Nikon FM2 foam seal

[SoulfulRecover]

I noticed my mirror was dirty yesterday after picking up a new lens. When I opened up the camera to clean the mirror, I noticed that the foam on the inside, up top, for the mirror was dangling down a bit and it was very brittle. It needs to be replaced and I'm wondering if its something I should take care of myself or if I should drop it off at the local shop.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Contact Jon Goodman at JGood21967@aol.com regarding his light seal foam kits. A stand up guy who sells kits with excellent instruction and tools needed for about $10 US. Give him a day and he'll get back to ya. Did one of my AE-1 with it and it's like new and took an hour or so.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

Cant beat that price. Ill email him. Thank you

 

[cgw]

Mirrors don't need "cleaning." Doing so pretty much guarantees scratches on their delicate surface.

Don't own an FM2 but I suspect that top seal is two pieces with a central latch to release the frame that holds the focus screen as FE bodies do.

The seal kits are overkill, pricey and often encourage replacement of foam that's non-critical and liable to do more harm than good. Get some thin craft store adhesive backed sheet foam, preferably black. Cut a piece of file card to cover the mirror and gently remove the bad seal you noticed. A bit of isopropyl will clean up the old glue. When dry, cut your buck-a-sheet foam with an Xacto or single edge razor blade and a ruler to fit. Give the door hinge seal the same treatment. That's where nearly all FM/FE variant light leaks trace back to. Don't futz with the channels along the length of the film door. They're interference baffles and only used impossibly thin foam strings for a bit of protection against moisture and dust. Don't go for yarn since it can make secure closing difficult on old Nikons like yours and mine.

 

[compur]

Replacing the mirror cushion foam is easy. Take out the focusing screen first and clean off the old foam.

I usually put the new foam in in two parts with a small gap in the middle for the screen latch.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Ive done it myself on an FT, FE and EM. Its pretty straight forward, takes about 15 minutes and all you need is tweezers, naphtha and Q-Tips.

Procedure (generally is)
- remove old seal
- use some kind of brush or light dust blow to get small dry bits out
- use naphtha on q-tip to clean up area
- when sufficiently clean use dust blow or brush again to make sure its clear of dust
- allow surface to dry, wet naphtha on the surface will prevent the adhesive from working
- visually check area
- adhere new seal

 

[vintagesnaps]

I've replaced a mirror bumper; the owner of our long time camera store (that's since closed) told me to try the soft side of self adhering velcro. Worked just fine. Of course that was with an old camera that had it not worked, wouldn't have been a total loss since the camera was on its last legs anyway!

I think the advantage to a kit is that strips are precut, and I don't find foam the easiest thing to cut precisely. They don't usually cost much and would probably save some time.

edit - And I don't usually clean a mirror unless there's a need to use a rocket blower to dust, or if I got something on a mirror, a light spritz of cleaner onto a microfiber cloth to gently wipe the mirror; I would not spray anything directly onto a mirror (or a lens). And I've heard not to touch the fresnel screen in there.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

I just gently wiped the mirror with a micro fiber cloth. It was all sorts of dusty and bits of old foam on it. And yes I do from time to time leave my camera/s sitting out with out a body cap or lens. Ill swap something as Im running out the door and forget it for a few days

 

[Dave Colangelo]

This is basically the kit I used A good pair of watchmakers tweezers are my go to on this kinda work. You should check the other foam seals as I often find they deteriorate uniformly around a camera unless there is some kind of damage that ruined one.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

Thank you all very much for the information! I am going to do this myself. Doesn't seem hard at all.