Hello all! I am trying to find information related to a Nikon FM shutter problem I'm having. The shutter is hanging up on something so the speeds are all off.
On the upper right part of the shutter I can see a shiney/sticky residue that is causing the shutter to stick, so only very slow speeds work. The stickyness is causing the shutter to open very slowly. I attempted to disasseble the shutter area, but quickly realized it was a bad idea without a manual.
Do any of you have any information related to this issue? I'd love to start using this thing as my primary film SLR but it is simply unusable in its current condition. Thank you in advance!
Something seems to have got on to the shutter blades - it may be the foam from the mirror bumper or light seals which turns into sticky goo after a time. It should be possible to clean it off carefully with a cotton bud soaked in alcohol - you would need to raise the mirror to access the blades from the front - you shouldn't need to dismantle anything. Then you need to clean the goo from between the blades by inserting small strips of newspaper soaked in alcohol between them - they are of course quite delicate but I've done it on a number of Canon Eos cameras without causing damage (but not on a Nikon). You will also need to replace the light seals and mirror bumper at some point or it will only happen again or the goo will get somewhere else it shouldn't like the focusing screen.
I replaced the mirror bumper years ago and it is in good condition. It must be from the light seal on the right side, and it is only visible from the back. I will take another look at it tonight and try the alcohol.
