I tried asking a repairshop who specialises in the fm2n and he said he's never had to adjust the focus on one and suggested I return it.
Though he also told me he'd need to swap out the light meter electronics to swap the viewfinder, which I didn't find to be the case.
Luckily I think the reseating of the focussing screen fixed things:
Thank you all, and I love this method for checking the focus. I read someone mention placing the tape on the back of some small glass and then taping that so it's properly flat, might come in handy for anyone in the future.
Just on sharpness... I feel like at f2.8 with the 50/1.4 ais, it has enough of that bite to peak through even when the image is scaled up. But I'm quite often sitting at 1/60 as a result, (in cloudy England).
I have the 1.2 and I think it's sharper at f2 but perhaps it's not the sharpness but my accuracy.
I do need to dampen the 1.4 a little since it's very loose too.
I'm going to use the 50/1.4 AI in the mean time that came with a camera, which has a longer focus throw and more damping.
I've also not been using the split-screen with people but the outer edge so I was thinking maybe the pure matte screen to lower the distance change when reframing - I'm not holding my breath for a big change with this.
But I'm just curious...
1/60 is great when I have IBIS as my hands aren't the most stable, and perhaps there's some room for improvement with technique. But now I'm always wishing I was higher at 1/125 or ideally 1/250. And not wanting to be limited to iso 800 film, plus never wanting flash.
I was wondering, did anyone find a noticeable improvement at 1/60 going from an SLR (fm2n) to a rangefinder? Maybe it's the mirror slap at 1/60...
And if so, maybe there's something that can be done to dampen it further than just the little bit of soft foam there for the mirror...?
At f2.8 I'm also losing some of the character of the nikon glass so if I'm always using it like that in the future and not getting it right at f2, maybe it won't matter to get the 50mm nokton 1.5 II...and then there's no mirror slap either.
--- I'll try a tripod shot at f2, f2.8 with 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 and a cable release, see if it's the mirror slap.
Jan 10, 2026 at 09:36 PM
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