Help needed, Nikon FE behaves erratically

[Andrea Taurisano]

Dear all, I've been doing photography for almost 30 years with any sort of analog gear, at times having my fair share of gear trouble, yet I can't figure out what the heck is going on with this Nikon FE.

The camera simply takes randomly long, I mean VERY long exposures (1sec to a couple of minutes!!) even in full sunshine. This happens both in Auto and when setting aperture and shutter speed manually (e.g. on f5.6 - 1/500s). Once the camera is busy taking its frustratingly long exposure, there's no way to interrupt it and bring the mirror down. Setting the exposure dial to B or M90 will NOT cut the ongoing exposure.

If I repeat the very same shot once the mirror has come down and I can recock the shutter, chances are the next exposure willl be much shorter, or even right. Out of a 36 shot roll, about half are totally overexposed, and the other half correctly exposed.

Now, hear the puzzling thing: Out of exactly 100 test shots taken with NO film inside the camera and the backdoor open (to have a qualitative impression of what the shutter was doing), the long exposure issue NEVER occurred. If you test the camera unloaded, you'll conclude it is a perfectly functional one!!

Needless to say, the batteries are fresh and the meter needle inside the viewfinder is moving as it should. The light meter is in other words at least indicating consistently correct exposure times.

Anyone has a clue what might be going on?? If I send this camera to the only repair man here in Norway, it's going to cost me at least 100 - 150 dollars, with no garantee it'll come back fixed..

 

[shane_goguen]

I just fought with a similar issue with my Girlfriends FE2, did a bit of research on the net, ending up cleaning the resistors right behind the ring that mates with the aperture cam on the lens, camera came back to life for about a month, then died again (while we were in Vietnam for vacation)

 

[Huss]

Same thing happened to my FE2, so I unloaded it. Kept my FM2n.

Once gear gets old, it's much better to stick with mechanical/manual stuff.

 

[Solinar]

A camera that only misbehaves when there is film in the camera? That's mean.

When the mirror was hanging up, did you remove the lens to see if the shutter was in the open or closed position?

See the video below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebrQ3ZMkfwI

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

A camera that only misbehaves when there is film in the camera? That's mean.

When the mirror was hanging up, did you remove the lens to see if the shutter was in the open or closed position?

See the video below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebrQ3ZMkfwI

Yes, I did. The shutter was open as long as the mirror was up. That's why all the shots where the problem occurred were totally overexposed and blurred. The exposures are so long that the light affects the closest part of both adiacent frames.


I'm studying that guy's video to see if it might be the same problem. Thanks to all who've given their two cents so far!


Edit: I did studi his video. Don't think it's the same problem. The suggestion of sticking to manual/mechanical stuff makes more and more sense to me..

 

[Steve M.]

My experience w/ Nikon cameras is quite extensive, having owned one or more of: N6006, N8008s, N80, D50, D70, EM, FG, F (like carrying around a brick) all manner of Nikkormats, F4s, and an FE2. The only one that ever gave me any trouble at all was the FE2. It only happened once (it just got "funny" on the shutter speeds), but after reading the reviews I sold it.

The FG is supposed to have electrical issues, but I never had one that did anything other than work perfectly. Same w/ all the cameras I mentioned except for the Nikkormats, which often needed contacts cleaned, new battery, etc to get them working right. Other than those, all the other Nikon cameras I owned were electronic and never failed me even once. So I don't see this as an electrical vs mechanical issue, it's more related to the FE cameras.

 

[seany65]

Out of curiosity, does it do the long shutter speed thing with the back of the camera closed, but with no film?

Would the presence of a film affect an FE?

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

Out of curiosity, does it do the long shutter speed thing with the back of the camera closed, but with no film?

Would the presence of a film affect an FE?

No, the problem does not seem to occur with the back closed but no film. If the tension or load the film puts on the recocking mechanism is enough to make the difference, then it must clearly be a mechanical problem, not one in the electronics. Probably something like the problem the video linked above.

But my knowledge of this camera is limited: Are the shutter blades and the mirror connected so that a primary problem of the mirror return mechanism (mirror hanging occasionally) would force the shutter to stay open for just as long, even when the meter told the shutter it needed a short exposure? If this is the case, this might be my problem.

Or are mirror and shutter blades connected so that a mirror problem would only prevent advancing the film as long as the mirror is still hanging, but exposures are according to meter reading? This is NOT the case in my camera.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

No suggestions on the problem, but I would just say that if the same thing happened to my FE (which is my favorite camera), I'd send it off for repairs. The FE is worth fixing, and I would not depend on reliable camera repair technicians being around forever.



But I would also buy a mechanical camera as a backup just in case. (Mine is a K1000.)