Madness

I knew when I saw the black Nikon F Apollo in the case at my local camera shop on my lunch hour that I would go home that day with a lighter wallet. I’ve recently become quite infatuated by the F bodies with the standard non-metered finders and this 1972 vintage example looked to be in fine shape. In these days of escalating film camera prices, Nikon’s original SLR is still somewhat of a bargain. I asked to see the camera and quickly ran it through all of its shutter speeds. The finder seemed clean and clear with no de-silvering. Removing the back, the film chamber looked very nice, the film advance was smooth and sure. In short order, the old Nikon was in bag next to me in the car as I headed back to the office.

I know buying another old camera sounds like madness if you’ve read my recent posts where I talk about reducing my collection, but there really is a method to all of this. There is. Really. My plan is to whittle my collection down to just a few cameras that inspire me to get out and take more pictures and it seems that after all of these years, minimalist, mechanical machines seem to do that for me. As for the F, I wanted a chrome one and a black one. I already owned a chrome one so…ok, maybe it is madness.

I think, maybe a little too much, about these old cameras that find their way into my life. This particular F is over 50 years old and in very good condition. The body is cosmetically probably an 8.5. There’s a little brassing on the top plate and some surface scratches on the bottom. The finder is nearly mint, which makes me think that at some point, someone switched out an older Photomic finder for this one. I wondered who owned this camera and how, after all of these years, did it end up on a glass shelf in a camera shop in Northern California?

I decided that this old F deserved a spa day and reached out to my friend, Nikon F2 guru Sover Wong, to see if he might take in my F for a refurbishment. Sover only works on F2 bodies but graciously offered to make an exception and service my F.

Having a camera serviced by Sover Wong is an immersive experience. From the moment he opens up your camera for inspection, he sends pictures and updates. Sover’s first email to me thankfully did not contain any surprises:

  • The camera had not been opened or serviced before

  • There was original old glue on the front leatherette coverings

  • Foam seals were old and rotten

  • Mechanisms were dry

  • Slow speeds were good, fast speeds needed adjustment

  • The inside was very clean with no corrosion or fungus

Here is the photo of my F, opened for inspection:

Sover cleaned and lubricated all of the mechanisms, replaced the rotten foams, cleaned the mirror, adjusted the shutter speeds and returned the F to factory specs. Next, he inspected the prism finder:

  • The finder had rotten internal foams with fungus

I asked why the camera body had no fungus and the prism finder did. He replied that fungus is very common in F and F2 standard prism finders as they have no ventilation and are very dark inside. Fungus loves that kind of an environment.

Here are some pictures of my finder with the icky fungus:

Servicing the finder, Sover removed all of the old rotten foams, cleaned all of the surfaces and optics and applied new foams. He also added a Nikon F2 protective cover inside the prism. Here is a shot of the prism finder with new foams and prism protective cover:

I was quite surprised to receive my camera back from Sover four days after it was shipped from the UK. I sent a birthday card to my Mom once and it took two weeks to get from California to New York. As many people have written, receiving a camera back from a Sover Wong service is like getting a brand new camera. A properly serviced mechanical camera is a delight!

Here is my serviced Nikon F Apollo with a Nikkor 50mm F/2 lens, lens hood and my favorite Eggleston leather strap:

I have some Ilford HP5+ film loaded in the F as I write this. As you can see from the photo, I’m about halfway through the roll. I will share the results soon.

I believe I have a clear vision of my photographic workflow moving forward—Simple, mechanical film cameras loaded with black and white film and my Fujifilm X-T1 mirrorless digital camera for color work and also as a platform for some of my older legacy lenses with adapters.

I see myself with just a few cameras. Maybe two or three...or four.

Really.