Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:48:26 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 22 Sep 2014 00:32:43 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

I deviced to take apart an orignal Nikon F 35mm camera today, to see
what's inside.

About 5000 parts is the answer, for a completely mechanical 35mm camera.


WHY???!!! did you smash a Nikon F body???

They are still worth in excess of $200 each and for us
collectors..they are freaking priceless!!!

It had no pentaprism, so it's not actually worth anything. I still have
one left that is complete.

while I'm typically no fan of destroying stuff like this, it is the only
option when no service manuals are available, and you can't hire and old
guy to let you watch a repair.

The question still stands. When do companies design stuff to be overly
complex. What's the real end goal?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NIKON-F301-F...-/131279111554

As for manuals....

http://cameraobscura.zenfolio.com/downloads



The F and similar high end cameras of its time were designed to do
what the end user wanted..with the technology of the time. No
computers were available small enough to make the F (and many other
devices) equal to todays cameras.

http://imaging.nikon.com/history/chronicle/history-f/

I realize you need some spiffy mechanisms but they went way overboard with
little things, like how some springs were attached. It's just not
necessary, unless you're trying to have the longest parts list.

An example was the Norden bombsight. A rather complex collection of
mechanisms that is easily surpassed today with a simply app on a smart
cell phone.

humm...a perfect analogy would be the lowly calculator..

http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/art...calculator.php

The mechanical supreme was (in my humble opinion) the Curta
Calculator...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta

While not as advanced, my grandmother gave me some sort of mechanical
device for summing numbers. It consisted of sliding pieces of formed sheet
metal, a reset handled and a probe. She used it at the grocery store or
something like that.

Today..a single chip, a solenoid or two and a couple sensors do all
the work in modern cameras. But the F..and the Ftn and F1..were
reliable, accurate works of art/workhorses.... which simply worked
year in and year out.

Gunner, one time commerical photographer and minor camera
collector...with a couple Nikon S1s he regulary shoots and
treasures..circa 1951

I took apart a modern leica rangefinder lense last night and noticed the
inside looked really crude and had all sorts of scratch marks and symbols
on it like it was hand fitted or something. I was surprised by that.