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Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 26, 2004 - 04:05 pm: | 
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...it never ceases to make me feel foolish. The Nikon EM posts on this page reminded me that I have a secondhand EM that's been sitting in my closet for over a year. I purchased it on eBay for the lens, a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4, and had planned to resell the EM. Unfortunately, the camera had a problem. The meter was intermittant; sometimes it would work, other times not. I played with it on and off for a few weeks, but couldn't determine whether there was a pattern to the defect. Not wanting to spend my time with an in-depth disassembly (in addition to replacing light seals), I put it away.
After reading the forum EM posts, I decided to search, just to see if anyone here had ever reported a similar problem. What I discovered is that the EM meter is disabled by design unless the film counter is at frame 1 or greater. I dug out the camera earlier today, and that seems to be exactly the problem. In other words, operator error.
So, despite owning a large variety of cameras over the years, this one got me. In fact, I nearly threw it out. My thanks to everyone who contributes here, supports the site and maintains the pages.
Jackson
Shoot more film! |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 26, 2004 - 04:30 pm: |
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Great news! Since you mentioned the EM, please note I've added the EM to the list of individual cameras for which I'll provide specific light seal instructions. Just purchase the $6 kit from E-Bay (my seller's ID is Interslice--you can search using the "by seller" option and type in my ID), and tell me you want them. They're free, and all you need is Microsoft Word to open the file I'll e:mail you. It even tells how to remove & clean the focus screen. There are 4 pages and 18 specific photos describing the process from start to finish.
Jon |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 26, 2004 - 11:56 pm: |
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Hmmm, seems to me that the instructions aren't really free if I have to make a purchase first. Anyway, I've just completed the job with foam that I purchased from MicroTools a couple years ago. So far, I've done two FEs, a Koni-Omega, a Yashica 35 and now, the EM. Lots of fun!! |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 12:25 am: |
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Well, you're right in that the instructions are not free, but they definitely only add to the value of an already great value kit. Jon's pretty low-key about 'spamming' us, and he adds a lot of good insights to this forum. Also, his kits are very good, high quality stuff. I'm in purchasing professionally and I've looked around for suitable foam and sealing materials. Jon's done a good job of locating quality sources (which aren't all that easy to find even for a 'professional' buyer...) and packages them in a good kit at a good price, with excellent service.
Note, I'm not his brother-in-law either, just a satisfied customer...! |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 11:02 am: |
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I'm always wary of product promotions in a format like this, but I agree with you, this is a good deal. I reviewed the description of materials in Jon's auctions last night, and there's no way to duplicate this otherwise that I'm aware of. Just thinking about the foam and cloth, I spent more for much less, then paid shipping on top of that. I also see from the product descriptions in his auctions that Jon knows what he's talking about. He points out many of the issues that a home repair person could easily overlook.
As it turns out, there's a problem with my EM repair. I must have missed a piece of bad foam somewhere. The back side of the focus screen (toward the prism) is still collecting little bits of rotted foam. I've had it out five or six times now for cleaning, and have also cleaned the area with canned air. There must be a piece of foam up near the prism that I'm not seeing. If I didn't have so much foam left over from my last purchase, I'd buy Jon's kit. It would be worth it just to see if the instructions show this.
Has anyone here replaced the seals on a Nikon EM? Is there foam other than around the mirror holder and rear door area? |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 02:04 pm: |
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I have, Jackson. I'll e:mail you the EM instructions. They explain how to remove the focus screen and frame for re-foaming and cleaning, and how to replace it so that the mirror doesn't hang. There is no other foam in that area...at least none I know of. The focus screen frame has foam on the front edge as well as down each side. When I re-seal one, I remove the screen/frame even if the screen is clean, just so I can be sure to do away with all the old stuff. I've seen people place bits of paper or cloth on their focus screen prior to removing the damper pad, but I don't suggest doing this. First, it is far too easy to trap a bit of old foam underneath the paper and smear it on the screen. Second, stiff paper can scratch the mirror pretty easily. Having said this, I just repaired an EM I bought from a friend...it looked virtually new, but had electronic problems. Re-sealed it, but the pictures all came back showing light leak stripes on the latch side. It turned out to be a tiny leak at the collar of the rewind shaft...evidently a manufacturing defect in the plastic cast piece. It is ok now, but it lent evidence as to why this camera was never used much.
Jon |
Jackson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 10:17 pm: |
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Jon, thanks very much for the file. That was a nice thing to do. You've certainly won me over as a customer for my next light seal purchase. Incidentally, speaking as a tech writer, I want to commend you on a job well done. The instructions are really excellent.
As it turns out, I've done everything you recommend. Where I said "mirror holder" in the previous post, I should have said focus screen.
The last speck of foam that appeared on the screen was on the mirror side, not on top below the prism. I guess this stuff has migrated around the camera, and I'll probably just have to put up with it for a while. I've cleaned everything with canned air and naptha-soaked Q-tips, so I'm guessing there are a few cavities I'm not reaching. On a good note, the delinquent foam hasn't quite hit the goo stage yet, so it blows off with air.
Thank you again for helping me with this!
Jackson |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 08:22 am: |
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Hi, Jackson. You're welcome, and thanks for the compliment on the instructions. In addition to the EM, I offer documents like this for Minolta SRT series, Minolta Hi-Matic F, Canon AE-1, Olympus XA series, Electro 35 series, Canonet GIII QL17, Petri Racer, Olympus OM-10 (non-data back...still working on the data back model), Yashica FRII, and I'm working on others as time allows. The newer ones also include other observations including rangefinder adjustment, top plate removal, meter adj, etc, and I'm rewriting most of the original ones to also include more detail. Glad it helped. I agree, some rogue piece of foam has migrated somewhere. At least in this model, removing and cleaning the focus screen is not difficult. Good luck with it. If you get the odd light leak at the rewind shaft collar, let me know. It took a while to find it. Even after all this time, I'm still amazed at how tiny a light leak has to be to wreck pictures.
Jon |
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