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NIKONOS IV-A FOR BAD WEATHER

Ben wright

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Jul 6, 2018
Messages
32
Location
Uk
Format
35mm
Hello,

I recently picked up a lovely Nikonos IV-A for a decent price.I know they require regular overhauls of o-rings for diving but I got mine mainly to work in heavy rain / storms etc. Im wondering if anyone has any advice as to whether the camera is suitably to use in heavy rain off the bat or if I still require some kind of service. The seals look ok and I presume even if the camera was drenched that there isn't the pressure element that in a aquatic environment would find its way into the seals. Is this correct or should I proceed with more caution and apply o ring grease etc.

Thanks Ben
 
If it isn't clear I mean rain / storms on land not in the sea!
 
I have one for rain use. Do a search and I’ve posted where to get the seals and silicone grease for these cameras. Cheap and easy to do. If you’re not putting the camera in the water, replacing the seals and greasing occasionally should be plenty.
 
The grease is really only important when taking a Nikonos underwater at depth. In rain... not so important. I still have one and used it in rain and highly dusty/dirty environments.

the o-rings seem really difficult to source.
 
If the seals look fine, it will be fine. The only time to be concerned is you are going to go under water.
I use 2 Nikonos Vs as bad weather (and good weather!) cameras, and have never done anything to them.
 
I had an original Nikonons that I used for shooting in the rain and possible commercial, industrial work, Larry Lane another UPI PJ in the 70s used his Nikonons to shoot a volcano eruption. I looked to see if any of work is online, no luck. I had mine in for CLA and it disappeared, got a nice payout, bought a rain cape.
 
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There are about 20 o-rings and they would need to be sourced individually. I can't speak for your camera, but I use mine in rain and at the pool and beach all the time without issues. It has all of the original internal o-rings, but I got some new ones for the back and lens. The 35mm lens is very sharp!



 
I bought a Nikonos V for rain, the advice I got was that it would be fine for rain without servicing the internal seals, just don’t submerge it.
The kit I bought included several spare o-rings and Nikon grease, but I’ve not changed any of them. Since only one lens is good for use in air, there isn’t much reason to take the lens off.
 
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I take my Nikonos-V for boat finishing and rainy weather. You probably don't need to check/service O-rings for the land use. I second what was said about 35mm lens - super sharp.
 

When I'm not using mine, I do remove the o-rings on the lens, back and around the battery and flash socket. My camera might sit 6 months or more between uses.
 
Thanks very much everyone for their advice. Makes me feel a bit more at ease that it should be sufficient for the types of scenarios I mentioned. Sounds like no harm in picking up some back up o-rings just incase as well. The camera came with the 3 main o-rings except the big funny shaped one for the back door but have found a spare one of them now also.

In terms of the o-rings already in and using in the heavy rain. They look in good condition but I wouldn't say they are greased and there are what looks like some small grains of sand in a few areas. Am I best just to leave it as is or remove the o-rings, clean and reinstall and add a little grease. The greasing is obviously less important in a non-submerged environment but im guessing probably no harm in a small application just to be on the safe side.

Am I right in thinking it'll do just fine in heavy rain and I should just check incrementally after use / changing film for leaks and if I see none its nothing to worry about. I shouldn't be testing it in the shower before etc?!
 
Ben wright said:
Am I right in thinking it'll do just fine in heavy rain and I should just check incrementally after use / changing film for leaks and if I see none its nothing to worry about. I shouldn't be testing it in the shower before etc?!
Click to expand...

It will be just fine. Your biggest problem will be to keep raindrops off the front of the lens, those will ruin an image.
 
If there is sand on the rings you might as well clean it as they will damage the rings. I wouldn't put it under the shower if you are not confident the rings are good, especially if your shower pressure is high. If it leaks you probably won't be able to tell until it is too late, by the time the water ends up in the film chamber via the advance crank or controls it will have already dripped through the circuits (unless of course the back leaked).

Basically, you might as well clean the o-rings, put them back in and forget about it, for rain use they will be fine. As Huss said, you'll probably have more of a hard time keeping the flat front lens glass clean.
 
Thanks for the added advice. I have managed to source the larger door o-ring which is coming soon. So I have all the basic 4 o-rings now. The person I got the camera from said it was last used in the late 80s but wasn't submerged and was used for pipe inspections. What I thought was sand looks like it was just dust around the o-ring or maybe old grease residue? Pics below. I have looked at the Southern Nikonos method of removing the o-rings on this camera and it essentially says if you can't easily remove with your fingers its probably too flat and should be binned - but this is obviously in a diving context.

So my last question is should I not worry about it too much if its just for heavy weather / rain use and leave the existing ones in there but try and clean / grease without removal and save the new ones for a later stage. Or just bin the existing ones and put all the new ones straight in myself and maintain as I go even though I might struggle to get another set in the future. Cheers

 
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