exaktamoment

I think you should try to fix it yourself. Remove the base plate and check the battery compartment. It is possibly when the cap is screwed in tight it pushes the battery compartment inward a bit and the bottom of the compartment may hit something.

BeBu, I probably will - I'm certain I'm not going to send it out to repair. As I said, it would cost more to ship and fix and ship back than to just get another camera. That said, I AM curious as to what is wrong with this beast and I think it would be cool to figure it out for myself.

I talked to a friend of mine and he suggests I would probably be better off to just get another FE or FM - it would cost more than a substitute camera to ship and repair the wonky FM. I'll do that, I suppose, but I'll keep the FM in hand - to see if I can fix it myself.

I have an FE that works perfectly and it uses the same battery setup that the FM uses. So, besides my voltmeter, this is my test bed for batteries. So. I went to the battery store and bought a brand new 2L76. That's a single 3v battery that is the other proper one to insert in the camera. And it worked. It tested at 3.26v and initially, it worked. I had LEDs as soon as I turned on the camera, I cocked the shutter and fired it and I still had LEDs but I cocked and fired again and the LEDs went out. I pulled the battery and tested and the battery showed 2.78v. So riddle me this, Batman - in a camera that's Fully Mechanical, in which the only thing that the battery is used for is the light metering system, how is it that battery drain seem co-incident with the shutter being fred?

 

What is there in an FM than can short and drain the battery?

Hey Y'all. I found an elderly 2L76 in the package, in a drawer. I tested it for voltage and it read 3.25 volts, so I put it in the FM and by goodness it worked. I set it down and walked away to do something else, came back a half hour later and it didn't work. BUT. I checked the voltage again and it was down to 1.2 volts. I'm putting that down to age of the battery. I'll replace it tomorrow and try again, but i think the 2L76 is the answer. Of course, if it pulls down again in an hour or so (an hour with the metering system shut off) then I'm going to have to look toward a short in the system.

 

Lou

The paper cut is donats or screw washer shaped with center opened

 

[ATTACH=full]1213483[/ATTACH]

Thanks. I'll try that right away.

I am the proud owner of e recently acquired Nikon FM. The first thing I did was to acquire some fresh batteries for the camera (Eveready 357) because I was sure the batts in the camera would dead. And they were. The problem arose when I went to check the operation of the light meter system (which is the only thing the batteries are used for) - it appeared not to work.

 

To make a long story short, I checked and double checked the batteries to make sure I had put them in properly, yet when the battery cover/holder is screwed in tight, the light metering does not work.

 

If I screw the cover/holder in LOOSELY, it DOES work. But tightened? No go.

 

Has someone had experience with this? And fixed it?

 

Help?

 

Lou

Actually, I have some sealed 200 PLUS some sealed 400, so i din't need any more ECN-II. What I want to do is try to get some ALREADY EXPOSED film processed. If I can. I have read that C-41 will work, but what about the backing on the film?

Is there anyone, anywhere, who knows of an organization that will develop ECN-II (Seattle Film Works)? Failing that, is there anyone who is aware of a kit or source for chemicals that one might use at home?

 

Lou Lohman

<p>The adapter I have (it came today) looks very similar - made in China. I encountered the same issue trying to fit an 'auto' Exakta mount lens to the Canon - the release mechanism will not allow an auto lens to be mounted - but it's the presets I want to use anyway. I have a specific style of shooting I want to pursue that dand cheaply, at that.oesn't want to use an auto lens anyway. I've tested and I've found it has Infinity focus down - like a champ. My small collection of presets - CZJ, Enna Werk and Meyer-Gorltiz will finally get a chance to do some work. And no - I don't plan to use anything longer than the 250mm Meyer-Gorlitz. Thanks to all for the input. I appreciate it.</p>

<p>I did some lens testing this evening and I have to say that the Biotar and the Meyer-Gorlitz both focused to Infinity with the cam.plus adapter on the 30D. Now. There were differences when the lenses were compared to a Canon EF lens. The German glass is not multicoated (single coat) so the 18-55mm Canon EF lens was sharper, and the Canon glass had better contrast and color. But the German glass, at first blush, appears to be in focus at Infinity. I need to do more intensive testing - but so far it looks good. </p>

<p>I have recently purchased an adapter which will allow me to mount my old German Exakta mount lenses on my Canon EOS 30D. The question I have is ... while I wait for my adapter ... will I be able to get the lens to focus at Infinity? I have a number of preset lenses - I know I won't be able to use the 'auto' lenses because there's really no way to stop down the lens that doesn't involve gymnastics that violate all kinds of human stretchability laws.<br>

That said, I DO have a 58mm, f2 Biotar, a 35mm, f3.5 Tessar, a 50mm f2.8 Tessar and an Enna Werk, 35mm, f3.5 Lithagon in Chrome finish. I also have a 250mm, f2.8 Meyer-Gorlitz. All of the mentioned lenses are presets.<br>

I like using the focusing scale to use my lenses on the Exaktas - and i want to use them in the same fashion on my Canon, if possible.<br>

I am a devotee of the 'f16 rule'. In addition, I will set the lens at hyperfocal (Infinity over the f16 mark) so that focusing worries are minimized. However, if the lens won't focus at Infinity, it also won't set up properly for hyperfocal distance work. Thus my question.</p>

<p>I own both a Zorki 4 and a Zorki 4k - both are fine cameras and both are fitted with the f2 Jupiter 8 lens - probably the best 50mm lens there is for a 35mm range finder. As a copy of the Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f2 lens, it is probably better, optically, than the German lens. The Russians had access to better, purer sands to make their optical glass, and this lens definitely benefits from those great raw materials. The barrel on most of them, however, is aluminum, and is therefore easily damaged. There are a FEW around in Stainless Steel barrels - much desired for their durability.<br>

The 4 and the 4k are considered to be the best Russian cameras made, by many. Certainly by me. I hope your 'C' is as kind to you as my 4's have been to me.</p>

Now I'm really confused. The bow on shot looks close, but as I see this (remembered) picture in my mind, it was a color shot and it was closer to the ship. The bow of the ship dominated the shot. But thanks - this look cool. I want to paint the shot I saw - my hope is to ask permission of the original photographer - if not out of necessity, at least out of courtesy.

My friend Miles Upton is preparing a book on disassembling/assembling lenses, for the purpose of cleaning and/or adjusting. You might send him am email at exaktaphile@aol.com .

I seem to recall seeing a photo of a shipwreck - taken bow on, with heavy surf

coming up along either side of the ship. Actually, there were several shots of

the same wreck, but this one, especially, was striking. Problem is, I can't

find it doing searches.

 

Does anyone besides me remember seeing this photo? As I recall, the

photographer had a Middle Eastern sounding name, although I could be wrong

and/or confused in my recollection.

 

Lou

Bob - sorry - didn't mean to belittle your answer. You're right.

 

Sami - listen to Bob.

 

Lou

Sami,

 

Mr. Burns has most of the answers you need - he apparently didn't note the fact that you don't have a tripod. (Get one - they come in handy). It just means that you have to position the photo in such a fashion that you can hold the camera as steady as possible. For example, put the photo up on a wall (behind glass, if necessary), light from the side, and place your camera on a table in order to keep it steady. If you light with incandescent lamps, set the white balance in the camera accordingly, and shoot away.

 

Lou

So many unanswered questions here ... how big is the original? ... is it color or B&W? ... what is the closest focus of the lens you're using? ... is the original in good shape or is it crinkly/crunched up/bent?

 

Answers depend on your answers. Copying with a camera is something of a minor art .. copying with a Digital camera shouldn't be much different than it's been with all of the film copies I've made over the years - in fact, it should be EASIER.

 

Lou

I have been looking through this thread and it brings to mind a question that has been on my mind for a little while: Does it make any difference which eye you use when taking pictures?? Do pictures taken using the left eye (and therefore, right brain - artsy fartsy side) have any greater artistic value and/or merit than those taken with the right eye??

 

Lou

Personally, I think you should give serious consideration to the Olympus Evolt E-500. 8mp and built from the ground up as a digital camera. PLUS - Olympus claims to have the largest selection of lenses specifically formulated for digital. The two-lens kit - 14-45 zoom and 40-150 zoom plus body - lists at USD899. Compared to the Canon 20D or 30D, you have 95% of the camera for a little more than half the price. The reviews of the Evolt have been favorable, although some don't like the focus-by-wire feature of those digital lenses mentioned above.

 

Lou

Todd,

 

Abraham Lincold said something that a lot of people like to quote and paraphrase - the last line is "you can't please all the people, all the time". I'm sorry you don't think there's anything for you at camera-auction.com. But you're welcome to look around any time - if you should find something - you're welcome to sign up.

 

As of today there are 124 registered Users on the site - double what it was a week ago. Today is exactly one month that we are live on the site.

 

Most of the Users on the site are collectors - they are, for the most part, market savvy and aware of the value of the goods they have. You won't find many 'newbies' out there - at least, not yet.

 

And by the way, there are cameras up in the pentax and nikon categories.

 

Lou

Dear Todd,

 

All of what you said has value - but I have never like the pricing model on eBAy, although I could never really put my finger on what bothered me about it until I sold my Motorcycle on eBay. The bike sold for $2550, and it cost me more than $60.00 in eBay fees to sell it. eBay provided the service, and they were and are entitled to charge for that service. The thing is, that it didn't cost eBay any more money to carry that listing on their systems than it cost to carry some guy's listing for a $25.00 camera. The money transaction and sale completion were handled offline - so it was just carrying the listing on their site that I had to pay for.

 

Let's say your selling your car through a newspaper ad. Can you imagine a newspaper charging for classifieds based on the price you're selling your goods for?

 

All I'm saying is that the pricing model is not equitable - it shouldn't matter to eBay how much I'm getting for the item I'm selling. They could (and perhaps should) base the pricing model on their cost of operation instead of the method they've used. I am willing to bet - given the number of items listed every day on eBAy - that the real cost to eBAy to list any item is measured in pennies - or maybe even fractions of pennies.

 

www.camera-auction.com doesn't charge fees. We accept contributions that our Users make in appreciation for value received. The contributions are voluntary. In less than a month we have attracted more than a hundred camera people from all over the world. We are getting contributions - the minimum contribution we suggest is One Dollar. We aren't going away anytime soon -- unless the people that are out there quit us. We see more traffic every day. We get new Users everyday.

 

Come join us. Sign up. Read the 'Terms & Conditions'. Buy something. Sell something. Have fun and don't worry about it.

 

Lou

To those I may have confused -- I just realized that I typo'ed the name of the site in an earlier post - it is www.camera-auction.com - not what I typed in earlier, with the plural word 'auctions'.

 

Lou

Some people don't like reserves - and I can see your point. Camera-auction.com doesn't proxy-bid until the reserve is met, and that is problematical for some people, as well.

 

We hit a milestone today - we went over 100 Users. I sent out a newsletter announcing that fact. In the newsletter, I made it a point to suggest the use of minimum bids at or near what would be the reserve price instead of setting reserves. Perhaps this will help a little.

 

Reserves have a place - but sometimes it wouldn't hurt to consider an alternative.

 

Lou

Those are all valid points -- and yes, eBay does provide a service. I wouldn't mind paying for the service if I thought that the CEO actually provided 42 million dollars worth of services to the site. The CTO - maybe - but the CEO? And then they wanted to raise the fees.

 

I recently sold a motorcycle on eBay. It cost me $61.42 in fees to sell the bike. It cost eBay no more to carry the listing for that bike than it cost them to carry a listing for a $25.00 camera. I'll be willing to bet they won't charge $61.42 for that camera.

 

camera-auctions.com is going to build. We are going through growing pains right now - limited audience, limited inventory, few sellers and bidders. But we add more people and different things for sale every day. We will never rival eBay for the size of the audience or the amount of stuff on the site - but we will provide a viable alternative to their unjustified pricing.

 

Lou Lohman