Nikon F3T dropped camera

pollux · Jul 26, 2012

Hi, I dropped my nikon f3t onto the carpet in my room. It landed on the corner of the titanium prism next to the "N" of Nikon. Now the prism does not meter, the LCD appears to be damaged, and the ADR readout window is cracked. The shutter will now only fire with the backup lever on the front. The shutter does not fire with the power on, using the shutter release. the winder mech seems a little loose. Please could someone tell me of a good repair facility in the UK, or further afield to get it assessed, and fixed? Thank you, William.

It's back to a nikkormat FT3 for now.

E. von Hoegh · Jul 26, 2012

pollux said:
Hi, I dropped my nikon f3t onto the carpet in my room. It landed on the corner of the titanium prism next to the "N" of Nikon. Now the prism does not meter, the LCD appears to be damaged, and the ADR readout window is cracked. The shutter will now only fire with the backup lever on the front. The shutter does not fire with the power on, using the shutter release. the winder mech seems a little loose. Please could someone tell me of a good repair facility in the UK, or further afield to get it assessed, and fixed? Thank you, William.

It's back to a nikkormat FT3 for now.

Don't drop the FT3. Whatever it lands on will be the next thing which needs repair.

Markok765 · Jul 26, 2012

I'm shocked that a F3 would break with a simple drop on carpet

E. von Hoegh · Jul 26, 2012

Markok765 said:
I'm shocked that a F3 would break with a simple drop on carpet

Must be thin carpet, from the damage he described.

Bob-D659 · Jul 26, 2012

Marko, could be carpet on a concrete floor.

pollux · Jul 26, 2012

I'm getting it off to a good workshop tomorrow, with nikon test software, equipment. I've asked from them to fit a DA2 action finder to it, if possible. could be interesting.

it was thin carpet, with a wood floor. looks like the F3T is not invincible after all.

E. von Hoegh · Jul 26, 2012

pollux said:
looks like the F3T is not invincible after all.

Nope. Invincibility went off the feature list after the F2.

darkosaric · Jul 26, 2012

My nikon F3 was dropping on the concrete more than once, and still it is working. I guess you need to be lucky also :\

freecom2 · Jul 26, 2012

You might find this thread helpful, although no Nikon specific repairmen or women come to mind - the only person is Sover Wong, but for the wrong F!

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

John_Nikon_F · Jul 26, 2012

Might be easier to find a non-T F3 body with good working electronics, then have your tech swap the top and bottom covers to that body. There's no internal difference, unlike the F3AF, F3P, F3H, and F3 Limited (as well as the NASA cameras). Heck, if you have access to the F3 service manual (it's online, btw) and some small screwdrivers, you can do the work yourself. I've done it before.

-J

pollux · Jul 26, 2012

freecom2 said:
You might find this thread helpful, although no Nikon specific repairmen or women come to mind - the only person is Sover Wong, but for the wrong F!

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

freecom, thanks for your input. I am sending it to these guys, and will look to see if they are not already on the UK repair list. www.aztechservices.com

Nick Merritt · Jul 26, 2012

I feel your pain. And am surprised that the "T" would be so fragile.

pollux · Jul 26, 2012

Perhaps the plus to all this, is I can get some new parts fitted to the camera, which will extend the life of it. Providing they can get an f3t prism in silver, then I'll go with it. Otherwise I will ask for a DA2 to be fitted. Hopefully will get a CLA from this too. The winder mech is definately loose and the shutter button won't fire. Hopefully will get the LCD's replaced.

CGW · Jul 26, 2012

Nick Merritt said:
I feel your pain. And am surprised that the "T" would be so fragile.

The cladding doesn't insulate the innards from shock. Bust the FRE on any F3 and you've screwed the pooch:

http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfeseries/fe/tech1.htm

Les Sarile · Jul 26, 2012

The magazine review at the time of it's release identified the LCD as the weak link giving it 6 years just because they didn't have any compiled data on LCD's then. It is supposed to be less then a 30 minute job to replace it - provided parts are still available.

Chan Tran · Jul 26, 2012

Nick Merritt said:
I feel your pain. And am surprised that the "T" would be so fragile.

The T would be more resistant to ding but not to damage of the innard I guess.

pollux · Jul 26, 2012

Chan Tran said:
The T would be more resistant to ding but not to damage of the innard I guess.

It fell on the corner of the prism, and I heard the thump on the floor. I'm going to ask for the prism so i can post some pics of the damage.

Christiaan Phleger · Jul 26, 2012

John I beg to differ, the T body interally has the same sealing as the P body, according to the Nikon repair manual.
Sounds like a cracked FRE, especially if it landed on the rewind side, even though it may look as if only the prism took the hit, if the rewind knob area has any sign then its the FRE. Pretty sure they can swap it out, there might be some additional sealing for the T model but that's not totally needed to make it functional.

CGW · Jul 26, 2012

Les Sarile said:
The magazine review at the time of it's release identified the LCD as the weak link giving it 6 years just because they didn't have any compiled data on LCD's then. It is supposed to be less then a 30 minute job to replace it - provided parts are still available.

Long gone. Told by Nikon.ca's techs almost 8 years back(when I wanted a slightly faded LCD on an early F3 replaced)that the LCDs were no longer available, though the companion flexi circuits were. Its still plenty visible, just not as sharp black and gray as my late F3s LCD.

semi-ambivalent · Jul 26, 2012

Bob-D659 said:
Marko, could be carpet on a concrete floor.

True. And even if there was carpet padding under the carpet, because the camera landed on a corner all the kinetic energy of the impact was concentrated there. I'm not surprised at all that the shell dented. I am surprised at the level of damage caused along with that. Perhaps the shell was too strong, and passed too much energy on to the camera body.

Sorry to hear of this. F3s of any stripe are nice cameras.

s-a

Chris Lange · Jul 26, 2012

My F3/T has gone down sets of subway stairs, ice covered sidewalks, numerous bumps, nicks, and smacks.

It doesn't complain, although the DE-2 I have mounted to it certainly does.

pollux · Jul 27, 2012

Chris Lange said:
My F3/T has gone down sets of subway stairs, ice covered sidewalks, numerous bumps, nicks, and smacks.

It doesn't complain, although the DE-2 I have mounted to it certainly does.

It likes you chris

Chris Lange · Jul 27, 2012

it does...

I should make it up to it at some point and have it overhauled, I'm sure it could do with a good once over...

actually, both of my F3s could go for them...

OldBodyOldSoul · Jul 29, 2012

Sorry to hear that pollux.

It does sound weird though, that something like that would happen. My F3HP fell hard twice - once from about 3 feet high, on dirt, but with the winder and 180/2.8ED attached, the other from about 5ft, on granite floor, with a 35/1.4 on it. Both time it went down lens first, both times the filter went kaput and the hood of the 180 got mild scratches. It's my heart what realy suffered in both accidents, apparently, which is why I take better care of my cameras now.

Nikon F3T dropped camera

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