Nikon FM series repairs DIY, shutter lever stuck etc

Hi all, I recently had to try and fix a friends nikon fm2 camera as the lever was stuck and could rewind no further. After a bit of googling I found that removing the bottom plate exposes all the levers used in rewinding.

This is easy to fix - remove the 3 screws on the bottom of the camera:

 

Release lock lever by pulling it gently away from the notch in the big round plate on the right:

If u release the lock lever #175 you will find that you can complete the rewind action to the end and it should get the camera working again. My friend didnt have film in so I gave everything  quick look over and put a TINY bit of grease on the shutter charge lever at the end where it shifts over the metal. After 50 rewinds/releases it seemed everything was working great.

Put cover back on - I suggest working on towel incase u drop the screws, that way they wont bounce and get lost.

Now as murphy would have it, while I was photographing the jack the ripper murders scenes on my own FM2, the last pic was so dark I had to use a mini tripod on 1/2sec. The mirror however got stuck half way up! I believe something with the rewind tension ust have gone wrong, so 1 month later I was once again inside a different FM2 for a different problem - anyway, I followed the same procedure as above and it fixed it immediately, this was with my film still in, so at worst I lost 1 or 2 frames.

In passing i also met a chap on the streets of london who said he had the same problem but it was related to the timer not releasing properly, then I remembered I was using the timer because my cam was ona  tripod in very low light, so perhaps the timer and long exposure were the culprits.

Well I hope this gives some of u an idea of how to fix this yourself, its VERY easy if u work gently in a clean environment and dont force anything -

All the best in resurrecting your faithful nikon!

Keywords: Nikon fm series fm2 fm2 fm10 fm3a