Nikon FE: Sometimes the electronically built shutter times change to 1/90s mechanical built without reason

Ian C

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Either the battery is nearly depleted, or it is intermittently losing connectivity to the metering circuit.

From page 11 in the manual:

‘The "M90" setting indicates a mechanical shutter speed of 1/90 second; although the shutter operates at this speed when the batteries are exhausted regardless of the dial position, . . .’

https://www.cameramanuals.org/nikon_pdf/nikon_fe.pdf
 

Nitroplait

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It may be worth noting that the battery check light-up isn’t really indicative of a healthy battery.
Make sure you use 2x SR44 or 1x CR1/3N and stay far away from LR44s.
 

Ian C

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Yes, the FE should be powered with silver-oxide cells, not common alkaline cells.

From page 6 in the owner’s manual.

“The Nikon FE's built-in exposure meter and the electronic shutter control circuits are powered by two button cell type 1.5V silver-oxide batteries.”

From Google:

“The primary electrical difference between 1.5V alkaline and silver oxide batteries lies in their voltage stability and energy density. Alkaline batteries offer a nominal voltage of 1.5V but experience a voltage drop as they discharge. Silver oxide batteries, on the other hand, maintain a more constant voltage of around 1.55V throughout their lifespan, making them ideal for devices requiring stable power."
 

Chan Tran

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You have intermittent connection from batteries to the camera. Batteries are not a problem if the test light works and alkaline batteries work fine. I think the FE manual not recommended the alkaline because they were not yet available in 1978. In the FE2 manual Nikon said you can use either silver oxide, alkaline or 1 lithium.
 
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forest bagger

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I checked for the two batteries and tried new ones also.
An intermittent connection between the battery compartment and the electronics I deliberated also.
But why is the exposure metering still active, showing 1/2s for example, when the mechanical 1/90s are working?
 

Chan Tran

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It depends on where the bad connection is. In this case you can say it's not at the battery compartment and is closer to the shutter control circuit.
 

Chan Tran

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one thing to test. Set the manual speed to 1/2 second and see if it ever switch to 1/90?
 
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forest bagger

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Yes, it does switch to 1/90 sometimes, when the FE is set to 1/2s.
What is the conclusion then - I think it is not practiable to dismount the FE completely to recognise that there is an itermittent fault within the electronics which I can't repair?
 

Chan Tran

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forest bagger said:
Yes, it does switch to 1/90 sometimes, when the FE is set to 1/2s.
What is the conclusion then - I think it is not practiable to dismount the FE completely to recognise that there is an itermittent fault within the electronics which I can't repair?
Click to expand...

Well in Auto the shutter is controlled by the voltage coming from the metering circuit. In manual the voltage comes from the shutter speed dial. When the camera recognizes a compatible flash it sends the signal to switch to 1/90. However, since it has the problem both in auto and manual so I do not think this switching is at fault. I think the shutter just lost power once in a while. As far as taking the camera apart? I am very bad at this so I don't know. You will have to ask Andreas Thaler.
 
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