Brian lent me his old Nikon FE2 since he doesn't use SLRs anymore; modern point-and-shoot is good enough for him.Upon a quick inspection, this is a moderate-light used FE2. The exterior is a bit banged up (esp on the bottom) due to not using a protective shell. The viewfinder is full of black clunks (from disintegrated rubber). On the other hand the shutter is very crisp and responsive, the crank is light, the lightmeter (center weight) is pretty much spot on. The lens is well oiled and precise. However, like most old SLRs, the rubber parts are mostly disintegrated. This includes the mirror damper, which is one of the first parts to disintegrate on all SLR cameras. Next to disintegrate are the light seals and cloth seals around the film container.
The internal sounds great thus one can skip the usual CLA process (thank goodness), but it does need new rubber replacement parts. There are 2-3 major online retailers that sell seal replacement parts. I bought mine from Interslice of eBay, which provides enough materials to seal 2-3 SLRs for a very low price.
First, the clean up process, using solvents. What you see above the mirror is disintegrated goo-gunk instead of a mirror damper. Over 2 decades of oxidation, heat, humidity does this to the mirror damper. It'll happen to your most modern 2009 SLR as well! Just give a decade or two, it'll happen. If you're going to clean it up, you can use the liquid lighter (give ample room for breathing), or if you're careful, alcohol is acceptable too but DO NOT USE ALCOHOL ON THE VIEW FINDER! It will smear it permanently and you'll have to get a new one.
This is how you clean the mirror damper/rubber. Just rub it off using a bunch of Q-tips and eventually it'll look something like this.
Now to get a new mirror damper-- slice off a piece of mirror damper. Interslice provides dimensions with detailed instructions here: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/sealreplacement.html
This is what it should look like when you've cleaned up the mirror damper. By the way, this is an excellent time to pop-off the focusing screen so that you can clean up the junk around to make the view finder nice and clean again. Make sure to not rub against the screen or else it'll scratch easily. Also, make sure you know which side of the focusing screen you're mounting on as the side matters for focusing accuracy.
This is what a mounted mirror damper should look like. By this time, all the black gunk from the mirror and focusing screen should be cleaned up. I also replaced the light seals in the back of the film container. Now to test it-- use your ear! If it sounds good, it's good. The FE2s have a click-snap sound. Unlike the sluggist Minolta shutter (sounds like thut-swoooosh-clip), the FE2 sounds crisp. Precise. You know a good Nikon titanium shutter when you hear one.
History
The FE2s were made between 1983-1987. This is the successor of the FE. At the time Nikon had two similar bodies-- the FM/FM2 and the FE/FE2. While the FMs are fully mechanical driven (you set the time and the aperture with a lightmeter driven by a battery), the FEs are mechanically driven, but electrically released. This means that you can set the exposure to A mode (just like Aperture Priority in today's world) and let the electronics determine time exposure. Hence, the FEs must have battery in them or else the shutter will not close. The FE2 takes in 2 light weight watch batteries (A76) and each shutter firing only takes about 25mw. One can shoot thousands of pictures without worrying about running out of battery. If you do run out of battery, you can also set to a backup mode of constant 1/250 sec shutter speed, and it'll be just like the fully manual Nikon FM.
Back then, the FE2s were aimed at prosumers. In the mid 70s, during the electronics and camera integration revolution, Minolta, Olympus, and Canon were mass producing consumer cameras with many electronics and plastic parts. Auto-focus was starting to appear on many other brands. Electronic aperture was starting to see its infancy. On the other hand, being typical Nikon as it is, it sticks to older, more proven technologies-- quality metal exterior, titanium shutter, heavy, durable, mechanical driven-- but no auto-focus... minimal electronics. People say that Nikon is to stick-shift as Canon is to fully electronic everything; 20 years later, that is still somewhat true! Nikon's conservative tradition dates back to the early and mid 60s Nikon F series (original F, F2, etc) where it built fewer cameras that used older technologies, but built them like a tank. While the lack of electronic automation made it difficult for beginners and consumers to use, the legendary built quality and the lack of fancy parts made it extremely popular amongst experienced wartime photojournalists in the 60s and 70s who trusted their Nikon F cameras to fire more than they trusted their rifles to fire. It is said that Nikons captured many images of the 60s and 70s... including that of Earth and the moon from space missions.
The FE2 continues that tradition-- manual focus, manual aperture, manual power. Unlike its original F predecessors (professional series) however, it's much more compact, with titanium shutter that boasts a whopping 50,000 shutter lifetime (which is over many other cameras at the time). Its simplicity and lack of fancy parts made it very durable and popular amongst professionals who used it as a backup camera in conjunction with their F/F2/F3. There are still some film shooters today-- most of them will prefer Nikon over any other brands.
The lack of electronics and parts does not mean the FE2 lacks features. Compared to the barebone K1000 from over a decade ago, it has a built in timer, film pop-lock, multiple exposure tab, AEL (exposure lock), TTL (no kidding!!!), Aperture Mode, depth of field preview, backup manual exposure, +2/-2 exposure compensation, shutter lock, optional electric drive module. It boasts lens compatibility unparalleled in any other brands (can use Nikon lenses spanning in 5 decades). It also boasts the legendary Nikon built quality-- while most modern DSLRs will be obsolete in 3-4 years with incompatible batteries and lenses, you'll still be able to use this camera in another 50 years. This is a camera built to last a century. No, this is not a collector's item, yet. It's not as collectible as the 1940/50 Leica Ms, but it has the same built quality as the Leicas and I'd be surprised if it's not a collector's item a few decades down the road.
Above are pictures for comparison. The ancient looking metal camera is a 1983 Nikon FE2 with a standard Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI lens (775 grams). The other one is an almost equivalent modern standard-- a Nikon D90 with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Sigma APS-C (1250 grams). Yes, one is full frame, one is "half-frame"... one is 25 years older, but in terms of price adjusted for inflation and target audience at the time of release, they're quite equivalent. Interestingly, the modern one is mostly plastic but still MUCH bigger and heavier. This is most likely due to 1) battery 2) more motors 3) bigger lens for f/1.4. The FE2 has no motor.
This is a picture of a 1983 FE2 mounted with a 2008 Lens Baby 3G and a 2007 Nikon Speedlight SB-800 with TTL!!! Not many manufacturers today can boast compatibility spanning across so many decades.
By the way, all of these pictures of FE2 are taken with my wife's Canon Rebel XSi.
Sample Pictures
How good is the FE2? Below are some samples. But before you judge them, first of all, note that we shouldn't judge them by today's standards. Modern pixel peepers will point out flaws and such in lens, features, etc. On the other hand comparing a 1980s technology to a 2009 technology is like an apple and orange comparison.
In short, the FE2 is a rare metallic mechanical wonder with minimal electronics that had a very short production run, possibly due to a lack of profit. It was built in an era where other manufacturers preferred to mass produce cheap plastics and electronic parts. Because the FE2 was built with old but proven technologies, it is a camera that will outlive me, and outlive the usefulness of modern plastic cameras. This is a classic camera that one keeps, that one passes down to generations, with stories to be told.
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