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Just realized a 2 week old CLA totally changed how my Nikon F3 sounds
I picked up an F3 at a swap meet in Portland 6 months ago, shutter sounded like a rusty gate. Finally sent it to a guy I know for a full CLA, cost me $120. Picked it up last Wednesday and the mirror slap is so quiet now, almost like a whisper compared to before. The difference was mostly old grease turning to glue, he said the damping foam was shot too. Anyone else notice a huge sound difference after a basic service on their old gear?
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henry_ross2mo ago
That 'sticky paste' line got me, sounds like the inside of my mom's junk drawer circa 1998. But for real, my F3's advance lever now feels like it's apologizing for the decade it spent sounding like a coffee grinder full of gravel. The foam replacement was a game changer too, I half expected a tiny mechanic to pop out and bow after I did my first test roll. I guess the previous owner thought grinding gears was a feature, not a bug.
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lewis.brian2mo ago
@danielr99 Totally. My F3's advance felt like I was dragging a brick through sand before the CLA. Now it glides like I actually know how to use a camera instead of just lookin cool with it. My tech showed me the old foam too, was like finding a fossil in there.
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danielr992mo ago
Did you notice a change in how the film advance feels too? On my old Canon F-1 the shutter got a lot quieter after a CLA but the big surprise was how smooth the advance lever got. The tech I use said old lubricant turns into this sticky paste that gums everything up, and he showed me the old foam bits crumbling out of the mirror box. I had him replace the light seals too for another 40 bucks and now everything just feels like new old stock instead of something that sat in a garage for twenty years.
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