I Finally Bought the Camera I Have Wanted: the FM2n

FilmOnly said:

After some tinkering and talking to the seller (an eBay seller), I know now that I got a bad drive. The seller was good about the return/refund, but I am disappointed because the drive is in such nice shape (there is barely a mark on it). There must be some type of electrical fault in it, as I got it to wind, but the meter never turns off. It will only turn off if I turn the drive itself is turned off. Now, I have the difficult task of finding another nice one.

Glen

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Sorry you got a bad one. As suggested, try cleaning all the contacts, make sure you have fresh Duracells. There is also a little pin near the handle that must be depressed and the drive must be aligned along the long axis of the motor. One you get them working, these little motors really hum along. They should be exercised periodically as I find when I remove batteries for long term storage is when the problems occur. That said, I have three but one always hangs at the end of a roll? Good luck!-Dick

I find an f stop priority AE to be very useful, so I prefer by far an FM3A - for slower shooting MF cameras are better anyway.

I appreciate the replies. Yesterday, I cleaned the contacts and used fresh batteries, but had no success (as I have mentioned). I am not motivated to do any further cleaning because I do not understand how corrosion (or crud, etc.) could be keeping the meter in the camera turned on. This does not make sense to me. Could anyone explain?

Thanks,
Glen

With the motor installed, the film advance lever should be pushed towards the body. The meter is then controlled by the switch on the motor drive.

A properly working MD11 or 12 should cycle if one uses a penny and presses down on all four contacts at the same time with the motor off the camera. If the motor doesn't cycle, that doesn't mean it is automatically bad but that it just won't cycle. Hope this helps.
I have been looking for a repair manual for these motors but so far have come up empty.-Dick

It's a great camera if you've got the AI and AIS lenses that it needs. I personally still use a lot if non-AI Nikon. It's shutter is simply amazing.

dpurdy said:

I actually lost mine in an airport once and had to find a parts sales place and did get a replacement for 12 USD and now every time I use it I have a habit of checking it and it is usually loose. I wish I knew a way to solve that little problem before I lose it again.
Dennis

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Thread lock compound?