to repair or not to repair? nikon fm2

destroya · Mar 7, 2016

digging through more of my dads old stuff I found a like new cameras bag. opened it and inside was a still shrink wrapped 50mm 1.8 series E lens and a nikon FM2n camera. used the lens and its amazing, considering people like to pre judge it being a series e lens.

the nikon fm2n was used by him so its not new like the lens. the rubber eye piece is a worn but otherwise its in pretty good shape. i tried it out and it seems the film advance does not work. you can crank it and the lever moves and returns, but the film will not advance. I have may cameras and the odds of me using it would not be very high, or it would not get used very much if at all. so should I fix it, not being sure what the cost would be and then try it and sell it or, sell it as is for like $60 or for however much I could get for it and let the buyer fix it? Im not sure of the repair cost but will take it to my camera repair guy to get an estimate tomorrow.

thoughts?

HiHoSilver · Mar 7, 2016

Do you like to use a Nikon SLR of that genre & era? If so, its a no brainer. If your tastes do not include 35 SLR - sell. My little FE2, I bought new in the 80s. When mirror foam went the way of all flesh, I spent as much to replace as it would cost for another camera. But I have some miles & memories on this one, so I'll keep it running.

albada · Mar 8, 2016

destroya said:
digging through more of my dads old stuff I found a like new cameras bag. opened it and inside was a still shrink wrapped 50mm 1.8 series E lens and a nikon FM2n camera. used the lens and its amazing, considering people like to pre judge it being a series e lens.

the nikon fm2n was used by him so its not new like the lens. the rubber eye piece is a worn but otherwise its in pretty good shape. i tried it out and it seems the film advance does not work. you can crank it and the lever moves and returns, but the film will not advance. I have may cameras and the odds of me using it would not be very high, or it would not get used very much if at all. so should I fix it, not being sure what the cost would be and then try it and sell it or, sell it as is for like $60 or for however much I could get for it and let the buyer fix it? Im not sure of the repair cost but will take it to my camera repair guy to get an estimate tomorrow.

thoughts?

Does the take-up spool turn and the sprocket *not* turn? If so, the camera might be fine, but in rewind-mode. Check whether something is holding the rewind-button in on the bottom. If that looks okay, try turning the sprocket with your finger while advancing. Hopefully the sprocket will click into gear and begin turning normally.

Mark Overton

Roger Cole · Mar 8, 2016

HiHoSilver said:
Do you like to use a Nikon SLR of that genre & era? If so, its a no brainer. If your tastes do not include 35 SLR - sell. My little FE2, I bought new in the 80s. When mirror foam went the way of all flesh, I spent as much to replace as it would cost for another camera. But I have some miles & memories on this one, so I'll keep it running.

That's the thing about foam. If you can do it yourself it's cheap. But I've looked at it, even bought a kit for one of my Ricoh's that needs foam, scratched my head and gave up. If you can't or are unwilling to do it yourself, it costs as much or more than replacing the body, but with the age of these cameras that one may need foam next month too.

Best to bite the bullet and pay to have anything you want to keep using brought as up to near new as reasonably possible. But if you don't plan to use it, sell to someone who will (maybe in the case of foam someone who considers it trivial and will do it themselves.)

My M645 Pro is with Mark Hama right now getting a full overhaul after it developed some intermittent shutter problems (not sure if maybe it only happens at certain speeds or what) and that's costing me, with shipping, a bit over $250 and I could have bought a good looking M645Pro TL on eBay for about $275 - but I wouldn't know when it might need service too. This way I will have a camera that I know has been gone over by an expert and should be good for many years to come.

Ap507b · Mar 8, 2016

That little square lever to the side of the wind lever is the multiple exposure lever. It should be spring loaded but might be stuck causing what you are describing? I swapped the top cover on my FM2 & didn't quite get it back right the first time & the film wasn't advancing because the lever was stuck engaged. Does the shutter cock even though the film doesn't advance?

If you want to shoot 35mm then for me it's well worth fixing. FM2 is a lovely camera to shoot with IMO.

onre · Mar 8, 2016

Foam isn't that hard to remove, really. Use lighter fluid and q-tips to get it off - just be careful with the lighter fluid, you don't want it everywhere, only to dissolve the foam. When doing the mirror seal, this is actually easiest to do with the camera upside down. This way you'll avoid getting any of the stuff on the mirror. Additionally, keep the camera slightly slanted forward (towards the lens) so that sticky foam pieces do not end up on focusing glass. Also, work the q-tip accordingly - pull the sticky goo out, do not push it in.

Once you're done with cleaning (you can't get all of it off, that's fine), cut a q-tip in half. Now you have two handy tools for pressing the new mirror seal in place after you've positioned it correctly. Just be careful, don't panic, after all it's built by human beings.

Roger Cole · Mar 8, 2016

If foam is so easy, someone should be doing it for less than the cost of a full CLA then.

If someone is, I'd love to know about it. I will not attempt that on my own camera. I am just not good with delicate work in tight quarters like that no matter how easy it might appear.

MattKing · Mar 8, 2016

My repair technician has two rates for seal replacement - a low price if I remove all the old foam first, and a high price if he has to do it......

John Bragg · Mar 9, 2016

Foam really isn't hard to do and the best stuff to use is supplied by Jon Goodman. My FM2n will need doing at some time but I have done 3 cameras to date and it no longer phases me. Removing the old stuff is just messy, but worth the effort for a pristine job. Isopropyl Alcohol works well and also on newer Nikons with Sticky Back Syndeome.

RalphLambrecht · Mar 9, 2016

destroya said:
digging through more of my dads old stuff I found a like new cameras bag. opened it and inside was a still shrink wrapped 50mm 1.8 series E lens and a nikon FM2n camera. used the lens and its amazing, considering people like to pre judge it being a series e lens.

the nikon fm2n was used by him so its not new like the lens. the rubber eye piece is a worn but otherwise its in pretty good shape. i tried it out and it seems the film advance does not work. you can crank it and the lever moves and returns, but the film will not advance. I have may cameras and the odds of me using it would not be very high, or it would not get used very much if at all. so should I fix it, not being sure what the cost would be and then try it and sell it or, sell it as is for like $60 or for however much I could get for it and let the buyer fix it? Im not sure of the repair cost but will take it to my camera repair guy to get an estimate tomorrow.

thoughts?

Do to it what you think your Dad would have done to it.

Roger Cole · Mar 9, 2016

Ralph wins the thread. Question answered.

I got my mom's old Kodak Brownie and brought it back to Georgia with me when she died. I used that camera to shoot the first roll of film, 127 Verichrome Pan, that I ever developed, in addition to the fact it belonged to my mother for many years. If it needed repair to be functional (not that much to go wrong so it doesn't) I'd have it fixed, not because I want or need a Brownie that takes 127 film but because it was my mothers.

blockend · Mar 9, 2016

MattKing said:
My repair technician has two rates for seal replacement - a low price if I remove all the old foam first, and a high price if he has to do it......

If the foam has deteriorated so much it has virtually dissolved - which happened to about a quarter of my cameras - it's easier to use the old sticky foam as "glue" for the new foam or string. It saves a lot of time poking around with a cocktail stick and meths. How much damage can you do to a camera that is already not fit for use? If you work methodically the answer is very little. You're removing gunk with a stick and pushing foam into a slot - on a scale of 1 to 10 the skill level is about two. The job shouldn't take much more than an hour.

mgb74 · Mar 9, 2016

Roger Cole said:
If foam is so easy, someone should be doing it for less than the cost of a full CLA then.

If someone is, I'd love to know about it. I will not attempt that on my own camera. I am just not good with delicate work in tight quarters like that no matter how easy it might appear.

My experience is that repair folks don't like to do partial repairs. They're concerned that they'll be blamed when something else soon goes wrong.

As to the cost of professional replacement, they're charging you for their time. And it's the same time whether it's a job any fool can do (and, as I've replaced foam, I'm proof of that) or something that only a skilled repair person can do.

destroya · Mar 9, 2016

RalphLambrecht said:
Do to it what you think your Dad would have done to it.

he would have given it away many years ago as it was broken. he kept his working film cameras though. he got 1 of the first nikon D1's shipped to the US, so he was a digital convert very early, which is no surprise for a guy who built a computer out of tv and phone parts in the 50's.

I have all his film cameras so, keeping it would fit the trend. but I doubt i will use it because I prefer the needle meter readout of the fm3 and fe-2 and the the F3 for a non needle readout. leaning towards selling it, so it could be in classified soon

Huss · Mar 9, 2016

John Bragg said:
Foam really isn't hard to do and the best stuff to use is supplied by Jon Goodman. My FM2n will need doing at some time but I have done 3 cameras to date and it no longer phases me. Removing the old stuff is just messy, but worth the effort for a pristine job. Isopropyl Alcohol works well and also on newer Nikons with Sticky Back Syndeome.

I just got a couple of Jon Goodman's kits and they are much better than the other ones I bought off ebay. One huge advantage is his back door channel strips do not have adhesive on them, they are a friction fit which makes them much easier to apply. And they stay put.
I clean the old stuff off using a dental pick, isopropyl alcholol and q tips.

As for the film mechanism not advancing, as someone else mentioned check the multi exposure lever next to it.

Xmas · Mar 15, 2016

destroya said:
digging through more of my dads old stuff I found a like new cameras bag. opened it and inside was a still shrink wrapped 50mm 1.8 series E lens and a nikon FM2n camera. used the lens and its amazing, considering people like to pre judge it being a series e lens.

the nikon fm2n was used by him so its not new like the lens. the rubber eye piece is a worn but otherwise its in pretty good shape. i tried it out and it seems the film advance does not work. you can crank it and the lever moves and returns, but the film will not advance. I have may cameras and the odds of me using it would not be very high, or it would not get used very much if at all. so should I fix it, not being sure what the cost would be and then try it and sell it or, sell it as is for like $60 or for however much I could get for it and let the buyer fix it? Im not sure of the repair cost but will take it to my camera repair guy to get an estimate tomorrow.

thoughts?

The E is as good as any 5cm /1.8.
The eye piece screws off and NOS stock is available. I should have the part number if you need it.

If it has sentimental value pony up for a service. Or the eagle of regret will eat your heart valve by valve.

nolanr66 · Mar 15, 2016

Well if it were my Dad's camera I would fix it and keep it. Others are not so sentimental about stuff. However Garry's camera will fix and service the camera for about $50.00. Even if you wanted to sell it you would be better off having it serviced first as broken it's not worth much.

Alan Gales · Mar 15, 2016

If you will never shoot it then just put it on display in your house somewhere as a memory of your Dad.

A good friend of mine bought an antique glass and wood octagon store display case. He displays old antique cameras in it. He also has his Dad's Super Speed Graphic on display in it too He has memories of his dad shooting his little league team pictures with it. Hs wife doesn't mind because she loves antiques and has them all over the house.

nolanr66 · Mar 15, 2016

Last week I took a few photos with my 50mm f1.8E lens and then the same photos with my 50mm f1.8 AF-D lens using the same Nikon camera of course. I could not see any difference in the quality of the shots using Tri-X. I compared at f1.8, f5.6 and f11. Anyway after that I thought I may as well just use the E lens on my manual focus camera's as it's smaller. Both lenses are about as light as possible I would say. I am sure my testing is not rigorous enough for a forum but it is good enough for me.

ronwhit · Mar 15, 2016

Decades ago I gave my dad a used Canon TX which he treasured. When he passed, I inherited that camera and had a CLA done so I could use it, and I use it to this day. I have newer and more sophisticated cameras, but this one will always remain special. Some things are a link to the past......

to repair or not to repair? nikon fm2

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