Nikon EM: Check and clean, issue with automatic shutdown of the exposure meter

[Andreas Thaler]

The Nikon EM with its exclusive winder MD-E and the flash unit SB-E will be my next main project this year. With a focus on technical exploration, service and repair.


Nikon EM: carefree photography

The EM from 1979 was Nikon's attempt to make SLR photography accessible to customers with less technical interests.

Accordingly, the EM is easy to use with the associated winder and flash as system accessories.

Advanced functions are deliberately omitted in favor of simple operation and user-friendliness. The use of plastic makes the set light but still stable.

A separate lens line was introduced for the EM with Nikon Series E. Compared to the MF Nikkors made of metal, the lenses were given lighter plastic frames and offered very good optical quality.

The Nikon EM Review

The Nikon EM review. Original by late Nikonian Mike Graham, updated by JRP.

www.nikonians.org

Nikon Series E 50/1.8: Disassembly, recovering of a body and cleaning

Today I went through some new arrivals, all of which should be free of issues. The two Tamrons Adaptall-2, an 80-210/3.8~4 and a 200/3.5 are mint, the Minolta MD 28/2.8 (II) as well, the Braun VarioZoom 340M SCA had some coating on the battery contacts and the Nikon Series E 50/1.8 turned out...

www.photrio.com

Nikon Speedlight SB-E: Dissection

I was actually looking forward to the restoration of this little flash to the Nikon EM. Damage to battery acid in the battery compartment gave rise to hope for a major cleaning operation behind the battery contacts, with patching and soldering work on the circuit board. Externally in mint...

www.photrio.com

Under the hood

As always, it's not just about attempting repairs, but also about seeing and understanding more of the technology „under the hood“.

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Before this I'm taking a longer break to recover. It has been a busy year so far with many great projects

I will use the time to further educate myself on repairs - many videos waiting for PLAY - and to advance in digital electronics.

Stay tuned

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Preparations

For the Nikon EM and the associated MD-E motor drive and SB-E electronic flash, I am optimally equipped with technical documents and excellent articles/videos by Richard Haw and Fix Old Cameras on the web:

• Nikon Repair Manuals for EM, MD-E and SB-E
• Technical article in the SPT Journal about the Nikon EM
• User manuals

Nikon EM Service Manual

Factory service manual

learncamerarepair.com

Nikon EM Repair Article

Article from the Society of Photo-Technologists Journal

learncamerarepair.com

Repair: Nikon EM

Hello, everybody! I am pleased by the current development in the photography industry. The big boys have showed their mirrorless cameras and now even the small players are also in the game with Pan…

richardhaw.com

Nikon EM instruction manual, Bedienungsanleitung, PDF user manual

Nikon EM instruction manual, Mode d'emploi

www.butkus.org

Nikon motor drive, MD-1, MD-2, MD-3, MD-4, MD-12, F-36 instruction manual, PDF user manual

Nikon motor drive instruction manuals

butkus.org

Nikon SB flash instruction manual, Nikon R1C1user manual, PDF manual, Nikon Autofokus-Blitzgerat SB-24

Nikon SB Flashes instruction manuals, Nikon Autofokus-Blitzgerat SB-24

www.butkus.org

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I have several EM housings and motor drives MD-E in used condition with unknown status.

Depending on the need, I will partially dismantle the devices, clean them and try to solve problems.

Start is next week (CET), until then my workshop is closed due to late summer vacation.

Stay tuned!

 

[miha]

Thanks for bringing this tiny camera to my attention. I have a broken FG somewhere, which is the same size but released a couple of years later. Enjoy the vacation!

 

[macfred]

Great little Nikon !
The lady of the house uses this one -together with her F301- for decades. The E lenses are great also.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Thanks for bringing this tiny camera to my attention. I have a broken FG somewhere, which is the same size but released a couple of years later. Enjoy the vacation!

Thanks!

What about the FG?

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Great little Nikon !
The lady of the house uses this one -together with her F301- for decades. The E lenses are great also.

Excellent!

How are the two cameras today?

 

[miha]

Thanks!

What about the FG?

FG fires at different speeds, as indicated by the meter. Sometimes, the mirror wouldn’t return until the shutter was cocked again, and, lastly, the film advance lever broke.

 

[macfred]

Excellent!

How are the two cameras today?

Both cameras are still in use - my wife mainly takes photos with slide film. If I remember correctly, the cameras were never serviced. They were only used regularly - mainly with a 100mm Series E 2.8 Ai-S and the Nikon NIKKOR P 45mm f/2.8 Ai-S.
We have two F2 and a F3HP - the lady says those are to clunky ...

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Both cameras are still in use - my wife mainly takes photos with slide film. If I remember correctly, the cameras were never serviced. They were only used regularly - mainly with a 100mm Series E 2.8 Ai-S and the Nikon NIKKOR P 45mm f/2.8 Ai-S.
We have two F2 and a F3HP - the lady says those are to clunky ...

An exemplary equipped household!

 

[Andreas Thaler]

FG fires at different speeds, as indicated by the meter. Sometimes, the mirror wouldn’t return until the shutter was cocked again, and, lastly, the film advance lever broke.

That would be another project?

I have the Nikon FG on my repair list.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I am sorry this will take a while.

I took over the proofreading of a book about electronics and am retouching historic portrait photos in Photoshop for another book.

So almost at full capacity

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Here are the candidates for our project:

• 4 x Nikon EM
• 3 x MD-E
• 1 x SB-E

I have no idea if the devices work and I bought them one by one without first finding out about their condition.

I am particularly looking forward to this tour as I am a fan of the smallest Nikon SLR

 

[MTGseattle]

I'm curious about this. I remember being told back in the mid 90's to steer clear of the EM due to some plastic part that was prone to failure and was scarce even back then. Looking back, this may have been inflamed sentiment from someone who had one that broke, or someone who had a "better" model in Nikon's line and was a naysayer. I still ran quite a few rolls through one.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I'm curious about this. I remember being told back in the mid 90's to steer clear of the EM due to some plastic part that was prone to failure and was scarce even back then. Looking back, this may have been inflamed sentiment from someone who had one that broke, or someone who had a "better" model in Nikon's line and was a naysayer. I still ran quite a few rolls through one.

The rewind crank is probably a weak point; I often read in offers that it is broken.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Brave little Nikon EM: a service project

Of the four EMs available, I chose the front one for inspection because it is the most used and the dirtiest.

The case is intact. No cracks or broken parts.

Very pleasing: The shutter can be cocked and released in M90 mode, which is the mechanical shutter speed of 1/90 second.

After I have cleaned the battery contacts in the base of the camera with electronic cleaner, inserted a 3 volts battery and moved the (not inserted) film up to 1 in the film counter, I test the exposure meter.

Also great: The measuring needle is not stuck (a known problem) and reacts to changes in light and to turning the aperture ring of the attached Nikon 50/1.8 Series E. This means that aperture priority works.

The backlight correction works and extends the exposure time by two f-stops as it should.

The battery control LED also works, but flickers when the test button is pressed.

The mechanical self-timer can be cocked and runs down, the shutter is released. It just doesn't manage the last part.

The coupling ring for the aperture simulator runs rough and a bit jerky.

The ASA setting works.

The leatherette is coming off in two places.

Lots of dust and dirt, light seals and mirror shock absorber should be replaced.

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Findings/next steps

• This brave little EM has held up flawlessly over the decades, even with visible use. So far, no noticeable functional limitations.
• I will remove the top and bottom covers as well as the leatherette to clean them.
• I will also clean all accessible contacts, so that also the LED should light up again without flickering.
• Remove and clean the aperture simulator ring.
• I will see if I can improve the self-timer function without deep dismantling.
• After this work, I will check the shutter speeds with the Reveni Labs Camera tester.
• I will also compare the shutter speeds displayed with an SLR whose settings I trust.
• Then test with winder MD-E and electronic flash SB-E, assuming they work.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Besides having had the technical expertise, the Nikon EM was also my entry into the Nikon SLR system. It was a great camera and probably still is.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Removal of the top cover

Richard Haw gives an overview of the individual steps:

Repair: Nikon EM

Hello, everybody! I am pleased by the current development in the photography industry. The big boys have showed their mirrorless cameras and now even the small players are also in the game with Pan…

richardhaw.com

Remove the winding lever after loosening the small screw. The cover cap opens by turning clockwise.

Dismounting of rewind crank and ASA wheel.

After loosening six housing screws, the top cover can be removed.

Two cables connect the piezo speaker to the circuit board.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Desoldering the two cables. As always, flux applied to the soldering points aids desoldering.


Contacts for battery testing with LED

This is where the push button for the battery test with LED contacts the circuit board.

I suspect that the contact under the push button (blue arrow) creates a connection to the other two permanent contacts when pressed. I will clean this with electronic cleaner.


ASA setting, contact tracks with wipers

The contact tracks with wipers are on the underside of the ceramic board. I will clean this as well.


Remove the aperture simulator rings

Dismounting the bayonet ring.

The black ring with the lens coupling for the aperture simulator.

The copper-colored pressure spring in the bayonet can only be inserted in one position.

Here the black ring couples into the ring underneath with contacts (red arrow).

This ring moves left and right, following the aperture setting on the lens.

Removing the bayonet cover to get to the ring.

The ring with the contacts can be lifted out of its guide and only reinserted in the correct position.

The wipers at the ring.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

The contact track.

The ring with the contacts is held under tension by this spring loaded gear.

When inserting the ring, it must be pre-tensioned approximately half a turn (estimated) anti-clockwise.

This is best done with a needle or fine probe ...

... so that the gear rim on the ring can take over the tension.

The lens locking mechanism.


Removing the leatherette

The cover over the self-timer lever is glued on. I was able to remove it using the probe. But you can also use a little isopropyl alcohol to dissolve the glue.

The leatherette is easy to remove.


Dismounting the bottom plate

Four screws.


Ready for cleaning

The camera is now disassembled enough to start cleaning it.

You can see that the EM has a solid metal chassis.

The EM can be easily disassembled and the installation positions of the individual parts are largely self-explanatory.

A very carefully constructed and, so far, service-friendly camera.

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Tomorrow (CET) I'll continue with cleaning.

And I'm excited to see if I can improve the self-timer without having to remove the mirror box.


+++

All information provided without guarantee and use at your own risk.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Besides having had the technical expertise, the Nikon EM was also my entry into the Nikon SLR system. It was a great camera and probably still is.

I should have stuck with my first SLR (Minolta X-700).

Everything that came after that didn't make photography any easier …

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Since the EM has obviously come into contact with sand, I will definitely remove the front panel with the mirror box to clean if necessary. This will also give me access to the self-timer mechanism on the inside of the panel.

There are instructions for this in an issue of the SPT Journal.

Tomorrow will definitely be interesting

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Removal of the front panel with mirror box

This requires the following steps, which are described in the SPT Journal:

Nikon EM Repair Article

Article from the Society of Photo-Technologists Journal

learncamerarepair.com

Removing the ceramic plate with conductors and wipers under the ASA ring is also part of the process, but I have already done that before.

Desoldering the marked cables.

Desoldering and separating the flexible circuit boards on the connector.

Loosening screws.

Done

Rear panel with shutter.

Views of the front panel with mirror box.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Index lever for largest aperture and part of the corresponding control electronics.

Mechanism of the self-timer.

Lever for tensioning the mirror.

Test assembly, which requires the shutter and mirror to be cocked.

It took me a few hours to solve a problem with the mirror. The mirror did not flip up completely after the shutter was released.

I found the solution in the service manual.

The front panel has to be inserted exactly as shown, then the four fastening screws can be screwed in without any problem.

I had a tiny misalignment that was enough to affect the mirror mechanism.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Next steps

• Clean the inside of the front panel where necessary, check the self-timer and lubrication of the mirrorbox mechanism.
• Reinstall the front panel and make the connections in reverse order as described.
• Clean all accessible contacts, wipers and contact tracks.
• Clean aperture simulator rings, leatherette, covers and reassemble.
• Test the shutter speeds.
• Compare the shutter speeds displayed with a reference SLR.
• Connect with winder MD-E and electronic flashlight SB-E.

Small camera, big workload

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Cleaning

As best as possible in the assembled state, I cleaned the area behind the front panel as well as the rear panel and all accessible contacts.

I had previously cleaned the housing parts with cleaning foam and water.

The battery test LED no longer flickers after cleaning the contacts.


Some oiling and greasing

I oiled the bearings here and there and cleaned/lubricated where I could see traces of old grease.

This is better than nothing and of course is no substitute for thorough preparatory cleaning and systematic treatment.


Challenge on the flexible board

A conductor track on the flexible circuit board was broken. I bridged the spot with jumper wire.

I needed for this the strongest lens in my magnifying glasses and it worked


A pragmatic solution for the self-timer lever

Since I didn't see any sensible way of reducing the friction with oil on the self-timer mechanism, I cut and filed the back of the plastic lever a little.

Now it moves fully back to its original position via the ball catch.

One long day follows the next, in Vienna it is now Saturday, 2:00 a.m.

The camera works, everything is plausible.

I am happy with the result of my work.

We will continue with shutter/lightmeter test, flash and winder soon.