Canon new F1 SPROCKET broken

faithseed · Sep 14, 2021

Hi All,

I recently purchased a Canon new F1 from ebay. I took a bit of gamble since the photo was not clear but the price was good. I got the US navy edition which is a pleasant surprise. The camera is in good working condition after a bit cleaning. The only major problem is that the SPROCKET (in plastic is broken). I found a replacement one online and purchased the parts. Anyone had experience or guidance on replacing it? I have done several Nikon F repair in the past. I wonder how troublesome would be this replacement. I thought Canon F-1 is built like a tank, why the plastic parts here ?

4season · Sep 14, 2021

faithseed said:
Anyone had experience or guidance on replacing it?

No, but perhaps this service literature will help you:
https://learncamerarepair.com/product.php?product=791&category=2&secondary=0

cmacd123 · Sep 14, 2021

I have been given to usnderstand that a rather complete disassembly is required to swap that part.

faithseed · Sep 15, 2021

Thanks all for chime in. I feel repairing it maybe more trouble that I would like to, especially on the complete disassembly with so many parts and the electronics. Glad the seller on ebay is accepting the return, I would otherwise rather keep it if it can be bring to full operational condition (being good physical condition overall and being the US Navy version). Oh well....

Thumbs down to Canon on using plastic here, Nikon F has all these parts in metal and I haven't seen any F with a broken SPROCKET

millardmt · Sep 26, 2021

faithseed said:
Thanks all for chime in. I feel repairing it maybe more trouble that I would like to, especially on the complete disassembly with so many parts and the electronics. Glad the seller on ebay is accepting the return, I would otherwise rather keep it if it can be bring to full operational condition (being good physical condition overall and being the US Navy version). Oh well....

Thumbs down to Canon on using plastic here, Nikon F has all these parts in metal and I haven't seen any F with a broken SPROCKET

Thank you *very* much for posting. I am sorry for your plight but i'm very appreciative of your information! As a matter of fact, I just inherited a NEW F1 (& a bunch of FD glass which I have yet to inspect). The camera is well worn but now I know not to waste a second of additional time on it. Into the trash it goes without further ado. (Reminds me of a similar discovery I once made after buying a Leica CL. I sold that on eBay -- immediately -- and didn't lose a penny (for once). (I have since heard Leica-guru Don Goldberg assert that "CL" stands for "[C]heap [L]eica.")

Marc

cmacd123 · Sep 26, 2021

don't trash any F1. They wee the TOP line Canon of their day. If you really don't want it - I and many other folks would be glad to pay the postage to get you to send it to us.

the broken sprocket in the original posters camera may well have been due to the film being incorrectly loaded. Canon does have some designs that are hard to repair, but generaly they are in the middle of the difficulty range.. Unless it really has been used in a war zone, most F1 units are repairable, and if they are so far gone that they can't be fixed, that will provide parts to others.

jonmon6691 · Oct 7, 2021

cmacd123 said:
don't trash any F1. They wee the TOP line Canon of their day. If you really don't want it - I and many other folks would be glad to pay the postage to get you to send it to us.

the broken sprocket in the original posters camera may well have been due to the film being incorrectly loaded. Canon does have some designs that are hard to repair, but generaly they are in the middle of the difficulty range.. Unless it really has been used in a war zone, most F1 units are repairable, and if they are so far gone that they can't be fixed, that will provide parts to others.

Agreed, or even better yet, if you're going to throw it away, why not give the repair a shot! Or just dive in with a screwdriver kit and take it apart and see what makes an 80's camera tick, they don't make stuff like that any more.

mshchem · Oct 7, 2021

http://www.united-camera.com/index.html

Call this place. If anyone can fix it I would bet on these guys. I bet they have 5,000 parts cameras. It's an organized mess.

AgX · Oct 7, 2021

Now I wonder how that happened. The fracture seems to be where the axle drives the plastic tube with the sprockets.

Well, I am sure Simon Galley now would raise his hand saying "I know it".

beemermark · Oct 8, 2021

Do you think any camera used by a branch of the military might have seen a lot of heavy handed use? Just saying.

AgX · Oct 8, 2021

But then explain how a navy guy could have broken that shaft.

BobD · Oct 8, 2021

Looks like only one or two teeth are missing and it may still work. Have you tried loading a roll of film?

AgX · Oct 8, 2021

The shaft is broken with seemingly all or most of one sprocket wheel missing.
Basically a camera can transport correctly the film with one sprocket wheel. The question though is whether in this case the axle will still drive the plastic shaft.
As the OP ordered new parts I assume not.

MattKing · Oct 8, 2021

Looks like someone really strong tried to rewind a roll of Estar based film without releasing the clutch.
One of the not often referred to advantages of acetate based films.

Duceman · Oct 8, 2021

faithseed said:
Thanks all for chime in. I feel repairing it maybe more trouble that I would like to, especially on the complete disassembly with so many parts and the electronics.

Another option is sending it off to Garry's camera...or at least inquiring whether he has the parts to fix it. For $68 plus parts, you might get a fully functioning camera back.

http://www.garryscamera.com/canon.htm

AgX · Oct 8, 2021

MattKing said:
Looks like someone really strong tried to rewind a roll of Estar based film without releasing the clutch.
One of the not often referred to advantages of acetate based films.

Rather transporting beyond its end.

That was my hint at Simon Galley referring to.

But PET based films are spread at the consumer market for over 15years. I learned of no report of such damage in that period.
What PET based films armed forces could have used in a new-F1?

flavio81 · Oct 13, 2021

faithseed said:
Hi All,

I recently purchased a Canon new F1 from ebay. I took a bit of gamble since the photo was not clear but the price was good. I got the US navy edition which is a pleasant surprise. The camera is in good working condition after a bit cleaning. The only major problem is that the SPROCKET (in plastic is broken). I found a replacement one online and purchased the parts. Anyone had experience or guidance on replacing it?

This requires a full stripdown. I repair cameas but i don't dare dissasembling my beloved New F-1s. They are far more complex to strip down than most other cameras. The service manual is the longest 35mm SLR service manual i've read!!

Now, the camera should be able to transport film just fine as it is.

flavio81 · Oct 13, 2021

faithseed said:
Thumbs down to Canon on using plastic here, Nikon F has all these parts in metal and I haven't seen any F with a broken SPROCKET

This part broke probably because some hard object impacted it. If this was a metal part, it would have bent the axle and you would have a non working camera and a very hard repair.

Being a plastic part, it just chips off and doesn't do further damage. And the camera can keep working.

Now, if I had the three Nikon Fs i had in the past, i'd be more than happy to give them to you so you can give me back Canon F-1s in change.

I thought Canon F-1 is built like a tank, why the plastic parts here ?

It is built like a tank. Internally it has parts of really high quality materials like mirror-polished gears and high-tech construction techniques like laser welding for added reliablity. Why do you assume "plastic" was a bad choice? It reduces weight, and this part doesn't require a lot of strength.

jtk · Oct 15, 2021

faithseed said:
Hi All,

I recently purchased a Canon new F1 from ebay. I took a bit of gamble since the photo was not clear but the price was good. I got the US navy edition which is a pleasant surprise. The camera is in good working condition after a bit cleaning. The only major problem is that the SPROCKET (in plastic is broken). I found a replacement one online and purchased the parts. Anyone had experience or guidance on replacing it? I have done several Nikon F repair in the past. I wonder how troublesome would be this replacement. I thought Canon F-1 is built like a tank, why the plastic parts here ?

I don't think there EVER was a USN issue of Canon F1, especially not the New version. The Navy's last Canon was a B&H version of the original F1.

Perhaps faithseed is referring to Canon A1, not F1. Apples/Oranges.

faithseed · Oct 26, 2021

jtk said:
I don't think there EVER was a USN issue of Canon F1, especially not the New version. The Navy's last Canon was a B&H version of the original F1.

Perhaps faithseed is referring to Canon A1, not F1. Apples/Oranges.

Yes, this is the new-F1, exactly like the one here https://www.cameraquest.com/cf1mil.htm.

I have tried with a dummy roll of film and it will not function smoothly give the bottom gear is completely broken with two screws exposed that caught on the film. I have returned to the ebay seller.

Luka who made this wonderful video about new F1 repair, also convinced me in comment to avoid the disassemble since a lot of ball bearings would have to be removed.

faithseed · Oct 26, 2021

AgX said:
The shaft is broken with seemingly all or most of one sprocket wheel missing.
Basically a camera can transport correctly the film with one sprocket wheel. The question though is whether in this case the axle will still drive the plastic shaft.
As the OP ordered new parts I assume not.

You are spot-on, the sprocket connects to the axle via the two bottom screws and the bottom is completely broken. Now the sprocket and the axle are disconnected and will not move together.

faithseed · Oct 26, 2021

flavio81 said:
This part broke probably because some hard object impacted it. If this was a metal part, it would have bent the axle and you would have a non working camera and a very hard repair.

Being a plastic part, it just chips off and doesn't do further damage. And the camera can keep working.

Now, if I had the three Nikon Fs i had in the past, i'd be more than happy to give them to you so you can give me back Canon F-1s in change.

I thought Canon F-1 is built like a tank, why the plastic parts here ?

It is built like a tank. Internally it has parts of really high quality materials like mirror-polished gears and high-tech construction techniques like laser welding for added reliablity. Why do you assume "plastic" was a bad choice? It reduces weight, and this part doesn't require a lot of strength.

I agree with you. Looking at the replacement part that I got, it is fairly well made and kind strong. It must have been taken a lot of force to break in the first place.

Canon new F1 SPROCKET broken

faithseed

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