Features
The FE is a manual focus SLR with manual exposure control or aperture priority autoexposure, and electromechanical components. As such, the FE requires batteries (two S76 or A76, or LR44 or SR44, or one 1/3N) to power its electronically controlled shutter. The batteries also power the FE's "match-needle" exposure control system. This consists of two needles pointing along a vertical shutter speed scale on the left side of the viewfinder. In manual mode, a black needle points out the shutter speed recommended by the built-in, open aperture, through-the-lens (TTL), silicon photodiode (SPD) light meter, with 60/40 percent centerweighting, while a translucent green needle shows the actual camera set shutter speed. The photographer adjusts the shutter speed and/or the lens aperture f-stop until the needles aligned.
In automatic mode, the FE's black needle indicates the shutter speed automatically set by the electronic circuitry in response to the light reaching the meter. The green needle is used to indicate that the FE is in "A" mode. This system can be traced back to the Nikkormat EL (in the USA/Canada; Nikomat EL, rest of the world) of 1972 and continued until 2006 with the discontinuation of the Nikon FM3A.
The FE's auto-exposure lock mechanism is activated by pushing and holding the timer shutter release lever toward the lens mount; even though the exposure is fixed to the state of the instant the lever is pushed, the black shutter speed needle in the viewfinder does not reflect this and moves freely.
The FE has a "full information" viewfinder very similar to the Nikkormat EL. In addition to the metering shutter scale, the viewfinder also displays the set lens aperture through an optical "eye" (this particular feature missing on the Nikkormat EL) and has a flash "ready" LED to give context to the metering needles. The viewfinder also introduced interchangeable focusing screens to the compact F-series: the standard Nikon Type K screen (3 mm split image rangefinder and 1 mm microprism collar focusing aids plus 12 mm etched circle indicating the area of the meter centerweighting) could be replaced by Type B (central 3 mm focusing spot plus 12 mm etched circle) and Type E (Type B plus a grid of 5 horizontal and 3 vertical lines; called the "architectural screen") screens.
Major accessories for the FE include the Nikon MD-11, motor drive (automatic film advance up to 3.5 frames per second) superseded by the MD-12 which had an automatic shutoff that the MD-11 lacked, the Nikon MF-12 databack (time or date stamping on the film), and the Nikon Speedlight SB-10 electronic flash (guide number 82/25 (feet/meters) at ASA 100). The MF-12's date function ranges until the year 2100.
Read more about this topic: Nikon FE
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