blair_davis•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Had a customer bring in a 1972 Nikon F2 last week that was stored in a barn for 30 years

The foam had turned to sticky goo that coated every gear inside the mirror box, making a sticky mess I spent 4 hours cleaning out with isopropyl alcohol and q-tips, has anyone else dealt with barn stored cameras or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles541mo ago

4 hours of q-tip cleaning, that's insane dedication.

iris3941mo ago

Man that 1972 F2 must have been a gorgeous camera once you got through the goo, I totally feel your pain though. I had a beat up Pentax Spotmatic come in last year from a garage, the foam had basically dissolved into a black sludge that somehow got into the shutter blades themselves. Took me about 6 hours with q-tips and lighter fluid to get the blades to move freely again. @miles54 is right about the dedication thing, you don't just walk away from a classic like that. The foam in those old cameras is like the worst design flaw, it turns into this corrosive goo that traps dirt and just makes everything feel gritty. Yours sounds like it was extra bad being in a barn with all that dust and moisture. Hope the rest of the camera cleaned up good.