Found a 1972 Nikon F2 with the original receipt inside a thrift store yesterday

I was digging through a box of junk at a Salvation Army in Denver and pulled out a beat up leather case. Inside was a Nikon F2 with the original repair receipt from a shop in Chicago dated November 1973 for a shutter speed calibration that cost 8 dollars. How do you guys handle finding old gear with history like this do you restore it or just clean it up and leave the patina?

2 comments

2 Comments

rileygonzalez10d ago

That was my friend Mike who found an old Leica IIIf at an estate sale with a photo still in it from the 1950s. He spent like 3 months tracking down the family through the photo and mailed it back to them. The old lady who got it sent him a thank you card with a picture of her dad holding the camera from 1952. He cleaned the lens but left the brass showing through the paint because it tells the story. For an F2 with that receipt I'd probably just give it a good wipe down and shoot a roll through it as is.

evah4010d ago

Oh man that's exactly what I do. Found a beat to hell Pentax Spotmatic at a flea market once with a hand written note inside the case from 1969 saying "for my son's 16th birthday love mom." I tracked down the guy on Facebook. He's like 70 now. Told me his mom saved up for months to buy it. I sent him a video of me running a roll through it and he cried on the phone. Left every scratch and dent on that camera. They're not flaws they're memories. That F2 with the receipt is a time capsule. Clean the glass and fire the shutter that's all it needs.