There is something special about picking up the perfect tool. Not compromising, not having to adjust or make do. Like when you pick up the right sized screwdriver which fits perfectly in the screws slots, no play, no give, just a perfect fit.  This is what I experience every time I pick up a Nikon F2.  

It is a hefty camera but it fits right into my big hands. It is robust yet precise. There are no bells or whistles, there is just an aperture ring, shutter speed dial and a shutter button.  The metering offered by the DP-1 is a simple spot metering that just works. It won't take the picture for you, it will just tell you when the center spot is exposed properly given your selected film speed and camera settings.  

Since taking Sover Wong's CLA class for the Nikon F2, I have worked on a bunch of cameras and every time I open one up I marvel at the ingenuity of Nikon.  The mechanism works, pure and simple.  

To do a proper CLA take a solid two days and is not a simple process.  Aside from the course by Sover, I have done a great deal of research into different greases, oils and light sealing material.  I have brought my engineering degree to good use in understanding the effect of temperature and time on grease and oils. I have done all this to leave a perfect tool in the best possible condition possible.  

​Every time I put a Nikon F2 into my calibration rig I am impressed that after 40 years it is still as accurate as it is.  Sure it does require some adjustments to bring it back to factory specifications but this camera has been used and abused for 40 years!  It should be far off the mark.  

My procedure for doing a CLA is always the same.  I set up my work bench with plenty of light. I do a detailed visual inspection of the camera...and I mean detailed. Magnifying glass in hand I am looking to see any signs that might give me a clue as to how it was used or cared for. Paint rubbed off is not an indication of misuse. Even a dent can be overlooked as they rarely cause internal damage and are easy to bang out. The purpose is to get to know the camera well before I start to look at her parts.

I then take the camera to my shutter speed calibration rig and I test all shutter speeds. I also test the light meter to see how accurate it is. Once done I will open the camera up, which is not as straightforward as it sounds. You see to properly take her apart there are certain steps that need to be done in order to avoid stressing some parts. I have seen many videos on YouTube that do it wrong and in one you can see the result with a broken retaining spring. When done properly, it comes apart easily without stressing any internal parts and without any use of force.

I then remove all old light seal material.  There are pieces inside the camera that dry out and turn to dust. I remove all these pieces and use a strong blower to clean out the camera from dust. I then use some alcohol to clean out gears, hinges and areas of rubbing.  

I then turn my attention to the electronics, which are simple on this camera. I repair the battery compartment (almost always broken as it is one of the few weaknesses in design) and ensure that all wires are clean and the solder is still shinny (dull solder can be an indication of battery leak).  

This ends my first day working with the F2.  I put the camera aside, to allow all parts to properly dry.  The following day I oil or grease the needed components with a very high quality oil and grease.  This is important as a generic lithium based grease will work perfectly but will start to dry out after a handful of years. This would require another CLA. There are greases with very long shelf life available for very specific applications that work extremely well.  They have a wide temperature range and do not dry out. I have this flown in as it only requires a very minute amount of grease and oil. 

Once fully lubricated, I replace all light seals. I use a special light seal that uses acid free glue to avoid damaging the body of the camera. Once this is done I partially reassemble and then put it on my calibration rig again to test it.

Many times the camera becomes more accurate after the lubrication making it simpler to calibrate. But sometimes I must fix what a less qualified repairman has done.  I calibrate the slow and fast shutter speed and ensure that the 1/2000 of a second is correct as well. This requires measuring shutter curtain speed and separation and is an iterative process to get right. 

Once firing within factory specifications, I reassemble the camera and do a final test of all functions.  The camera at this stage looks perfectly clean. The shutter button moves freely and the advance lever is smooth.  

Every time I get an old F2 back to factory conditions I can't help but admire the camera. I have plenty of F3 cameras as well, but the mechanical perfection that the Nikon F2 achieved still amazes me. 

I love B&W images.  They speak to me on a level that color simply cannot and for a long while I wondered why.  A few years ago, after reading Susan Sontag "On Photography" book I began to realize what it was.  Photography for me has nothing to do with reality so the B&W abstract interpretation of our world appeals to me. 

But there are times when a color rendition can be just as abstract. The film has to be right, as does the development and the light has to be just so but it does happen.  And these, abstract representation of the world, draw me in and tap into an emotional memory that can be more powerful than a B&W image.

The picture above, with its obvious location, was shot on Portra 400 film.  This was taken early int he morning and the sun was coming up.  The sky was a blue grey while the sun coming up was bouncing off the stone architecture that was all around me.  I shot this image and the colors are obviously nothing like what I was seeing.  But what I was seeing was not nearly as beautiful as this image.  

As I think back on the day, my memory has slowly changed to match this abstract view of it.  It was a wonderful day, a day I took off from work, took a bunch of film and a couple of cameras and dedicated myself to a photography walk around London.  Most of my favorite images of that wonderful city comes from this walk.  

These colorful shots, processed with slightly expired chemicals, give me the abstract interpretation of the world that I love.  Digital continues to improve and the quality of images, the details that can be captured and the perfection of the cameras themselves continue to surprise me.  But the natural film rendering of a scene, when properly captured transmits more emotion then the perfection of those digital cameras.