FM2n shutter and advance stuck

I just received a FM2n from an auction. I was just checking the

mechanism on the camera, no more than 10 shots, without film. Then

the advance won't move past the unlocked position. I checked the

front of the camera, and the mirror was up. Then I checked the back

and the shutter was stopped 3mm from the top.

It was very cold when I originally took it out of the box, and I may

have hit the double exposure switch when taking a shot. Would this

cause it to mess up?

I've seen a couple of threads with similar problems, but haven't

been able to solve his. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Josh

I had a similar problem with my FE2 a few years back, and know of a few others with a similar problem with this type of body in Internet forums. One person I know of solved the problem with my suggestion.

The one thing that differs in your situation (from my FE2) is that the shutter is visibly stuck.

For what it's worth, the solution to my FE2's advance lever being jammed was this (the FE2 was set to M250 for this; obviously not applicable to your FM2n):

Remove the bottom body plate. This will expose the advance mechanism at the base of the camera. There will be a lever engaging a cog at the bottom of the advance mechanism. Move it out of the way and advance the lever. With my FE2, everything was cleared and back in sync.

Maybe this will help?

It seems to be working okay. I took the bottom plate off. The lever was stopping the advance. Thanks, Eric. I'll fire the thing off a few hundred times to see if it happens again. If it does, I'll be posting here agin :P

-Josh

The guy at a local camera shop fixed my FE2 and showed me how to do it if the lever ever jammed again. I told him that it jammed up while I was loading a roll of film. At that point, I had only used an AF body with auto film loading, and he said that during the advance to the first frame I had done something to cause the lever at the bottom to engage before it was supposed to. Trying to go too fast, probably.

Anyway, I've never caused it again, and don't know what I did in the first place. Sounds like something an MF user would only do once.

I'm new to Nikons, but I just bought a well-used FM2N for a friend

and I had this problem a few times when beginning to use the camera,

never since. I watched it happen with the back open: The shutter cocks,

the second curtain reaches the bottom and then fails to lock down,

springing back to the position a few mm from the top of the film gate

(about 8mm in my case). Then, firing the shutter drops the first curtain, the second one stays where it is and the thing is then out of sync, with the mirror locked up and, worryingly, a gap onto the film

which would be a real swine if you didn't realise and tried to rewind a film after such a jam.

Camera technicians and those of a delicate disposition can look the

other way for my descrition of how I persuaded the thing to re-sync, which I *DO NOT* recommend, and which in any case wouldn't be much help with a film in - I just *gently* pressed the second blind back down and released it using a non-greasy, non-sharp object and taking

considerable care to avoid applying pressure in any wrong directions 'cos these things are extremely delicate, etc. Anyway, I got away with it, two or three times, and the camera's worked flawlessly since. I would strongly recommend the remove-the-bottom-plate approach cited above instead of my own risky procedure, though.

This particular sort of jam seems oft-mentioned with FM2s and I

suspect it might account for some of the "failed shutter" problems.

The shutter on mine had been replaced before I had it, so I don't

think it's likely to be worn out.

Either it happens 'cos some bit which latches the shutter blade

down is sticky with non-use (mine had sat idle for 6 months) or

it happens when you wind on and accidentally catch the shutter

release at the same time, or perhaps both. Either way, having freed

it and used it a bit, the problem hasn't recurred on mine.

Just an extra data point, disclaimers apply, especially about

touching the shutter blades - they're pretty tough consdering they're

microscopically thin, but extremely delicate nonetheless and I really

wouldn't advise poking at them.

Interesting thread -- just about the same thing happened to my son with his FM2.

He had previously had the shutter replaced (from damage when the camera got

soaked while he was staying in a primative shelter in the rain forest in Costa Rica).

Then, after the camera had sat idle for about 4 months, he had the problem you

describe. He was testing it before loading film, and the advance lever and shutter

became stuck. As I recall, the shutter also was stuck about 3mm from the top. Also

using a blunt onject, I very gently pushed down on the top of the shutter, and

released it. The shutter closed, and this seemed to reset it. AGAIN I DO NOT

RECOMMEND THIS - the approach described above seems much safer.

I should add I've had a similar problem with an FE2 -- in this case, it seemed to be

from inadvertently partly cocking the self-timer - it partly ran down and stopped.

This latter problem was solved by cocking the self-timer all the way and letting it run

out. If you have a problem with an FE2 or FM2 or related camera, you might want to

see if you can reset it by cocking the self timer.

I should add that these problems notwithstanding, I find these cameras a joy to use.

They're rugged -- but not indestructable.

Bob Yarsh

Further to this, I've been using the FM2n with an MD12 motor on it

for a while since my initial problem with the shutter, running

flawlessly. Then I showed it to a friend, who took the drive off

and cocked the camera manually. Once again the shutter stuck at

the 3mm (it is about 3mm, the other posters are right, my memory

was faulty...) point, as per the above message(s). I released it

using the highly not recommended fingernail-on-shutter-blind-hinge

technique and watched my friend do the same again - he didn't have

his finger on the release. Played with it a bit. Winding on slowly,

it jammed 50% of the time. Winding on fast or with the motor, it

didn't jam. A clue...

Took the bottom off the camera and identified the long flat bit

which gets pulled across by a cam on the advance spindle. With

the camera upside-down, peering into the bottom, this part is

pretty obvious. You have to remove the motor drive coupling plate,

which also provides the cam action to move said long flat bit,

and the pawl described by other posters which provides the

wind-on lock between exposures, and a screw which goes through

a slot in the long flat bit. Lift out the long flat bit, and

attached to the other side of it is a short pin which pokes

deeper into the camera. This pin cocks the shutter, and on mine

it was loose and worn. I think the motor drives give this part

a pretty hard time. Advancing at speed, there's enough inertia

to fully cock the shutter. At low speed, it sometimes doesn't

quite latch properly. Anyway, the pin's threaded into the long

flat bit, I think - mine seemed to be - and after I cleaned it and

appllied a tiny smidgen of loctite, a tweak with a pair of pliars

tightened it up and moved the worn side of the pin around out of

the way of the roller it acts on. Re-assembled it all and the camera

has been fine since, I can wind on as slowly as I like and it

properly cocks the shutter every time.

Just thought this might help someone out there!

<p>shot a pic of it :)<br>