Thrilled With The Nikon FE

[David_Manning]

I've "discovered" manual Nikon SLRs. I inherited a mint Nikon FG. It's very small...like a rangefinder...and I just bought AI manual focus 50/1.4 and 28/2.8 Nikkors for it.

I'm very excited. It's really like new. Here's two quick peeks. The second one shows it's size relative to my "small, light" X100...

 

[DNG]

I also have an FE, and, the shutter is average in sound,

But, a hidden fact is that the shutter can get up to around 1/6-8000 in 'A" mode only... the reason the dial only goes to 1/1000 is because Nikon could not guaranty the accuracy. I read this on a review somewhere a month a go or so... They said that it isn't bad up to 1/4000 or so. So, even though the needle will be in the red zone, if you know you a stop or 2 off as far as the reading, take it anyway... most likely. you'll get a negative that is very close to a correct exposure.

Plus, the FE can take any Nikkor lens made with the ability to move the Ai Pin out of the way. Only the EL/1-2, FM and FE can do this.. the FA/FM2-3/FE2 can not. You must use Ai or Ai converted lenses for coupled metering.

 

[rbsinto]

I'm thinking about getting a FE or a FA. One thing I read about the FA is that it's supposed to have a very quiet shutter/mirror mechanism. I like that feature. How's the FE in that regard?

I used to own an FE and an FE-2, and currently have and use an FM and an FA. None of them have particularly quiet shutters, especially when compared to my rangefinders.
However, the sound level of the SLR shutter/mirror mechanisms have never caused me problems while taking photos, so based on my experience, I'd suggest that you not worry about it.

 

[ronnies]

<snip>
Plus, the FE can take any Nikkor lens made with the ability to move the Ai Pin out of the way. Only the EL/1-2, FM and FE can do this.. the FA/FM2-3/FE2 can not. You must use Ai or Ai converted lenses for coupled metering.

But the FE can't work properly with a G lens, even though you can fit it, since it has no aperture ring. 🙂 Oh, and the F3 and F4 both have the moveable AI pin too.

Ronnie

 

[David_Manning]

Just to add to my previous post regarding my new-to-me FG...I just bought an EX++ FE2 body.

Oh, man...I'm excited now. My little "artist's kit" will be a black FE2 and Nikkor 50/1.4 and 28/2.8 lenses.

Happy happy, joy joy ( Ren & Stimpy).

 

[Corto]

Just to add to my previous post regarding my new-to-me FG...I just bought an EX++ FE2 body.

Oh, man...I'm excited now. My little "artist's kit" will be a black FE2 and Nikkor 50/1.4 and 28/2.8 lenses.

Happy happy, joy joy ( Ren & Stimpy).

Looking forward to seeing some images 🙂

 

[Dwig]

But the FE can't work properly with a G lens, even though you can fit it, since it has no aperture ring. 🙂 Oh, and the F3 and F4 both have the moveable AI pin too.

Ronnie

Nor can it work with any of the lenses that require mirror lockup to mount (e.g. ancient 21mm, original 8mm Fisheye, ...), but these are somewhat rare lenses to encounter.

 

[nikon_sam]

Another thing I like about the FE that I haven't read here yet is that in "Auto" mode the shutter speed is step-less...whatever speed is needed for proper exposure for your chosen aperture the shutter will fire at...the display will show the closest shutter speed to what the actual speed will be...

 

[Contarama]

The FE is great but IMO the FM is even better. The F2 is sublime.

 

[Kenj8246]

Just wish I could find the F-Grip for my FE2's pictured here: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1136259 I could buy this one but he wants a little more than I want to pay.

Kenny

 

[Bobbo]

I bought mine off eBay for $25 shipped with a Series E 50. Worked just fine and almost spotless. I think the meter woes are a little overexposed (no pun intended). The key word is IF it breaks. Although the ceramic resistor is rather fragile on its own and doesn't react well to grit, if you keep it out of the sandbox (that includes sandstorms as well as little Timmy's box out back) you should be fine for a very long time. Keep it clean and in a bag when not using it (like all other gear) and you should be fine. Besides, most being offloaded were never used much anyway and likely in a case for a long time.

 

[sevo]

Another thing I like about the FE that I haven't read here yet is that in "Auto" mode the shutter speed is step-less...

Very few AE cameras ever had a stepped AE - stepless mechanisms were much easier to implement with early analogue controls, so they came pretty naturally there. Later cameras with digital control electronics followed that pattern and used granularities fine enough to be effectively stepless.

whatever speed is needed for proper exposure for your chosen aperture the shutter will fire at...the display will show the closest shutter speed to what the actual speed will be...

Sort of. In AE mode the green, stepped pointer (indicating the chosen exposure value in manual mode) is locked at A, the black pointer is stepless and will point between scale numbers for intermediate values.

 

[cjbecker]

I cut my teeth on a beautiful FE and a 50 1.4, 28 2.8. It is by far, for me, the easiest and fastest camera to shoot. (I shoot full manual). It has the best placement of buttons and is the only camera that I trust the meter. I would love to have a fm but, the fe is the only camera that i think is perfect.

 

[DNG]

Plus, the FE can take any Nikkor lens made with the ability to move the Ai Pin out of the way. Only the EL/1-2, FM and FE can do this.. the FA/FM2-3/FE2 can not. You must use Ai or Ai converted lenses for coupled metering.

But the FE can't work properly with a G lens, even though you can fit it, since it has no aperture ring. 🙂 Oh, and the F3 and F4 both have the moveable AI pin too.

Ronnie

Yes, I forgot to mention that.... But, who buys G lenses? 😛
I know the "F"s have movable pins, but those are the Pro Models, not consumer models.

 

[rbsinto]

Just wish I could find the F-Grip for my FE2's pictured here: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1136259 I could buy this one but he wants a little more than I want to pay.

Kenny

Couldn't see the photo so I'm not certain exactly what you are referring to.
However, if you want a handle/grip to make holding the camera easier, get a cheap parts MD-11 or MD-12 motor drive, remove the battery clip to make it even lighter, and install it on the body.
Currently, KEH has a Bargain grade working drive for $9.00, and you can get parts drives (MD-12) for between $9.00 and $15.00 on ebay.