severe kinks. The tool was tweezers with wide tips, like stamp tongs.
I bent the tips at an angle and was able to slip them between the blades. having the tweezers in place gave
a solid enough surface to "re form"* the kink.

*re form is the two bit word for "bend"

 

[David Lyga]

This is heresy, but seeing that 'minor' kink, I would take matters into my own hands.

First we lock up the mirror with either the lock up switch or plain masking tape. Then we do something that the Vatican has deemed verboten: we touch the body parts: we gingerly take a small screwdriver and, while holding that kink with your finger from the front, we apply the screwdriver so that that kink becomes excommunicated.

This should not really be a vast problem. I know that we are not supposed to touch the body parts, but in this specific case is the 'work' involved so very difficult to fathom a resolution thereof?

Sometimes common sense trumps Trump, himself. - David Lyga

 

[Mikkornat]

Thanks all. I'm going to sell it for parts.

 

[shutterfinger]

Form-what a manufacturer does when they make a metal part.
Cast-what a manufacturer does when they pour molten metal into a mold.
Bend- what someone does to a part that changes the part's shape.
Reform-what one does to return the bent part back to its original shape.

I would do like David, lock the mirror up then use two small blocks of wood to apply pressure from both sides to both bent/kinked blades, one at a time, until they were straight enough for the curtain to work and remain light tight. Should not be that difficult.

 

[frank]

Looks like the shutter slat with the kink is behind the upper slat (as it should be) on the left side, and in front of the upper slat on the right side where the kink is.

So using 2 blocks of wood is not the correct solution to this situation.