Motor Drives Nikon FM

[68degrees]

Which is the best motor drive for Nikon FM or FE? and what kind of and how long do the batteries last?
Thanks

 

[dbarnes]

The MD-12 will power the cameras while the MD-11 will not. This makes the MD-12 the more attractive to most shooters. These motors otherwise look and sound and act alike, in my experience.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Which is the best motor drive for Nikon FM or FE? and what kind of and how long do the batteries last?
Thanks

If I'm not mistaken, there are only two motor drives available for the FM and the FE. They are the MD-11 and the MD-12. The MD-11 came first and was later replaced by the MD-12. I don't know what the differences are between the two models, but I believe that they are more alike than different. I recently picked up a FM body with a MD-11 drive and I like it a lot.

I set it on single shot rather than continuous fire because it only takes about 11 seconds to burn through a 36 exposure roll of film, as well as using up the batteries sooner. No idea how long the batteries last yet, I haven't used this rig all that much to date.

 

[Uncle Fester]

The MD-12 will power the cameras while the MD-11 will not. This makes the MD-12 the more attractive to most shooters. These motors otherwise look and sound and act alike, in my experience.

If you're referring to powering the camera's meter, the MD-11 does so too. At least mine does.

 

[Pablito]

If the motor is important to you, you are MUCH better off with a motorized F3, an F4 or newer camera. I love the FM and FE series, but the MD11 and MD12 are, in my experience, not that reliable. The MD-11 is worse than the MD-12. Also you have to rewind by hand.

 

[nikon_sam]

They are almost identical in how they function except that the MD-11 does not turn off the camera's meter and will drain the motor batteries overnight...the MD-12 will time out and shut the meter off after some time of non-use...
The MD-12 is the better of the two but to be period correct if you're a collector some of the older FM's & FE's will have to have the MD-11...
I have an MD-11 and like it but I have to remember to turn it off when I'm done...

What is the major difference between the MD-11 and the newer MD-12 ? Operation-wise, when you press the shutter release on single mode, the shutter will trickle without advancing to the next frame, only when you release or lift the trigger will advance to the next frame on the MD-11. MD-12's single mode, when press release, the shutter will immediately advance to next frame EVEN if finger is not lifted up from the trigger button and get you ready for the next shot. Next is the power saving feature, the newer MD-12 has a internal circuit to turn off the power 60 sec after inactivity. The MD-11 has no such feature and it requires you to switch off the power to avoid draining the power from the cells.
From the mir.com website...