Nikon F2 light meter problem

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captainvideo462002@yahoo.com - 29 Jan 2005 08:12 GMT

My F2 is about 35 years old. I use it very seldom. For the past few
years every once in a while I seem to have intermittent problems and
erratic light meter function. It doesn't happen often and when it does
I just switch to my hand held seconic and it seems like the next time
I'd pick up the Nikon it would be working again. Like I said, this has
gone on for years. The other day the meter refused to work at all. I
pulled the batteries and they test good at 1.5V apiece. Of course this
is on the bench under no load. I would test them loaded if I knew what
the MA. hour rate was. Does anyone know what an appropriate test load
would be on these small button cells?
A few years back I had heard that there was a soldering or grounding
problem with the photomic head on these which caused the erratic meter
operation and that it was repairable. I am an electronics technician
who works on small assemblies all the time and would very much like to
attempt this repair. Is anyone familiar with this light meter problem
on the F2 and experienced in performing this repair? Thanks for any
help. Lenny Stein.

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Matt Clara - 29 Jan 2005 13:29 GMT

> My F2 is about 35 years old. I use it very seldom. For the past few
> years every once in a while I seem to have intermittent problems and
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> on the F2 and experienced in performing this repair? Thanks for any
> help. Lenny Stein.

Bob Decker's website has information on repairing these old nikon meters.
Whether or not the site covers the repairs you need, I don't know. He's a
helpful kinda guy, though, so it wouldn't hurt to ask if it doesn't.
http://hometown.aol.com/drwyn/myhomepage/

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Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

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PShi914124 - 29 Jan 2005 19:03 GMT

I too had this problem with my F2 meter. Mine is the DP2 head I think. I was
told by a local shop that they could not be repaired. I then found this guy in
CA who repairs them. Can't remember his name or adress, but I found him online
and I'm sure you could also. He swears that they end up better than new, and
so far I would have to say his repair is fine. Good luck.

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Matt Clara - 29 Jan 2005 19:24 GMT

>I too had this problem with my F2 meter. Mine is the DP2 head I think. I
>was
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> and
> so far I would have to say his repair is fine. Good luck.

I believe Stephen Gandy is in California, and does these repairs. I'd
sooner send mine to Robert Decker, though, but that stems from an email
conversation with Mr. Gandy back in 1996, and the fact that Bob fixed two of
my Nikon F photomic meters.

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Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

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Ken Nadvornick - 29 Jan 2005 22:11 GMT

"captainvideo462002" wrote:

> My F2 is about 35 years old. I use it very seldom. For
> the past few years every once in a while I seem to have
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> problem on the F2 and experienced in performing this
> repair? Thanks for any help. Lenny Stein.

Hi Lenny,

Your problem is likely worn, dirty or corroded contacts on the Photomic
meter's "ring resistor" component. This is a somewhat common problem in
various older F2 meters. (You don't, however, specifically state which
meter you have...)

I own two Nikon F2s, both in perfect working order and both with the early
DP-1 meter. I'm the original owner of the first - purchased in the early
1970s - and I had the ring resistor replaced on that one about 3-4 years ago
after experiencing exactly the symptoms you describe. The diagnosis was
corrosion and the replacement fixed it completely. (My camera repairman had
stockpiled brand new resistor parts when Nikon ceased production, so I got a
truly brand new replacement. :)

The second F2/DP-1 I purchased from KEH as an "Excellent Plus" item.
(Looked like it just came off the original assembly bench! But that's
another story...) This time the symptoms were the same, just less severe.
The diagnosis was a dirty resistor. My repairman recommended against
replacing it and instead performed a good cleaning. The meter has worked
perfectly (2+ years) ever since.

Interestingly, after both repairs (and subsequent calibrations) the two
meters now read within 1/6 stop of each other and are (reasonably) linear in
their response. I was also told that the earliest manufactured ring
resistors contained metal contacts of a type prone to corrosion over time.
Apparently Nikon recognized this and switched to gold-plated contacts in
their later versions, including replacement parts.

Ken

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captainvideo462002@yahoo.com - 30 Jan 2005 03:41 GMT

I have determined that my meter is the DP1. I'm going to take a look at
this ring resistor and the switch contacts and see if it looks like a
repair that I can do. Lenny.

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Ken Nadvornick - 30 Jan 2005 05:39 GMT

"captainvideo462002" wrote:

> I have determined that my meter is the DP1. I'm going to take a look at
> this ring resistor and the switch contacts and see if it looks like a
> repair that I can do. Lenny.

Assuming that it's always helpful to know in advance what one is looking
for, I've posted the following two images.

The first image (110 KB) shows the original ring resistor removed from the
DP-1 meter on my original Nikon F2. Visible on the inside edge of the lower
left quadrant are the switch contacts:

http://home1.gte.net/kjnadvor/Misc/DP1_ring_resistor.jpg

The second image (67 KB) shows a close-up of the same switch contacts:

http://home1.gte.net/kjnadvor/Misc/DP1_ring_resistor_detail.jpg

Apologies for the image quality. I don't own a digital camera of any sort
so these pictures were created using a flatbed scanner. I propped the ring
up on the glass using a stack of quarters in order to show the contacts, but
the scanner's depth of field wasn't quite up to the task. The coins do
serve to establish a nice scale reference.

Hope this helps and good luck. I'd be interested to know if this turns out
to be the true source of the problem, as well as how your DIY repair goes.

Ken

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Roxy Durban - 30 Jan 2005 05:26 GMT

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:12:28 -0800, captainvideo462002 wrote:

First thing to do is ignore the buffoon known as Tony Spadaro who will
undoubtably poke his nose into this thread and villify you for owning an
F2.

Second thing to do is try and find a suitable repair service nearby. The
F2 has pretty limited electronics and they're all in the metered prism. It
might be advisable to avoid opening it up. These meters are quite
plentiful on Ebay. I'm looking for the last one made, I think it was the
DP-12.

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