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Nikon EM light leak?

Imogen

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jun 22, 2016
Messages
2
Location
NC
Format
35mm
My dad just gave me his old Nikon EM with the lens series E but said that there is a light leakage. He has had this camera since he was 16 and even then he bought it used, so I'm not sure if the only problem is the light leakage. I am new to this whole film world and honestly don't know much about it. I was wondering if there was anyway I could fix the light leak or if I can take it into a repair shop? should I buy some film first and see how bad the leak is?

Thanks
 
It depends, it's hard to tell whats the problem if he just referred to it as a light leak. But, he might most likely mean that the light seals in the film door and back need replacing. You can tell this if there is some gooey stuff lining film door. But if you post a picture of the film back open, I could help tell.

But if thats not the problem a sure fire way to figure out if a camera has a light leak in it is just to run a roll of film through it.
 
You won't know until you shoot a roll of film in it, but I am 99% sure that the leak is at the hinge area on the back door. When you open the camera's back, you will see that there is supposed to be a felt strip on the camera where the door shuts and covers that hinge area. It's surely deteriorated away.

I would just put film in it, and take some electrical tape and tape up that area w/ a strip of tape on the OUTSIDE over the hinge. Might as well do the same on the other side where it snaps shut. It's possible that the top and bottom of the door areas may have a light leak too, but I doubt it. Just do that and run a roll through the camera and see what you have, and also see if you like the camera. They're fun little cameras, and very simple to shoot.

If you like it, there's lots of articles on the web that show how to put your own seals in the camera w/ just a bit of black yarn (unravel it and use just one of the threads, not the whole thing) and some glue. Usually, if you just do that and use a very small screwdriver or a dull knife to stuff the yarn it it will stay and you won't need to use any glue. Don't clean out the old stuff (which is gonna be almost gone anyway), just put in the yarn thread and use the old stuff that's in there to hold it in. Close the camera's back overnight and you're set. The door hinge area can be addressed w/ a very thin piece of cloth or felt glued down inside the camera at the appropriate place. It sounds like a PITA, but it's simple to do all this.

Here's a link to the manual if you don't have one. It's nice to give Butkus a donation of $3 for his time and trouble scanning these things and offering them to people. Just click on the blue writing that says "Click Here To Continue To PDF Booklet". Happy shooting!

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon/nikon_em/nikon_em.htm
 
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This video explains deteriorating light seals and how to replace them:

There's also foam in the mirror box of an SLR which should be replaced (try not to touch the mirror, as it's front-silvered and delicate)

As you can see, this is cheap but pretty labor-intensive but should last for years.
 
Right, I forgot about the mirror foam. It's a thin strip that runs on the top of the film chamber, and the mirror will flip up when you press the shutter to take your pic, then flip back down. If it's really sticky, scrape it off. You don't need to replace it right away, but I have had some EM's that had sticky foam and the mirror would actually stick in the up position and wouldn't want to come down. Make sure you have fresh batteries in the camera, or you will have issues w/ the mirror sticking in the up position too.
 

Welcome to APUG! I'm also in NC... Just saying.

Replacing light seals isn't super hard, but you might be better off just letting a repairman take care of it for you. If you're new to film, you don't want to get bogged down trying to repair something at home before you've even started. If you're near the triad area, I can recommend a real pro who has done good work for me in the past.
 

Thank you! I see where the felt strip on the inside of the door is worn out, but I'm not seeing the mirror foam you're talking about. is it just the foam at the top of the chamber? when ever I press the shutter I can tell there's a little wait before the slidey thing (told you I'm new to film) comes back down. I'll tape up the outside with black electrical tape and go buy some film and test it out. Also do you know of a cheaper way to process the film? it costs like $11 at the pharmacy to process it.

thanks
 
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