Craig's List FInd-F-1N Navy Kit

I wasn't really looking for another FD camera since I already have four FD bodies and

13 lenses. But on this past Monday's CL in Kansas City I saw an ad that read "Canon F-

1-$150. No Photos, No Phone, No Address. More out of curiosity I email back for more

info. He said he didn't know much about cameras but he thought it looked in good

shape and I should come and look at it if I was interested. It wasn't far so off I went. I

was greeted by a happy faced, stout fellow who led me to the back of his SUV. Be

produced a silver case and opened it. I felt a shiver down my neck as I looked closely

and saw a complete U.S. Navy Photographer Mate's kit.......in pristine condition. The kit

contained a Canon F-1N in perfect condition, cosmetically and mechanically. There

were three Navy engraved lenses, a nFD 50mm f1.4, nFD 35mm f2.8 and a nFD 135

f2.8........all mint. There was also three Canon 52mm haze filters, a Canon cloth cable

release that was new in the original package (I had never seen one of these before)

and a Vivitar 283 flash.<div></div>

The guy told me he was in the Navy Reserve in St. Paul, Minn and this was part of the post PR kit but everyone used digital so this sat unused. When the post closed everything was auctioned off and picked this up kit cheap because he knew it was unused. However he had it for years and never used it prefering digital cameras instead.<div></div>

We haggled a bit and he ended up selling the kit to me for $100. By far the best deal I have encountered on Craig's list. My only question is related to the only flaw I see on the items. All the U.S. Navy engraving on the lenses and the body have been rather crudely blotted out with what appears to be a sharpie pen. Why would some one do this? Is there a way to restore the crisp white lettering. Thanks<div></div>

Louis, try some 91% rubbing alcohol with a soft toothbrush, should get the marker right off.

 

 

erie

What a lucky find!

 

If alcohol doesn't work, try cigarette lighter fuel (naphtha).

 

You can get sticks of coloured pigment from Microtools for restoring the lettering. http://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=L51120

 

Henry

Louis, we are all jealous indeed, but good luck to you.

 

The engraving cover up is probably down to someone believing that the marking would de-value the camera, maybe a bit like something that's been professionally used.

 

Little did they know!

 

Tony

100$ for the kit?

 

You could sell the finder alone for 100$ here.

Did you ever wonder if it was stolen?

 

Alan

I agree with Alan, the stuff is "hot" and I don't mean radioactive. There are a bunch of "slow" northern european gene pools in the Mpls/StPaul area but they ain't that stupid. Regards.

Thanks all for the helpful clean up suggestions.

Alan: It crossed my mind but that was not my gut feeling. In the first place the man is a middle-aged gentleman who, according to him, was still in the Navy. This is confirmed my his navy.mil email address and Navy car plates. His description of the location and use (or lack of use) of the equipment, the closing of the post and the auction of the gear rings true to me according to my own experience. He said he paid $150 for it at the Navy auction and just wanted his money out of it. If you have ever been to a military auction you would know this is not unreasonable. In this day and age we all think everyone is computer/camera savvy but that is not always the case. Since he used his work computer I'd wager he doesn't even own one. I think I just got lucky.

Virtually all of these kits have been auctioned off over the last 10 years This kit is one of the smaller ones I have seen. Some have a 600mm f4.5 nFD included some have a 200mm f2.8 IF nFD

 

I have a Navy F-1N I also have the 200mm f2.8 IF nFD and had a number of the other lenses including a 35mm f2.0 and 50mm f1.8 (could have been a f1.4 I forget)

 

A while back the Navy auctioned a Pallet of these kits in various condition at an auction house that serves the Gov. near Norfolk VA. A large pawn shop dealer in VA bought the whole mess from what I could find out these then filtered onto eBay over about a 3-5 month time period.

 

I seriously doubt the shown kit is stolen.

 

And you will never get the engraving nice and white since it is originally a yellowish color almost tanish and not very vivid quite subdued.

 

I don't know that these have any more value then a std. civilian purchased F-1N.

 

By the way these kits also came with F-1n's and T-70's I believe I also say at least one with an A-1 body.

 

You got a good deal espeically if it had never been out to sea.

 

Oh a word of caution that Vivitar 283 might be one of the HIGH voltage trigger units that should NEVER EVER EVER be put on a camera like the T-90 or a newer EF mount body with all the electronics as it can fry the electronic's

It looks to me like you got a very nice kit and a heck of a good deal.

 

To add to what Mark said about the 283-in general, the "Made in China" 283s are safe, while the "made in Japan" ones are not.

 

I've also been told that high voltage can fry the F-1N hotshoe contacts, too, although the PC contact is safe for high voltage. To be on the safe side, I keep one of those short PC cords with my 283, and always run it off of the PC sync socket.