Show HN: Nikon F100 Film Camera Repair Notes | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Nikon F100 Film Camera Repair Notes

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48 pointsenthdegree24 comments

I found the Reddit dig at the end of the article very humorous.

When I was fixing old cameras, the "Fix Old Cameras" Youtube Channel was a solid resource:

https://www.youtube.com/@FixOldCameras

FixOldCameras mainly focuses on cameras from the 70s and earlier where electronics are nonexistent or fairly simple.

Late-90s cameras like the Nikon F100 are a different beast entirely. The only thing worse are probably compacts from that era like the Olympus mju. If something goes wrong there you can essentially give up on fixing it.

Actually the 90s ones are generally terrible They are really complicated nests of parts and flex PCBs and cables. Unlike the newer ones, there's usually some older style stuff in there just to screw with you like soldered joints on inconveniently short single wires and glue.

I agree.

For me, the details of the Fix Old Cameras videos were less important than the approach and attitude applied to the problems.

But like I mentioned, I am not down the camera repair rabbit hole anymore. In part because of the intractability of many camera repairs.

Something I learned was that you will probably have to make tools, unless you have a really good optical wrench. Fortunately tricks like filing down pliers to make very small tips and filing in-between cheap screwdriver flats work really well. Years of SMT work finally paid off as some cameras require desoldering certain parts to get into the depths. The biggest risk is scratches where the OEM tooling otherwise fits perfectly, but I'm not that prissy over a 50 year old SLR. The repair guides from the manufacturers are pretty opaque and serve only to show where things go. Often they list tons of bespoke equipment and calibration tools that you won't have.

I don’t doubt it.

I switched to servicing musical instruments. It’s a much bigger market, much less collector focused, and often $1000 is not a lot for a musical instrument but a lot for a camera.

Trick for the F100 is buy 4-5 N80/F80's. They weigh a lot less and if one dies you just get another one out :)

Or you buy one F5. It weighs a lot more but has a decent chance to outlive you.

He’ll no. It’ll kill you carrying it (had a D3 which is same size/ weight approx).

F80 would have been the perfect autofocus film camera if only it could meter and stop down manual lenses. F100 is just too heavy

You really need a specific focusing screen for manual lenses though, metering or not. The rangefinder in the AF Nikon F/D cameras is absolutely no good for accurate focus unless you really stop down hard (f/5.6+ usually). Decided to just use the AF-D lenses at the time.

Sadly it seems a lot of Nikon lenses were not designed with reducing focus shift as a priority. That completely wrecks them near their minimum focus distance on film bodies. Phase-detect AF only sees light coming from the f/5.6 direction so AF will systematically miss its target at any aperture with a different focal plane. There is no live view on film, obviously, so no on-instrument way to correct it.

I am going through this right now... I really wanted an 85mm 1.4G but according to reviews it will put focus completely behind the subject from f/1.8-f/5.6 when closer than head+torso distance. In headshots if you target the eyes it will focus somewhere on the temples. I have no idea if it really matters in real life. So I am stuck with the 1.8 G.

Edit: A focus screen with some kind of prism mechanism would let you manually focus, at least, by holding down DOF preview. Richard Haw describes cutting down and shimming off-body focus screens so it's possible. Actually now that I look it up, whoa, an off-the-shelf one exists on aliexpress ("Dual 45 degree Split Image Focus Focusing Screen for Nikon D1 D1H D1X F100 PR129")

Yeah that's exactly what happens. The 85mm 1.8G is really good enough though! I wouldn't want to fudge with focus screens - I managed to cock up a D750 doing that once. Took ages to get it right after.

Really I stopped shooting film in 2022 because of the arrival of CT scanners at airports. Fed up of arguing with people as I do most of my photography out of my home country. And it's expensive. Sold it all, bought a Nikon Z50ii basic kit in 2024 and that was so good and tiny that I sold my D850 and the rest of the F mount lenses. AF on the newer Z cameras is something special, even on the crap bodies. Haven't felt the need to buy an FX Z yet as the DX ones are so good.

Nice. I have an old Canon manual focus T90 film camera which I loved. Put in the AA batteries (it ran on 4 for camera and motor drive). The display screen in the view finder said "HELP" in its glowing red letters. It said EEE on the top lcd display. I guess the shutter is gone because I left sitting too long. It was kind of a remarkable message from a camera, and I had to double check to be sure.

The old SLRs are always fascinating to me. The little circut boards through out the camera body and the crazy mechanical systems.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/canon-t90-the-infamous...

I have an F100 sitting in a box somewhere waiting for repair. At some point I snapped the finger off the ring around the lens mount which couples the lens aperture. Stupid thing is plastic and easy to snag or bump.

I'm a big fan of this camera. Great focus, meter and film advance systems. Familiar if you're used newer Nikon DSLRs. It has given me a lot of great pictures!

When i bought an old motorcycle, genuinely all I needed was a Clymer repair guide. I'm shocked these things don't exist for more things, eg cameras.

Cameras are smaller, requiring more dexterity and often specialized small tools. And you usually have to disassemble a significant portion of the camera to repair things. And they don't (usually) require frequent periodic maintenance like a motorcycle or car (oil changes, chain lube/tension, tires, brakes, etc) - usually just repairs when they fail.

as well as being able to tune and measure shutter speed timings and such.

Nikon at least actually have service manuals for all their recent stuff online now https://ssr.downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en_US/products/29...

Think the modern stuff is easier to repair to be honest.

Repair Jig + Metal Hook = Could someone point me to it, please?

I managed to break my F100 at the weekend, fantastic timing!

v nice thx

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