For a while now, I’ve been thinking about a film camera for my partner. And now, I’ve got the camera, but will make a bit of a small project out of getting it just-so for her.
The camera is a Nikon EL2, a model introduced in May of 1977. The lens, a Nikkor-H 50mm f/2, which went on the market in November, 1974. Both were bought at good prices, and both need some work, but it won’t be too hard to get them ready for regular use.
My intended repairs, modifications, and additions are as follows.
For the camera:
- Replace the light seals
- Generally clean up everything, tend to a few spots of corrosion
- Custom leatherette (not black, color TBD)
- Repaint a few small parts so it’s more of a “panda” camera
- Repaint the Nikon badge on the front of the camera, probably a color other than black
- Add a diopter eyepiece (she needs glasses but rarely wears them)
- Add a soft release
- Add a strap of her choosing
For the lens:
- Clean out mild fungus
- Re-lubricate the focusing coil
- Perform AI conversion
- Add a lens hood, preferably the HS-2 hood originally intended for this lens
Also, I’ll be setting up a small camera bag for her with the camera, some film, and maybe a small flash, so it’s all a nice, convenient package. Maybe a filter or two, but I think she’s going to want to shoot color more than monochrome, so that probably won’t be necessary for now.
I’ll be posting about it here on my blog, which will be linked to from my Twitter any time I have updates on the project. May make some videos along the way, but no promises.
Thanks for reading!
