Question about the Nikon N75

[Michael L. Dunlap]

I just bought a used Nikon N75 on E-Bay and it appears to be in like-new condition, except for possibly one thing. I opened up the back of camera and noticed the top leaf in the shutter curtain leaves has an inward bend or bow in it. Is this normal? My natural assumption is that all the leaves would have to be flat to open and close correctly, but I could be wrong. The camera "dry fires" okay, but the door has to be closed to fire it, so I can't actually see if the leaves are opening and closing. The camera just arrived last night and I'm going to shoot a roll of film today and get it processed before I tell the seller that everything is okay, but I thought I would get on this forum this morning and ask you guys for your thoughts. If you own a N75 please let me know if you've ever noticed this or maybe even open it up now and take a look for me. Thanks.

 

[snegron]

I have never owned an N75, but I think all shutter blades should be flat. Could be that the prevoius owner poked it with his finger while loading film. Have you tried "dry shooting" without the lens so you can see from the front (maybe at a very slow shutter speed or "B" setting)?

 

[Pinholemaster]

does not sound good

shutter blades and curtains should be flat

I've owned many Nikon cameras and have never seen a bent shutter blade

show it to a camera repair person to get an expert opinion

 

[Peter Black]

The camera "dry fires" okay, but the door has to be closed to fire it, so I can't actually see if the leaves are opening and closing.

How about taking the lens off and looking in through the lens throat? I think you should be able to see if the shutter is opening and closing, especially at slow speeds.

 

[John Koehrer]

Michael,
If you really want to dry fire the camera it can be done. You just have to lie to it!
If you take a look at the top edge of the camera's back you'll notice a small protrusion that will go into a small slot in the light trap. I usually use a round toothpick and insert it into that slot. You have to be sure to engage the switch with the toothpick and also not push it in too far.
This little trick will work with just about any auto-advance camera.
It's possible that one or more of the blades was pushed out of position, there are two channels that the blades run in. With the back open, the channel will be on the right hand side of the film aperture. If you're going to mess with these you'll need a good pair of tweezers to grip the blades. The blades are plastic on this camera and can be creased or torn. BE CAREFUL!