The Nikon FE

If you enjoy shooting classic film cameras and have not tried one of Nikon’s advanced amateur SLRs from the 1970s and early 80s, you should. They are all well built, small, lightweight, dependable and easily and affordably serviced. The line-up includes the Nikon FM, FM2, FM2n and very expensive FM3a, the FA and the FE and FE2.

The FM, FM2 and FM2n are manual exposure cameras. The shutters are mechanical. The battery only powers the TTL meter. They are super dependable. Back in the day, many professional photographers carried one of these cameras as a back up to their pro bodies.

The FM3a was one of the last Nikon film cameras and an evolution of the FM2n. Improvements included an electro-mechanically controlled shutter and aperture-priority automation. Whenever I check the prices on these cameras, it takes my breath away.

The FA was Nikon’s techno marvel from 1983. It offers manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority and program modes. It was the first Nikon with matrix metering, which is still used today.

The Nikon FE offers manual and aperture-priority shooting modes. Its successor, the FE2, increased the top shutter speed from 1/1000th of a second to a blistering 1/4000th.

I own the FM2n and really enjoy its simplicity. I also have the FE2 and shoot it more than any other camera I own. For no reason other than curiosity, I have always wanted to try the FE and when a nice serviced copy came up for sale on eBay, I jumped.

After spending so much time shooting my FE2, the FE felt like an old friend. Build quality was like the other Nikon F cameras, sure and confidence inspiring. I think that the meter display in the FE and FE2 are the best of any SLR…simple analog display on the left side of a big, beautiful viewfinder. In fact, if Nikon used the FE/FE2 display in the F3, it would be the perfect camera for me!

My first roll of film in the FE was Kodak’s Pro Image 100. I made some photographs around town and in my backyard. It was still Covid time. I used the camera’s automatic mode.

Back home, a shot in the kitchen of my pizza before popping it into the oven.

And a photograph of Kimmie, who agreed to pose for the FE.

I knew I would love this camera. It feels great in the hand and is light enough to carry around all day. Nikon’s classic center-weighted metering makes it pretty hard to screw up exposure. The 50mm f/1.8 AI-s lens I had mounted was Nikon’s kit lens at the time and you can buy an FE and this lens today for between $100 and $125 if you shop around. The FE2 is newer and more popular. That makes it more expensive. If you don’t need 1/4000th of a second, the FE will do you fine.

I have edited my collection of film cameras down to less than a dozen and the FE will stay. I like this camera and I didn’t pay that much for it. I’m comfortable carrying it along on a dusty hike. If it dies, repair is inexpensive. The Nikons from this era are marvelous cameras. You can’t go wrong with any of them.