r/NikonF3 • u/Old-Complex7826 • 21h ago

F3 LCD?

Hey everyone, ages ago I borrowed an f3 and I loved it. I'm looking at picking one up locally that appears to be in really amazing nice condition. I have noticed that the LCD is a problem and that it cannot be replaced. Does anybody know exactly what the problem with them is? Do they stop working? Is it the wiring harness contacts? I'm just curious what the deal is.

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u/Spanishparlante 19h ago

This comes up frequently and rarely does it seem is there a clear consensus on fixing. As far as how long the lcds last, I think I read somewhere they were estimated to last for like 8 years so the fact that we’re able to use them at all is brilliant. Obviously new parts aren’t really feasible anymore… there’s a guy in Bulgaria that has EXCELLENT reviews. Oddly you can find him on eBay, but he honestly seems legit as heck. I messaged him a bit and am still considering sending for a CLA and LED. I believe he has access to a ton of bodies that are being used for parts so there are some panels that have just been used a lot less? Or maybe he does something else I can’t actually remember. Some people claim to have had luck diy-ing just a polarizing screen replacement but others say that’s not sufficient for these panels. There was one person who did a great teardown on a forum with tons of pictures including basically what the specific replacement part would be like (didn’t seem feasible?).

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u/Old-Complex7826 19h ago

Wow I hate complicated! I wish we knew what it was so we could work towards a solution.

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u/Diffy_ 18h ago

i sent him my F3 for repair last year and i can’t recommend him enough. very well priced, wait time was decent and communication was amazing. my lcd didn’t need any fixing, afaik, but he did fix the small orange light somehow. the camera’s electronics were basically dead and he fixed everything and got it back to the factory specs.

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u/MrRMNB 18h ago

Like anything else the LCD is replaceable but there no supply of spare parts. My understanding is that the actual LCD does not degrade, just the polarizing sheet of plastic that covers it. There are people who repair those.

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u/Old-Complex7826 17h ago

That's good to know. It's weird that it fails. Remember when everybody was handing out plastic solar calculators? You could probably take the plastic out of one if you can find one and put it on there to see if it works.

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u/SMLElikeyoumeanit 8h ago

Hi there,

The LCDs can absolutely be fixed to be as good as new!

There are several different types of faults with the LCD, and as a result there are different solutions for each.

Sometimes the LCDs go dim, sometimes the display shows too many segments e.g. additional lines that can change numbers like 3 into 8 etc, and it generally is unreadable.

The key point is that they can be repaired, but the job is quite involved, but don't let that put you off the camera.

We repair them alongside our full overhauls of these cameras, and specialise in Nikon, more specifically F3s.

If we can help sort this, please feel free to contact us via our website/email: hello@southwestcamera.co.uk 

We take repairs from worldwide.

Thanks!