The Love for Heavy Metal: Would You Use a $5 Nikon F2?

I stopped by a thrift store in Loveland Colorado and they had a Nikon F2A with a motor drive for a fiver. Hmm, yeah, I’ll take that. They said it’s only for display as it doesn’t work. (Yeah, right!)

Well, let’s see. It had no lens. (No problem, I have several.) And no shutter collar. (Doesn’t need one, and my shutter button extension should take care of that.) And it has that big bulky motor that’s not functional. (Kinda need to leave that on, as it’s the only way to open the film door.)

The motor is missing its shutter button. I pulled the batteries out and figured I could lose that weight. It does make a great grip.

From the looks of it, with my 50mm f1.4, it’s ready to go.

There was a small metal switch under the shutter that needs to be at the 12 o’clock position to work otherwise it sets the shutter lock. And that little switch seemed very prone to leaving the 12 o’clock position. No problem, a bit of gaffer tape on either side of the switch, it’s nicely-staying put.

I put fresh batteries in the camera and the DP-11 “A” prism’s meter works perfectly. Of course, it does.

I knew it would. Because Nikon F2s don’t stop working. You can’t kill them. They’re workhorses. They photographed wars. You can fight off a thief with it and then take his picture for the newspaper–it’ll still work.

They don’t make them like the F2 anymore.

I can’t wait to shoot it.

All that for a fiver!