A full set of Nikon FMs?

xtolsniffer · May 20, 2018

Well, I didn't intend this to happen, but after some 25 years I seem to have ended up with a full set of Nikon FMs. Top to bottom then left to right: Original FM with the shutter dial lock, second generating FM without the lock, Original FM2 (no N designation), FM2n and finally FM3a. The only one I bought new was the FM3a as it was being sold off cheap due to being discontinued (can you believe that?), the FM2n was bought secondhand as I'd always wanted one, and the other three were either bought or given to me as 'broken, for spares or repair' and after a bit of effort, I got them going again. Before anyone asks, yes I do use them all.

I really don't intend to start on the FEs, though I guess there are fewer incarnations of those...

Les Sarile · May 20, 2018

xtolsniffer said:
Before anyone asks, yes I do use them all.

How's that possible without lenses . . .

That's a fine collection!

I even had to get the magazine for mine . . .

Chan Tran · May 20, 2018

Since you have the magazine. How much was it selling for as listed in the magazine.

BrianShaw · May 20, 2018

Nice.

Les Sarile · May 20, 2018

Chan Tran said:
Since you have the magazine. How much was it selling for as listed in the magazine.

Suggested list price $820 and street price of $590.

xtolsniffer · May 20, 2018

I am of course missing an FM2/T. I touched one once but I think that's about as close as I'll get.

narsuitus · May 20, 2018

Where is the FM10 ?

xtolsniffer · May 20, 2018

Damn! Good point though I would consider it a different series, though of course you could argue the same about the FM3a bring a sort of FM2/FE2 hybrid.....

Les Sarile · May 20, 2018

xtolsniffer said:
Damn! Good point though I would consider it a different series, though of course you could argue the same about the FM3a bring a sort of FM2/FE2 hybrid.....

The FM10 is only a Nikon in name with nothing else.
There is no "sort of" as it can be argued that the FM3A could have easily been labeled FE3A for what it inherited from the FE2.

Fortunately, Nikon corrected it's previous overstep and did not include the disabling of the meter until position 1 when putting in a new roll of film.

xtolsniffer · May 20, 2018

That's a fine selection!

Theo Sulphate · May 20, 2018

Wow - I wish I'd bought that issue when I bought my FM3a.

The only complaint I have with the FM series, from second generation FM onward, is that the shutter locks when the wind lever is pressed flush with the body. I hate needing to have the wind lever pulled out for metering or for photos.

I've been out using my FM3a and Leica III today:

xtolsniffer said:
I am of course missing an FM2/T. I touched one once but I think that's about as close as I'll get.

Also Year of the Dragon and Year of the Dog:

https://www.cameraquest.com/nfm2drag.htm
https://www.cameraquest.com/nikonfm2.htm

MartinCrabtree · May 20, 2018

xtolsniffer said:
I am of course missing an FM2/T. I touched one once but I think that's about as close as I'll get.

Well then you can fix that.

rpavich · May 21, 2018

Theo Sulphate said:
...The only complaint I have with the FM series, from second generation FM onward, is that the shutter locks when the wind lever is pressed flush with the body. I hate needing to have the wind lever pulled out for metering or for photos.

That's a feature that I love about the camera! No remembering to turn the meter off or put a lens cap on to stop the meter.

Theo Sulphate · May 21, 2018

rpavich said:
That's a feature that I love about the camera! No remembering to turn the meter off or put a lens cap on to stop the meter.

Many cameras have the meter activated by a half-press on the release with a 15 second timeout. My choice is to have a separate dedicated switch or button that turns on the meter, followed by a timeout.

Chan Tran · May 21, 2018

I hate the time out. I am with Rpavich, I like the feature on the FM's. On my digital which times out I set the time out to the longest I can.

Theo Sulphate · May 22, 2018

What's the history on that FM2 - department of what?

xtolsniffer · May 25, 2018

Ah well, there is a bit of history there. It's Department of Zoology, and that FM2 was one of a pair mounted on MD-11 drives in parallel for the stereo multi-flash photogrammetry of animal flight back in the late 1980s. They both had Micro 55mm lenses on and could be triggered simultaneously. When both cameras fired at a 1 second shutter speed a bank of eight Metz CT45 flashes fired in sequence so that you could get up to about 16 images of the animal on each frame. When you digitised both frames you could reconstruct the location and speed of the animal in three dimensions. Unfortunately a PhD student took the set-up into the field and dropped it in a lake. One of the FM2s could be saved, the other not so was dumped in a box and forgotten about. I found it years later in a lab clear-out missing a back, screen, eyepiece, rewind crank and locked to a very moldy 55mm Nikkor. None of the speeds faster than 1/30th second worked. Gradually over the years I found the parts, stripped it down and cleaned it up. It's now working and I left the sticker on for sentimental reasons. I took this with it a few weeks back...

Theo Sulphate · May 26, 2018

xtolsniffer said:
Ah well, there is a bit of history there. It's Department of Zoology ...

Nice!

Fall · May 30, 2018

Les Sarile said:
I even had to get the magazine for mine .

in the upper right corner of the magazine, is that a fake leica luftwaffe camera?

Les Sarile · Jun 28, 2018

Fall said:
in the upper right corner of the magazine, is that a fake leica luftwaffe camera?

No but this is . . .

Sirius Glass · Jun 28, 2018

You need a Nikon F100 in the group.

ic-racer · Jun 28, 2018

Which is best to complement some newer autofocus Nikons?

Theo Sulphate · Jun 28, 2018

Sirius Glass said:
You need a Nikon F100 in the group.

??? Not seeing it.

Camera features:

* manual advance

* manual focus

* manual shutter operation

* manual aperture operation

* manual rewind

* traditional controls (no wheels, no LCDs)

Which one doesn't belong:

FM, FM2, FM3a, F100

?

RalphLambrecht · Jun 28, 2018

xtolsniffer said:
Well, I didn't intend this to happen, but after some 25 years I seem to have ended up with a full set of Nikon FMs. Top to bottom then left to right: Original FM with the shutter dial lock, second generating FM without the lock, Original FM2 (no N designation), FM2n and finally FM3a. The only one I bought new was the FM3a as it was being sold off cheap due to being discontinued (can you believe that?), the FM2n was bought secondhand as I'd always wanted one, and the other three were either bought or given to me as 'broken, for spares or repair' and after a bit of effort, I got them going again. Before anyone asks, yes I do use them all.

I really don't intend to start on the FEs, though I guess there are fewer incarnations of those...View attachment 200935

and I thought I was alone?

jimjm · Jun 28, 2018

Fall said:
in the upper right corner of the magazine, is that a fake leica luftwaffe camera?

Looks like a Voigtlander Bessa-T (in olive green) with the accessory trigger-winder. I have one as a second M-mount body to my M2. Very nice camera.

A full set of Nikon FMs?

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