Nikon "Internal Documents"

mehguy · Jan 13, 2021

I read a review of the Nikon FE on CasualPhotophile and about half way down in the review it mentions that, according to internal documents, Nikon FE was designed so that it was as reliable as a mechanical film camera:

"Internal documents from Nikon indicate that extreme attention was paid to ensure that the electronics within the FE would be as reliable as an all-mechanical camera"

I'm curious as to what internal documents are they talking about? Is there a publicly-accessible archive of Nikon internal memos somewhere? Because I can't find any other mention of this in another article or the whereabouts of these "internal documents".

BradS · Jan 13, 2021

Nikon have published quite a bit of interesting historical info and folklore on their website. You might try poking around there and see what you can find.

Anecdotally, I can say that the Nikon FE was very reliable as long as you refrained from using it with a motor drive. I had four Nikon FE and the electronics were always perfect but hard use with the MD caused mechanical failures .

George Mann · Jan 13, 2021

The FE was a cheapened EL!

dmtnkl · Jan 13, 2021

BradS said:
Anecdotally, I can say that this he Nikon FE was very reliable as long as you refrained from using it with a motor drive. I had four Nikon FE and the electronics were always perfect but hard use with the MD beat them to bits.

Sounds a bit strange, not sure i have heard of this before. Could you elaborate on it? How did the md contribute to camera damage? Do you mean it was stressing the film advance mechanism too much?

Nitroplait · Jan 13, 2021

mehguy said:
I read a review of the Nikon FE on CasualPhotophile and about half way down in the review it mentions that, according to internal documents, Nikon FE was designed so that it was as reliable as a mechanical film camera:

"Internal documents from Nikon indicate that extreme attention was paid to ensure that the electronics within the FE would be as reliable as an all-mechanical camera"

I'm curious as to what internal documents are they talking about? Is there a publicly-accessible archive of Nikon internal memos somewhere? Because I can't find any other mention of this in another article or the whereabouts of these "internal documents".

You could request source info from the author.
Nikon has a quite interessting repository of historical information here: https://imaging.nikon.com/history/

zanxion72 · Jan 13, 2021

That statement seems just like advertising. If that is true, then by all means Nikon missed that. Nikon FE is a good camera, but just that. It has its quirks, with many of them proving nothing extraordinary in terms of reliability. For example, take that thin copper like metal blade that fails frequently at the bottom of the camera, blocking the film winding and a few more.
"... FE would be as reliable as an all-mechanical camera"
Also, further to this, not all all-mechanical cameras are reliable. It is a silly statement.

MartinCrabtree · Jan 13, 2021

zanxion72 said:
........................Also, further to this, not all all-mechanical cameras are reliable. It is a silly statement.

However they are perceived to be more reliable than electronic which makes marketing sense.

zanxion72 · Jan 13, 2021

MartinCrabtree said:
However they are perceived to be more reliable than electronic which makes marketing sense.

Indeed! Copy that!

flavio81 · Jan 13, 2021

mehguy said:
I read a review of the Nikon FE on CasualPhotophile and about half way down in the review it mentions that, according to internal documents, Nikon FE was designed so that it was as reliable as a mechanical film camera:

"Internal documents from Nikon indicate that extreme attention was paid to ensure that the electronics within the FE would be as reliable as an all-mechanical camera"

I'm curious as to what internal documents are they talking about? Is there a publicly-accessible archive of Nikon internal memos somewhere? Because I can't find any other mention of this in another article or the whereabouts of these "internal documents".

The internal electronics of the FE are almost exactly the same as the EL2, so sounds like marketing.

zanxion72 said:
Also, further to this, not all all-mechanical cameras are reliable. It is a silly statement.

Agree.

BrianShaw · Jan 13, 2021

dmtnkl said:
Sounds a bit strange, not sure i have heard of this before. Could you elaborate on it? How did the md contribute to camera damage? Do you mean it was stressing the film advance mechanism too much?

I’ve been running a FE with MD for years. It’s quite reliable, actually. Once it “seized up”. The part of the camera that the MD turns started binding on the FE baseplate that it goes through. Could have been a bit of grit. Cleaned and used a tiny bit of moly grease... back in action.

BradS · Jan 13, 2021

dmtnkl said:
Sounds a bit strange, not sure i have heard of this before. Could you elaborate on it? How did the md contribute to camera damage? Do you mean it was stressing the film advance mechanism too much?

Well to be fair, I only used the FE for situations where I didn’t want to risk loss or damage to the Nikon FM3A. In 2005, one could buy a used FE that looked good and worked perfectly for $75 and the FM3A cost $570.

It’s just suspect because the two bodies that were used with the Motor Drive fell apart and the subsequent two that I never used with the MD never failed in any way at all. There were at the time, other reports of the early FM & FE not holding up well when used with the MD...so I just kinda assumed that explained the failures that I had experienced as well and refrained from using the MD with the replacement FE’s. IRRC, there was even a serial number after which it was no longer thought to be a problem (and before which it was).

Anyway, sample size, n=4 is much too small to have any meaning at all...just anecdotal.

...and finally, the point is that the failures were MECHANICAL not electronics. None of the four had electronic failures - ever.

ic-racer · Jan 13, 2021

I am new to Nikon but have been collecting Rolleiflex literature since the early 1980s. I have a number of documents that were intended for either dealers or distributors. Perhaps Nikon has done the same.

GarageBoy · Jan 13, 2021

My father used to repair cameras - motor drives are rough on winding and shutter cocking systems. The Nikon f2 sacrificed smoothness for toughness by swapping out brass/bronze gears in the Nikon f to steel

Nikon "Internal Documents"

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