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Nikon FE Non AI and DOF lever at the same time?

ToddB

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Hey guys,

I shot a roll with my FE and Non AI 135mm last weekend,. The images I shot with that lens were under exposed. I went back to instruction manual and it discribed the use of Non AI lens to depress and hold down DOF button while tripping the shutter at the same time. Is this correct? The technique I used was to depress DOF lever with my middle finger and push shutter with pointer finger. It's a little awkward.

ToddB
 

Yes. It's so the meter will set the correct exposure, since there is no aperture coupling it would otherwise "think" the lens is wide open and expose accordingly. Try cradling the body with your left hand and using the left middle finger for the stopdown button. Be sure to press the stopdown button first, then the shutter.
 
With the Nikon FE + non-AI lens:

In aperture-priority automatic mode you have to hold the DOF lever in before pressing the shutter release.

In manual mode you must hold the DOF lever in to meter. Once you’ve set the shutter speed and aperture there is no reason to hold the DOF lever. The lens’s diaphragm will close to the preset value as the mirror snaps up and before the shutter cycles.
 
That is a workaround to allow use of old lenses. It is awkward... Nikon never intended it to be convenient or easy.
 
That is a workaround to allow use of old lenses. It is awkward... Nikon never intended it to be convenient or easy.

Which is why I recently got a Nikkormat EL to use with the non-AI lenses in my accumula-, I mean "collection".

Thanks and regards,
Vince