Great review! You have great presentation skills! This seems to be an awesome camera, I think I need to get one for me as I'm a film shooter. Looks like the build quality is amazing!
Great video. One important feature that you didn’t mention is that if you press timer lever towards the lens this will lock the exposure reading. Great for measuring then recomposing.
You'd probably go to your local camera store and ask! That's what we're doing, just bringing that experience to your screen. (-: Thanks for watching! - Connor
Hey there! The biggest advantage is creative control. The camera will pick a shutter speed that's technically correct but may not represent the image exactly how the photographer wanted. When you're dealing with high-contrast scenes, for example, the meter in the FE2 may struggle a bit. It will basically read the bright highlights and the dark shadows and give you a measurement directly in the middle. For some creative purposes, you may want to be a bit more specific with where your meter is reading from or set the speed yourself to cause over/under exposure! I would say in the beginning you can let the camera choose a shutter speed and focus on the effects that changing your aperture has. Once you feel comfortable with that and understand the impact that aperture has, you can try to experiment with manual exposure as well! Hope that helps, thanks for watching! - Connor
If you want a camera for professional work get a Nikon Pro body. My rewind crank came apart and my advance lever came apart. That's after putting 40 rolls into my FE2. Also note that the meter doesn't work until frame 1. So if you load the camera in a dark bag the 2 exposures before frame 1 will default to the mechanical m250 1/250th mode, which is annoying. You would have to get a mechanical F2 or F Photomic or FM3A to get the extra frames.
Great video! Just one question; Will the metering work in Aperture-priority mode when using third party manual lenses like the new Voigtlander ultron 40mm F2 SL II ?
Hey Tomas! Yes, the metering should work regardless of what lens is attached as long as it has the Ai ridge specified in the video. You can revisit that section by going to 02:38 ! Modern manual lenses (and even AF glass before the AF-S line) will have this tab and will thus meter properly with the FE2! Thanks for watching! - Connor
Hey Andrew! The lock by the rewind lever isn't working? It's possible the camera is damaged so the physical lock isn't connected properly but if you were able to open it once you should be able to open it again! Can you describe what you're doing to the camera a bit? Also feel free to message us on Instagram @Kamerastorecom . - Connor
Ok, the thing that drives me crazy about this camera is the film advance lever having to be out to fire the shutter. It constantly stabs my face if I’m looking through the finder, and because of this I find it the worst design of any camera I’ve ever used. Does this not bother anyone else? Am I missing something?
Are you using your left eye to see through the viewfinder? I've heard similar things from left-eye dominant people a few times! You're not alone. Yeah, it's an interesting choice they made on the FMs and FEs to have the power switch there. Sorry that it doesn't work so well for you. ): - Connor
I have a Nikon FE2 with a 50mm 1.6 lens and a 70-210mm lens and a SB600 flash. I haven't touched the camera in years and am wondering if it's possible to use those lens on new digital camera. I've read something about that capability but don't remember much. Thanks!
Absolutely it is! It's possible to use Nikon F lenses with most digital Nikon F bodies (older lenses will require higher-end digital cameras) but it's just as easy to adapt these lenses onto modern mirrorless cameras! Adapters are cheap and simple. We have plenty on the site, definitely check that out! Feel free to message us @kamerastorecom on Instagram if you need more help! - Connor
@@hienvu1714 Older lenses (like the ones you assumedly have for your FE2) do not have autofocus capabilities to begin with. When Nikon introduced autofocus cameras, they also introduced a new line of lenses built with autofocus gearing and tech. Some Nikon digital cameras can power the autofocus of these early Nikon autofocus lenses, but not all. This is because Nikon switched from a physical focus motor in the camera to an electronic system with the introduction of modern AF-S lenses. Basically, it's complicated and you can run into compatibility issues with autofocus lenses specifically. Nikon has good documentation online about which lenses will work with which cameras! With adapting lenses to mirrorless systems, you likely won't get autofocus no matter what lens you use.
The FE2 actually has interchangeable focusing screens! I may have misspoke in the video, it was a few years ago now. There's a mechanism behind the lens where you can change it with a few different screens. The normal one would have a split prism, though! Thanks for watching. - Connor
@@Kamerastore I will look into it as I have preferred split prism in other cameras. Do you know if it’s ok to swap out while there is film in the camera? I would assume it’s ok.
@@VisionOneCreatives Yes it's totally fine to swap while there's film inside. As long as you don't accidentally press the shutter button while changing it the film will be safe!
Hey Stephen, The rewind knob will only rotate when the film in the camera is under pressure. Ours isn't rotating because there's no film in the camera for most of the video, and then it's not under pressure for the first few shots when we load the camera. If you spin the dial on top of a film canister (the part that attaches to the rewind knob inside the film back) you'll see it has some "play" to it before the film starts actually moving. Hope that makes sense! - Connor
The FE2 has interchangeable focusing screens! The split image was the standard one, so assumedly the previous owner of your FE2 purchased a replacement to better suit their photography. You can always buy a split image screen (eBay is probably your best bet if we don't have it on our site) and replace it at home! Thanks for watching. - Connor
This is very professionally done and goes over the functions of the fe2 camera. Thank you.
Thanks for watching, Dr. Mario!
- Connor
Just got a FE2 from a friend and this video was much needed. Planning to take it out for its first trip this weekend, so I'm excited to learn this!
Nice! Hopefully it works well for you. Enjoy your new camera!
- Connor
Thanks a lot man, covered literally everything about FE2.
Great review! You have great presentation skills! This seems to be an awesome camera, I think I need to get one for me as I'm a film shooter. Looks like the build quality is amazing!
Thanks for watching! It's a great camera, definitely worth picking up if you're looking into Nikon!
- Connor
Great review! Would love to see another one about Nikon F2 🙂
Thanks, will add it to the list.
Fantastic video!
Thank you very much. I just got this and a couple of lenses. I just noticed that the mirror is missing. Where can I get this fixed?
Great video. One important feature that you didn’t mention is that if you press timer lever towards the lens this will lock the exposure reading. Great for measuring then recomposing.
That IS useful! Thanks for the tip, and thanks for watching. (-:
- Connor
How did people function before RUclips tutorials? Much appreciated
You'd probably go to your local camera store and ask! That's what we're doing, just bringing that experience to your screen. (-: Thanks for watching!
- Connor
Awesome breakdown 🔥 thank you
Thank you, great vid
Thanks for watching!
- Connor
One question: what are the pros of manually choosing a shutter speed vs letting the camera pick one automatically?
Hey there! The biggest advantage is creative control. The camera will pick a shutter speed that's technically correct but may not represent the image exactly how the photographer wanted. When you're dealing with high-contrast scenes, for example, the meter in the FE2 may struggle a bit. It will basically read the bright highlights and the dark shadows and give you a measurement directly in the middle. For some creative purposes, you may want to be a bit more specific with where your meter is reading from or set the speed yourself to cause over/under exposure!
I would say in the beginning you can let the camera choose a shutter speed and focus on the effects that changing your aperture has. Once you feel comfortable with that and understand the impact that aperture has, you can try to experiment with manual exposure as well! Hope that helps, thanks for watching!
- Connor
@@Kamerastore makes sense!! thanks for the answer!
I already have a Pentax K1000. Saw the FE2 in “Civil War” (2024) and got curious, might get a black one.
Good stuff. Really well covered.
Much appreciated!
this is really helpful video thank you!
Happy to help! Thanks for watching, Andrew!
- Connor
Do you sell battery cap holder? I lost mine :-(
If you want a camera for professional work get a Nikon Pro body. My rewind crank came apart and my advance lever came apart. That's after putting 40 rolls into my FE2.
Also note that the meter doesn't work until frame 1. So if you load the camera in a dark bag the 2 exposures before frame 1 will default to the mechanical m250 1/250th mode, which is annoying. You would have to get a mechanical F2 or F Photomic or FM3A to get the extra frames.
Cool camera, next can you do a Leica M6?
Just got mine today….”New in box”
It’s like I went back in a Time Machine
Very cool Brad! That gets more and more rare every day. Thanks for watching (-:
- Connor
Very good video!
Thanks for watching!
- Connor
Great video! Just one question; Will the metering work in Aperture-priority mode when using third party manual lenses like the new Voigtlander ultron 40mm F2 SL II ?
Hey Tomas! Yes, the metering should work regardless of what lens is attached as long as it has the Ai ridge specified in the video. You can revisit that section by going to 02:38 ! Modern manual lenses (and even AF glass before the AF-S line) will have this tab and will thus meter properly with the FE2! Thanks for watching!
- Connor
@@Kamerastore thank you!
Well it may be interesting with a Barnack leica and a yashica TLR like the mat 124 G ;)
any tips if I'm having trouble getting the back to open? I did it once while watching this video, but am unable to now :(
Hey Andrew! The lock by the rewind lever isn't working? It's possible the camera is damaged so the physical lock isn't connected properly but if you were able to open it once you should be able to open it again! Can you describe what you're doing to the camera a bit? Also feel free to message us on Instagram @Kamerastorecom .
- Connor
Ok, the thing that drives me crazy about this camera is the film advance lever having to be out to fire the shutter. It constantly stabs my face if I’m looking through the finder, and because of this I find it the worst design of any camera I’ve ever used. Does this not bother anyone else? Am I missing something?
Are you using your left eye to see through the viewfinder? I've heard similar things from left-eye dominant people a few times! You're not alone. Yeah, it's an interesting choice they made on the FMs and FEs to have the power switch there. Sorry that it doesn't work so well for you. ):
- Connor
I have a Nikon FE2 with a 50mm 1.6 lens and a 70-210mm lens and a SB600 flash. I haven't touched the camera in years and am wondering if it's possible to use those lens on new digital camera. I've read something about that capability but don't remember much. Thanks!
Absolutely it is! It's possible to use Nikon F lenses with most digital Nikon F bodies (older lenses will require higher-end digital cameras) but it's just as easy to adapt these lenses onto modern mirrorless cameras! Adapters are cheap and simple. We have plenty on the site, definitely check that out! Feel free to message us @kamerastorecom on Instagram if you need more help!
- Connor
@@Kamerastore Thank you for your reply. I'll look more into this. Will all functions, such as autofocus... still work?
@@hienvu1714 Older lenses (like the ones you assumedly have for your FE2) do not have autofocus capabilities to begin with. When Nikon introduced autofocus cameras, they also introduced a new line of lenses built with autofocus gearing and tech. Some Nikon digital cameras can power the autofocus of these early Nikon autofocus lenses, but not all. This is because Nikon switched from a physical focus motor in the camera to an electronic system with the introduction of modern AF-S lenses. Basically, it's complicated and you can run into compatibility issues with autofocus lenses specifically. Nikon has good documentation online about which lenses will work with which cameras!
With adapting lenses to mirrorless systems, you likely won't get autofocus no matter what lens you use.
Use the old camera and lenses! You can always use a cell phone to practice with digital photography.
Mine doesn’t have a split prism focus. Any idea why they are different? I believe mine is a 1984 model.
The FE2 actually has interchangeable focusing screens! I may have misspoke in the video, it was a few years ago now. There's a mechanism behind the lens where you can change it with a few different screens. The normal one would have a split prism, though! Thanks for watching.
- Connor
@@Kamerastore I will look into it as I have preferred split prism in other cameras. Do you know if it’s ok to swap out while there is film in the camera? I would assume it’s ok.
@@VisionOneCreatives Yes it's totally fine to swap while there's film inside. As long as you don't accidentally press the shutter button while changing it the film will be safe!
I noticed the film spool knob doesn't rotate when you advance the film
Why is that?
Hey Stephen,
The rewind knob will only rotate when the film in the camera is under pressure. Ours isn't rotating because there's no film in the camera for most of the video, and then it's not under pressure for the first few shots when we load the camera. If you spin the dial on top of a film canister (the part that attaches to the rewind knob inside the film back) you'll see it has some "play" to it before the film starts actually moving. Hope that makes sense!
- Connor
❤
why my fe2 doesn’t have a split screen focus,
The FE2 has interchangeable focusing screens! The split image was the standard one, so assumedly the previous owner of your FE2 purchased a replacement to better suit their photography. You can always buy a split image screen (eBay is probably your best bet if we don't have it on our site) and replace it at home! Thanks for watching.
- Connor
Ohhh, thanks a lot@@Kamerastore
👌🏼