More Nikon FE fun

[shutterlight]

I have a Nikon FE that I've used a lot over the past month, and have had for a couple years now. This evening, I noticed that the meter seemed off. I checked it against a light meter app and it seems about one stop overexposed. Putting in a -1 exposure compensation appears to make things close to accurate, though I don't think it's 100% where it should be.

I want to believe that the meter hasn't been doing this for the past 18 rolls that I've put through it, or else my film is going to have problems. I also would like to think that I would have noticed this before now. If there's something that I think could be affecting the camera, it's my use of a non-AI lens, which of course requires the tab to be flipped up, and then returned back to the normal position. I used my 200mm Q-C earlier today and afterward I forgot to flip the tab back. I made a handful of pictures on my Series E 50/1.8 before remembering to put the tab back down.

Is it possible that the meter is being affected by non-AI lens usage/tab changes? I've ordered new batteries in the hopes that maybe that's the cause of the problem, though the battery check light shows them as having more than enough power to work properly.

I've tried multiple lenses on the camera to see if it was just one specific lens at fault, but everything creates the same result. Contacts appear relatively clean, and nothing I can see on the surface seems amiss.

Any thoughts as to what could be going on?

It has been a great camera for me, and I'd like to keep using it normally.

 

[shutterfinger]

I don't trust in camera battery check beyond telling me there is a battery with some power available in the camera.
The camera electronics are current dependent with a minimum voltage requirement to get them to operate. Below the minimum voltage they do not operate, at the minimum or just above it some cameras may work and others will not.
I use a digital VOM I've had for years to test the batteries. A new 1.5V battery will read 1.56V to 1.57V when new and by the time they read 1.5V its questionable if they will operate a camera and when they read 1.49V they will not.
Using a lens that is listed as comparable should not cause a meter problem. A bent aperture coupling lever in the body or a sticking aperture resistor (FRE) . This is explained on pages 2 and 3 of the service manual.
https://learncamerarepair.com/downloads/pdf/nikon-fe-fe2-service.pdf

 

[Autonerd]

I checked it against a light meter app and it seems about one stop overexposed. Putting in a -1 exposure compensation appears to make things close to accurate, though I don't think it's 100% where it should be.

Well, if the meter app is taking incidence readings and the camera is taking reflective readings, they could differ slightly. Try metering on green grass and checking your results against the Sunny 16 rule (or your incidence meter).

I can't see how a non-AI lens could cause any problems, unless there's something caught between the tab and the collar on the lens with which it engages

I want to believe that the meter hasn't been doing this for the past 18 rolls that I've put through it, or else my film is going to have problems.

Unless you're shooting slides you've got enough latitude in the film to cover for it.

I also would like to think that I would have noticed this before now.

And this makes me think it's simple metering error. Remember, these old center-weighted meters are much easier to fool than the sophisticated matrix meters in our digicams.

Aaron