Disappointing outing with my F-1N

[mark_pierlot]

<p>Gorgeous, clear, crisp mid-Fall day. Low sun on the Fraser River. Out with my young son and daughter for the afternoon. The perfect opportunity to throw a roll of Ektar 100 into one of my F-1N's and rekindle my love of film photography. Sounds great, eh?</p>

<p>Well, about a half dozen frames in, the shutter won't fire. After some fiddling, it finally does for a frame or two, and then locks up again. And this frustrating pattern continues till the shutter won't fire at all. Ultimately, I don't get more than 8 or 9 frames out of the 36 exposure roll. Despondent, I rewind the film, my "perfect" day of shooting prematurely over.</p>

<p>Upon a visit to my camera technician, I learn that the problem is the battery. I had checked that the meter was working accurately before I went out that day, but apparently the shutter takes more juice than the meter (duh!). And even though I was shooting at 1/125 and 1/250, which is into the mechanical shutter speed range of the F-1N, the weak battery was interfering. The shutter didn't lock up once the battery was removed, even though it couldn't hold slower speeds. (Of course, I could have taken out the battery and estimated the exposure for the rest of the roll, but I didn't know the cause at that point. Hindsight is, as they say, 20-20.)</p>

<p>The moral of my story is, <em>put in a fresh battery when you're taking out a camera you haven't used for awhile. </em>Although I managed to eke out a few frames, and although there will be days ahead to take my kids down to the river with a camera, the opportunities missed that day are gone forever...</p>

[rick_janes]

Been there, experienced that, even with a newly installed battery. When it happened outdoors in bright sunshine, with film in the camera and motor drive attached, that just added to my entertainment.

[awahlster]

<p>I have a spare battery carrier on the strap.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>This is something I don't worry about with an F-1 or F-1n. Apart from checking the battery I like the idea of carrying an FTb or FTbN as a spare. Those cameras almost always work. </p>

[flatulent1]

<p>Man, that sucks. I always take two bodies with me, even if the second is just a p&s. I was out shooting with a friend last year when his F4's shutter decided to jump from its track. He had a spare with him to fall back on, but it was a disappointment.</p>

[dennis_kushner2]

Along with a spare battery for my F1N, I also carry a discontinued Gossen Luna -Pro Digital. Current

version is F for flash capabilities. Extremely accurate & incident meter readings match my Leica M6 95%

of the time & use this to second guess F1N with incident metering instead of reflective. Digital F now

listed on that site at a cheap price.

[mark_pierlot]

<p>Thanks for the advice, support, and encouragement, guys. I had considered bringing along one of my DSLR's as a backup body, but certainly a spare (or a least a fresh) battery and a light meter would have been a lot lighter and less bulky. :-)</p>

<p>Anyway, to add insult to injury, I had one of my favourite lenses attached: the FD 35/2 SSC concave.</p>

[james_turner6]

<blockquote>

<p>his F4's shutter decided to jump from its track. He had a spare with him to fall back on</p>

</blockquote>

<p>A spare shutter?!? Respect.<br>

Same thing (battery, not shutter) happened to me one summer holiday. Took me three days to find a new battery: as you can probably imagine, my wife's love of my photography just got deeper. Oh yes!<br>

Spare battery a must when out with the F1N. And my RX100 goes everywhere with me now.</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>I had a similar problem but in my case it was corrosion on the terminals. If you remove the battery the shutter will work fully mechanically at speeds between 1/125 and 1/2000 plus 'B' and the 1/90 flash sync speed.<br>

<br />The type of battery also has an influence. I have found that lithium batteries hold their voltage well for most of their life but then go suddenly whereas silver batteries seem to decline slowly thus giving you plenty of warning.</p>

[philip_wilson]

The new F1 has mechanical and electronic shutter control. The mechanical speeds are 1/125 to 1/2000 plus 1/90 and B.

however in order to get them to operate without power form a battery you need to physically remove the battery from the

body. Of course when you do this you lose the meter. When this last happened to me I got a pretty good hit rate using

sunny F16 and of course a print film which gives more latitude. Sorry to hear it spoilt your day.

[luis_g]

<p>I always carry a spare battery <em>and</em> a spare camera, at least a P&S. With a mechanical camera, it is a good idea to memorize or carry a print-out of an available light exposure table.</p>

[c_barey]

<p>Had an experience similar to this with my F-1N. I took it hiking in the Japanese Alps, intending to shoot all kinds of great stuff with it. I forgot to set the shutter button lock when I went to sleep, rolled over on it, and discharged the entire battery overnight on the first night! Fortunately I knew what others have stated above - that the camera will still fire, just only on 1/125. Undaunted, I plugged away and took a lot of really great pictures anyway. Gotta study that manual! I now hate cameras that need batteries to function.<br>