# First film camera



## Ejazzle (Aug 25, 2008)

I am looking into getting my first Film SLR. I want a nikon Fe or FA something along those lines. 
any suggestions? i have researched these cameras and a few other ones, but any other info you can help me with would be appreciated! 

thanks!!


----------



## Battou (Aug 25, 2008)

How dedicated to Nikon are you? I ask because Canon has some good bang for the buck and I know more about Canon than I do about Nikon.


----------



## bhop (Aug 25, 2008)

I have an FE and it's a great camera.  I love using it.  What kind of info are you looking for?

edit:
this site can tell you all you need to know about the FE
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfeseries/fe/index.htm

and the FA
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonfa/index.htm


----------



## compur (Aug 25, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> I am looking into getting my first Film SLR. I want a nikon Fe or FA something along those lines.
> any suggestions? i have researched these cameras and a few other ones, but any other info you can help me with would be appreciated!
> 
> thanks!!



The FE and FA are both fine cameras.  There is a later model of the FE called
the FE2 with higher shutter speed range and a few other improvements.  I
prefer the FE/FE2 over the FA because they have an analog meter needle
display in the viewfinder.  The FA has a digital (numbers) display.  All 3 
have Manual mode + Aperture Priority Auto modes.  The FA also has Program
mode.  The FE2 and FA both have TTL flash automation.


----------



## sarallyn (Aug 25, 2008)

I second the Canon comment -- though I'm a little biased. You may want to try the Canon AE-1 Program.


----------



## djacobox372 (Aug 26, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> I am looking into getting my first Film SLR. I want a nikon Fe or FA something along those lines.
> any suggestions? i have researched these cameras and a few other ones, but any other info you can help me with would be appreciated!
> 
> thanks!!


 
FE and FM are my favs, but the FA has the most options. 

Check out my ad in the buy/sell forum, I have a couple fe's, fa's and an FM for sale, along with lots of lenses.

I even have an F3 for sale, for just a bit more.

If I had to recommend one, I'd say the FE--gotta love that analog meter! the digital +- meters are just too vauge by comparison.


----------



## Ejazzle (Aug 26, 2008)

Its my first Film SLR so NIkon or canon it doesnt matter. i am open to anything. 

I am gonna keep looking into the FE and FE2. are there that many bid differences. 

bhop, thanks for those sites. ill check when i get home.


----------



## Ejazzle (Aug 26, 2008)

or the FA this is so hard!!!!

djacobox372, i am most likley gonna be buying it from you.


----------



## djacobox372 (Aug 27, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> Its my first Film SLR so NIkon or canon it doesnt matter. i am open to anything.
> 
> I am gonna keep looking into the FE and FE2. are there that many bid differences.
> 
> bhop, thanks for those sites. ill check when i get home.



Differences between the FE and the FE2

FE2 has up to 1/4000 shutter speed, FE only goes up to 1/1000--nice but it's rare that you'll ever want shoot over 1/1000 shutter speed.

FE2 is supposedly TTL flash compatible; I've never tried it though.

The FA has many more "auto" features... along with aperture priority mode which the FE/FE have,  it also has shutter priority, and program (full auto) mode.

I also have an F90 for sale, which isn't nearly as retro as the FE or FA, but it is a lot more advance (autofocus, matrix metering, etc)


----------



## Ejazzle (Aug 28, 2008)

ahhh, this just got even harder. how much better is the F90? will it use the same lenses as my D300?? 

i want everything!!!


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 11, 2008)

i just picked up a nikon FE thats in amazing condition, but I am stuck in a dilemma and desperately wanna start shooting... i loaded the film and put it on the other spool* wound it around about one time, closed the case and tightened the film up but  i cant advance the film to take a picture, the thumb thing that you press, wont let me push it. it just stops, any help would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 11, 2008)

please?


----------



## bhop (Sep 12, 2008)

What 'thumb thing that you press' are you talking about?  The wind lever?  Did you put the film leader inside the slot in the spool before you started winding it?  Once you get it attached to the spool and close the door, you wind it, and snap the shutter button.  Repeat until you get to the dot on the counter that represents the first frame.


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 12, 2008)

sorry, the i guess its called the film advancer. i put the film leader inside the spool slot and spun the wheel with my thumb until it wrapped around one time. then i closed the door and tried to advance the film, and the film advancer wouldnt budge. I couldnt push the shutter down, and i couldnt spin the whell on the top right to change the camera mode off "auto". I took off the lens, and the mirror is almost all the way up. is there a way to reset it?


----------



## Helen B (Sep 12, 2008)

Try putting a new battery in, if you haven't already. The FE has only one mechanical shutter speed (M90, 1/90th second) the others are electromechanical. Releasing the shutter with a low battery when set to an electromechanical speed will lock the camera until the battery is replaced.

Great cameras. I still have an FE2 I bought new just after they came out.

Best,
Helen


----------



## bhop (Sep 12, 2008)

Use the battery check light and see if it's got power.  It sounds like you could have a dead battery, but then, it should still let you move the speed dial, if the battery's not the issue, then I dunno.. you might've gotten a dud.

I did a search and here's a manual for the FE if you don't have one already, maybe there's something in there that'll help.

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon/nikon_fe/nikon_fe.htm

edit: Just had a thought.. when you're trying to take it off auto, are you pushing the button in the middle of the dial?  It won't move otherwise.  Page 7 of the manual talks about the batteries.  If the dial moves, switch it to B or M90 and see if the mirror goes back down.  If it does, go get a new battery!  also (from the book) "to avoid wasting a frame, stroke the winding lever while holding in the multiple exposure lever"


----------



## Early (Sep 12, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> ahhh, this just got even harder. how much better is the F90? will it use the same lenses as my D300??
> 
> i want everything!!!


Yes


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 13, 2008)

wow thank yo uso much everyone!!! 

helenb, you just saved me an hour car ride down south! i owe you won, thank so much bhop, ill be lookin at that link often! 

so happy right now!!


now go take some pictures!


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 15, 2008)

well, another problem. I was finishing up shooting my first roll of film and i was winding the film back in, then the film winder (top left of the camera) comes unscrewed. So i tighten it back up, but it just keeps unscrewing. Now i cant wind my film back.


----------



## Helen B (Sep 15, 2008)

Very odd. Just checking: Looking down on the top of the camera, which way are you turning the rewind crank to rewind? Clockwise or anti-clockwise? It should be clockwise to rewind. Do you have the rewind button pressed in?

Best,
Helen


----------



## bhop (Sep 15, 2008)

I agree with Helen here.. It could be unscrewing if you're turning it the wrong way, and the rewind button she's talking about is on the bottom of the camera just in case you're not sure.

If it does turn out to be a faulty knob, you can go into a pitch black closet (or darkroom, or changing bag) open the back, pull the canister out and wind it back by hand, but do make sure there's no light whatsoever when you do it.


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 15, 2008)

:blushing: im an idiot. 

in the manual it said "to tighten the flim to begin shooting rotate the _____ counter clockwise" 

so i pushed in the button on the bottom and started to turn counter clockwise. Dont as how, but the screw that the nob was unscrewing from, got stripped. so now im pretty much screwed. The nikon god is tottally raining on my parade. 

thanks alot guys! youve really helped me alot, 

so many set backs. just wait till i can really get into the groove of shooting film!


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 15, 2008)

talk about headaches.


----------



## bhop (Sep 15, 2008)

Sorry to hear that your knob got stripped..... hmm.. that doesn't sound right


----------



## Battou (Sep 15, 2008)

Look around E-bay for a damaged one being sold for parts, that peice should actually be seriously be easy to change, and it's not a commonly broken component.


----------



## djacobox372 (Sep 17, 2008)

I sold this carmera to ejazzle, and it was flawless when I sent it. I can't begin to understand one could strip the rewind wheel by winding it backwards, it should have just unscrewed if you did that. A couple of notes:

1) When the camera is set to "auto" you have to press the silver button in the middle of the shutter speed wheel to change to something else.

2) If you can't move the film advance lever it means it's already "cocked" and you need to fire the shutter to advance... if the battery is dead you need to switch to "m90" to do this. The battery wasn't dead when I sent it to you, so I'm guessing the advance lever just isn't in the "on" position (red dot visible).

3) It's really hard for me to see how you could actually stripped your rewind wheel, I think you just unscrewed it because you were trying to turn it counter clockwise instead of clockwise. If it is stripped (unlikely it's metal and would take a lot of force to do so) a little superglue on the threads should do the trick. If that dosn't work you can buy new ones off Ebay for $8.


----------



## djacobox372 (Sep 17, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> :blushing: im an idiot.
> 
> in the manual it said "to tighten the flim to begin shooting rotate the _____ counter clockwise"
> 
> ...


 
You didn't strip the knob you just unscrewed it.... to rewind the film you need to press the button on the bottom and screw the left knob CLOCKWISE!!! The part of the manual you mention is refering to ADVANCING the film which you do by turning the advance lever (on the right of the camera) counter clockwise.

The rewind-knob (on the left of the camera) should NEVER be wound counter-clockwise! Never, it will unscrew if you do so. 

It's really sounding like your camera is fine, you just misunderstood the instructions. Page 15 of the manual explains how to rewind the film, I can't find any mention of "counter clockwise" anywhere in the manual, there's an arrow on the winder to show the one and only direction it should ever be turned.  The only time it may "appear" to wind the other way is when you are advancing the film via the film advance lever.


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 17, 2008)

i stripped it. trust me. I know that if i turned it left it unscrewed. Im not that dumb.  I cant twist it back on. The screw piece just slides right through the hole on the knob. Where i read "turn counterclockwise" was about the first or second page in the manual. I porobably just misunderstood, just like jacob said... my buddy told me about the button on the bottom so i know it wasnt anything to do the that, But taking some needle nose pliars and trying to turn the rewind knob the wrong way is how i "dethreaded" the screw. I know to never force anything and all that good stuff. i just spun the needle nose pliars around it as i was squeezing. i am tool/fixing stuff savvy. I wanted to get the film back into the roll so i could open up the camera to tighten the rewind knob back up. ill get it fixed soon

im gonna look on ebay for that part, then ill be GOOD TO GO! 
the camera is in beautiful condition! it couldnt be any more perfect. the lens is awesome too. i finally got to shoot some sports with it...
varsity volleyball :hail: 
and dont get me wrong this camera is FLAWLESS! it is in such perfect condition. it looks like brand new! it works absolutely perfectly, it was just user error, I fail at this film stuff, i am totally new. Ive never been so bad at something to do with electronics. Just something totally new to me, Ill get the hang of it soon.


----------



## bhop (Sep 17, 2008)

Needle nose pliers.. on a precision piece of photography equipment?

At least you admit that you've learned a lesson.. On a related note, I love my FE, just since I got my F100, I don't feel like picking it up..


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 17, 2008)

bhop, i know i know... i have learned a valuable lesson.

buy a motordrive? haha


----------



## Battou (Sep 17, 2008)

Chances are likely that you are not going to find the individual component on E-Bay, you will likely have to get a complete parts body.


----------



## djacobox372 (Sep 17, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> i stripped it. trust me. I know that if i turned it left it unscrewed. Im not that dumb.  I cant twist it back on. The screw piece just slides right through the hole on the knob. Where i read "turn counterclockwise" was about the first or second page in the manual. I porobably just misunderstood, just like jacob said... my buddy told me about the button on the bottom so i know it wasnt anything to do the that, But taking some needle nose pliars and trying to turn the rewind knob the wrong way is how i "dethreaded" the screw. I know to never force anything and all that good stuff. i just spun the needle nose pliars around it as i was squeezing. i am tool/fixing stuff savvy. I wanted to get the film back into the roll so i could open up the camera to tighten the rewind knob back up. ill get it fixed soon
> 
> im gonna look on ebay for that part, then ill be GOOD TO GO!
> the camera is in beautiful condition! it couldnt be any more perfect. the lens is awesome too. i finally got to shoot some sports with it...
> ...



Makes sense--the first time I tried to use my F3 it took me about an hour to realize it had an "on" button... I thought it was broken! 

Your best bet is to try to repair the threads with some JB Weld epoxy or something similar, I sent you a PM with instructions on how to do that.

Like someone else mentioned... you will likely need to wait until a broken "parts" fe pops up on ebay to find that specific part. There's an FM on ebay right now for $20, but I don't know if those parts are identical... I'll check it out for you when I get home.

Good luck!


----------



## djacobox372 (Sep 17, 2008)

Some parts fe's on ebay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-FE-CAMERA...ryZ15241QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-FE2-SLR-3...ryZ15241QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 17, 2008)

jacob. thanks for being such a big help. i seriously owe you big time.


----------



## djacobox372 (Sep 18, 2008)

Ejazzle said:


> jacob. thanks for being such a big help. i seriously owe you big time.



No problem, like most people on this website--we help because it's fun to problem solve.


----------



## Ejazzle (Sep 20, 2008)

damn lost both the auctions..

on to Ace hardware!!!!


----------

