Managed to correct a slightly bent hotshoe/prism housing on a FM

[Incongruent Phonon]

Good evening all. I just acquired this near mint FM. To not bore you with much details, the hot shoe was tilted to the left of the camera(viewing from the front) to a visible degree. 
 

I consulted with the seller and was issued full refund and told I can keep the camera.(more on that later). So I decided to do something about it. 
 

I tested everything else and everything else works. Sans the light meter. It’s a shame to let go of such a nice copy of FM just because UPS ruined the hotshoe.

 

So I gave it some love taps with a holy bible as well as an AR wrench. After an hour of patience, careful kneading, the hotshoe is sitting flush. 
 

 

 

more details in comments. 

[Incongruent Phonon]

I’m gonna repeat what I have done, trying to be as concise as I could. Hopefully it could help you with your camera. After this part I will include some context and you can choose to read if you are interested. 

 

As you can see in the picture: the hotshoe is slanted to the left. The prism housing seemed to got pushed in along with thr left side of the hot shoe, to the left side. Yuck. Yuck yuck. It doesn’t show much on the picture, but there’s gotta be a good fifth of an inch between the height of the left side and the right side of the hotshoe. This is obviously very f**ed.

I started by giving it some gentle knocks towards the opposite direction where it got pushed in. With a thick book. A bible. About the amount of force that you would shake a cut dry. After a dozen knocks or so I noticed that the prism housing started to come into alignment with the front plate that says Nikon.

I let the camera sit for a little to minimize the additional stress I introduce into the housing, then I started tapping the side of the hot shoe where it sits higher. This brought the hot shoe/prism housing closer to flush with thr camera body. 

when the assembly is almost in alignment(but still not quite as I could still perceive a slight slant), I inserted a flat multi tool bit in between the left hot shoe rail, and pried it using the right hotshoe rail as pivot. Carefully controlling the force to make sure I don’t break it. I got 2,3 really nice wedge in, and it’s level. 
 

I went out and shot two rolls of film with thr very camera today. Negatives came out all right. Doesn’t seem to be any issue at all. 
 

 

[Incongruent Phonon]

Some notes:

-the top plate of the FM is apparently pretty soft. I went through some more listings of FM and noticed quite a few has dented prism housing and slanted hot shoes. If yours have an actual dent, this method likely won’t be able to correct it. If you have one that’s a little bit f**ed up but not entirely crushed, some love taps with a thick book might help. 

-in general, hitting your camera with a heavy book is considered pretty stupid. I only took the book to it because I essentially got the camera for free. The FM is also one of the cheapest Nikon bodies you can find now. you might wanna think twice before you bible your 5000 dollar machine. If you do decide to clobber it a bit, set it on your hands or bed so the shock doesn‘t transfer to the camera completely. 
 

-a metal housing could be adjusted to accompany for a minor misalignment. It has some flexibility to bend and conform before it fractures. 
 

-you might knock levers springs prisms mirrors out of alignment during the process. 
 

 

with all that said, this is a last ditch resort for a cheap old camera that have potential but you don’t wanna send for CLA,

[Incongruent Phonon]

Some context:

seller shipped UPS. No comments on that here, but UPS broke several of my cameras before. 
 

I immediately noticed that the flash contact didn’t have nearly as much packing as I opened the package. Heart sunk. 2 minutes into inspection, heart dropped to bottom. Fornicate you UPS 🙂

Contacted seller, got refund and was told to keep the camera, as I said before. 
 

I ended up sending the seller half the cost of the camera. Didn’t feel quite right to let the seller stomach all the cost. I would have just STFU and keep my cash and the camera if I wasn’t able to correct it, but with little effort I actually got it back to its proper form and it turned out functional. So I did what I think is right. 
 

sans the light meter. Light meter is as dead as death could be. Shoved some new light seals in this puppy and I now have a pretty functional Fm. 
 

Probably not AS flush as the day it rolled out of the assembly line in 1980s. But flush enough for my eyes. 
 

that’s all. Good night. 

[mike_halliwell]

Humm, a bit confused. OK, so it got dropped on its head and pushed one side of the hotshot down.

Did you Bible Bash the high side down to make it level?. Not sure how you could hit it up?

I think I would have clamped the body down and tried to pull the low side up. The metal of the hot shoe is considerably thicker/stronger than the thin pentaprism hump.

[Niels - NHSN]

I love it when members share their hacks like this. Thanks.

It would be very nice with a few shots illustrating the process.

 

[Incongruent Phonon]

5 hours ago, Niels - NHSN said:

I love it when members share their hacks like this. Thanks.

It would be very nice with a few shots illustrating the process.

 

Unfortunately I was too fixated in the process. The progress was very slow and there aren’t much difference between the position of the hot shoe, until it was almost flush. So I posted the before and after. I should have really got a better before picture but the seller didn’t even question the one I took so I didn’t really got around to do that. 
 

I have been procrastinating to scan my negatives. I’ll get that done today and post some pics. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by Incongruent Phonon

[Incongruent Phonon]

5 hours ago, mike_halliwell said:

Humm, a bit confused. OK, so it got dropped on its head and pushed one side of the hotshot down.

Did you Bible Bash the high side down to make it level?. Not sure how you could hit it up?

I think I would have clamped the body down and tried to pull the low side up. The metal of the hot shoe is considerably thicker/stronger than the thin pentaprism hump.

I actually bibled down the high side. That brought up the low side a little bit. Then I stuck a metal piece wrapped with tape under the low side, there’s a tiny space where it would catch on and hammered the metal piece up. As well as some knocks on the prism housing itself. Followed with two, three good wedges using the high side as pivot, wedging the low side up. And it’s flush. 
 

I was not sure that it’ll work at all so I didn’t really record any videos. I should have. The flash contact is very strong indeed. Surprisingly so. I didn’t dare pulling it with a vice because I fear I’m just gonna pull it off. 

[Mary Doo]

14 hours ago, Incongruent Phonon said:

I actually bibled down the high side.

Were you pounding it with the Bible supplemented with a prayer, or you just couldn't find another object to hammer it?  😇🤣

[Incongruent Phonon]

5 hours ago, Mary Doo said:

Were you pounding it with the Bible supplemented with a prayer, or you just couldn't find another object to hammer it?  😇🤣

Cant say no prayer was involved at all. But the sad news is i took out the viewfinder screen and mirror yesterday only to realize the inner frame under the lens mount is also deformed : ( and that is way beyond my ability to fix. 
 

 Most likely gonna be able to flip the lens and camera body for parts and at least break even the 60 bucks i ended up sending the seller. And a nice FM2N just popped up…..  contemplating about snatching that instead.

 

[mike_halliwell]

1 hour ago, Incongruent Phonon said:

FM2N

Much more sensible.....used them for years.

🙂

[Incongruent Phonon]

8 hours ago, mike_halliwell said:

Much more sensible.....used them for years.

🙂

Sigh. My initial aim is to score a full manual body thats as cheap as possible. First got the pentax MX, but something about the FM series call to me so much so i got the FM, also with cost in mind. I would have settled with the FM if not for the issues, now that i felt what its like and the bug is there even deeper. So just bit the bullet snd got the FM2N 😞 

[Niels - NHSN]

A mechanical Nikon camera makes a lot of sense because they are plentiful and economically replaceable - and not least, lenses are equally plentiful and therefore lower in price than more niche brands.

My personal experience is that while my many (10) Nikon cameras have needed 0 service, my much more expensive Leica cameras (7) have needed service at least once every 10 years - or basically; any Leica camera I have purchased has needed service at least once.

 

[Incongruent Phonon]

1 hour ago, Niels - NHSN said:

A mechanical Nikon camera makes a lot of sense because they are plentiful and economically replaceable - and not least, lenses are equally plentiful and therefore lower in price than more niche brands.

My personal experience is that while my many (10) Nikon cameras have needed 0 service, my much more expensive Leica cameras (7) have needed service at least once every 10 years - or basically; any Leica camera I have purchased has needed service at least once.

 

Do you have any experience with the nikkor 50mm 1.8 pancake lens? I just got one and it feels very lose, the inner barrel have play, doesnt seem normal to me….

[Niels - NHSN]

23 minutes ago, Incongruent Phonon said:

Do you have any experience with the nikkor 50mm 1.8 pancake lens? I just got one and it feels very lose, the inner barrel have play, doesnt seem normal to me….

I own a 50/1.8 pancake - the plasticky 65cm close-focus version. Not the more desirable 45cm focus Japanese market version, but since all Nikkor 50/1.8 versions (pancake or not) are the same optical construction, I don't give a damn. 

My personal sample is well damped and, except for the build quality, a lens I like a lot.  

I have owned other Nikkor lenses with more dry focus, or Nikkor lenses with more play, but have not noticed problems in actual use.

In most cases they are perfectly fine, but if you care for a well damped focus throw, it it normally not very costly to have the lens re-greased.

Cost seems to run up when you need a more thorough clean-up of the internals, like the aperture blades etc.

 

 

[Incongruent Phonon]

3 hours ago, Niels - NHSN said:

I own a 50/1.8 pancake - the plasticky 65cm close-focus version. Not the more desirable 45cm focus Japanese market version, but since all Nikkor 50/1.8 versions (pancake or not) are the same optical construction, I don't give a damn. 

My personal sample is well damped and, except for the build quality, a lens I like a lot.  

I have owned other Nikkor lenses with more dry focus, or Nikkor lenses with more play, but have not noticed problems in actual use.

In most cases they are perfectly fine, but if you care for a well damped focus throw, it it normally not very costly to have the lens re-greased.

Cost seems to run up when you need a more thorough clean-up of the internals, like the aperture blades etc.

 

 

I actually took it apart and (almost werent able to) put it back together. Don’t think anything is broken or lose. Guess the play is just how it is..