Nikon FM light seal

Is there something at the craft store, or otherwise readily available, that you guys use to patch up a light leak on an FM? I'm thinking about just grabbing some felt and gluing it on. Buying one of those foam "kits" seems unnecessary to me.

For doors, I’ve been quite successful with the thin foam sheets, “Foamies” was the brand name I seem to recall, from a craft store. So far... lasting almost 6 years with no signs of impending failure. Cost was about 2 bucks for a 12 inch square.

Cut with razor blade; applied with the absolute minimum amount of white glue.

Thanks Brian. I will look for that.

Yarn is good as a light seal - better than foam, IMHO. There are different diameters, so a thicker yarn could be used for an RB67 back, for example.

I've used Pliobond in the tracks prior to putting the yarn in, but it's nasty sticky stuff. Perhaps there's a better adhesive someone can recommend.

I have used both light seals and replacement leatherette for cameras from aki-asahi.com . The shipping is about what it would be in the U.S and has always been reasonably quick. The advantage of using the kit they have is that it comes pre-cut and with instruction on where each piece goes. I just looked at their website and the seals would be $8.

I simply bought a sheet of foam with a sticky side, cut out the sections I needed with a razor blade, removed the backing paper and placed these foam sections to where they needed to go, then used a toothpick to gently press the foam into the grooves and corners. It was about a two hour project. The foam sheet was not very expensive at all.

I too bought an assortment of 3M sticky back sheet foam from the auction site. Some are open cell. Some are closed cell. I even bought some velvet with sticky back. The packs I got came in various thicknesses. I cut them with a paper cutter to get straight lines, or an x-acto knife if it's a weird shape. I typically use toothpicks and naphtha to remove the old seals, and soak the new seals in naphtha to give me a few seconds to place them before the glue gets sticky. That's assuming the naphtha won't deteriorate the plastic. If it will, I'll use rubbing alcohol, which does work as well but is safer on certain plastics.

It's really the best way to go if you own a lot of vintage cameras. If you just need the one, a kit is probably a cheaper way to go, and definitely a lot easier. If you need something fixed right this minute and don't have the time to wait for something to ship, just use electrical tape on the outside seams, and clean up the residue later with rubbing alcohol or naphtha when the foam arrives.

Ariston said:

Is there something at the craft store, or otherwise readily available, that you guys use to patch up a light leak on an FM? I'm thinking about just grabbing some felt and gluing it on. Buying one of those foam "kits" seems unnecessary to me.

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I found it completely unecessary to have any kind of sealat all. I painted the channel flat black and it created a perfect light trap without the need of aging materials.

RalphLambrecht said:

I found it completely unecessary to have any kind of sealat all. I painted the channel flat black and it created a perfect light trap without the need of aging materials.

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That's good news and something I will definitely try in the future!

So far, after having discovered that my mechanician used to replace foam (that tends in any case to deteriorate and get sticky very quickly) with black wool thread kept in place with a very thin layer of paste, I began doing this work by myself with excellent results. Wool lasts basically forever.

Jon Goodman of RB67 light seal kit fame I believe has an FM seal kit.