Nikon F/F2 Repair In The US?

[chuckroast]

Is there anyone people recommend as being the Nikon F repair and CLA experts? I know many people work on these, but I am specifically looking for someone who is to Nikon mechanical cameras as DAG is to Leicas.

I have a Photomic FtN F Apollo body and an F2 Photomic that need to be CLAed and generally pulled back into spec. I realize this may cost more than the bodies are worth, but they are in terrific shape and I'd rather keep them knowing they've been tuned up.

I am in the center of the US but anywhere in CONUS is fine.

TIA!

 

[RAY WILSON]

Zack’s in Rhode Island tidied up my F2. The best? Doubt it. But the camera is fine.

 

[Bob Selders]

I had success with a DP-12 repair by Midwest Camera Repair in Wyandotte, MI.

 

[BrianShaw]

Dean's Camera Repair
(310) 782-8619



https://g.co/kgs/SjXcAJx

 

[BrianShaw]

… and don’t be apologetic about wanting to restore the camera. “Worth” means vastly different things to different people and some interpretations are just wrong. If it’s worth it to you then that’s all that matters.

 

[logan2z]

Dean's Camera Repair
(310) 782-8619



https://g.co/kgs/SjXcAJx

+1

 

[mshchem]

United Camera Repair, Inc.
3830 14th Avenue
Rock Island, IL 61201

Hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm CT Monday thru Friday & 9:00am to 12:00pm CT Saturday

Phone: 309-786-0950
Fax: 309-786-3211

Email Address: Service@united-camera.com

These guys are quite good, been in business since 1955.

 

[chuckroast]

I had success with a DP-12 repair by Midwest Camera Repair in Wyandotte, MI.

 

[chuckroast]

… and don’t be apologetic about wanting to restore the camera. “Worth” means vastly different things to different people and some interpretations are just wrong. If it’s worth it to you then that’s all that matters.

My calculus is simple. I could sell my body, buy a "better" one and still not know whether the replacement was actually better. If I send my known, very clean, body and meter to a good repair shop, it will come back in great shape to use for a very long time.

I have a 1952 Leica IIIf, a 1961 M2, and a 1974 M5 for which this approach was used. All were CLAed within the last year, and all run flawlessly.

 

[mshchem]

My calculus is simple. I could sell my body, buy a "better" one and still not know whether the replacement was actually better. If I send my known, very clean, body and meter to a good repair shop, it will come back in great shape to use for a very long time.

I have a 1952 Leica IIIf, a 1961 M2, and a 1974 M5 for which this approach was used. All were CLAed within the last year, and all run flawlessly.

I had United fix an old Fujica rangefinder, they fixed everything, I was surprised, worked like new. Beautiful old camera.

 

[logan2z]

My calculus is simple. I could sell my body, buy a "better" one and still not know whether the replacement was actually better. If I send my known, very clean, body and meter to a good repair shop, it will come back in great shape to use for a very long time.

That's been my argument for spending money to repair cameras - the devil you know...

 

[BrianShaw]

That's been my argument for spending money to repair cameras - the devil you know...

ditto. I tend to be simple-minded in that regard.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

https://ictcamera.com/

 

[qqphot]

I wonder if there are any changes to the recommendations here during the intervening time. Now that Sover Wong's service is effectively unavailable (well, by lottery i guess), is there anyone who can be trusted to reliably get the shutter adjusted? 1/1000 is sketchy and 1/2000 doesn't work, but everything else seems fine.

 

[chuckroast]

I wonder if there are any changes to the recommendations here during the intervening time. Now that Sover Wong's service is effectively unavailable (well, by lottery i guess), is there anyone who can be trusted to reliably get the shutter adjusted? 1/1000 is sketchy and 1/2000 doesn't work, but everything else seems fine.

I ended up having ICT do my Apollo FtN. Both body and meter came back great. Recommended.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

@chuckroast — I'm glad ICT worked out for you.

 

[chuckroast]

@chuckroast — I'm glad ICT worked out for you.

It did. So much so, I may have them do a a Hassy CLA

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I don't know specifically about Nikon F/F2 but Pro Photo here in Washington DC does a bang-up job on comparable cameras - they overhauled a Canon F1 for me and it works perfectly. I've also had them service my Rolleiflexes (a pair of 2.8Es and a Tele), a real oddball (Kodak Chevron - has a rather unique mechanism to achieve a top speed of 1/800th with a leaf shutter in the lens), and other things too.

 

[qqphot]

I ended up having ICT do my Apollo FtN. Both body and meter came back great. Recommended.

Sounds promising! And even in the same state as I am.

It looks like the only contact option is to fill in a form on the website, and after doing so it just says "you'll receive a message when it's time to send your equipment."

I have no idea if I need to wait a day, a week, or a year to hear back whether he can even work on my camera, so I'm not sure where to go from here! My decision on whether to send it depends on the timeline, after all.

 

[chuckroast]

Sounds promising! And even in the same state as I am. It looks like their only contact option is to fill in a form on their website, and after doing so it just says "you'll receive a message when it's time to send your equipment." Unfortunately there was no option to ask how long that might be, or anything else. Did you find a better way of contacting them?

It starts there, and followup is via email. I think wait times are in the 1-2mo range typically. There are not many of these people working and they are swamped.

 

[qqphot]

It starts there, and followup is via email. I think wait times are in the 1-2mo range typically. There are not many of these people working and they are swamped.

Oh, just a couple of months would be luxury! I'm used to Leica service times in the years. Will he normally send an email fairly soon after the website inquiry? Or is it just silence until I'm supposed to send the camera for evaluation?

 

[logan2z]

Sounds promising! And even in the same state as I am.

It looks like the only contact option is to fill in a form on the website, and after doing so it just says "you'll receive a message when it's time to send your equipment."

I have no idea if I need to wait a day, a week, or a year to hear back whether he can even work on my camera, so I'm not sure where to go from here! My decision on whether to send it depends on the timeline, after all.

I never heard back, despite inquiring multiple times Maybe you’ll have better luck.

 

[chuckroast]

Oh, just a couple of months would be luxury! I'm used to Leica service times in the years. Will he normally send an email fairly soon after the website inquiry? Or is it just silence until I'm supposed to send the camera for evaluation?

I got a response from the form within a few days.

 

[GregY]

CR.... give Precision Camera in Austin a call... I dropped in there last nov (on election day!)..... great folks...lots of Nikon love.

 

[chuckroast]

CR.... give Precision Camera in Austin a call... I dropped in there last nov (on election day!)..... great folks...lots of Nikon love.View attachment 413256

Noted. I am super happy with what ICT did. For now my F2 doesn't need help and my Nikkormat Ft isn't worth CLAing