Finally figured out why my shutter speeds were off after 20 years

I've been fixing cameras for about a decade now and always struggled with old mechanical shutters that wouldn't match their marked speeds. Last week I compared two different cleaning methods on a Nikon F2 I was working on. One was just using lighter fluid on the blades like I always did, the other was actually taking the whole shutter assembly apart and giving it a proper ultrasonic bath. The difference was night and day - the ultrasonic cleaned shutter is now within 5% of spec at every speed. Has anyone else seen that big a jump from switching methods like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliot_harris2512d ago

Did you try using naptha instead of lighter fluid?

eric35912d ago

lighter fluid and naptha are basically the same thing in my experience, both just leave that weird residue half the time lol. i tried the ultrasonic bath on an old Pentax spotmatic last month and it was the first time i didn't have to hold the shutter open with my finger at 1/1000 just to get light through. felt kinda dumb for spending 10 years scrubbing blades with a qtip when a 20 dollar harbor freight cleaner does it better in 15 minutes.