Nikon FM Pinhole Project - Need Service Manuals, Tools, Technician's ideas

<p>Hi All, <br>

I'm working an a cool project in which I'm deconstructing a Nikon FM and turning it into a pinhole camera. I seem to be doing alright on my own, finding ways to accomplish the conversion, but I was wondering if anyone is or knows of a technician who works on these cameras. I'd love to collaborate a little bit. I am sure that there are ways I could make this look a little bit less janky and more durable if I could get my hands on the right tools and a manual. <br>

I'd love to bounce some more ideas off of someone who knows a thing or two about these cameras via email or phone. I think that think you folks could appreciate the project, and I look forward to sharing some photos taken with it. <br>

Best, <br>

Vaughn </p>

<p>I've never done pinhole photography but a preferred method might be to turn a body cap into a pinhole by drilling a hole and putting a piece foil over it, pierced to the appropriate size. I don't see how modifying the FM itself would help.</p>

<p>If I remember correctly, there use to be a pinhole converter for Nikon cameras that was nothing much more than a body cap with a pinhole drilled in it.</p>

<p>I looked on the Freestyle site, but do not find it listed.</p>

<p>This might help, or at the very least be interesting: http://www.pinholeresource.com/shop/home</p>

 

<p><a href="http://www.keh.com/camera/Nikon-Manual-Focus-Miscellaneous-Accessories/1/sku-NK399990655770?r=FE">KEH lists a Nikon pinhole body cap </a>for $31 (LN).</p>

<p>DIY advice -<br>

<a href="http://www.camerahacker.com/EOS_Pin-Hole_Lens/index.shtml">http://www.camerahacker.com/EOS_Pin-Hole_Lens/index.shtml</a><br>

Don't think of harming that FM, there will be a disturbance in the Force.</p>

<p>Heck on my old Nikkormat, I just taped aluminum foil over the empty mount and made a pin hole in it. No need to "deconstruct" the camera itself. </p>

<p>Jim is right, you do not want to turn to the Dark Side here.</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback. I know of those pinhole caps and how to make a pinhole camera; the issue is in modifying the FM. I've removed the mirror, prism, lens mount, etc., pretty much everything between the lens and the film plane except for the winding mechanism and shutter. I did this in order to put the pinhole closer to the film plane for a wider angle of view more akin to a matchbox pinhole camera . I'm going to make adjustable risers for the pinholes of various focal lengths. <br>

The shutter fires great on all modes. The only annoyance is that there is a lever incorporated into the mirror system that triggers the shutter release on the right of the timing mechanism. I can get the shutter to fire by pressing both of these points at once, which is great, but I would like to be able to use a cable release to eliminate jitter. This is why I need the service manuals and a few pointers from a good technician, if possible. I'd like to eventually buy a few more on Ebay and turn them into pinhole cameras. <br>

If anyone has any comments or suggestion relevant to the modification feel free to chime in!</p>

<p>Try Dean's Camera repair in Torrance, California. He knows a great deal about the FM and serviced mine many times.</p>

<p>310-782-8619</p>

<p>Surely camera jitter is not an issue with pin-hole exposures, they're usually multi-minute long... any jitter will damp down in about 1/10 sec.</p>

<p>OK, so you've hacked out the mirror, prism, lens mount etc.... why the heck did you start with an SLR camera?? Infact, why did you start with a nice Nikon CAMERA at all?? You're only using the shutter and I guess the film advance system. Any disposable P&S has those!</p>

<p>Anyway, unless I'm missing something you'll be locking the shutter open for ages (on B), probably way longer than the longest settable shutter-speed. You may as well make you own 'shutter'..... simply un-cover and re-cover the pin-hole and timed with a stop watch.</p>

<p>As you're using film, the exposures are subject to reciprocity failure and get really long, really quick. The f-numbers of pin-holes are huge, f256 is not unknown.</p>

<p>I'm all for modding stuff, but, sorry, this seems daft to me. I know where you're going, but I wouldn't start from here!!</p>

<p>Why wouldn't a recessed tube have worked with the original lens mount? How wide do you want to go? The lens mount will come in handy if you want interchangeable focal lengths. Besides, the camera body itself might restrict some light at much wider than 46mm. As good as scrapping a FM sounds, I'd rather use a bellows camera and medium or large format for wide angle (and mark off the lengths where pin holes need to be changed). Remember that the accuracy of your pin hole becomes very critical with a smaller format. I hope you're using a good microscope for making them, preferably one with binocular vision or eyes may rapidly become sore. You will also need a true matt black paint to eliminate all the ghosting from long exposures and some type of attachment to support the pipe for tele focal lengths (300mm and beyond) if you'll use those.</p>

<p>Some time ago I got a pinhole body cap for my F3HP and it worked fine. As I recall I got it from Calumet. There is no reason it should not work on an FM.</p>

<p>-Owen</p>

<p>Why not start with a camera that has a shallower body to begin with? Old Zorkis or 120 folders can be bought for not-a-lot and there's no mirror box to contend with.</p>

<p>Seems like you're just making work for yourself to no good effect. In any case the definition on 35mm film with a pinhole is dreadful at best, requiring the pinhole to be precision engineered to optimise the image. You'd be better off using a camera that takes a bigger film size like the 120 folders I mentioned earlier. Exposures would be shorter too because of the larger pinhole required for the same level of image definition.</p>

<p>Rodeo Joe is right. You should start with a camera with a shorter distance from the lens to the film plane. If you want to stick with 35mm film, something like a Bessa L would be fine. It has the lens register of a Leica screw mount camera, about 28mm or so, much shallower than a Nikon SLR's. It's got a mechanical shutter, so you can keep the shutter open for as long as necessary without using up any batteries. It's a very stripped down camera body, so you don't pay for any luxuries like a viewfinder, autofocus mechanism, motor drive, etc. It's of recent manufacture, and it's cheap. Good luck!</p>