film advance lever for Nikon FG

David Lyga · Mar 13, 2014

I am missing a film advance lever (with circular nut to hold it on) for a Nikon FG which I recently got for $5. The body works because I 'advanced' it using a pair of pliers and fired the shutter.

Question: There are other Nikons which have the same lever. I think the EM is one. Are there other models? - David Lyga

Jeff Kubach · Mar 13, 2014

KEH might have some spare parts.

Jeff

mgb74 · Mar 13, 2014

I came across this site the other day. Have no clue whether they have what you need.

Xmas · Mar 13, 2014

Yes the EM and FG-20 are on similar chassis donno about the levers being identical but might swap.

Ricardo Miranda · Mar 13, 2014

Unfortunately the levers are all different. The FG and FG-20 have very similar ones, but they are different.
You might be able to swap between them.

Ricardo Miranda · Mar 13, 2014

As a curiosity the EM was the first Nikon to have a ratchet lever. Just a few months before the F3 was introduced. It isn't a coincidence that parts of these 2 cameras look very similar: the designer (Guigiaro) was the same!

David Lyga · Mar 13, 2014

Maybe there is a workaround. For the $5 I certainly do not mind getting something that looks ugly but is secure. There is, unfortunately with this particular model, a slot near the top of the advance post where a separate, small, circular disk with a large hole slightly off-center fits (just above the lever) and then slides into the slot to get to the very center so that the threaded nut can be screwed on. THAT keeps the lever from falling off. Almost ALL other SLRs have an actual screw to keep that lever intact.

I am going to have to be creative here because I certainly am not going to pay more for that damn lever than for the whole SLR!!!

mgb74: this site, Mike's, is a bit like what chop shops do to stolen cars: the parts are worth FAR more than the intact beast. (That's also what led to the hostile takeover craze on Wall Street in the 80s: the company assets were worth more than the equity (stock). - David Lyga

Xmas · Mar 13, 2014

you need a parts body with a lever, they seem quite reliable, mine tolerate the fast winder.

but it is easy to drop one...

gone · Mar 13, 2014

They're definitely different. I don't think they will interchange. The EM lever (the camera on the top w/ the non a.i. 50 lens) actually looks more robust than the FG lever to me.

mdarnton · Mar 13, 2014

I have an FG with the spring in the lever's plastic tip broken. I had the same idea: get a junker, steal the lever. Turns out there are at least two different types of lever: the one in my camera and the one in the junker I bought. Maybe there are three, but I'd had enough. I'm living without the spring. FGs are EXTREMELY cheap on Ebay; if you like the camera (and they are great--I have six of them now, and the first still has the original floppy lever tip on it), just buy another.

John Koehrer · Mar 14, 2014

FWIW All the F/F2/F3 cameras have had a ratcheting film advance.

film advance lever for Nikon FG

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