Nikon F100 Metal Latch Replacement

Plutonius · Sep 29, 2022

ic-racer said:
Sent email and got reply. Thank you.

Thanks!

JParker · Dec 12, 2022

Plutonius said:
I want to share my attempt at creating a long term solution to the Nikon F100 and the plastic latches that fail on the film backs. This started a couple months ago with a F100 that I won at a estate auction with a broken door. My primary F100 served as a reference to lock in the dimensions of the metal latch that would be needed to fix the issue. After my initial prototype proved to be successful, I placed a order for 100 of these metal latches to be machined out of 1018 mild steel. I also designed a 3d printed filing guide that makes removal of the plastic quick and easy. It essentially masks off the plastic so you only remove what you need. So far I have installed (2) of these and another individual as successful installed one. Since I am new member I cannot PM or receive PMs but please feel free to e-mail me at Olympus9595@yahoo.com if you would be interested in a kit.

Hopefully I can help save more film backs so they do not end up in the trash.

Installation Guide:

Wow, that is excellent!
I really like my F100, and such a solution makes a longterm sustainable usage much more likely.
And I wish you much success with this project!

lxdude · Dec 13, 2022

I suggest using a stainless steel instead, as 1018 can develop a patina of rust. It doesn't hurt its function, but it doesn't look good. Free-machining SS, (303 for example) are easier to machine, if that's an issue.
Or, just as good in this application, black oxide treatment on the 1018 would resist rust well, and also be black to match the body

Plutonius · Dec 13, 2022

Good points. Stainless is more expensive and it is harder to machine thus the unit price would be more. 303 Stainless is more machinable but its corrosion resistance is inferior to 304 due to the sulphur and the price would still be more than 1018. I was also worried the hardness of the 300 series stainless family might start wearing the internal latch mechanism. Given the location of the latch, and if corrosion was a worry, a very thin layer of grease would do the trick. Only application of grease would probably be satisfactory for years.

I also did think of black oxide but they come in with a as machined finish. I use a variety of sandpaper grits to produce a brushed finish. I would not be able to do that with the black oxide finish although the machining marks would be orders of magnitude less noticeable. There are so many ways to skin the cat as they say.

lxdude · Dec 15, 2022

Plutonius said:
Good points. Stainless is more expensive and it is harder to machine thus the unit price would be more. 303 Stainless is more machinable but its corrosion resistance is inferior to 304 due to the sulphur and the price would still be more than 1018. I was also worried the hardness of the 300 series stainless family might start wearing the internal latch mechanism. Given the location of the latch, and if corrosion was a worry, a very thin layer of grease would do the trick. Only application of grease would probably be satisfactory for years.

I also did think of black oxide but they come in with a as machined finish. I use a variety of sandpaper grits to produce a brushed finish. I would not be able to do that with the black oxide finish although the machining marks would be orders of magnitude less noticeable. There are so many ways to skin the cat as they say.

Equally good points.

Plutonius · Dec 26, 2022

I have had about 10 of these used on Nikon N80/F80s so far. This kit definitely will work great for those too.

I also have been putting PTFE based Superlube on these for corrosion protection during transit and after installation.

Film-Niko · Dec 27, 2022

Plutonius said:
I have had about 10 of these used on Nikon N80/F80s so far. This kit definitely will work great for those too.

I also have been putting PTFE based Superlube on these for corrosion protection during transit and after installation.

Thanks for the update!
Very good news indeed.

Huss · Dec 27, 2022

Plutonius said:
I have had about 10 of these used on Nikon N80/F80s so far. This kit definitely will work great for those too.

I also have been putting PTFE based Superlube on these for corrosion protection during transit and after installation.

Makes me think about buying a broken F80 for pennies and your kit. The thing I like about the F80 vs F100 is the pop up flash.

Koelekant · Jan 9, 2023

Hi Plutonius, I came across your post since my (second) F100 back door latch broke. Sounds like a great solution, and more permanent one than trying to find another back door in Japan. I am based in The Netherlands, and best get two of your repair kits. Do you still ship them? Or should I try my luck at your ebay posting?

ic-racer · Jan 12, 2023

I bought two of these but I'll really never need them for my F100. I'm pretty careful to release the latch both when I open it and when I close it.

So...I bought a $10 N80 with a broken latch. Coming in the mail soon. The camera may not work, however, just have to take one's chances on these.

Jeremy Mudd · Jan 13, 2023

Great product.

I bought one and tried it out on an F80. I know it was meant for the F100, but the latch construction is so similar, it works on it as well.

Write up is here:

Nikon N80/F80 Door Repair Part 2 — Jeremy Mudd Photography

Over the past year or so, I’ve written 2 articles on the N80/F80 Nikon Film Camera. One that’s more of a review here and one that goes over how to replace the door when the latches break here . In recent conversation with a fellow photographer at a swap meet, he mentioned that there used to be a

www.jeremymuddphoto.com

Jeremy

Huss · Jan 14, 2023

Jeremy Mudd said:
Great product.

I bought one and tried it out on an F80. I know it was meant for the F100, but the latch construction is so similar, it works on it as well.

Write up is here:

Nikon N80/F80 Door Repair Part 2 — Jeremy Mudd Photography

Over the past year or so, I’ve written 2 articles on the N80/F80 Nikon Film Camera. One that’s more of a review here and one that goes over how to replace the door when the latches break here . In recent conversation with a fellow photographer at a swap meet, he mentioned that there used to be a

www.jeremymuddphoto.com

Jeremy

Excellent! I have an 'untested for parts' F80 coming today. If it works, I might get this kit. (the F80 was $30 with the 28-80G lens...)

Jeremy Mudd · Jan 15, 2023

Huss said:
Excellent! I have an 'untested for parts' F80 coming today. If it works, I might get this kit. (the F80 was $30 with the 28-80G lens...)

Let me know how you get on then!

Hopefully its just broken door catches and not the dreaded "Error" mode that many are afflicted by. I have two parts F80's that other than being perfect have that issue.

Jeremy

Huss · Jan 15, 2023

Jeremy Mudd said:
Let me know how you get on then!

Hopefully its just broken door catches and not the dreaded "Error" mode that many are afflicted by. I have two parts F80's that other than being perfect have that issue.

Jeremy

It showed up in perfect functional condition.
I may get this kit for back up.

Plutonius · Jan 26, 2023

Koelekant said:
Hi Plutonius, I came across your post since my (second) F100 back door latch broke. Sounds like a great solution, and more permanent one than trying to find another back door in Japan. I am based in The Netherlands, and best get two of your repair kits. Do you still ship them? Or should I try my luck at your ebay posting?

Yep, I ship them all around the world. You can send me a e-mail or purchase from eBay directly.

I shipped one to the Netherlands back on 1/13/2023. Was that you? First class international mail has been slow as molasses here lately.

Plutonius · Feb 15, 2023

So I acquired a F80/N80 because I had one issue with a buyer who was having trouble. I identified the only real difference between the F100 an F80/N80. The latch needs to set basically .5mm higher and that is it. I am going to work on making a filing guide for the F80/N80 which will basically remove .5mm less material. In the meantime I can ship these with a .5mm strip of plastic you put under the filing guide to raise it up during filing.

Sirius Glass · Feb 15, 2023

Plutonius said:
So I acquired a F80/N80 because I had one issue with a buyer who was having trouble. I identified the only real difference between the F100 an F80/N80. The latch needs to set basically .5mm higher and that is it. I am going to work on making a filing guide for the F80/N80 which will basically remove .5mm less material. In the meantime I can ship these with a .5mm strip of plastic you put under the filing guide to raise it up during filing.

Thank you. A great product improvement.

Jeremy Mudd · Feb 16, 2023

Plutonius said:
So I acquired a F80/N80 because I had one issue with a buyer who was having trouble. I identified the only real difference between the F100 an F80/N80. The latch needs to set basically .5mm higher and that is it. I am going to work on making a filing guide for the F80/N80 which will basically remove .5mm less material. In the meantime I can ship these with a .5mm strip of plastic you put under the filing guide to raise it up during filing.

Interesting. The F80 that I repaired in the blogpost that I linked didn't have any issues.

But in retrospect, I think I didn't file it all the way down, I think it was maybe 0.5mm above the metal guide. The images I shot of the process make it look like its barely above it - so maybe mine was fine by a mistake I made.

Jeremy

ic-racer · Feb 16, 2023

Plutonius said:
So I acquired a F80/N80 because I had one issue with a buyer who was having trouble. I identified the only real difference between the F100 an F80/N80. The latch needs to set basically .5mm higher and that is it. I am going to work on making a filing guide for the F80/N80 which will basically remove .5mm less material. In the meantime I can ship these with a .5mm strip of plastic you put under the filing guide to raise it up during filing.

Yes, I had to do modifications to get it to close properly on N80. I didn't post too much about it, as I figured you would address it or make a separate one for N80. '

I love it - the Nikon N80

I was thinking of price, not construction. Maybe a bit less expensive than good MF or newer AF, but not much. A 50mm or 85mm 1.4 is still going to cost more than pocket change, especially in good shape.

www.photrio.com

Plutonius · Feb 17, 2023

Yep. Most of the time the latch is going to sit correctly due to the 28mm tab being too wide to fit into the recess between the (2) ridges like on the F100 which is why it worked for the vast majority of people. The latch ends up sitting .5mm higher than the F100 just because of that. The issue though is the other side of the latch can dip into that recess and potentially cause a issue.

So, my goal is to just make a purpose N80 latch kit. The first step is to ship the F80/N80 latches with the new filing guide which I should be getting next week. The filing guide will shave .5mm less material than the F100 filing guide.

I have a new design for the F80/N80 which basically just removes the tab and makes the latch .5mm taller. The new metal latch will not be ready until around mid March. That should take the guess work out of it.

Jeremy Mudd · Feb 17, 2023

Plutonius said:
Yep. Most of the time the latch is going to sit correctly due to the 28mm tab being too wide to fit into the recess between the (2) ridges like on the F100 which is why it worked for the vast majority of people. The latch ends up sitting .5mm higher than the F100 just because of that. The issue though is the other side of the latch can dip into that recess and potentially cause a issue.

So, my goal is to just make a purpose N80 latch kit. The first step is to ship the F80/N80 latches with the new filing guide which I should be getting next week. The filing guide will shave .5mm less material than the F100 filing guide.

I have a new design for the F80/N80 which basically just removes the tab and makes the latch .5mm taller. The new metal latch will not be ready until around mid March. That should take the guess work out of it.

View attachment 329935

I have another broken F80/N80 that needs a latch repair - when you are done I can buy the new version from you and verify that it works.

Happy to support a local! (I live just up the road in Bellbrook)

Jeremy

Plutonius · Feb 17, 2023

Jeremy Mudd said:
I have another broken F80/N80 that needs a latch repair - when you are done I can buy the new version from you and verify that it works.

Happy to support a local! (I live just up the road in Bellbrook)

Jeremy

Sounds good. I will let you know once I get the new latch and filing guide. I actually have another broken N80 coming to test it out on that one.

P.S. I graduated from Bellbrook High School back in 2006. I know the area very well.

Bruce Butterfield · Mar 1, 2023

This thread is very helpful; I ordered your repair kit for my N80 immediately after the latch broke (during a wonderful visit to Mexico City, grrr!) and now I’m wondering if I should have waited for the N80-specific update. Is the newer filing guide included in kits shipped this week (I think you shipped it Monday Feb 27?) Thanks for any info.

Taught me a lesson, though -- always carry a backup camera!

Plutonius · Mar 1, 2023

Bruce Butterfield said:
This thread is very helpful; I ordered your repair kit for my N80 immediately after the latch broke (during a wonderful visit to Mexico City, grrr!) and now I’m wondering if I should have waited for the N80-specific update. Is the newer filing guide included in kits shipped this week (I think you shipped it Monday Feb 27?) Thanks for any info.

Taught me a lesson, though -- always carry a backup camera!

The new latch specific to the N80 still is a couple of weeks out. Filing guides are coming today. You can always use the older guide just do not file all the way down to the guide. Keep test fitting the latch until you are riding on top of the ridges and you will be fine.

My plan, on eBay, is to wait until the new latches come so I have a specific guide and latch for the N80 and provide a drop down option for each specific camera on the eBay listing. If you buy from me direct I can easily provide a new filing latch with the F100 latch in the meantime.

Plutonius · Mar 1, 2023

Filing guide is in. Pretty much makes it so the F100 latch fits perfect as is on a N80/F80.

Nikon F100 Metal Latch Replacement

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