Nikon FM vs. FM2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- We review Modern Photography's contemporaneous test of the FM2 which describes in detail the differences between these two cameras.
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One of the best comparisons between these two great cameras ever.Thanks.
My pleasure. I'm glad you found it helpful.
I've always enjoyed shooting with both the FM and FM2. My other most used 35mm SLR is a Canon AE-1P that I've owned since 1983. With it's auto exposure feature, it gives me great slides to this day! Keep up your good work. So many of today's youngsters have no idea that "film" was so versatile and was once UNIVERSAL !
They're figuring it out. Our local camera shop in 2020 was about to toss their developing equipment because it was taking up space and all year they had only gotten 4 customers rolls to develop and one of them died, so the writing was on the wall. But the art schools are still teaching from the basics, and a generation is excited about shooting film again, and the last time I went in, the guy pointed to a very full table of envelopes, 80% of those are film jobs that young people brought in. For a while, phones replaced all cameras, but those perfectly clear digital images shot 15 at a time, take on a sense of low-value commodity, so it seems like, among image-makers, phones are replacing instant cameras, but people also like a high value tangible real thing with all the character that these film cameras have. It took a while but the novelty of convenience seems to be sliding over to make room for other qualities.
Thank-you for that! I had the Nikon FM2n BB, and just loved that camera, even more than my FE2 and F90. That FM2n sure had some great caché!
Excellent detailed and clear comparison, Brian. Thank you for making this video! 👍🙏
I have a Nikon FM which I purchased in 1980. Mine is the '300' series (first three digits of the serial number 300 and up) and does not have the shutter button lock collar that was on the original issue series. Considered the FM2 when it came out as an 'upgrade' over my FM but really did not need the extra features of the FM2 over the FM. Just love my FM it has taken many beautiful photographs and has never let me down. When I was shopping for my first 35 mm SLR, the Nikon FM won as my choice because of the extensive range of Nikon optics, the easy to use diode exposure indicators in the viewfinder, visible lens aperture and shutter speed in the viewfinder, simple meter on/off, easy depth of field preview, easy multiple exposures, and last but not least the quality robust construction.
Well done. Concise & to the point. One xtra diff (on 2xxxxxx SN FM’S) is that the advance lever can be folded in and the shutter release can still be fired. Lever still has to stick out for metering but even so a little better for left eye users. All in all, love the FM. Thanks for excellent review.
Yes, that's an important and often overlooked difference between the early and later FM's.
On the ASA setting it’s says doubled. So, if it was doubled at 6400, then the FM IS 3200, not 1600. Either way, this is an excellent comparison between the two. I like the fact that you mentioned the ND filter, that pretty much made the decision for me to look for an FM in great working condition.
One other distinction between the FM-2 and FM-2n; The original FM had a non=removable focusing screen. The FE arrived with 3 available user exchangeable screens. When the first FM2 arrived, it took the same FE screens. Nikon introduced brighter focusing screens for the FE2 and those new brite screens also worked with the FM-2n. The new brite screens can be installed in the older FM-2 but the meter reading will be skewed by the brighter screen. If you wish to change the screen in your FM-2, you must search for an old FE screen.
Very nice video, I concur with the previous line.
I don’t know witch 3 people gave you a thumbs down..it’s a very in-depth review..you really can’t please some people..thanks for the information.. I will subscribe too.
Thanks and welcome aboard!
I noticed the rewind shaft on my FM was plastic but I didn't think much about it at the time. That seems really weird now that I watched this. You can just buy those little rubber eyepieces.
I got both FM and FM2... Both of them fitted with a telefoto 35-105 lens... I use them extensively... I can carry either one in the pocket of my tweed sport jacket as I walk around... Never used a flash... Nor needed one.. 1/60 at all time point, focus, adjust f stop and shoot
There is just something about the proportions of the FM that make it so appealing.
Agreed. In terms of size and form factor, Nikon hit the bullseye with the FM series.
I used FM and FM2 for over 30 years. Nothing ever broke on an FM. On my one FM2 body the wonderful titanium shutter broke and was more expensive to repair than to buy another second hand camera body. The ultra high speed shutter/sync, I never used, the exchangeable focus screens I bought, but never used. What was brilliant about the FM2 was in the personal way that I handle the camera. I leave my thumb under the wind on lever ready for a very fast wind on. On my two FM bodies even a slight pressure would block the shutter. On my FM2 body my thumb could hold full pressure, shoot wind on shoot. You could hammer the camera like a manual motordrive (ma by that's why it broke?).... OK I was not Ansel Adams, a bit more Conan
thanks for the video. Most comprehensive video about these two cameras.
My pleasure! I'm glad you found it useful.
Nicely done Brian. I agree that the FM is a more flexible platform with respect to lens choices. The 2-stop ND filter approach works just fine for bright sunny conditions where wide apertures are required. The x200 and x250 upgrades on the FM2 and FM2N respectively may be key for strobists over the FM x125.
In my 50 years of using cameras, I’ve only done double exposures for photography class projects. Barely ever use shutter speeds faster than 500th. Ever with my leaf shutter cameras.Fm suits my photography needs perfectly.
I liked doing double exposures for my own art projects, but now I just shoot several of each image and comp them together digitally. There was a sort of beauty in holding the first image in your mind and then trying to compose the composition with the overlay in your imagination and then it's just done in an instant permanently on the slide. Kinda neat.
Hi Brian, thanks a lot for this review! It’s good to know the FM features the ability to function with non-converted pre-AI lenses whereas the FM2 does not.
Ditto for the FE but not the FE
The FM2n has the brighter K2 screen rather than the K1 screen on the FM2 and FM.
I get the feeling you like the FM. I bought my FM used as a backup to my F3 and love it
I have both but I would grab the FE first.
Love the FM range. The best Nikons ever IMHO. Light, robust and reliable.
Agreed!
excellent comparison. thanks
Glad it was helpful; thanks for watching!
Awesome cameras I have both among some others they are basic and simple and feel great in the hand makes photography a simple pleasure
Great video again. RS
The FM was my first ever Nikon......I now have a D500 and an old F2 (for film).
In the 70's I had a F2 but sold it in the 90's. Getting back into film I wanted something smaller then the F2 and ended up picking up a Olympus OM-1 and an OM-2s for it's spot metering. However, they didn't have that solid tuff Nikon feel, So I ended up getting a FM and FE. Only problem both of my Nikons developed film advance issues while the light flimsy feeling OM's keep going strong. The FM isn't spacing the film properly and the FE's advance lever will allow you to advance the film even if the shutter cocked and you haven't touched the shutter release. At least the FE is still usable if it doesn't run out of battery power, which it does to often. However, picked up a nice FM locally for $60 locally last weekend, I'm a sucker for that solid feel. Is the FM-2 worth the crazy Ebay prices people are trying to get up to $800 for a mint camera, I don't think so.
I'm lucky, I got a basically brand new, MINT black FM2n with a Nikkor 50mm AI f1.8 for $296ish shipped within the last 2 months. Vintage analog cameras have gained LOTS of popularity in the last several years. Unfortunately, I believe that prices on more sought after models will continue to increase, so if you find a FM2/n at a reasonable price, you should definitely pick it up.
From what i understand, you can change focusing screens on the FM too, but there are fewer to choose from, and they are less luminous.
I've owned (and still do) both models.
The main difference I've noticed is that the FM2 wind on seems smoother and the shutter is both a little quieter and has a nicer sound to it.
The FM shutter always sounds quite clunky and has always made me wonder how long it will last.
Both still going strong, although the FM2 has that feeling if being a bit more refined.
I suppose that this is probably just down the the different shutter blades over the two models.
I see another difference between mu Older model FM with the locking ring around the shutter release and a F2 as seen in photo on EBay, though this change may have been introduced during the life of one of the models, rather than with the introduction of the FM2. On my FM the hot shoe has onlythe main trigger contact, while the FM2 also has one auxiliary contact, the left rear one, which I believe is the one for a ready light in the viewfinder. Makes no difference to me. The folding ai coupling tab on the FM is important to me.
Hi Sir
If I have a Nikon FG20 what is the second third choice that you prefer for me so that there is diversity in terms of mechanical and electronic cameras like Fe and Fm and Fe2 and Fm2 or others and the acceptance of lenses as well like nikkor s and ai-s and non ai-s and D.
Using a Google translator
Ok that I bought my Nikon FM during the Oakland Fire back in 1991 when I was going to a Camera Swap in Oakland as My FM still works, and that I called it the: "Nikon FM109.1 Meaning that I got in October 1991, and that Wrong the FM2 yes it did had the high speed titanium shutter BUT only the Top, and Bottom were the Metal part, as the rest of the blades were the material that was called in the mid 1990's were Polycarbonate in which Nikon also made the Nikon FM High speed model like the F3, and F3 but for the FM that at the speed the original shutter blade were flying off the shutter track so they knew the problem but did not tell until the late Nineties until the FM3 was introduced. And also that FM2 did not had the feature as my FM of using the NON AI lenses as I did with my Old Nikkors with using Stop Down Metering as when connected with the MD12 drive. Looking for another FM as they are built like tanks, and all Mechanical shutter, and simple metering system like the Nikkormat's. Never did like the FE model... And as for the fast shutter speed of 1/4000 then get a F100 as I am happy in what I have my FM109.1
Nice compare and contrast. I've always loved the FM camera bodies.
Any idea if the FM2 meter coupling lever can be converted to the FM style? Eliminating the use of non-ai lens is really a mistake in my book.
I've never heard of anyone installing a retractable AI tab on an FM2. Then again, I've never heard of anyone who tried and failed either.
Can you use the viewfinder if you unscrew the round protector? Probably it will look better, sharper and brighter because you are removing glass and the default one is just a protector, like a UV filter for the viewfinder haha
I'm wondering how the FM, the FM2, and the FM3a perform once their electronics die and they're mech only. In figuring out that these don't work with Duracell 3v batteries, only stacked energizer 1.5v's I ran into all these other owners who had similar problems but dead logic boards, and this far out of the service life, are irreparable. If someone made a small, sexy little aluminum light meter for the hot shoe, & for all I know they might, we can continue to use these beautiful machines until the end of time.
I got an immaculate FM, it's like a 6 month old camera, absolutely fantastic condition. Works immaculate. Still I am selling it as I just bought an F2, not as great condition as the FM but it needs to go, I have no room for too much stuff... I will miss it!
Hello Brian. Your reviews are really practical and useful and every nikon user need to subscribe you . I red somewhere that FM's meter uses gallium photodiodes, which have a more accurate response to red-colored subjects than the silicon cells used in all other cameras in this series. But they were expensive, so nikon dropped them..
Is this true ? And if so this is an advantage over the fm2- fm2n.
Regards.
Mohammad
I don't know about the red sensitivity, but I believe gallium was dropped in favor of silicon for price. As far as I know, one is as good as the other.
Downside for my FM is the screen not able to change as oppose to the FE. Just for the dust to be blow off
Not having to remove the top plate to clean the inside of the focus screen is a godsend
It is actually possible to change the focusing screen in the F2, but it requires some dismantling of the camera. It was recommended that this be done by a camera technician, so could only be done on an at least semi-permanent basis.
The focusing screens for the FM2, also the FE2 and FA, are not the same as those for the FE. The original screens are the K, B and E, these were replaced by the K2, B2 and E2. The new screens look almost identical, and the ‘wrong’ ones will fit, and work. However, the new screens give a brighter image, and I believe that this will throw the meter readings off. I would guess that it would be possible to have the meter recalibrated, or adjust the ASA setting. The new screens are much easier to find on EBay now, though the original ones tend to be cheaper. The new screens can be identified by a small notch cut into the tab used to hold the screen when removing it.
I’ve never actually seen a FM2, but one difference I noticed in the video, but not mentioned, is that the shutter release button seems to be slightly larger in diameter.
Overall, I would prefer the FM, and as you say, the fixed AI tab on the FM2 is a major disadvantage.
@@srfurley thank you for the excellent info! I have cleaned the focus screens on a Minolta srt and a canon FTb - the were pretty easy to get into by removing the top plate. How difficult would you rate access to the pentaprism and focus screen on th FM compared to those? I know that many cameras require desoldering wires...
bartwaggoner2000 just spotted my error, I typed F2’s when I meant FM, but you seem to have realised what I meant. It’s about 20 years since I used my cameras, and longer ago than that since I put a E screen in the FM. I can’t remember what dismantling was necessary, but I don’t think it involved any soldering.
I’ve just got the cameras out of store and am going to try using them again but my eyesight is now very poor, so I may not be able to use them.
Nikon wise I have F, FM, FE, EM and Nikkormat FTn.
Last time I did a multiple exposure was a mistake! Almost never used that feature....
I use it for landscape work get some nice shots
great video
@4:40 Math. That is double.
Yes, that is a one stop difference which is twice the ASA.
Thanks for the video. Makes me glad I got the FM (at a great price)
With all the nit picking the article did, I am flabbergasted that they did not mention the different size/shape of the shutter release button. I'd think that would be more applicable than the texture of the shutter speed knob. But what the F*ck do I know?
seems to me that in comparison the FM is 98% of the camera 98% of the time for half of the price...
6400/2=3200
Nikon FM2 vs. Nikon FM
I don't understand why people keep that horrible golden stickers, even when they are in bad condition. The first thing I do when I buy a vintage camera or lens is rip off that sticker haha
Call me................crazy, but THE only thing worth talking about (for 95% of shooters) when comparing the FM to the FM2 is the difference in fastest shutter speeds...........1/1000 vs. 1/4000.
Perhaps, but that would make for a rather dull video, wouldn't it?
And the 2 stop ND brings them back even. Unless 1/4000th can stop motion even better…? Probably not noticeable to the eye or photo