UK Camera Repair Recommendation needed for Canon F1

[colin wells]

I am looking for a camera repair shop in the UK .I am not looking for a shop that has a man that will have a look (too many stories of wrecked cameras ) are their any left .Its to work on a Canon F1n

 

[pdeeh]

Usual suspects are newtonEllis in Liverpool and blackonwhite in bristol.
I've used both happy with both.
Might cost you best part of £100 though

 

[Ian Grant]

Black on White in Bristol are excellent, they service my cameras and shutters.

Ian

 

[colin wells]

Thanks for the answers i spoke to Newton and Ellis and they didnt inspire me with confidence with the (we will have a look reply ) .I will give Black on White a try .All i want is the meter calibrated in my F1

 

[pdeeh]

I think that is more about how they wish to set expectations rather than their skills. Working on cameras - especially camera electronics - 20 or 30 years old carries risks and no guarantees of success.
As I say, I've used them and been happy with their work, as have many others.
Sometimes, BlackonWHite send stuff out to subcontractors. Might be worth asking if you can have the proprietor John Quantick do the work on your camera, though that might increase the amount of time they take. They are a bit slow anyway IME

 

[blockend]

Thanks for the answers i spoke to Newton and Ellis and they didnt inspire me with confidence with the (we will have a look reply ) .I will give Black on White a try .All i want is the meter calibrated in my F1

Have you tried Miles Whitehead? He looks after my Canons and gives good advice on the merits or otherwise of repairs.

 

[colin wells]

Hi is Miles Whitehead a shop

 

[colin wells]

Just googled them WOW he looks like the guy i am after .If he works on police and firebrigade gear he can work on mine ok lol

 

[Ap507b]

Have been very happy with the work Miles Whitehead has done on my OM's.

 

[MattKing]

I hope you find a technician who meets your needs.
That being said, your thread title brings rise to one of my pet peeves.
The title says absolutely nothing about the subject of your thread. As a result, those who don't ever read such threads are never going to see your request, and those who have neither any interest in UK repair resources, nor anything to contribute to your quest, are going to be frustrated when they click on the title.
A title such as "UK Camera Repair Recommendation needed for Canon F1" would be infinitely more helpful to you, and would lead to a much more useful resource for the archive.

 

[colin wells]

I hope you find a technician who meets your needs.
That being said, your thread title brings rise to one of my pet peeves.
The title says absolutely nothing about the subject of your thread. As a result, those who don't ever read such threads are never going to see your request, and those who have neither any interest in UK repair resources, nor anything to contribute to your quest, are going to be frustrated when they click on the title.
A title such as "UK Camera Repair Recommendation needed for Canon F1" would be infinitely more helpful to you, and would lead to a much more useful resource for the archive.

Nothing on the TV are we bored ?.

 

[MattKing]

Nothing on the TV are we bored ?.

Thanks for your kind consideration for all APUG users who rely on the titles to assist them in navigating the site.
Like me.

 

[flavio81]

Thanks for the answers i spoke to Newton and Ellis and they didnt inspire me with confidence with the (we will have a look reply ) .I will give Black on White a try .All i want is the meter calibrated in my F1

Is the meter miscalibrated?! Those meters almost never go off-calibration, by virtue of their design (the F1n meter uses no variable resistors, almost no component that could drift except for the CdS cell itself -- but then, this is a special CdS cell custom made for Canon).

I don't know if you've done this already, but you should make sure the "side window" of the focusing screen is very clean. This is the window that mirrors the metering area to the CdS cell, and if it gets dirty the CdS cell will get less light.

Also make sure the mechanism that corrects for full aperture is working freely. Push the maximum aperture sensing pin (at the lens mount) repeated times to try to 'free' the mechanism. Do the same with the lever that follows the lens' aperture ring (at the lens mount), move it up and down (gently, of course).

If all mechanisms are OK the technician can adjust the meter, but if the CdS cell is faulty, this won't correct the problem, at least not for the whole metering range (approx. EV1-EV15). And i'm not sure it would be easy to replace the CdS cell, because those were custom cells with a special shape. Unlike the other cameras like Nikon F/F2/Nikkormats, which use more 'generic' round CdS cells. The Canon F-1 service manual, also, indicates that the CdS cells are provided (by Canon) with matching galvanometers and that thus both items must be replaced at the same time.

Aren't you wanting to have it recalibrated for 1.55V silver-oxide cells? I strongly suggest you not to do this; use #675 hearing aid zinc-air cells instead and enjoy perfect metering.

 

[colin wells]

Hi i am using a kris adaptor and silver oxide battery that gives me 1.43 volts the same as zinc air .The meter is reading f11 at 60 sec asi 400 while my Minolta 7000i (set on center metering and Gossen Lunasix 3 fitted with 2 kris adpt ) will read f8 at 60 sec asi400 on the same subject . i can get every thing to tally if i set the Canon asi to asi200 Thanks for the post very informative Colin . PS yes the window is spotless

 

[flavio81]

The meter is reading f11 at 60 sec asi 400 while my Minolta 7000i (set on center metering and Gossen Lunasix 3 fitted with 2 kris adpt ) will read f8 at 60 sec asi400 on the same subject

Colin,

You are comparing a camera with "centerweighted averaging" metering (Minolta 7000i) to a camera with a "partial" metering (Canon F-1). The former reads the whole scene (with more emphasis on center), while the latter reads only (only) the shaded rectangle within the viewfinder.

They are not the same type of meter and they will differ according to the subject. They should meter more or less the same, though, if you aim at a wall of uniform color. And then the wall should be ideally lit by daylight since the meter on the F-1 is a CdS type meter and it will change sensitivity according to light color, unlike the more modern meter on the Maxxxxum 7000000i.

What i would do is, pick a subject, for example a landscape, check what the ideal exposure would be by your preferred method (i'd ideally use a DSLR to test actual results), and then, using the Canon F-1, "search" for the 'zone' that gives that metering. In other words, if the ideal exposure is, for example, f11 at 1/60 at ISO 100, then look through your Canon F-1 and aim the metering area (indicated by a rectangle) to the part of the image that gives you f11 at 1/60.

Once you find it, let's say it was some grass foliage, or some grey stone, or the face of a person, then you already know what is the shade of 'grey' that you should aim the Canon F-1 meter at.

In this way you will nail very good exposures every time. No need to mess with the meter!!

I am suspecting your MR9 adapter might be at fault too, will post later.

 

[flavio81]

PS: I would rather use a #675 zinc-air cell than the "Kris" MR-9 adapter you are using. It is possible that this is also skewing your metering results. The Canon F-1 relies a lot on the precise voltage because of the circuit. The Gossen Lunasix 3 has a different type of circuit that is less sensitive to voltage variations and thus will get along well with your MR-9 adapter.

See this PDF where this guy investigates in depth the problems of replacing a mercury cell.
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf

In particular on the left graphic at page four, at very low current draws (which is what the Canon F-1 uses), the MR9 is giving about 1.48V. You want it to be 1.35V there (which is what the original mercury cell gives at that load).

At high loads, again the MR9 is skewed and does not give the correct voltage.

Long story short:

You need a battery that gives constant voltage regardless of the current draw (within reason). The original mercury battery did this. The Silver-oxide battery also does this, but the voltage is too high (1.55V). The only replacement that comes close is the zinc-air cell (i.e. #675 hearing aid cell), because the voltage is almost the same as a mercury battery (1.35V-1.40V) and stays constant. The MR9 adapter and similar adapters introduce an active device (a diode) that will give different voltage with different loads, and you don't want this on a meter that is very sensitive to voltage, like the Canon's.

 

[colin wells]

Ah now i understand the difference between the MR9 adapter and the zinc air cell . I will give your way of metering a try (i am still waiting for the first set of prints to process) Thank you for taking the time to explain all this it is much appreciated .I will come back to this post with my results (nothing more annoying than reading a post like this and never knowing the answer) Thanks Colin

 

[flavio81]

Ah now i understand the difference between the MR9 adapter and the zinc air cell . I will give your way of metering a try (i am still waiting for the first set of prints to process) Thank you for taking the time to explain all this it is much appreciated .I will come back to this post with my results (nothing more annoying than reading a post like this and never knowing the answer) Thanks Colin

You're welcome Colin. Of course, why wouldn't i help a fellow Canonite?

BTW, for fitting the #675 battery to the Canon F-1 it is really simple. Just create two makeshift 'spacers' to keep the #675 cells centered and then screw the cover. I use two little pieces of cardboard to keep the cell centered.

I really don't understand why people bother with adapters or conversions when fitting that cell is so simple.

 

[colin wells]

I use a piece of rubber fuel tubing sliced to 3/16 to centralise the batteries in my other cameras . Thanks Colin

 

[G1DRP]

It used to be my occupation, but sadly it doesn't pay anymore.

 

[colin wells]

I suppose not being able to get new parts to repair film cameras is very restricting as to what can and cant be fixed

 

[R.Gould]

For my classic cameras, the only type I ever us, I use Newton and Ellis, been sending them there for as long as I have been using them, never had a problem, never a bad repair, if they can't get a new part then they have a vast stock of used parts, I don't think that there is a camera or lens that they can't fix, I have sent them cameras from the 30's to the 50's and every one has been reapired

 

[benjiboy]

I use a M.R 9 adaptor Colin from The Small Battery Company and a PX 675 battery in my F1n and get perfect exposures it costs about £30 and is worth every penny. I doubt very much that the meter in camera is inaccurate you must bear in mind that it only reads 1/9 of the focusing screen that in the oblong in the center.
I suggest you shoot some film with the camera before you jump to any conclusions and send it for repair.

 

[flavio81]

I use a M.R 9 adaptor Colin from The Small Battery Company and a PX 675 battery in my F1n and get perfect exposures it costs about £30 and is worth every penny. I doubt very much that the meter in camera is inaccurate you must bear in mind that it only reads 1/9 of the focusing screen that in the oblong in the center.
I suggest you shoot some film with the camera before you jump to any conclusions and send it for repair.

Hi Colin,

I trust what Benjiboy says. If he says the MR9 works fine then we'll asume it works fine.

Thus, follow my advice on the post "What i would do is, pick a subject, for example a landscape, check what the ideal exposure...", so you can find out where you should point the F1 meter to get good exposures.

 

[Agulliver]

I use Luton Camera Repairs...partly because they are local to me but they're also very professional and skilled. They've been open around 50 years and know what they're doing. You can even get a rough quote online by describing your fault.