Black replacement top plate, definitely. You have a piece of functional history there, it deserves to be repaired.
Black replacement top plate, definitely. You have a piece of functional history there, it deserves to be repaired.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
www.bluemooncamera.com does both repairs and they "recoat" with various colors if you want to change the finish from black to, say, purple. The purple Pentax K1000 they have on their site is pretty cool.
I'm going to finish the roll currently inside and use that to determine if there are any issues aside from the jammed battery check switch. If everything is ok, I'm definitely going to repair it.Originally Posted by HeavyDuty
Black it is. As they say, once you go black...
Chris
Pinto would be hot...<sob>
This weekend I was pulling my backpack from the back seat of my buddy's truck and ended up dragging my vintage Canon FT out, causing it to tumble onto the concrete driveway. It suffered damage to the left side of the top plate, jamming the battery check switch, but apparently not affecting normal operation. Unfortunately, being a 60 year old camera makes parts a bit tough to come by. I can get a "for parts" camera as a donor for about $40ish, but I don't know what unseen damage lurks underneath (shutter alignment, etc). This being a black body camera makes replacements a bit more challenging to acquire, but there are tons of silver body examples. Maybe I'll get a silver donor and make it a pinto.
Any repair is going to exceed the value, but since it was CLA'd with some repairs included, I'd hate to just toss it.
So, black replacement top plate or pinto?
Chris
Ish. Not a fan. Black cameras take better pictures.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
Only with honest-wear-induced brassing.
Chris
I should dig out my F2s.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
I finished up the roll of film yesterday and took the top off today to assess the damage and see if it was worth fixing. Aside from the cosmetic damage and jammed battery check switch it seemed ok. There was no apparent damage under the cover, but the battery cover (not the switch, but the threaded cover) was wonky because the fall slightly tweaked the battery socket edge, which is separate from the cover and a rather substantial cast piece that might actually be part of the frame. Therefore, I didn't really want to spend the $50ish dollars for the top plate. With nothing to lose, I dug out a small nail set and a dowel and went to work reshaping the damaged area of the top plate.
I was able to sort it out enough that the battery check switch is no longer jammed and is working smoothly. Cosmetic damage in the corner is still evident, but it's not significant except to collectors. The battery cover is still a bit wonky to thread in, but not enough to be a problem. I'm going to leave it as is rather than dump more money into it. It works and now has a new battle scar.
Chris
Whlle you're digging, here's my old F3. Made in April of 1980 and bought by me in September of 1999. It was very well preserved then and I used the heck out of it for almost 10-years before switching to digital. The lens is one of my all time favorite Nikkors, an 85 f/1.8-H, made in 1970 and factory converted to AI at some point. It's a lens that makes everyone look good, which can't be said for many of the "ultra HD" sharp lenses nowadays. This lens and camera stay together all the time now; used mostly for portraits of friends and family.
A pre HP, even! I still have a pair of mine, one HP and one P model. Great bodies, but I was slow to accept them after mechanical bodies. It took the realization that a MD4 could power the shutter for days after the batteries were low enough to not transport film anymore.Whlle you're digging, here's my old F3. Made in April of 1980 and bought by me in September of 1999. It was very well preserved then and I used the heck out of it for almost 10-years before switching to digital. The lens is one of my all time favorite Nikkors, an 85 f/1.8-H, made in 1970 and factory converted to AI at some point. It's a lens that makes everyone look good, which can't be said for many of the "ultra HD" sharp lenses nowadays. This lens and camera stay together all the time now; used mostly for portraits of friends and family.
I had the 85/1.8 but let it get away pretty early on, I was more of a 105 guy back then. A few decades ago I picked up a 85/2 Ai or AiS, and while hood it just doesn’t have the magic of the H lens.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
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