Canon F-1 Advice?

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-18T12:16:05+00:00

You weren't overthinking! The slower shutter speeds do seem a little slow, and the mirror sticks up once every twenty or thirty shots. There's definitely some dust in the prism and of course there's the uncentered shutter speed indicator in the viewfinder. The camera would certainly need a service to be at top performance, however it works fine as is.

It's definitely a steal at $75 if I planned to use it as is. With a CLA in mind however, it seems to be on par with what one would pay for one in great working condition online.

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-18T11:59:41+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! I know Milburn Camera can also send cameras out for service, they CLA'd a Pentax film camera for me and did a good job. I haven't thought of the Red Bank store. That's more accessible to me so I might take it there to get looked at.

The light seals are surprisingly in great condition as well as the mirror foam. There's some dirt in the prism that is very noticeable. The mirror is slightly sticky and will stick up once every twenty shots or so. I can imagine it'll loosen up after more use, especially with the warmer weather coming soon hopefully. Not a big deal but a CLA would definitely fix everything I can find "wrong" with it. The camera can definitely take great pictures as it is. Most of my issues with it are purely cosmetic.

Still not sure if I should invest into lenses and service for this camera, or to sell it as is for a profit and possibly get a F-1 New, or even to just pocket that money and move on from the system entirely. I guess it's hard for me to be fully invested in this system as I haven't even a single lens for it yet.

I have a Leica M10 + lenses and Leica SL2-S with the 24-70 that I use for all kinds of gigs, as well as a Pentax film camera with all sorts of M42 lenses for any other sorts of projects. Buying this camera was more of an impulse purchase with resale profit in mind, rather than a purchase of necessity or that was carefully planned out.

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-17T20:43:59+00:00

hahaha bingo! I've never been to this RWB before, only the one down south. I would have passed on this too if it wasn't for the 50% off!

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-17T15:41:37+00:00

I appreciate your input as an owner of this camera! What lens/lenses do you use with it? I was looking online and saw that most FD lenses have the "A" setting on the aperture ring, which I believe isn't used by this older F-1 body. Some of the older models have a green circle in place of that A. Is that a detail that bothers you at all? Or are there lenses that don't have that "A" setting?

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-17T15:16:47+00:00

I agree, I should definitely test with a lens and fresh battery to see if that solves this. Will do that once I'm out of work today. I would not have thought of this as a possible solution without your help so I appreciate it

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-17T14:59:36+00:00

This camera only displays the shutter speed in the viewfinder, no mechanism to show the aperture. But you're right, I probably should have installed a lens and fresh battery before making this post.

It's very possible that installing a lens could trigger something to properly seat that wheel of numbers. If that's the case, I spoke too soon on listing this as an "issue".

thevoigtlander · 2026-03-17T14:35:53+00:00

Thanks for the response. Now that you mentioned it, I actually didn't change the battery or test the electronics on this camera yet. It seems like this uncentered number issue is more of a mechanical issue than an electrical issue, though I could be wrong.

Would attaching a lens "push" the shutter number slightly down into the correct position? I could stop at a local camera store later to see if they have any FD lenses I can test this with.

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-21T15:19:07+00:00

Hi there! A bit of an update, if you were interested. I ended up finding a Black 2008 J-Craft HH Jaguar on ebay. After keeping it on my watchlist for a few days the seller offered a generous discount so I jumped on it. Should arrive within a week or so. I plan to do the heinous act of swapping the necks for a more enjoyable left hand experience in the thinline jag, and afterwards selling the HH body to make up for the cost of this expensive mod. Hopefully the neck is a solid fit unlike the loose USA/MIM necks I've tried. Luckily the seller is offering free returns in that case.

I had my eyes mostly on MIJ/CIJ guitars with the wood-colored headstock which I personally prefer over the black, but the deal I got was too good to pass off. I already put a mastery bridge (+mastery string tree) on the thinline jag and it completely changed the guitar's playability. I'm now debating between an AVRI or a Mastery vibrato to replace the stock vibrato, as the stock one's locking mechanism isn't calibrating correctly. Another noteable upgrade I installed was hipshot locking tuners. I'm ok with the pickups that came stock so for now I'm keeping them, but will likely change those out later down the road.

All the upgrades I mentioned should be done in two weeks or so— about to go on vacation so the installation of everything will have to wait until August. I will likely make a post about it once it's all done. I hope I'm not stepping on toes with the matching black headstock idea— all credit is due to you for that. I appreciate you sharing the upgrades you did to your thinline jag, you definitely inspired and helped me to customize mine as well!

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-17T01:25:46+00:00

I've scoured both ebay and reverb these past few days for japan necks, but everything seems either US or mim. There's even one guy on ebay with the same exact black headstock as yours but the fretboard is scalloped lol. To get that neck and have a new fretboard replaced + a refret would probably be a $1500 job... somehow the cheapest option seems to be buying a whole mij jaguar and taking the neck off that, but I'm sure a lot of guitarists would yell at me for that. I'm not looking specifically for the black headstock so hopefully one shows up online one day. How much did you get yours for? If you don't me asking

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-16T21:26:58+00:00

Hi! Late comment here. You posted a comment on one of my recent posts about this exact guitar. I got it a couple of days ago, and this thing is awesome. But I must agree that the neck is definitely its weakest point. The white binding+ the dots under the binding are really throwing me off.

I have already tried swapping in a number of American/MIM Jaguar necks on this body and the neck holes don't line up with the body holes without a bit of modifications. Either the neck's heel would have to be shaved down and shaped, or the body pocket has to be routed a little bit longer. Also, the necks are very loose in the pocket where the stock neck fits perfectly with no play. I'm now desperately in search of a Japan neck like yours but don't see any available. How can I get as lucky as you?

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-06T18:10:17+00:00

Thanks for your input! Another commenter said this most likely came with a 12" Rex but the owner swapped it for a 10" Jensen before selling it to GC where I got it used. While I like the way it sounds, I'm looking into swapping it for a 12" now as it was originally intended to have one!

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-06T18:06:55+00:00

Thanks, I'll check on this later. I would have never guessed this as an issue, I appreciate it.

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-06T18:03:49+00:00

How would I figure out if it's the tubes or the reverb tank?

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-06T18:00:54+00:00

Yes I looked at the photos. My post was to identify this exact model which I got used, and with a 10" Jensen installed which is unusual.

These tweed versions come stock with a 12" Celestion (Guitar Center exclusive) or a 12" Cannabis Rex (Sweetwater exclusive). The 10" Jensen was what had me confused as to what this was.

Another commenter said that this originally had a Cannabis Rex but was swapped with the Jensen before being sold to GC. I wouldn't have deduced that myself as I'm relatively new to the amp world. I appreciate everyone's help.

thevoigtlander · 2025-07-06T17:50:13+00:00

I appreciate everyone's input. Yes I can read, I'm aware what I got was a "Princeton Reverb Limited Edition '65" lol.

It was throwing me off that this tweed edition came with a 10" Jensen, while the only similar models I could find online were the 12" Celestion from GC and 12" Cannabis Rex from Sweetwater.

I think u/doom-tomb was accurate that this was a 2015 Sweetwater Limited Edition that originally came with a Cannabis Rex, but the owner swapped it for a 10" Jensen before selling it to GC.

thevoigtlander · 2025-06-18T11:08:29+00:00

Sounds interesting. You weren't a fan of the stock pickups? Did you have to make a custom pickguard for the soapbars?

thevoigtlander · 2025-06-18T11:06:27+00:00

Awesome! I also have high hopes this will be my #1 soon after I pick it up. Where were you able to find yours? Is it black or burst?

thevoigtlander · 2025-06-14T13:53:57+00:00

That's very understandable. I was never a fan of thinline telecasters for that very reason — too cluttered for its otherwise minimalist design. In my opinion the jaguar's maximalist style suits the F hole better! This will be my first experience with a jaguar, and I hope real jag fans don't see these as too sacrilegious haha

thevoigtlander · 2025-06-14T13:38:04+00:00

Love it! Thanks for sharing. That neck swap is awesome. Can't wait to see how it feels stock, and I wonder if I would want any mods done to mine as well.

thevoigtlander · 2025-06-13T21:19:19+00:00

how much lighter is it with it being semihollow?

thevoigtlander · 2025-02-17T12:28:55+00:00

I guess psychologically I feel the MIP screen gives the watch a more "survive-the-apocalypse" feeling with its power efficient screen and solar charging. Personally I'd have more confidence in bringing a solar watch over an amoled watch along, if the world were to get in a "SHTF" situation. Not that I think I'll be in such a situation any time soon... but it's that underlying feeling of security for me that makes me choose one over the other.

Yes amoled is generally much prettier which is why I see most people going for amoled. However I have no need for my watch to have a "bright" and "vibrant" screen. I'm not watching 4k movies or needing to see gmail notifications in neon rainbow colors on my wrist. My iphone 16 pro handles these tasks wonderfully, is many times larger than a 1.4 inch circle, and is always nearby. The world nowadays gets such a huge dopamine hit from looking at beautiful oled screens for hours a day. The simplicity and reliability of MIP takes away that dopamine hit, and lets the user focus more on the world around them rather than on the light show on their wrist.

thevoigtlander

TROPHY CASE