Customer feedback on a squeaky shutter made me change my lube method

I had a guy bring in a Nikon FM2 last month complaining the shutter sounded wrong. I thought it was fine, just normal mechanical noise. He said it sounded like a rusty gate compared to his other body. I was annoyed at first but then I actually listened to both side by side. He was right, mine had that high pitched squeak I just got used to. I had been using the same general purpose grease on everything for years. Switched to a lighter synthetic oil on the mirror box pivot points and it shut him right up. Anyone else had a customer point out something obvious you were missing because you tuned it out?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanbarnes1mo ago

The 4 screws holding the shutter speed dial on are usually the real culprit, not the mirror box pivot points. I had the EXACT same issue with a F2 where I chased mirror box squeaks for months with different oils and nothing worked. Turns out the speed selector mechanism was dry where the dial shaft goes through the top plate. A single drop of Tri-Flow at the base of the shaft under the dial fixed it dead silent. Most people never think to look up there because they assume the noise is coming from inside the mirror box. That FM2 squeak might not be a lube problem at all, it could be that the dial is binding against the body.

paige5141mo ago

Had a buddy with an FM2n who was losing his mind over a squeak. He did the whole mirror box dance, lubed everything. Nothing. @dylanbarnes your fix would have saved him so much time. He pulled the whole top plate off before he even thought about the speed dial. Found exactly what you described, the shaft was bone dry. Dropped some sewing machine oil in there and it was dead quiet after that. He texted me a video of the shutter firing and you could hear a pin drop. It's wild how the sound travels through the camera body and fools you into thinking it's the mirror. Now I always tell people to check the top controls first before tearing into the guts.