Showerthought: Overheard a guy at the camera swap meet say he uses a tiny drop of sewing machine oil on the advance lever shaft of old mechanical SLRs, not the usual light grease. Tried it on a Nikon FM and the action is way smoother.

4 comments

4 Comments

That sewing machine oil tip is actually genius for this. It's way thinner than light grease so it gets into the tiny gaps a thicker lube can't. People have been using it on watch gears and small mechanisms forever, so why not a camera advance? The FM feels smoother because the original grease probably dried up and gummed things up. A drop of light oil is just gonna attract more dust and turn into grinding paste faster.

mason_murray82mo ago

Actually, a tiny drop of light oil is the correct recommendation for that specific part, not sewing machine oil.

matthew_west2mo ago

Wow, that oil might even help with cold weather shutter lag.

hunt.hayden1mo ago

Used to think grease was better, but oil works.