Uhoh.. Nikon FM metering unresponsive!

[jay moussy]

Well, I spent some time testing a few SLRs I found here and there, and finally, I get to revisit my original Nikon FM circa 1979, to find the metering unresponsive. Not fair!

The battery set is fine, as demonstrated on its fellow Nikon EM.
Battery compartment and bottom spring contact blade are are fine.

Not sure what to do, here.

 

[gone]

Did you put a meter on the batteries to see their actual voltage? The EM may not need as much juice to work.

 

[BobD]

Did you switch the meter on? (pull film advance lever out from body exposing the red dot)

If so, I would try cleaning the battery compartment and the batteries with alcohol (even if they look clean) and try again.

 

[Huss]

Well, I spent some time testing a few SLRs I found here and there, and finally, I get to revisit my original Nikon FM circa 1979, to find the metering unresponsive. Not fair!

The battery set is fine, as demonstrated on its fellow Nikon EM.
Battery compartment and bottom spring contact blade are are fine.

Not sure what to do, here.

One excellent suggestion would be to buy my fully working FM.

 

[Chan Tran]

Not responsive you mean you see none of the LED lit up?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Might be a good time to have a CLA and take care of the problems that you do not know about.

 

[wiltw]

Things do go wrong, even without use, and cared for gently.. I have a Topcon Auto 100 which is my very first SLR, dad purchased it in 1965. I put it away in a padded hardcase fully operational, and when I pulled it out a few years ago (about 45 yo) its meter no longer responded.

 

[jay moussy]

Not responsive you mean you see none of the LED lit up?

Yes, that's it.
The alcohol cleaning suggested above did not [produce hoped results.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yes, that's it.
The alcohol cleaning suggested above did not [produce hoped results.

Is there an improvement if you drink the alcohol?

 

[wiltw]

Is there an improvement if you drink the alcohol?

If course, HE gets 'lit' even though the LEDs do not.

 

[jay moussy]

The tequila did not work, but I found some comfort in some vermouth.

Anyway, it is a no go.
How many of us use an older SLR with hand metering, or nose-o-meter?

 

[logan2z]

Anyway, it is a no go.
How many of us use an older SLR with hand metering, or nose-o-meter?

I use a handheld meter with my FM even though the meter works and seems reasonably accurate. I got used to metering that way when using my unmetered Leicas.

 

[Chan Tran]

The tequila did not work, but I found some comfort in some vermouth.

Anyway, it is a no go.
How many of us use an older SLR with hand metering, or nose-o-meter?

I use older camera (both SLR and rangefinder) without meter but not with hand metering or nose o meter. I guess the exposure.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

Yes, eyes work much better than hands or noses for determining exposure.

 

[Les Sarile]

The tequila did not work, but I found some comfort in some vermouth.

Anyway, it is a no go.
How many of us use an older SLR with hand metering, or nose-o-meter?

I got used to having no meter when shooting daylight specially with color negative's huge latitude on the overexposure side. I conduct latitude testing on my films and seems Kodak Portra can handle quite a bit . . .

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yes, eyes work much better than hands or noses for determining exposure.

I found that a good calibrated light meter works even better than eyes.