Nikon F2 - essential buying tips
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- Опубликовано: 30 май 2022
- Essential checks to make when buying Nikon F2 cameras. These are very reliable cameras but should be carefully checked before purchase … they’re 40+ years old!
Nikon F2, F2 Photomic, F2S Photomic, F2SB Photomic, F2A Photomic and F2AS Photomic. And rarer cameras such as the F2 Titan. All solid, dependable and mechanical. If well maintained they’ll last a lifetime.
Thanks! Planning to get one this year!
Enjoy! They’re fantastic Nikons
Great content. Thanks for making this video; I'm looking through these lately and you highlight several things I hadn't been previously checking, and the 'rub your finger across' the top and bottom of the back - what a great idea!
Thanks. Glad it was useful.
Cracking advice. I've been on the verge of buying an F2 (AS) for some time (even from Japan based on their description). Now I'm more sure of what to look out for. Thanks.
Thanks - appreciated. The F2AS is a fantastic camera. Just make sure you buy one in decent condition.
Excellent advices, thank you I learned a lot in this video.
Glad it was useful!
Good advice here for evaluating a super camera. Light seals are really not difficult to replace in my experience and small money, so don’t be put off by that. But if they have disintegrated, then be sure to blow out the dusty debris in the mirror box and film chamber before exercising the shutter or you can easily foul the mechanism. Also, watch out for fungus anywhere in the body and reject if any is found.
Thanks for commenting - always appreciated. Some light baffles are easy. Others not. Also, you do need the correct material and that varies from camera to camera. If it’s too dense the hinged back may not open and close as it should. If it isn’t dense enough you won’t get a light-tight seal.
I have another video dedicated to issues with fungus:
Fungus in cameras and lenses. What is it and how to avoid.
ruclips.net/video/SVSx7f280YU/видео.html
long time is five years, replacing the seals takes about an hour :)
Thanks for commenting. Enjoy your Nikon - it’s a superb camera
I bought 2 of them, one AS and one A. Both looked perfectly fine. Both ran ok from what I could see. Still, when I buy a new camera, I always will also calculate the price of an overhaul with a professional into the overall price. I simply think you cannot buy a 30 - 50 year old piece of equipment and expect it to work perfectly, even if it still looks nice.
Sent it so some Sover Wong, who is quite well known in the F2 community and guess what. He sent me pictures from the inside and all the grease had turned into goo. He also recognized some former work by a guy whom he called "a cowboy" which he had to fix. With one of the cameras the second curtain traveled a bit faster than the first, making the exposure uneven from left to right. There are so many things that might be misaligned or not working properly, that you will never know. Testing for something like this will require really specialized hardware.
So really: If you want to buy an old mechanical camera: Buy one that has been CLAed by a repair shop with a good reputation or look for a cheap one and put 100 to 300 EUR, GBP, USD aside for the overhaul. It will be necessary!
Thanks for commenting
I have a F2 made in 1979. The camera is in in very good condition. However, the thing i have noticed is the metered prisms is a huge problem. Many of these metered prisms are no longer working properly. It took me three finders to find a good one. I had two DP-11 finders that were bad. So I found a good DP-1.
Yes, the Nikon F2 bodies are very reliable, the metered prisms less so. Maybe not too surprising as they’re 40+ years old. I would say the Nikon DP11 and Nikon DP12 are generally more reliable because they are younger. The Nikon DP1 is older - it’s good you’ve found a reliable example. Look after it well and, as with all Nikon cameras, it’ll serve you well!
The slow speeds going off is common on the F/F2 due to a combination of often not used and also the foam gunk getting into the bottom and gumming up the slow speed train. Sometimes just using the 1/30 and slower speeds several times will free it up. If not you can still use it on the faster speeds with no issue and anyone that services older cameras should be able to remove the gear train and clean and lube it and then you are good to go for another 40-50 years. These are a true warhorse.
Thanks for commenting
Very helpful video and I’ve always wanted one and I don’t suppose you know if you can still use the camera if the meter is faulty if you use a portable lightmeter to take the same pics ?
The Nikon F2 has mechanical shutter so the camera is 100% usable with a faulty meter. Just take light readings on you handheld meter and transfer the settings to the camera in the usual way.
@@WorldwideCameraExchange Thanks
It is CDS lights meter.
Thanks for commenting
Great video! Are there different models of the F2? AS seems to be a thing?
Oh, Google helped me out. A slightly better F2 then.
Nikon F2 walkthrough, variants and features
ruclips.net/video/jlBcbie1hLM/видео.html
Nikon F2 walkthrough, variants and features
ruclips.net/video/jlBcbie1hLM/видео.html
@@WorldwideCameraExchange thanks, watching that now! :)
Amazing guide!! I recently bought an F2A in great look condition from Japan, the only issue I noticed is the mirror lock-up, the button doesnt work, I keep pressing but I can't rotate the mechanism to lock the mirror, should I return it or can it be easily fixed?
You need to push the button quite hard. If it is faulty and everything else works well maybe ask for a discount? Assuming you don’t need it to work?
@@WorldwideCameraExchange Thanks for answering!!! I'll probably ask him for a discount, I have another question, Does that button have any other functions besides locking up the mirror?
On the Nikon F2 it shuts down the aperture.
i got one of these Nikon F2 cameras Black body and it got the 2 parts Motors the MD-1 and the MB-1 and it got the DS-1 meter reading which fits on the left side of the camera and i need to buy a meter head for it and i also need to get the camera fixed i paid for ALL OF THEM £10.00 From a camera shop in London in 2023 and when i get the camera fixed it be worth from £300 to as much as £600.00 or so
I’d suggest getting the equipment valued by a dealer that knows Nikon. Your estimate is way too high unless the equipment is truly mint. The repairs will be costly and you don’t want to end up paying more to get it all going than it’s worth.
Well. I bought one recently. It needed light seals. This is my eighth film camera to do this little job. When I did the piece on the back...closed it... hmmm, kind of tight. Good grief!! I cannot get the back open! Messing with it... the lock broke. So at this point A 1/2 cent piece of foam has cost me a decent camera. An expensive piece of crap.
A very annoying situation … you’re not the only one to have issues with the foam type. The foam density and thickness is important, otherwise you can have problems like this. It’s an easy job to do but a difficult job to do well (like many Nikon, Canon, Hasselblad, Bronica, Leica repairs). Hopefully a repair won’t be too expensive? The spares should be relatively easy to find?