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Three days on a stuck shutter magnet in an old Nikon F2

Picked up a beat up Nikon F2 from a flea market in Des Moines for 40 bucks. Shutter was firing but the mirror was locking up every few frames. I figured it was the usual foam or a busted spring, so I tore it down twice. Third time I finally took the magnet assembly apart and found a tiny film chip wedged under the contact plate. Took me three full afternoons, about 15 actual bench hours, to find a piece of trash the size of a flea. The worst part is I had the same issue on a Nikkormat back in 2009 and it took me two days then. You would think I would learn to check the magnet first. Anyone else got a recurring repair that humbles you every single time?

1 comments

1 Comment

joel60319d ago

15 bench hours over 3 days on a 40 dollar flea market body is honestly a great deal if you break it down. You basically paid 2.66 an hour for the hobby time, which is cheaper than a movie ticket. And the real win is you got to spend three afternoons away from whatever else you were supposed to be doing, so that's not a loss. But the magnet thing, come on, you already knew the failure mode and still tore the whole thing down twice before checking it. That's not a humble lesson, that's just not using your own history. If you had a checklist from 2009, this would have been a 20 minute fix. But then again, I've done the same thing with stuck aperture blades on every Canon FD lens I own, so I get the tunnel vision. Honestly, I think the repeated mistake is part of the charm of old gear repair, it keeps you sharp for the next weird thing.