joonas_hyt_nen Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Hi. I just got a second-hand Nikon FA, and Ì`m beginning to have suspicions with it`s condition. I use two lenses, 85mm AI-S 1:2.0 and 50mm AF 1:1.8. With both lenses I`m getting a bit weak results. Ì can`t quite put my finger on it, but I find it exceedingly hard to get sharp pictures.I was just making some B&W prints, and a landscape picture which I took from a heavy tripod and with the mirror locked- up with a high shutter speed 1/125, the picture still isn`t as sharp as it should be. But with my F70 I can get sharp results with out even thinking about it. So my question is; is there some kind of basic test procedure that I can do to the FA? I don`t have the money to take to repair. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemastre Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Put the camera on your tripod and point it at a brightly lighted target such as a newspaper. Open your lens to its largest opening. Open the back of the camera and place a ground glass at the film plane. This "glass" can be any frosted material that produces a visible image. Then lock up the mirror and get a sharp image on the glass, using a magnifier to ensure that it's sharp. Now lower the mirror and check the focus through the eyepiece. If it's not sharp, adjust the lens till it is. Repeat this experiment with other lenses. The fact that the mirror and the ground glass disagree means your camera needs work. It may be that the mirror is out of alignment. Whatever the problem, I doubt you can fix it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd peach seattle, washi Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Keith's diagnostics are right on, but I'd add one bit before you take it for repair: It's not terribly uncommon for the focus screen on this family of cameras to be not seated correctly. <p>Changing focus screens is a 'user' operation, and some users are better than others! Here's a web page showing how it's done:<br><a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfeseries/fefmshared//html/screenchange.htm">http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfeseries/fefmshared//html/screenchange.htm</a><p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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