Nikon F 35mm/ Japanese Ebay Woes

Chungle456

Chungle456

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Hi all, just looking to see if anyone has had any experiences with original Nikon F 35mm film cameras, and buying from the Japanese ebay marketplace?

I recently purchased a Nikon F from an ebay seller in Japan who had 100% positive feedback, who said the camera I was getting was "near mint" and in perfect working order. This was my first time buying from Japan, but I decided to take the chance as the price (even with import and duty tax to the UK) would still be a lot cheaper than getting a similar condition body with a lens in the UK. The service getting the camera was fantastic - it was posted the day after purchase, the import charges were easy to pay and the camera arrived very well packed. I was pleasantly surprised about how quick and smooth the whole process was.

However, now the bad news... The camera is a broken mess. It looks in fantastic condition, but the shutter speeds from 1/30ths to 1 second are not functioning correctly at all. The shutter times are way off (1/8th will keep the shutter open for more than a second, and at other speeds the shutter will open for random times after every pull of the film advance lever). The lever is also very rough to move and sticks at about 80% into its swing. How on earth anyone could not find these problems when testing the camera I really don't know. I will return the camera no problem as the seller thankfully has a 30 days returns policy.

So I ask... Was I just unlucky to get a bad camera? Or is it usually a lottery to find reliable sellers from Japanese ebay? Or perhaps I am expecting too much from these old Nikon Fs that have been around for over 50 years? I have heard they are "tanks", but clearly mine is not. I really want to buy a Nikon F again from another seller from Japan, but I'm scared I might get burned again. Does anyone have any experiences like mine, or perhaps had a better outcome?

Thanks!
 
sounds to me like you bought a great condition camera that needs a service,
did the selller say it was fully serviced and timed up?
i doubt it,'
 
Like Paul says. I bought a Pentax LX (from a UK seller, not Japan) which was not working properly, but for the price I decided I would rather get a cheap camera and pay for a CLA to have a great camera at not much more than a VG example from a shop. I have in fact found this approach a good one in buying film SLR's of a certain vintage, to end up with something very good.
An F is an old camera and will inevitably need TLC, if it was perfect it is likely to be little used so sticky from under-use, if heavily used it'll be worn, so it's always going to be pot luck.
 
Just a note about ebay sellers in general - some are casual generalists or chancers, & don't appreciate the nature of what they're selling, but this may be revealed in the lack of detail in their descriptions. For instance a body or lens might be described as 'near mint' or whatever and look fine cosmetically - but without any more accompanying information, I'd be reluctant to buy anything of value unless a pretty complete rundown is given.

For anything that works, I want a description of its operation.
 
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One thing I noticed is that Japanese sellers are generally very protective of their feedback. One option might be to make enquiries of a reputable repairer in your area to get a quote for a service (and to see if your issues are fixable). Then contact the seller with that information and ask them to consider a partial refund (the cost of the service) rather than a return. The camera will always be a headache for them, and paying for you to return it + repair costs to them + re-advertising & selling it again might not be worth it. A partial refund will offload the camera and get them (presumably) non-negative feedback. You sort of win by not having to go through the hunt again.

Obviously there's a risk it'll be un-repairable, but without knowing the camera I have no clue how likely that is.
Just another option to consider.
 
I bought my Nikon F3HP from Japan off eBay, it was described as like new and it was, I don't think it had ever been used. It didn't need a service, and the seller was an actual shop, which I think helps.
 
It was from one of those "shops" on ebay. The seller has sold hundreds of camera equipment before. On his advert it says the camera is "Functional. It works properly.". This is clearly not the case. I don't know enough about these cameras to know whether it just needs a service or it is in fact broken and would require a lot of work done. I live in a pretty remote area so any for any repairs I'd have to post the camera away. This may take weeks and I really didn't plan on having to do all this extra work to get a working camera. My seller has yet to respond to my request for a refund, so hopefully he will and I can send it back.
 
Did you contact the seller or ask Ebay for a refund? Will be less faffing if you go direct to Ebay. They will print you a return label right away.
 
Ambermile said:
Did you contact the seller or ask Ebay for a refund? Will be less faffing if you go direct to Ebay. They will print you a return label right away.
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Yes, I asked ebay for the refund, and its now saying they are waiting for the seller to reply.
 
Try asking for a return as not described.
 
Japanese sellers can be a nightmare to deal with. Firstly their rating systems of everything being mint, nr mint, mint +++++ is ridiculous. An item that is mint has never been used and is effectively brand new, period. If not it could then be excellent, good or well used. The Japs label everything as mint so well used becomes "near mint". I purchased a lens and a TC-14B, both labelled as mint condition. The lens was in good shape but the focus was sloppy with almost zero resistance. The TC-14B had fungus around the rear lens. Seems to me that most Japanese sellers check only the external cosmetic condition and the rest is a pure crap shoot. 3 out of 4 items purchased from Japan were returned and I still have Fedex hunting me for VAT that was paid to eBay at the point of purchase. I've decided to skip Japanese sellers completely as I find their methods childish and naive. That said, UK sellers can be just as useless but returning items is a lot less hassle. My bigger purchases have now been from Ffordes and LCE. I'd rather pay the extra and get what I expect than try to save a few bucks and go through weeks of silliness and annoyance.
 
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Yes Duncan, I think like you I will avoid ebay sellers from japan and maybe ebay full stop. I have also had a bad experience buying from a German ebay shop too, when I purchased a medium format film camera.

I actually thought the headaches would come from the postage times/ import and customs payments but they all went very smoothly indeed. I was just under the impression japan has loads of these old film cameras lying about never used as they built millions of the things. Oh well, maybe I will save up a bit more and get a nice Nikon F from a good camera shop in the UK. :D
 
Chungle456 said:
Yes Duncan, I think like you I will avoid ebay sellers from japan and maybe ebay full stop. I have also had a bad experience buying from a German ebay shop too, when I purchased a medium format film camera.

I actually thought the headaches would come from the postage times/ import and customs payments but they all went very smoothly indeed. I was just under the impression japan has loads of these old film cameras lying about never used as they built millions of the things. Oh well, maybe I will save up a bit more and get a nice Nikon F from a good camera shop in the UK. :D
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Only way to be sure, mate. Otherwise you roll the dice.
 
Ebay is a rather sad place these days - outrageous prices, a lot of dodgy gear and sellers, added to the Ebay new payment rules meaning you get paid for sales three/four days after deal is done and (in my case) this means you post before you are paid - a scary situation.
 
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