A snapshot of recent eBay sold prices for the Nikon FM2 and FM2N — the body-only ranges, the titanium FM2/T premium, and the Ai-S Nikkor lenses that move the margin.
Snapshot estimated from recent eBay sold-listings data. Numbers refresh every Sunday. For an exact current price on a specific piece, scan it.
The FM2 is the camera that taught a generation of photographers that "fully mechanical" is a feature, not a compromise. Nikon built it from 1982 to 2001 — an almost unheard-of run — and the result is a body that resellers price on condition and cosmetics far more than on rarity. The spread is wider than a Canon AE-1's because the FM2 attracts serious shooters who pay up for clean glass and quiet, accurate shutters. The margin lives in three places: variant, shutter condition, and the lens on the front.
The original FM2 (1982) synced flash at 1/200; the FM2N (1984) bumped that to 1/250 and is what the "New FM2" engraving on the top plate refers to. The two trade within a few dollars of each other — buyers chase condition, not the N. The body to know is the FM2/T (1993): a titanium-skinned, champagne-finish variant produced in small numbers that commands a heavy premium, often $700-1,000+ for clean examples. Black bodies generally edge out chrome, and very late serial numbers (the 870xxx–N9xxxxx range) attract a small collector bump because they're the last mechanical Nikons off the line.
The FM2's signature is a vertical-travel metal shutter that hits 1/4000 sec — extraordinary for a manual body of its era — and fires at every speed with no battery (the two LR44 cells run only the meter). That means a "dead" FM2 is almost never actually dead: pop in $4 of batteries and the meter wakes up, while the shutter was working the whole time. Resellers should always dry-fire across the speed range and listen — capping at 1/4000, no visible blade damage, and consistent slow speeds are what separate a $430 body from a $250 "for parts." Early FM2N bodies used titanium honeycomb shutter blades (later aluminum); the titanium ones are a nice line item in a listing but don't change function.
A bare FM2 body is a $300-380 sale. The same body with the right manual-focus Nikkor can clear well past $500. The pairings buyers pay for, in order: the 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S (the default fast normal), 35mm f/2 Ai-S, 105mm f/2.5 Ai-S (a legendary portrait lens), and 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S. The kit-grade 50mm f/1.8 Ai-S still adds $40-70. Because every Ai and Ai-S lens mounts and meters on the FM2, a body sold with a matched prime almost always outsells parting them out. Note that pre-Ai (non-converted) lenses can damage the meter coupling — flag lens type clearly in any listing.
The FM2 has a global, demand-heavy buyer base skewed toward enthusiasts and pros who want a no-batteries-required backup. eBay is the deepest market, and a large share of the strongest sales ship from Japan, where mint bodies are graded meticulously — domestic US sellers can use that as a pricing anchor. Clean, tested bodies move fast at auction; "as-is" and untested bodies are better as fixed-price listings to film-camera flippers who repair. Estate sales of serious amateur photographers (the people who bought these new in the 80s and 90s) remain the best in-person source.
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The FM2 (1982) and FM2N (1984) are nearly identical fully-mechanical SLRs. The key change: the FM2N raised the flash sync speed from 1/200 to 1/250 and used honeycomb-pattern titanium shutter blades early on, later moving to aluminum. In practice the bodies sell within a few dollars of each other in equivalent condition — buyers care far more about cosmetic and shutter condition than the N suffix. The vast majority of bodies on the market are FM2N, since it had the longer production run (into 2001). The "New FM2" branding on the top plate refers to the FM2N.
No — and that's a major part of its appeal and resale value. The FM2 has a fully mechanical shutter that fires at every speed (1 sec to 1/4000) with no battery at all. The two LR44 / SR44 cells power only the light meter. A dead-battery FM2 still shoots perfectly; only the meter goes dark. This battery independence is why the FM2 is a favorite backup and travel body, and why it holds value better than electronic-shutter SLRs of the same era that brick when the electronics fail.
Three reasons: the mechanical shutter (no battery dependence, no electronics to fail), the 1/4000 top speed (rare for a manual body of its era), and lower production numbers than the 5-million-unit AE-1. The FM2 is positioned as a serious enthusiast and pro backup body rather than a beginner SLR, so demand skews toward photographers who pay for condition. A clean FM2N body routinely clears $350-450 where a comparable AE-1 sits around $90-130. The titanium-shutter FM2/T variant pushes higher still.