nikon FE or FA?

You already own an FE, the FE2 is simply a newer version with faster shutter speeds. The F3 is about the same size and a much better camera. I've never owned an FA but it worth trying out. Bottom line, you can't own too many Nikons.
 
OK the last three posts helped cleared up my memory. I never had an MD-11. I Have MD-12! And I was thinking of the MD-15 when I said I think it's only for the FA. I should have opened the drawer and looked.
 
Beemermark said:
You already own an FE, the FE2 is simply a newer version with faster shutter speeds. The F3 is about the same size and a much better camera.
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Not quite, the FE2 is merely a FE with way more reliable electronics, which indeed has faster shutter speeds but also offers TTL flash metering, 1/3 EV exposure correction with a red LED in the VF telling the exposure correction is activated. The VF meter needle stops moving if you lock the exposure before re-framing and shooting in Auto mode, too, and the meter has an auto power-off after a dozen of seconds, even if the wind lever is left open, which helps for a longer batteries life (the FE2 is probably the Nikon with which a couple of new SR44 batteries, or a CR1/3N battery, would last for the longest, could be 5 years of amateur use). And it had brighter focusing screens than the FE.

It misses the flippable metal AI coupling tab, unfortunately - what was Nikon thinking when fitting fixed plastic AI tabs on their cameras, that was the beginning of the end of the real Nikons... :rolleyes:

The F3 is a very nice camera but it has its own electronics problems (LCD display fading and CPU issues for instance).

Being given a good looking and working F3 is nice. :)
 
paul in AZ said:
Done.
I decided to get an F3 maybe with HP. Before ordering one I called a friend who has Nikons for an opinion. He has [now used to have] two F3s and insisted on giving me one that has a very tiny bit of brassing but is otherwise excellent. A semi-virgin.
The plain finder looks like it will work OK for me. It is not that much bulkier or heavier than my FE. The moulded grip does help in holding it.
Wow. Made my day.
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Well done. You now have the best camera, and better still it didn't cost you a penny. Or should I say cent. Or dime. Whatever.
 
For anyone else considering their option between these cameras...

I put my FA up for sale today as I have found that AE-L is super important to me (absent on the FA), one of the reasons I love my Bessa R2a. I found that I used the camera more in manual than anything else for that reason.
 
The first thing I did when I got my FE2 was to change out the focus screen for the K split screen.


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Well, the F3 is worth what it cost me [so far].
I took it to a good repair shop and he couldn't get it to fire properly.

Is there someone you can refer me to who does repairs on these?
Failing that, I have a nice looking paper weight and will look for another body.
 
This thread inspired me to shoot with my FA again for the first time in several years. Looks like I'll be ordering a seal re-foam kit before I load any film though. Camera works perfectly otherwise.


I had forgotten one nugget about the MD-15 motordrive. Unlike the MD-11 and MD-12, the 15 has no on/off switch. It is always alive and ready to shoot. Kind of strange when you're not used to it!
 
paul in AZ said:
Well, the F3 is worth what it cost me [so far].
I took it to a good repair shop and he couldn't get it to fire properly.
Is there someone you can refer me to who does repairs on these?
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Depends on what's the problem. But the F3 isn't the legendary F2. It may not be worth it.

Highway 61 ->two weeks ago said:
The F3 is a very nice camera but it has its own electronics problems (LCD display fading and CPU issues for instance).
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I dislike quoting myself, but : QOD. I still think that now, about 40 years after they were both marketed, the FE2 is a better choice than the F3, electronics reliability wise, for someone wanting a Nikon with aperture priority automatic exposure. If that someone can live with a manual exposure SLR, the F2 is the Nikon of choice.
 
css9450 said:
This thread inspired me to shoot with my FA again for the first time in several years. Looks like I'll be ordering a seal re-foam kit before I load any film though. Camera works perfectly otherwise.

I had forgotten one nugget about the MD-15 motordrive. Unlike the MD-11 and MD-12, the 15 has no on/off switch. It is always alive and ready to shoot. Kind of strange when you're not used to it!
Click to expand...

I've got my FA/MD15 right here with me and it has a lock position on the shutter button collar. This won't activate the camera at all. If you pull the advance lever out, you can still turn the camera on, but it won't shoot unless it's on one of the mechanical speeds 1/250 or B. You CAN activate the camera with the MD15 set to lock if you have an MR3 or remote release in the accessory socket of the winder, but it still won't shoot, it will only activate the camera's meter.

Phil Forrest
 
The FA was my first Nikon. Bought new in the early '80s (I want to say 1983). My father had a Canon A-1. Very similar cameras, but he had more difficulty operating it than I did the FA.

I liked it enough that I bought an FM-2 as a backup/2nd body. I liked that FM-2 so much, it became my primary body, and the FA the backup.

I also own an F2 Photomic, F4 (not F4S or F4E), F5, and a couple Nikon dSLRs. Nikon Acquisition Syndrom. I just can't part with an old friend even after making a new friend.

If I want small, I grab the FM-2, or a rangefinder (Canon 7, Olympus XA, Kiev 4...). If I can tolerate big, the... well, if I'm sticking to 35mm, the F5, but if I'm going to shoot that, I might as well grab my Pentax 645N. Shoots like the F4 without having all the interlocks getting in the way of changing things.

Good luck!
 
Back in the days of film, I used the FM/FE/FA variations and the only ones I've kept were an ultra-smooth FM and an FE2. They were largely replaced by an F100, which I would consider over an FA. Unfortunately, mine was stolen by a fellow photog who "borrowed it for a backup" and never remembered to return it.
 
Update: The second shop also found that the batteries were shorting out. They sit in a plastic holder that is missing. Part not available. Wrapping the batteries with tape is a temporary 'fix' that prevented shorting and got it running. That revealed that slow shutter speeds below 1/125 were frozen.
A full tear down CLA could cost more than the camera is worth.

So, on to plan B. Current favorites are an FM or possibly another FE.
 
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