Meter (needle) oddity with an FE2. A known issue with these cameras?

fotoobscura · Jun 29, 2014

I finally got around to cleaning up one of my FE2's and noticed that the meter needle was very, VERY off. I took it outside and threw a roll of ISO 100 in it and tested it generically via "Sunny 16's". In full noon light the meter was reading something like 1/8th sec!

I then took out my Gossen Luna Pro and metered the same scene and was ~1/125, naturally. I then downloaded an iPhone app just to (sort of) verify that the Gossen was still fairly accurate.

Next step was to bring the FE2 inside and check the batteries via a multi-meter. ~2.92 volts- fine. Finally, let's shoot f/16 inside. The exposure *should* be very long. 10-15 seconds or more. It was!

So, this leaves me to conclude that the needle is misreporting the exposure but the exposure is (likely) correct!

Anyone have these issues with FE2's? Metering well, but needle inaccurate?

Also, how the hell would I know if it's accurate w/o shooting a roll? Could I get out a stopwatch and time the length of the shutter for a known exposure time? Is that ridiculous?

Thanks!

Tom1956 · Jun 29, 2014

First thing I would do is to run the f-stop dial of the lens back nd forth a number of times to "clean off" any build-up or oxidation on the resistor ring. Likewise with the shutter speed dial and the film speed dial. Back and forth, back and fort, with all these dials, hoping that some oxidation will be cleaned up a little. You'll probably see some results from that to where you can start narrowing down some suspicions. I wouldn't be blaming the needle movement just yet. Barring any improvement, I'd be more enclined to blame a meter cell.

Think of the f/stop resistor ring, the shutter speed resistor ring, and the film speed resistor ring as you would the volume control of an older stereo receiver. They get noisy and crackly, and you twist the volume control back and forth to "clean up" some of this noise.

fotoobscura · Jun 29, 2014

Hey Tom,

This is great advice, thanks. I did all of this and I noticed several unique things. After rotating the f-stop ring around many times it started metering "better" on occasion (e.g 1/60 inside where it was metering 1/4). I then rotated the film speed/bracket wheel a bunch of times. I then unmounted and re-mounted the lens a few times. This seemed to 'loosen' up the metering but it's still off by at least 3-4 stops from my Gossen and my (shockingly accurate) iPhone light meter readings. I took the camera outside and still getting 1/15 sec or less in full sunlight- that's irresponsible metering! I tried a few more lenses, same behaviour.

The one constant thread is that even when it's working 'better', it's still off by many stops. 3, sometimes 4.

Tom1956 · Jun 29, 2014

OK, it's obvious that disassembly and cleaning of these areas it the ultimate teller, but it sounds like so far it might not be your biggest problem. Clean the battery and compartment, as even a hint of a fingerprint or oxidation will cut down the flow of juice. Even better would be to remocve the baseplate (if that's where the battery is), and see if there's any corrosion where the wire connects to the contact. Very often a battery compartment will be clean as a whistle, but the wire will have a cake of green or white fluff which has left the wire connected by corrosion alone (like an old car held together by rust). A true story: I once worked a Nikkormat where the battery wire was corroded loose on the OPPOSITE END of the battery compartment wire. The wire had wicked corrosion along its length and was crusted up and broken there, rather than at the bttery terminal. The battery terminal end of the wire was beautiful.
Next on the list is a bad meter cell/cells. Last on the list is the meter movement (IMO).

trebien · Jun 29, 2014

Good point remounting the lens. I would also check the ISO setting dial (you probably already have) and the +/- compensation setting. Make sure the lever that engages ai/ais lens is not raised for non-ai lenses. Good luck

trebien · Jun 29, 2014

Disregard the lens mount tab/lever comment for non-ai lenses. Not relevant for FE2.

benjiboy · Jun 29, 2014

Your light meter most probably needs servicing by a professional, I doubt if you are going to get any quick fixes on internet forums.

Tom1956 · Jun 29, 2014

Benjiboy, Do you have any idea how many times I've gotten "fixes" here? It's a great place.

shutterfinger · Jun 29, 2014

~2.92 volts- fine

Wrong.
The batteries are bad, replace them.
A new button cell reads 1.56V-1.6V, by the time it reads 1.499V it no longer supplies the power necessary to operate the equipment it is installed in.
There was a 3V cell that resembled two LR44s that would read fine in a static condition but drop to too low under camera load.
A multimeter reading is a static condition. Your batteries probably drop to 2.8V when you activate the meter.

Chan Tran · Jun 29, 2014

shutterfinger said:
Wrong.
The batteries are bad, replace them.
A new button cell reads 1.56V-1.6V, by the time it reads 1.499V it no longer supplies the power necessary to operate the equipment it is installed in.
There was a 3V cell that resembled two LR44s that would read fine in a static condition but drop to too low under camera load.
A multimeter reading is a static condition. Your batteries probably drop to 2.8V when you activate the meter.

I would replace the batteries but I doubt that the batteries is the problem. It should work fine with voltage of 2.5V underload. As for the OP I don't think your shutter speed is correct at bright level and only the needle is not pointing correctly. I think your shutter speed is wrong too as with the FE2 in A mode it's the meter controls the shutter. You may have correct manual shutter speed though.

mgb74 · Jun 29, 2014

I don't think your indoor test was accurate enough "to conclude that the needle is misreporting the exposure but the exposure is (likely) correct". Only that the exposure is moving in the right direction (less light, therefore more exposure).

You can try this. Set to iso 100 and go out in full sun so shutter should be about 1/100. Compare that with the M90 setting. Obviously should sound the same. If needle was reading 1/8 second, and shutter is 1/8, you'll easily hear the difference.

Absolutely replace the batteries before reaching any conclusion. I don't know whether the FE2 meter will work correctly with weak batteries but you want to attack the simple stuff first. Including what Tom1956 suggested.

As shutterfinger noted, you have to test a battery under load to get an accurate reading. You can get a rough sense of service life relative to voltage looking at the discharge curve. Though in theory, if the meter moves into the speed range when meter is on, battery should be adequate.

You say to took it out to clean it up. Sounds like it hasn't been used in a while. Is the AI ring (around the lens mount), rotating smoothly and "snapping" back into position?

BTW, I've had a meter go bad while a camera was stored away (in my case, a FM2), so certainly can happen.

benjiboy · Jun 29, 2014

Tom1956 said:
Benjiboy, Do you have any idea how many times I've gotten "fixes" here? It's a great place.

Do you have any idea how much repairable photographic equipment, is trashed by unskilled owners with unrealistic expectations of their ability to fix it rather than put their hand in their pocket and pay a professional to service the equipment properly.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

Tom1956 · Jun 29, 2014

benjiboy said:
Do you have any idea how much repairable photographic equipment, is trashed by unskilled owners with unrealistic expectations of their ability to fix it rather than put their hand in their pocket and pay a professional to service the equipment properly.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

Yeah, I guess maybe you're right. I'm just somebody who doesn't trash gear. I keep at it till I've got it right, or button it back up if I think I might make a mess of it. I guess not everybody can do that. But then, chasing women is something I don't seem to have a knack for. Everybody is bound to be good at something.

Chan Tran · Jun 30, 2014

benjiboy said:
Do you have any idea how much repairable photographic equipment, is trashed by unskilled owners with unrealistic expectations of their ability to fix it rather than put their hand in their pocket and pay a professional to service the equipment properly.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

You're right! But one would have to sacrify a few cameras to learn how to fix cameras.

pentaxpete · Jun 30, 2014

Or sacrifice a few 'Women' to get the 'Right' one -- I'm on Wife No. 3 now -- a Filipina lady -- got fed up with the British ones --- ( PS: SHE has a NIKON FE and an FE2 --- ) !!

benjiboy · Jun 30, 2014

pentaxpete said:
Or sacrifice a few 'Women' to get the 'Right' one -- I'm on Wife No. 3 now -- a Filipina lady -- got fed up with the British ones --- ( PS: SHE has a NIKON FE and an FE2 --- ) !!

A friend of mine who has also been married three times says "I always introduce my wife as this is my current wife, so they don't become too complacent".

Meter (needle) oddity with an FE2. A known issue with these cameras?

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