Appreciation post: Fixed a 1972 Nikon F2 that had me stuck for a month

The shutter was dragging at 1/500th, and I just couldn't find the source of the friction. This week, I finally noticed a tiny bit of old, hardened grease on the edge of the second curtain gear train that I'd missed. Cleaned it off with a drop of naphtha on a cotton swab, and it's running smooth now. It was just one of those jobs where you look at the same thing ten times before you see it. Anyone else have a camera that hid its problem in plain sight like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

theac6310d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy swore his lens was soft until he found a fingerprint inside the rear element.

davis.ruby16d ago

Honestly, that sounds like a super tiny fix for a whole month of trouble. A bit of old grease on one gear? Makes you wonder if the shutter was actually dragging that bad, or if it was just a tiny bit slow. Sometimes these old cameras just have a feel to them that's not perfect, but it's not really broken either. Maybe it was just in your head after staring at it for so long. Still, if it's working for you now, that's what counts I guess.

emmawood16d agoMost Upvoted

Know exactly what you mean about that doubt creeping in. Spent weeks convinced my old SLR had a light leak, only to find it was just the back latch not fully closed. Felt so dumb, but also relieved it wasn't a big deal. That tiny bit of drag can really mess with your head when you're trying to get things perfect. Glad you got it sorted, even if the fix seems small.