This little thing cost me about $110 with the 28mm equivalent 10mm f2.8 and a little kit zoom. Yeah, it’s not great but really not bad either. Glued a cold shoe on the top to use a viewfinder.
For those interested, it’s a Nikon J1.
I love me some “untested” listings on eBay. Got this FM10 and 35-70 for $20 ($30 after shipping). Looked clean in the listing, but it’s nearly mint aside from some slightly sticky rubber. Hence, the hockey tape. Seems to work absolutely fine.
And yeah, these cameras get a bad rap, but I’ve always sort of wanted one. It actually feels pretty good, mechanically. Ordered a series e 50mm, but I’m also on the hunt for a good deal on a Zeiss 50mm planar. I owned one in the past and miss it dearly (sold to pay bills). I just love the idea of a $400 lens with a $10 body mounted on it, as god intended. The 85 would be nice too.
When a shutter/mirror is seized and you poke the linkage just right and it frees itself 😮💨
Sadly, couldn’t post a video. This camera had been sitting for a while outside of the AC, and I think the humidity here cause this one linkage to get a little sticky. Wrote the camera off and ordered another 139Q, so figured I’d spend an hour tinkering with this.
Sure enough, I was able to pull a little arm back to recock the shutter, then pressed on the mirror/shutter linkage and it fired and the mirror finally popped back into place! Seems to be back to working normally and got it put back together without much fuss. I really need to get some light watch oil so I can do full CLA’s.