I am a big fan of the Nikon F2 and am always on the hunt for finders, etc, for my fleet of bodies. I have a mint F2 body that I wanted to find a DP-12 F2AS finder for, but wanted one that had been overhauled.
Sover Wong in the UK had one and did a complete overhaul on it for me including new ring resistor, complete re-foaming, new leatherette and rubber cover, etc. He replaced anything that was damaged or prone to failure.
I have attached a few pics of the finder after he took it apart. You can see his new, custom-manufactured ring resistor in one photo (that's the piece that usually fails first in the DP-12 finder).
It was not cheap - overhauled DP-12 in 9+ condition is about $1000.
I will post some "after" photos when it arrives early next week.
Pretty interesting how complicated that finder is. If you're an F2 fan but don't have a DP-12 finder, it's the schnizzle. Best finder for an F2 hands down. I own 5 finders and it's the most sensitive, easy to use, and accurate finder.
He did two of my F2 cameras a few years ago - one w the DP12 - and they were a fraction of that cost.
The DP12 finders fail - as do all the F2 metered finders. Age and basic wear and tear on the resistor rings. I think that is why the plain meterless prisms now command the premium. Because they natively came w/o the meter vs having a finder w a broken meter which of course does the same thing.
Actually a finder w a broken meter still is handier than the plain finder as it will show the shutter speed and aperture setting in the VF.
Yes, but it is mint. A fully overhauled F2 body with AS finder is now $2000. So the best of my F2 combos, which is this finder and a chrome body, are flawless. I paid $450 for the body (it was LNIB) a while back. I don't mind since I enjoy the camera so much. But it is a lot of money for a 70s Nikon....
crf59 wrote:
Yes, but it is mint. A fully overhauled F2 body with AS finder is now $2000. So the best of my F2 combos, which is this finder and a chrome body, are flawless. I paid $450 for the body (it was LNIB) a while back. It's don't mind since I enjoy the camera so much. But it is a lot of money for a 70s Nikon....
Dang, I had no idea I actually made a good investment by using Sover before he hit the big league$!
