NIKON FM help!!

[jason_rubnack]

<p>I have recently acquired a Nikon FM body and have a problem I couldn't find any answers for. After inspecting the camera and testing all its functions, I put on a lens to check the meter (a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AI lens).<br>

Looking through the viewfinder I saw only darkness, and, yes, the lens cap was off. Removing the lens from the body, I then noticed the mirror was in the up position and the shutter would not advance. It is as if I have "tripped" the mechanics and the camera is now "locked up".<br>

This problem has happened to me before, and I sold the camera because I thought it was broken. Now i refuse to believe this is the case because, as stated above, everything was working fine until I attached the lens! Am I missing something? Is it a quick fix or more complicated than that?<br>

(For what it's worth, my other camera is a Nikon F2 and I've never had this problem before.)<br>

Thank you!</p>

[User_4754088]

<p>These threads might help:</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00OE7J</p>

<p>http://www.flickr.com/groups/fmseries/discuss/72157594585662386/</p>

<p>http://www.flickr.com/groups/fmseries/discuss/72157625059090760/</p>

<p>http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-15497.html</p>

<p>Best,<br /> -Tim</p>

[todd_angood]

<p>Replace the battery. That should correct the problem. Good luck. I have an F2 as well, those old Nikons are truly nice cameras in my opinion.</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>The battery has nothing to do with the mirror lockup. The FM would work fine without any battery. Try pushing the mirror up (not down) and see if it would finish the cycle. I think someone replace the foam and put in too thick foam. </p>

[jim_momary]

<p>See if the mirror is 'stuck' to the bumper foam by gently pulling down on the mirror.</p>

<p>On old bodies like this, sticky mirror bumper foam prevents the cycle from following thru by 'holding' onto the mirror in the up position.<br>

See: <a href="/nikon-camera-forum/00OE7J">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00OE7J</a></p>

<p> ... reference the Jan 31, 2008; 05:03 a.m posting comment.</p>

<p>Do understand your camera is from 1977-1982, things do need some attention every so often.</p>

<p>Jim M.</p>

[jason_rubnack]

<p>The foam sticking doesn't seem to be the problem. In fact, the last camera that did this to me didn't even have foam.<br /> No, it can't be the battery as it is a mechanical camera. Also, the meter seems to work fine from what I can tell.<br /> Like I said, the shutter and everything worked fine until I attached the lens, so I can't believe that something is worn out. I have also tested other lenses to no avail.</p>

[keirst]

<p>It might need re-lubrication. Does the mirror still cycle right if you take the lens off now?</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Jason, if the stop down lever in the camera is prevented from moving, then that can jam up the camera, so check that the lens doesn't foul anything inside the camera. Is the stop-down preview lever free to move? If not then the aperture actuator may have been bent. Is the shutter partly open? If so then the camera won't be useable until the trailing blind has been closed. Is the shutter in the cocked or released condition? If still cocked, then the mirror hasn't risen far enough to trip the shutter. And of course, it could just be a coincidence that the camera decided to go wrong when you attached the lens.</p>

<p>Some suggested possibilities for freeing up the camera, apart from gently pushing the mirror <em>up</em>: There's a secondary shutter release in the base of the camera that's used by the MD11/12 motor drive. Try pushing that in using a biro point. Another possibility is that the self-timer has inadvertently been set, and is stuck. Self-timer mechanisms quite often refuse to wind down fully if they haven't been used for a long time. You can tell if it's stuck because the operating lever will rotate with no resistance and you won't hear any buzzing from the clockwork. Sometimes gently shaking the camera can encourage a stuck self-timer to unwind.</p>

[jason_rubnack]

<p>I have found what I believe to be the source of my problem. There is a small black knob near the shutter speed dial – apparently called the "multiple exposure lever" (see photo) – that operates by sliding it from right to left. In a frenzy of trying every button & switch on the camera I manipulated this lever and the camera "reset" itself, allowing me to cock and release the shutter and resume all normalcy. What a relief. I suppose this function either got stuck, off-sync, or I hit it by accident. I've never seen this particular lever before (nor do I like it very much after this fiasco – sorry little guy). Thanks everybody for helping out! I hope this thread can help someone in the future.</p>

<P>

<IMG SRC="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00c/00cEcb-544177684.jpg">

</P><div></div>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Good of you to come back with an answer to the problem, Jason. It doesn't happen often; most threads simply fade away and we never know the outcome. </p>

<p>It's been many years since I last picked up my FM bought in 1981. I'll have to remember this lever. :-) </p>

[davedyer]

<p>I bought my first of a couple of FMs in '77, and still use it now and then. I never knew what that little switch was for. I think I tried to push it down (into the body) once, but it didn't move or do anything, so I never paid any more attention to it. Who the hell read the owner's manual for an FM? Put the battery in the camera, attach lens, load film, shoot. Battery dies? Continue shooting! "Multiple exposure lever"... hmmmm. I went this long without using it, no reason to try it now.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>The camera in the image the OP posted above is not a Nikon camera.</p>

<p>I have a Nikon FE instead of FM, but the two look very similar. The FM does not have the aperture priority A mode on the shutter speed dial.</p>

<p>The multiple exposure lever on the FM/FE cameras is adjacent to the film advance. It only stops the film from advancing when you cock the shutter so that you can expose the same frame of film again. That lever should not affect shutter and mirror functionalities.</p><div></div>

[robert_bouknight1]

<p>Shun, from (possibly foggy) memory, I think the original FM did have the little button that pushed sideways for multiple exposure, different from the FE.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Robert, you are right. I got mixed up: <a href="http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfmseries/fm/spec.htm">http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfmseries/fm/spec.htm</a><br>

Nikon introduced the FE in 1978, a year after the FM, and from the FE on, they changed the multiple exposure lever. It looks like the subsequent FM2 and FE2 are like the FE. Sorry about that.</p>

<p>However, engaging the multiple exposure lever should not lock up the mirror and shutter, though. Maybe even that works differently on the FM?</p>

<p>I never had an FM. I still own the FE and I had an FE2.</p>

[jason_rubnack]

<p>Unfortunately, the camera has locked up <strong>again</strong> and multiple exposure lever is not fixing the problem as it once did. Still looking for help!</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Jason, sorry again that I mixed up the FM and FE, but as I wrote earlier, the multiple exposure lever only prevents the film from advancing so that you can expose the same frame again. It should have nothing to do with the mirror locking up.</p>

<p>The FM was produced between 1977 and 1982 or so. All of them are over 30 years old by now so that problems are expected. You may be better off looking for an FM2 instead. Unfortunately, the latest FM3a is now a collector's items and are expensive in the used market.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Yep, the multi-exposure button is a little concentrically stepped affair on the FM, although the ridges aren't too apparent on the OP's picture.</p>

<p>To use it you push it towards the prism of the camera while winding on, and then the shutter is recocked but the film isn't advanced. It <em>should</em> spring back after use to allow normal operation again, but it wouldn't surprise me if years of unuse made it a bit sticky. I'm surprised that this was able to lock the mirror up though.</p>

<p>It's easy to see why that little button was replaced by the lever on the FE. Double exposures on the FE can be done with a deft movement of the thumb and middle-finger of the right hand. Whereas operating the FM multi-exposure button is a two-handed job - unless you have a particularly big and dextrous thumb!</p>

<p>P.S. There were two versions of the FM. An early version had a rotating shutter lock/finger guard around the shutter release button - á la F2. Later versions had a fixed finger guard, and shutter lock was done by the position of the wind-on lever; standoff position frees the shutter release, while pressed home locks the shutter.</p>

<p>Jason, you do have the leverwind in its standoff position when trying to fire the shutter, don't you?</p>

[jason_rubnack]

<p>Rodeo,<br>

Yes the advance lever is in the "ON" position but will not advance further. Meanwhile the shutter release can be fully depressed with no effect. When in the "OFF" position the shutter release properly acts as the "shutter lock".</p>

[BelaMolnar]

<p>To add more to this forum subject, your FM camera must be a special or a very early model of sam kinda pre production series. I have my old FM, FE, FM-2 & FE-2 s and checking them for this extra button and never find one on any of them and I have 6 camera bodies of this. Keep it, because it has a collectors value as a special body. The FA has this little button to release the mirror when the camera operates, or shutter triggered without a battery in the camera, but it is in the back side of the same area. I have those cameras a very, very long time and it same to me they never go bad, broken down, they are almost indestructible cameras.</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<blockquote>

<p>your FM camera must be a special or a very early model</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Never seen an FM that did have the FE-type multiexposure lever under the film advance instead of the "button" near the prism housing. Mine had the button and certainly wasn't an early model (purchased in 1979, about 2 1/2 years after the introduction, Serial Number is 25xxxxx and I believe the FM started with 210000). Still with the knurled knob around the shutter release since it was before the MD-12 release (1980?) when the change on the FM was made to a smooth non-rotating one.</p>

[richard_cochran]

<p>For what it's worth, I purchased my FM new in April of 1980, and it has the same style multi-exposure button as shown in the OP's photo -- the round three-layer "wedding cake" button between the shutter speed dial and the prism. You slide it toward the prism to take multi exposures. My FM is newer than Dieter's. It has the new style smooth non-rotating ring around the shutter speed dial, with no lock around the shutter button. The shutter release is locked when the film wind lever is stowed in the "meter off" position, and unlocked when the wind lever is pulled out to turn the meter on.</p>

[jason_rubnack]

<p>I plan on taking my camera to a repair shop for definitive answers. Until then this is remains unsolved mystery for me.</p>