20 Most Recent Nikon FE 35mm SLR Camera Questions & Answers

needs repairing at a qualified shop

Turn the speed dial to M90, This will reset the camera, Then make sure you have good batteires before you tke it off of M-90, Battery check on side of camera,. Top cover rewind side

The FE takes two LR76 batteries or equivalent.

There shuld be film winding Kam locking spring broken(flat sprins)

Just out of curiosity, are the batteries in the correct direction? When you half-press the shutter release button, does the meter needle in the viewfinder move?I can't count the number of times I've put the batteries in the wrong direction on my own FE. I've never damaged the camera, and it works fine when I reverse the batteries.

On the ASA dial ( left side of the camera ) there is a small lever that can be moved up and down. Try moving it and while you hold the lever in the up position press down the rewind knob which should move down.

You've got some choice here. You can use two 1.5V A76 or 357 batteries, or one 3V 2L76 battery.

Sounds like the camera is not getting battery current, since that is how it will act without batteries. Does the meter needle respond to changing light when switched on? If not, check battery polarity -- the + end touches the strip at the bottom of the battery compartment, the - end touches the battery cap. If that all checks out right, one of the wires connecting the battery compartment to the innards may be corroded or loose.

The battery check is by pressing a very small silver button on the top plate by the shutter release and the little red light come on right? there is only two small button batteries in the EM but without them it's a brick. So look inside the battery compartment and at the bottom you will see a spring piece of metal which the batter makes contact with. If it is corroded then you will have to clean that off to make contact again. Take a new pencil with a new unused red rubber eraser and form a piece of sand paper over the end of the pencil and tape it securely. Lightly twist the pencil back and forth between your fingers to sand off the corrosion, make it shinny. Blow out the dusty dirty stuff with a puffer make sure the batteries are installed correctly. Yes I know you said the batteries were in the right way install the batteries check wiht the battery test button. Also don't forget the EM is a totally battery dependent camera for the meter AND the meter will not work until you have the frame counter at frame # 1 and beyond. My Nikon EM has been slightly modified yours might not be the same but I can close the back and advance the lever trip the shutter and again until it reaches frame one and then the light meter works. Cheers great little camera hope you get it working

Having gone over two months without a response to my query, I assume it was just a matter of pushing the button on the bottom.

You lift the rewind crank as per almost all other SLR's but there is a safety lock around the base of the crank which you must slide rearwards (counter clockwise) first.

Make sure that you have fully rewound the film before opening the camera.

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If the batteries discharged sufficiently to become very warm in just a few seconds then there's an internal short circuit and the internal circuitry has almost certainly been fried beyond repair. To get warm so fast, those batteries will have shoved some significant current through circuitry designed to handle mere milliamps.

Your camera will be repairable using donor spares, but the repair will cost more than buying another fully functional FE especially when you add on the costs of the CLA (Clean, Lubricate, Adjust) service that it will almost certainly need and the likely need for foam light seal replacement. If you buy another FE it will also most likely need a CLA and seal replacement unless there's proof of it being recently done, but at least you won't have the additional costs of buying a donor FE, stripping it for parts and then doing a heart transplant on it.

On balance, yours is best used as a spares donor; you'll get some of what you spent back if you sell it as a spares/repairs example.

Sorry there's no fix, but I hope that you have still found my reply to be of some use. If so, please rate my answer.

The mirror has locked up, blacking out the viewfinder. Mirror lock up is usually due to flat batteries, so replace them as soon as possible. Extended lock up is bad for the camera.

The FM uses a pair of SR44 batteries, you can use the cheaper LR44's but the voltage characteristics are different and exposures will be a little off, but if you're using print film then you're unlikely to notice any problem.

The batteries are very widely available, the link I've provided is for the mail order supplier I use in the UK. Even if the supplier is of no use to you the information they provide shows you most of the other names that the identical batteries are sold as by various manufacturers.

If new batteries don't fix it then the camera is effectively beyond economic repair.

Try a new set of batteries. The shutter is electronically operated at all speeds except the B and M90 settings. If the exposure meter works with a new set of batteries but the shutter still does not, then you'll have to take it in for service.

Try ebay.

Remove the lens and see if it's the lens or the lever that is sticking. My bet it's the lens needing service. If the DOF lever is still sticky then I'd suggest having them both serviced.

No, the only thing that the FE uses the battery for is the light meter and shutter. You can operate it completely without the battery using the M90 and BULB shutter speed settings.
Your film advance problem is a mechanical problem - check for any small objects that may be jammed into the film transport mechanism. If nothing is obviously causing a blockage, then the camera will need to be serviced.