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Nikon FM seals


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Hi,

New to this forum and just getting back into film photography. I have a Nikon FM that was purchased new in 1978. I took it out and dusted it off and while I was examining it, noticed that the seals and the pads in the mirror box are rotted away. I would like to have the seals replaced and the shutter checked so I can start using it. I guess I'm looking to have it refurbished. I'm looking for camera repair shops that can do this for me. Any suggestions? I'm in the S.F. Bay Area.

 

Thanks for any help,

John

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Are you up to doing the seal job yourself? If so, Jon Goodman(jon_goodman@yahoo.com) sells pre-cut kits with instructions for most any manual focus camera you can imagine.

 

I don't have an FM so never asked him, but most other Nikon SLRs of the era(F2, F3) I think are $12 or $15 for a kit. I don't remember exactly as the last time I bought from him, I bought a BUNCH of kits. Resealing a camera is not a huge deal and is something that anyone can do. The most difficult part, IMO, is getting all the old material off and the surface clean, albeit RB67 backs can give anyone a run for their money :) . Most 35mm SLRs are pretty straight forward.

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Are you up to doing the seal job yourself? If so, Jon Goodman(jon_goodman@yahoo.com) sells pre-cut kits with instructions for most any manual focus camera you can imagine.

 

I don't have an FM so never asked him, but most other Nikon SLRs of the era(F2, F3) I think are $12 or $15 for a kit. I don't remember exactly as the last time I bought from him, I bought a BUNCH of kits. Resealing a camera is not a huge deal and is something that anyone can do. The most difficult part, IMO, is getting all the old material off and the surface clean, albeit RB67 backs can give anyone a run for their money :) . Most 35mm SLRs are pretty straight forward.

 

Thanks for that information. I will check it out. Hadn't thought about doing it myself

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John: I've done these by the dozen by now. The kits from John Goodman are the best. Sometimes he has been out of the business, and other times back in the business it seems. If he's "In", you want his kits. If he's "Out", they can be reasonably copied from craft-store materials, but without the good pre-cuts, and probably with less well considered materials. If he's not doing the business anymore, please let me know and I'll give you some ideas of how to mimic his superior stuff.
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I still have the FM I bought in 1979. (Just after the FE came out.)

 

I still use it once in a while, and hadn't noticed the pad problem.

 

I have some other similar era cameras (FT3, EL2, F, F2) that mostly seem to work fine.

 

Usually the shutter is either close enough, or nowhere close at all. (The latter includes staying close, or staying open.)

 

Well, close enough means for negative film. For slides, you should be pretty close on exposure.

 

I also have never had the light seals around the back fail enough to cause leaks, which others report needing fixing.

-- glen

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Replacing light seals yourself is really quite easy. Do a quick look on the internet for some videos to get a sense of the job, gather your parts (& courage) and go to it. I've done it for almost all of the older cameras I've bought in the last 15 years. in spite of clumsy hands and a lack of stereo vision.
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John: I've done these by the dozen by now. The kits from John Goodman are the best. Sometimes he has been out of the business, and other times back in the business it seems. If he's "In", you want his kits. If he's "Out", they can be reasonably copied from craft-store materials, but without the good pre-cuts, and probably with less well considered materials. If he's not doing the business anymore, please let me know and I'll give you some ideas of how to mimic his superior stuff.

 

I bought a bunch from Jon a couple of months back. I even convinced him to dig out his Bronica dies since I bought a couple. He did tell me at the time that he was having supplier issues, and also that the raw materials had gone up a fair bit.

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