Worth a CLA for a FE2?

bambam

bambam

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Hi
Just been looking at an old FE2 that I've had sitting around for a while and noticed that the foam the mirror hits when its up (am sure there is a term for this) has pretty much disintegrated.

Also, the mirror looks like the silver is going, but worst of all are the black marks on the focusing screen. When you look through the finder you can see some obvious marks.

Was wondering if the screen can be cleaned - and if so, how?

Or should I just send it off for a CLA as at least the mirror foam has gone.

Cosmetically the camera is good overall.

Be interested to hear your views.

Cheers
 
Definitely worth a good clean, cracking camera. The light seals (foamy bits) can be easily replaced yourself for very little but the rest might be worth taking to a pro. Miles Whitehead is considered very good but there are quite a few others.

Andy
 
I'm having the seals on my Nikon FE replaced at the moment, much easier to pay someone to do it if you don't mind the waiting.
The screen isn't too hard to clean, the FE2 has interchangeable screens so you can take it out and clean it then put it back in, a very soft microfiber cloth and some Isopropyl Alcohol or lens cleaning fluid (the kind for glasses, it's basically diluted IPA anyway) works fine. Should tell you how to take it out in the manual, if you don't have have google "mike butkus nikon fe2" and i'm sure he'll have it.
 
Whatever you do with it - it's an astonishing camera, a superb piece of engineering on Nikons part. I respect mine, lighter and more compact than the F3 of the time but with a faster shutter speed available (1/4000s), significantly faster flash sync (1/250s) all whilst being incredibly durable and in a nice package.
 
bambam said:
Hi

Also, the mirror looks like the silver is going, but worst of all are the black marks on the focusing screen.
Cheers
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i'd be more concerned about the mirror ,if the screen comes out the same as the fm's then its easy to change
 
donutagain said:
i'd be more concerned about the mirror ,if the screen comes out the same as the fm's then its easy to change
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Me too - then again I've had a lot of Nikons from this era and older and I've never noticed any deterioration of the mirror except one which had a lot of cleaning scratches (which didn't really matter in use). My Nikon FA had a lot of gunky disintegrated foam stuck on the mirror before it was serviced and the foam replaced, but was spotless after. Hopefully it's not actually deteriorated and just needs a clean (probably best not to do that yourself though).

I'd get it serviced if I was you - apart from changing the seals and mirror foam they'll also check/calibrate the meter/shutter, clean the focusing screen etc, and then you can be confident it's all 100% and ready to shoot. I'm loathe to recommend Miles at the moment as he has one of my cameras already and I want to send him another - he's always up to his eyeballs it seems! He is very good though if you don't mind a bit of a wait.
 
TheGreatSoprendo said:
I'm loathe to recommend Miles at the moment as he has one of my cameras already and I want to send him another - he's always up to his eyeballs it seems! He is very good though if you don't mind a bit of a wait.
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Thanks for the responses, I think on balance its better to send it in and get the whole thing done in one go. I was thinking of doing the seals and screen myself, but obviously I won't be able to do all the other stuff - in actual fact I'd probably mess up the seals anyway so it will end up needing to be sent away. Might as well cut out the middle step and send it straight away!

Couple of questions:
- If Miles is busy, who else should I try? How long is he likely to take (I'm not in a rush)?
- Likely cost for a CLA? Assuming no parts required, about £50? Is that right?

Cheers
 
I think all of you should go somewhere else and allow us to have our camera,s CLA,d. by this guy called Miles who everyone thinks is not that good.

Yes you have to wait, if you do not like that then send your kit elsewhere and let us know how it comes out.

:) Richard.
 
If you tell Miles that you need it by a certain date because your going to an event etc then so long as theres a reasonable length of time (i.e 10 days) then he'll usually get it done by then. I needed my Spotmatic F by a certain date becuase I was intending to take it to the UK Coach Rally which was about 2 weeks away and when I asked Miles if I could have it by then he had no problem, the camera arrived about 10 days after I sent it.
 
Right - its on its way to Miles...

Will let you know how it goes. Might look for a new lens while I wait....

Cheers
 
s162216 said:
If you tell Miles that you need it by a certain date because your going to an event etc then so long as theres a reasonable length of time (i.e 10 days) then he'll usually get it done by then. I needed my Spotmatic F by a certain date becuase I was intending to take it to the UK Coach Rally which was about 2 weeks away and when I asked Miles if I could have it by then he had no problem, the camera arrived about 10 days after I sent it.
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So it's you jumping the queue....:nono:

;)
 
And it's back! Looks lovely and clean and nice and smooth - can't wait to try it out with a film...

:cool:
 
Cool, look forward to seeing the results.

Andy
 
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