Paul Taylor
Well-Known Member
I decided I needed at least one Nikon in the "collection" so after much review and research - I decided to buy a Nikon F4 cause I like knobs. Since my film collection is somewhat lacking in the autofocus category (The only autofocus film camera I own before the F4 is the great Minolta Alpha/Maxxum/Dynax .)
So after much perusing on the ebay I bought a "refurbished" Nikon F4s with the data back form Robert's Camera - and since it was "refurbished" it comes with a 1 year warranty. So in anticipation I ordered a 50mmF1.8 AF lens, and since the focusing screens are easily swappable - the "E" screen with a grid.
About a week goes by, and the focusing screen arrives, and the lens. Then the camera. I also ordered a Nikon F body -> Contax adapter and a M42 adapter.
I noticed the Viewfinder on my F4s was a little odd. You had to have it up to your eye in just the exact right position or it was really blurry. It as like looking through a fishbowl. I messed with the diopter - no change. I mulled over if this was just how it is, or if something was wrong with it. And of course - it came already with an "E" screen instead of the "B" 99.99% have. I swapped the screens, just to see if that was the issue since I now had two (sigh) and there was no change. I concluded that the viewfinder was bad.
So instead of doing what I should have - reaching out to Robert's and returning it - I instead was stupid and ordered another DP-20 viewfinder. Unfortunately the only ones that weren't "overpriced" were in Japan (my alarm bells of buying camera gear from japan were apparently on mute) and I found a listing for a great shape, no LCD bleed DP-20 w/ a type "B" screen. It was cheaper than ones in the US, and had free shipping.
Fast forward a few days and the package from Japan arrived (Hilariously way faster than things I ordered in the US....) Sure enough the viewfinder looked in exceptional shape and looking through it is night and day from the one that came with the camera. Bright, crisp, not blurry at all...................except one of the pins on the bottom was missing, broken off. Happens to be the pin for the illumination of the LCD internal to the viewfinder.
So, instead of doing what I should have done - and return the camera to Roberts, and contact the seller for viewfinder - what do I do? Embark on the adventure of disassembling the viewfinder that came with camera.
I harvested a pin from the original viewfinder, and mwasanaged to slip it in over the broken nubbins of the missing pin of the "new" viewfinder. I used my Pinecil soldering iron with the smallest tip and dropped a tiny bit of solder to hold the nubbins to the harvested pin.
It worked, and now the camera is 100% functional. Of course, after all this I discover a seller on Ebay who has two F4s and is local to me. Go figure.
Unfortunately last week - a beautiful shape Contax RTSIII I bought arrived - and it had to be sent back to National Camera Exchange as the lever in the body that reports the aperture value of the lens was not working correctly (reading wildly incorrect) and the pre-flash lever was completely stuck. That one I sent back, I wasn't up for a repair on it.
So all I got for christmas this year was a broken RTSIII to send back, and a broken Nikon F4 that had been "refurbished." It just goes to show no matter what a seller claims, and no matter how reputable they are - they may not actually check over the gear you buy very well. As much as I hate to do it - both those vendors are now off my list of shopping possibilities. I don't see how Roberts could have "refurbished" and gauged the condition correctly on the F4 as it was unusable due to the viewfinder, and National Camera Exchange apparently never actually did much past "shutter fires" on the RTSIII despite it being listed as "VG, works perfectly." I guess my luck with used film cameras (I haven't got a bad one in decades) ran out at the end of 2024. Lol!
So after much perusing on the ebay I bought a "refurbished" Nikon F4s with the data back form Robert's Camera - and since it was "refurbished" it comes with a 1 year warranty. So in anticipation I ordered a 50mmF1.8 AF lens, and since the focusing screens are easily swappable - the "E" screen with a grid.
About a week goes by, and the focusing screen arrives, and the lens. Then the camera. I also ordered a Nikon F body -> Contax adapter and a M42 adapter.
I noticed the Viewfinder on my F4s was a little odd. You had to have it up to your eye in just the exact right position or it was really blurry. It as like looking through a fishbowl. I messed with the diopter - no change. I mulled over if this was just how it is, or if something was wrong with it. And of course - it came already with an "E" screen instead of the "B" 99.99% have. I swapped the screens, just to see if that was the issue since I now had two (sigh) and there was no change. I concluded that the viewfinder was bad.
So instead of doing what I should have - reaching out to Robert's and returning it - I instead was stupid and ordered another DP-20 viewfinder. Unfortunately the only ones that weren't "overpriced" were in Japan (my alarm bells of buying camera gear from japan were apparently on mute) and I found a listing for a great shape, no LCD bleed DP-20 w/ a type "B" screen. It was cheaper than ones in the US, and had free shipping.
Fast forward a few days and the package from Japan arrived (Hilariously way faster than things I ordered in the US....) Sure enough the viewfinder looked in exceptional shape and looking through it is night and day from the one that came with the camera. Bright, crisp, not blurry at all...................except one of the pins on the bottom was missing, broken off. Happens to be the pin for the illumination of the LCD internal to the viewfinder.
So, instead of doing what I should have done - and return the camera to Roberts, and contact the seller for viewfinder - what do I do? Embark on the adventure of disassembling the viewfinder that came with camera.
I harvested a pin from the original viewfinder, and mwasanaged to slip it in over the broken nubbins of the missing pin of the "new" viewfinder. I used my Pinecil soldering iron with the smallest tip and dropped a tiny bit of solder to hold the nubbins to the harvested pin.
It worked, and now the camera is 100% functional. Of course, after all this I discover a seller on Ebay who has two F4s and is local to me. Go figure.
Unfortunately last week - a beautiful shape Contax RTSIII I bought arrived - and it had to be sent back to National Camera Exchange as the lever in the body that reports the aperture value of the lens was not working correctly (reading wildly incorrect) and the pre-flash lever was completely stuck. That one I sent back, I wasn't up for a repair on it.
So all I got for christmas this year was a broken RTSIII to send back, and a broken Nikon F4 that had been "refurbished." It just goes to show no matter what a seller claims, and no matter how reputable they are - they may not actually check over the gear you buy very well. As much as I hate to do it - both those vendors are now off my list of shopping possibilities. I don't see how Roberts could have "refurbished" and gauged the condition correctly on the F4 as it was unusable due to the viewfinder, and National Camera Exchange apparently never actually did much past "shutter fires" on the RTSIII despite it being listed as "VG, works perfectly." I guess my luck with used film cameras (I haven't got a bad one in decades) ran out at the end of 2024. Lol!
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