In article <42fv4b$2d5@sonic.cord.edu>, tdjohnso@cord.edu
says...
>I recently purchased a NIKON FA camera. Unfortunately, I bought the
>camera in May and have not shot a single roll of film in the camera. >The first thing it did to me was lock up and I got it repaired under >the camera dealer's used camera warranty.
>Another dealer that I talked to told me that this is a problem with >FA's and he didn't think they were worth squat.
>Does anyone out there own this camera? What has been your experience? (rest deleted)
I own two of them. The innards are basically the same as the FM-2
and FE-2, but with some extra electronic wiz-bangs like matrix
metering and program and shutter-priority auto added. They share the
FM and FE characteristics of being nice, durable, compact, easy
and pleasant to use bodies. The FA shares with the FE, FE-2, and
FG one quirk that gets many people. (I get calls asking where to get
these cameras repaired. A few questions later, I have a happy
caller.) When the battery dies, the camera locks up. A quick test to check if the lock-up is battery related is to shift the speed dial
to "B" (or the manual synch. speed). If the mirror returns, and the advance then operates, change the battery - everything is fine. I suspect that many an unnecessary "repair" has been performed on these bodies (I have heard of this happening locally). My FA's have been
quite reliable, as were my FE-2's.
Hope this helps.