michael_harris14

 

For me, it seems more cost effective to buy another camera than get one fixed.

Definitely. I'm not really trying to fix it because it is the cheapest way, more because I like to see if I can fix things, I like to rescue things from the landfill when I can, and if nothing else it can serve as a learning experience for when I come across something truly worth the effort/expense and am able to fix it. Or to know that I certainly can't!

... But if you're the DIY type (and don't care if you make things worse ;)), theres no harm tinkering with it at your leisure as a learning experience. You might end up needing another FM/FE carcass to harvest one or two parts from, or to carefully reshape or reset a tiny fragile part.

 

See this recent thread for some potentially useful repair diagrams and photos (scroll down):

 

FM2n - help with film advance lever

 

Thanks for that link, I'll check it out before I dive in again. This is an exact description of me with this camera, at least now that I know that it is likely "buggered" as Joe has said, and so I have nothing to lose. The worst that could happen is that I end up with a parts camera that is already partially disassembled. My FE still works fine (I'd say perfectly, but I've never actually timed the shutter speeds), so I'll just use that.

That's weird, I shot them in landscape. I guess I didn't pay close enough attention to how it uploaded.

 

Thanks for the multiple exposure tip, unfortunately it doesn't seem to be that. I've also tried to play with the self timer a bit, because I had also thought perhaps it hadn't quite finished winding down and that was why the shutter curtain couldn't catch. As far as I can tell, the self timer winds all the way down, but I'm not sure how I'd confirm that. I did give it a little helping pressure once it had stopped, but it didn't go any further.

Yeah, the 58 1.2. Thanks for the encouragement that it isn’t too complex. Can you tell me if the angle on the smaller pin is normal, or if it got bent somehow? I think you can see it in at least one of the pictures.

Are the video links in the first post working? One is of the mechanism under the baseplate as I advance the lever. I don’t see anything obviously wrong, but I don’t know quite what I’m looking for. Most of what I had found online was for one or another of the electronic shutter models, and so was different. Do those of you who have had these open before see anything apparent?

Interesting. Still worth playing with to see if I can loosen it up, but maybe I’ll think twice or be careful putting it on my FTb.

 

The R lenses were not well engineered. The lens had to be cocked before it will stop down. The larger lever mates with a lever in the camera and will cock the lens when the film is advanced. The smaller lever actually trips the lens to stop down when the shutter button is pressed. Try moving the large lever, it should move and cock the lens. Then trip the smaller lever, the lens should stop down. If nothing happens, you may have lubricant on the aperture blades preventing them from stopping down.

Thanks for that explanation. I played around with it a bit, and I have been able to move the larger lever. It's a bit stiff, but it will move. I think I hear something trip then when I move the smaller lever, but the larger lever doesn't return, and nothing happens with the aperture blades. It isn't that they don't stop down, it is that they are stuck at f/11 or so. don't take that aperture value as gospel, that's just me guessing. Not near as tight as you'd expect at minimum aperture, but pretty tight. Definitely not open to f/1.2

 

Most R lenses have two aperture rings. The rear one is the stop-down ring and, in a properly functioning lens, will move the aperture back and forth as you turn the ring. The font aperture ring is the automatic aperture ring. Once set to an aperture, that's what the lens will stop down to once the shutter button is pressed. Thankfully, Canon changed to a totally different aperture system with the FL and FD series of lenses.

It hadn't struck me until I read this, but this lens behaves differently from the only other two-ring lens I have used (which is an old Takumar lens). On that one, the manual ring (the one that actually moves the blades) will stop when it gets to the same stop the first ring is set at. I've assumed that this was so that you could set one ring at the aperture you wanted to shoot at, focus at full aperture, and then stop it down without having to count clicks or take your eye away from the view finder. basically, the two rings won't pass each other, and in fact you can (although I've always avoided doing it) push both using just one or the other ring. On this Canon lens, the rings pass each other without any change in feel. ++Is that the way it is supposed to be, or does that indicate something has decouplled?++

I tried that first. Most of the advice centers on prying the mirror loose from the goo, which isn’t my situation. Googling about the advance lever returns information about cameras that won’t advance, again, not mine.

Thanks for reminding me of that. I should have mentioned, the mirror isn't stuck in that sense. I can gently pull it down slightly and it goes right back up.

I just tried releasing it using the lever inside the mirror box and that works (didn't a couple of days ago) but I can still advance repeatedly. I should refoam it, but there does still seem to be a deeper mechanical issue somewhere.

This Nikon FM (thrift purchase) was supposed to partner with my FE, but it has a few (maybe really just one?) problems.

The mirror is stuck up (no pic, didn't figure it would be helpful)

I can advance the advance lever repeatedly without firing the shutter.

As you can see in the video of the rear of the camera, when the advance lever returns from a full pull, the curtain goes back where it came from, basically, it doesn't "catch."

And, well, pressing the shutter button doesn't actually do anything, I'm assuming because it is never cocked?

 

I'd welcome any advice. This will be a "slow repair," meaning that it will be sitting on my bench, but I will only intermittently be sitting at my bench. I hope those of you who are gracious enough to offer advice will be patient with the fact that it may take me a few days to getting around to implementing it and asking the inevitable follow up questions!

I'm inserting links to two videos, hopefully that will work.

https://i.imgur.com/FRQ6Jes.mp4

https://i.imgur.com/jZgWM1B.mp4

Posting here because it seems like the closest match, after all, apparently you can use R lenses on at least some FD cameras.

I can't seem to find much information about the R mount, or at least I can't filter it out from the noise ever since Canon reused the letter R recently.

The reason I am looking is because I bought an R lens, but the aperture blades are stuck closed. The aperture lever doesn't move. The aperture rings do, but they don't affect anything. The other pin on the back is looks bent, but not having seen another example, I'm not sure what it is supposed to look like. Here are a couple of pics:

Sadly, I was supposed to meet him Sunday afternoon, but it sold Sunday morning. I think though that I've added the EF to the list of cameras that I'd kind of like to get my hands on (assuming I can get one for a deal like this one). Seems like a really cool camera, with a lot of advantages in spite of potentially glitchy electronics. Thanks for the advice, all.

I am meeting someone to look at an EF, but don't have proper batteries to check it out. My understanding is that the camera operates mechanically on speeds faster than 1 second and so doesn't need a battery. I don't want to buy a door stop, but I also don't want to cheat him or spook myself out of a good sale. Am I correct to understand that if I operate the camera in manual and set the shutter speed to something faster than a second with the aperture manually set that I should be able to release the shutter and advance at will? I know in cameras like the AE-1 or AE-1 Program that I can't do anything without a battery up to strength, which is why I'm curious. Seller says that he hasn't been able to test it because he doesn't have batteries (which would be valid for an AE-1) so:

 

my current understanding is that if I cannot operate the shutter without a battery at, say F/4 1/250, the camera is busted and I should walk away. Is that correct?

Hmmmm. The two designs of Manfrotto QR plate that I'm familiar with definitely aren't fully reversible. One design has a single large protrusion on the front chamfered edge, and the other design has two smaller lugs on the forward chamfered edge. Neither of them are symmetrical front-to-back.

 

WRT the standard of advice got from bricks'n'mortar photo shops: "variable" is about the best description I could put to it. I've heard some really lousy advice handed out to customers, as well as some very knowledgeable wisdom. But I'd question the knowledge of anyone that claimed it didn't matter which way round you inserted any of Manfrotto's horrible little rectangular QR plates.

 

The knockoff plates can be inserted either way round, but then again they don't fit properly either way.

The first guy I talked to was surprised that I was able to put the plate in backwards at all, in fact he got a Manfrotto head from the display and showed me that you couldn't even insert my plate into the head backwards. It just wouldn't go in at all. He called another guy up from the back who said that when my model first came out you could do that, but there was a slight design change fairly early on making it impossible. I just have one of the early versions.

FWIW, I too ended up with a couple of knockoff plates that didn't fit. It was hardly worth the trouble of returning them, so I took a grinding wheel to the incorrect chamfer and scalloped out a couple of recesses to make the plates fit the head. Ugly but serviceable!

 

I may end up doing that too. In the meantime I did what I should have done in the first place but for some reason didn’t occur to me: I went to an honest to goodness camera shop. They looked at it and said it all seemed secure enough to them, and that there was no reason against using it “backwards” since my model head will allow that (current ones don’t, apparently that was a characteristic of the period when mine was made). I was fully prepared to by yet another plate if they said there was one that was more correct, but they advised that I was fine as is. It will be a sad day when these places all close and we’re stuck with Amazon or whatever Best Buy it Walmart stocks.

I got the real one. The major problem of the d ring sticking out to much when a camera was mounted is totally taken care of. Manfrotto designed it right, the knock off doesn’t even try. Strangely though, it still fits onto the head about the same as shown in the two pictures. And it still clamps down more when mounted “backwards” that is to say when the “lens” arrow on the underside points to the back of the tripod. I’m fairly confident that I have the correct plate—it’s the same one they show for the 141rc on their web site.

Is that second pic clamped on enough?

I can’t think that it makes any difference if I put the plate onto the camera backwards, allowing me to get that more solid clamping—am I missing anything?

I recently purchased a tripod second hand that was fitted with a Manfrotto 141rc head, but missing the quick release plate, so I did what any cheapskate would do and bought one on eBay. Methinks perhaps I have cheaper myself too much. Is this “right” and I’m doing something wrong, or are the manufacturing tolerances too far off here?

First two pictures show the plate installed on the tripod, in either direction. Should the lever close further than it does? I don’t know that plate orientation on the camera really makes any difference, but it actually closes further when the plate is installed “backwards,” that is, the lens arrow would be pointing back towards the lever. The two sides are shaped slightly differently.

 

The last picture attempts to show the plate flat across the bottom when it is installed on a camera. The little floppy half ring you use to tighten it won’t fold down all the way flat, unless I’m doing something wrong.

Can anyone advise?

Basically, is this usable, or do I need to suck it up and buy the real Manfrotto plate?

We used to play with liquid mercury in chemistry lessons. There was also a great open bath of the stuff in a lab where I once worked. Nobody died!

 

How things have changed. Just chuck the thing in the battery recyke jar and walk away.

I understand that, I just don't see any reason to add it to the landfill if I can have it properly dealt with.

 

I was...rather unhappy...a year or so back when I "gave" someone an 8lb bottle(not very big, mind you) out of department stock to use in their schlenk line bubblers, but with the explicitly stated understanding that I wanted it back(dirty or clean) if they were no longer using it.

 

When I visited the lab a few months later, I saw that they had ditched all their mercury bubblers for oil. I asked about the mercury, and was told that they had disposed of it-including over half the bottle that they had't used. They acted like they'd done me a big favor.

 

I'm down to a single 1lb bottle on the shelf, plus several ounces that I've recovered from broken thermometers, manometers, and other devices. It's not going out of my sight...

Interesting, I didn't realize it would be a pain for labs to get hold of. Is there probably someone local to me who would want the thermostat to recover the mercury from? Assuming that is, I can remember where I set it safely aside!

The only reason I wasn't sure was because it has been so long since Mercury batteries were manufactured that I didn't know if they'd be set up to handle it separately if that were needed. Now that I think about it, I still have an old mercury switch thermostat sitting around somewhere--I should probably contact the city and find out where to drop that off as well. Two birds with one stone.

Thanks for confirming that it is an actual Mercury battery also.

I bought an older Canon not long ago, and inside was a (dead) EPX625. I can't find any brand name on it, just the declaration that it was made in the USA. Am I right in assuming that this is a mercury battery, not a later substitute? If so, what is the best way to dispose of it? One of my local libraries has a bucket for collecting batteries for disposal, and I routinely use that for lithium, but I wasn't sure if it was OK for this one to be handled in the same way. I have no idea how exactly they go about it.

1. Michael it is not that cold today. About 40. I have used the f2 lens a lot and it is very good.
   

True! I guess I was thinking about the forecast for the next week. Sadly, today was a missed opportunity for photography for me.

Thanks for the opinions so far. You're right about the selling value--I probably wouldn't bother selling either for its own sake, but might mount one on a stray camera body to make it sell faster on ebay. Might not even be worth doing that though. They take up hardly any space, and they don't eat much; maybe my wife will let them stay.

 

What camera is it going onto?

I should have mentioned that, thanks for asking.

I use a D300. My daughter shoots a D50, and that's a possible additional reason to keep both. Since it doesn't have an aperture coupling lever though, that is a little harder to do. I'm not sure whether it is really worth the trouble on her camera.

 

...The f/1.8 is, I believe the same formula as the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D - in which case it's awful wide open, has ugly bokeh, and has a cheap diaphragm - but it's very sharp at smaller apertures.

 

... If you had a regular AI or AI-s 50mm 1.8, I'd say to choose that instead.

 

I'm NOT trying to start anything, just want to clarify whether Andrew and Ben are expressing different opinions on the same optical formula (that is, that the AF-D 1.8 and the AI/E 1.8 are the same glass), or whether there are different lenses under discussion, apart from the obvious things like an AF motor.

 

I'll have to check out the 1001 nights series. Thanks for the lead.

I've had two 50mm manual focus lenses fall into my lap, and need to decide whether to get rid of one, and which to keep.

 

Both are in excellent condition, so that won't really matter. I know the best thing to do would be to go out and shoot a couple of hundred shots with each and make my own decision, but I don't think my skills or my eye are quite at that point yet. Also, it is kinda cold in Milwaukee for shooting a few hundred shots right now.

 

So, between an AI Nikkor 50mm f/2 and a Series E 50mm f/1.8, which would be the better lens? I know build quality is better on the Nikkor, but if the optical formula used on the Series E is better I might put up with all the plastic.

 

In searching for opinions, so many other lenses come into the discussion that I'm not clear where these two stand relative to one another.

Yeah, my problem is more measuring the correct size, both diameter and thread pitch. Some of the screws, and the ones that match what I think I need, are only threaded at the very tip--shaft above that is smooth.

Is there a good way to count threads on these microscrews?

Junked cameras is exactly what I'm hoping to run across. The 300 that Bobby pointed me to (thanks Bobby) would be great except I suspect it would make infinitely more sense to clean it up rather than strip it for this one's sake. I actually just pulled a screw out of a bad Nikon D50 body (that I bought to steal a couple of parts from for my daughter) but the threading is more coarse than what I'm looking for. I don't care much about head shape for appearances since all of what I need is internal, but obviously the head has to stay out of the way of other gears and such.

I'll just keep my eyes open for cameras of the same vintage. I would have passed on junked ones previously, but now I'll go ahead and blow $5 on them and see whether they can contribute screws. (Does that sound like the first step to hoarding? If so, don't tell my wife!)

I'm messing around with a Ricoh 300 that I picked up recently. (You can see it in my avatar.) The lens was literally about to fall off of the camera, because several screws were missing inside. This led to the shutter leaves (is that the right term?) coming loose and just flopping around in there in front of the iris. Fortunately, none of them actually slipped out through the wide open lens. Unfortunately some of them got, well, bent. One even has an impression from one screw head or another.

 

It isn't a huge deal, because I bought the camera intending to take it apart with my son and see if we could put it back together--at least what of it that there was. This was the first one I've ever gone into. Now I'm a little bugged to get it back together right. Are these little screws so custom that I pretty much have to use another 300 as the donor, or how widely is worth checking? Other Ricohs of similar vintage? Other Japanese? Other anything? At the very least I'd like to come up with enough screws to hold this together so it can be a shelf queen. Right now it can only lie prone!

 

In any case, it has been fun and given me some confidence.