Nikon Fe2 - CLA shutter speed

Hi all,

I need some help in tuning the shutter speed of a recently purchased Nikon Fe2 in otherwise great condition. I tested the shutter at various speeds against a DSLR and the shutter on my Fe2 is consistently slower at almost all speeds (but surprisingly accurate at 1/4000). I have tried this method of assessing shutter speeds with my other cameras and can vouch that is it accurate (accuracy is relative to the DSLR).

 

I disassembled the body, removed the shutter and flushed it several times with zippo light fluid over several hours and let it air dry until bone dry. I also removed the shutter blades and cleaned them individually. I oiled the moving mechanisms with watchers oil and reassembled the camera. I retested the shutter speed and nothing had changed, still consistently slower at almost all shutter speeds by one to two stops. I am probably at the stage to adjust the shutter speed myself, however I have never done this on an FE2. Can someone direct me on how best do to this? I have attached a photo of the camera body without the leatherette and am guessing one of the portals to access screws will adjust the shutter. Question is, which one? which direction and how far do I turn the screw?

 

If anyone had any advice here, it will be greatly appreciated

 

It is important to remember that, except for flash sync and B, all shutter speeds on the FE2 are electronically controlled. Your problem lies somewhere in one of the integrated circuits on your camera. Perhaps there are adjustment pots on one of the circuit boards for this. Time for a qualified tech to take a look at it, methinks.

 

The electronically controlled shutter speeds on Nikons can be amazingly accurate. I once tested an FG with a shutter speed tester. All speeds were exactly correct.

Thanks for your suggestion. I was starting to think the shutter was controlled elsewhere when I fiddled with some screws and there was no change. I can't find anyone that will service the camera less than what it is currently worth. Looks like I will be shelfing this one until I figure a way to adjust it electronically.

It's quartz-timed.Get another FE/FE2.

I also have a recently acquired FE2. I haven't questioned the shutter speeds, but have wondered about the meter.

 

I believe that the FE2 meter, like the FM and others of the family, is not so sensitive to the battery voltage.

(I have alkaline cells in mine.) Some older Nikons expect mercury cells.

 

What method are you using to test it?

removed the shutter and flushed it several times with zippo light fluid over several hours and let it air dry until bone dry. I also removed the shutter blades and cleaned them individually" belal c.

Oh My ! wow and yikes.

You basically took the proverbial 'engine' apart in order to conduct a simple oil change...

Talk about making things more difficult; a perfect example of "a little bit of knowledge is truly dangerous".

All one needed to do was to clean the 2nd curtain magnet, and if the Manual or Auto speeds were still off, turn the appropriate adjusting VR's etc.

 

Dude, do yourself a favor and acquire a service manual.

You obviously have the drive, but you'll need to learn some common sense & technical theory...

Edited March 29, 2017 by Gus Lazzari

"F" camera starting with the F2 took silver oxide or alkaline batteries. The F4 broke that tradition and took AAs. Also the same (I believe) "F" type batteries were used in Nikkormats since the FT2. The Nikkormat EL series took the 6V PX28 flavor.

When my FE2 failed,some years ago the tech report stated "cleaned the shutter magnets". I think these reside under the bottom plate..

Thank you all for your comments, most were really helpful. I should have mentioned that I did have a service/repair manual that guided me. I am starting to think something is wrong is the timing controlled by the quartz system that is probably beyond me. I do have a spare fe2 for parts and I may try changing the electronics to see if that changes anything.

 

Gus, I don't see how adjusting the VR's would change anything. My metering is fine, the manual speeds are not accurate so it wouldn't matter if I adjusted the VR's as the shutter speed is quartz controlled as far as I understand. What can be common sense in an niche area?

Gus, I don't see how adjusting the VR's would change anything. My metering is fine, the manual speeds are not accurate so it wouldn't matter if I adjusted the VR's as the shutter speed is quartz controlled"

"would change anything"? I know that in your ill advised 'teardown', you likely touched mechanical 'settings' that should not have been touched.

i.e The Distance switch screw under the DOF preview lever - Usually turn it clockwise to shorten high shutter speeds

 

The VR's are there for fine tuning the adjustments. Now, the meter readout accuracy is one (VR) adjustment; so

logically if you have more that ONE VR, then the others handle other things.

ID your VR's; don't you have more than just one to adjust? Of course you do (See picture).

 

So much to learn:

Make sure you're grounded - Always mark your adjustments - Have a 3 sensor shutter/Auto tester etc. etc.

 

Edited April 4, 2017 by Gus Lazzari

Yes I did adjust the gold screw beneath the DOF lever but then screwed it back to its original position when it didn't change the shutter speed. I have followed the order in that was indicated in the repair manual. I have screenshot the relevant parts. I repeated this procedure around three times and verified my metering was accurate as I was getting the same readings with my DSLR. Still did not change the general slow shutter speeds. Any ideas/?

 

 

Okay, so it's true:

you likely touched mechanical 'settings' that should not have been touched.

This "gold screw beneath the DOF lever" is in fact a very sensitive adjustment. Focus closely on resetting this factory set item.

Before you started all this, you seem to be very concerned about the manual speeds. Why the concern?

 

So what 'kind' of a shutter testing device are you using & relying upon for these concerns and activities?

For displaying accurate readings, a highly accurate and reliable hyper-speed vertical traveling shutter, requires a pretty specialized tester...

Edited April 5, 2017 by Gus Lazzari

I have been checking the shutter speed against my DSLR which has been very accurate. I have also checked the speed using a designated speed shutter tester which is also very accurate. See source below.

Camera shutter tester with light source for PC and laptop up to 1/2000th

 

I am concern about the manual speeds because I sometimes shoot in manual and more importantly, if the manual speeds are not accurate, then how can the Aperature priority mode be accurate? From my understand, it will select the correct speed though that speed setting itself would need to be correct first.

checking the shutter speed against my DSLR which has been very accurate. I have also checked the speed using a designated speed shutter tester which is also very accurate.- if the manual speeds are not accurate, then how can the Aperture priority mode be accurate? " blal c.

Wow, so in order to test speeds you've removed the DSLR sensor (you obviously didn't) that's in the way of the shutter block?

So your home-built $30 single sensor tester (maybe good enough for a leaf shutter) constitutes a specialized shutter tester?

So the stepless auto speed system and its adjustments (which requires a 3 sensor Auto Tester <<< click), are the same as the Manual Speeds?

 

Sorry, but I feel strongly that you've ruined one or two perfectly good Nikon FE2 bodies chacing problems that weren't there.

There's simply too much to explain here; I'll need to restate :"learn some common sense & technical theory"...

Edited April 10, 2017 by Gus Lazzari

I can't believe I am being blasted on a camera forum page for simply asking for advice. You need perspective, people come here to seek advice.

 

It doesn't matter which method I used to test the shutter speed, they all consistently told me it was off and I was able to verify this when I threw in a roll of film. You need to get past this mate. The DSLR method uses an external light source to flash through the shutter of the SLR while the lens of the dslr is buried over the lens of the SLR - Effectively, the DSLR only sees like from the light source through the shutter of the SLR - that is the principle of the test. Now moving forward..

 

My question was the connection between manual speeds and auto speed. If your response is simply to 'learn some common sense & technical theory' then you've completely missed the point on why people post threads. Again, it is about perspective mate. I won't be responding to any further replies from you. Waste of time.

I can't believe I am being blasted on a camera forum" & "it is about perspective mate." blal c.

"Blasted" no, schooled in a frank, educated and truthful way, yes.

It seems "mate", you can't handle the truth...

Edited April 11, 2017 by Gus Lazzari

Comparing shutter speeds between cameras is a valid a-b test provided the measuring means is consistent.

Your shutter speed adjustment is given on the second screen shot. 4.1 to 5.2 ms or 1/243 & 1/192 in fractions.

If it was mine I would locate the electromagnets on the shutter and mirror to make sure the surfaces are clean.

Best of luck.

Comparing shutter speeds between cameras is a valid a-b test" - "I would locate the electromagnets on the shutter and mirror" greg n.

Sorry, but not true on both counts.

A single sensor shutter tester has several technical issues as it relates to modern hyper-speed shutters. One simple to grasp issue, is that there's no way to calibrate the extremely critical Curtain Travel Times (CTT). With a 'cheap' tester, you could conceivably measure the center at what would be considered an in tolerance reading, except because the curtains are at different speeds, the image opening has an overall gradient exposure (Blanking).

 

Finally in the Nikon FE2 (Along with many non-Program and non-Shutter preferred designs), the mirror has a mechanical release of itself and the first shutter curtain, the 2nd curtain is held and released by the single and only electromagnet...

The single sensor shutter measurement will give the time that the slit takes to go past the centre of the frame. Regardless of the actual real time, I think the comparison in still valid one. It's certainly not a means to check differing curtain speeds or any other curtain problems.

If you know where the shutter magnet is located it would be helpful to include that in a reply. You have replied 6 times now, and not mentioned its location.

the comparison [is] still [a] valid one" - "You have replied 6 times now, and not mentioned its location" greg n.

Huh? Okay, I guess you could try to adjust the specifications of a Hybrid Electric car with a simple voltmeter, but I wouldn't take the car apart because that cheap voltmeter 'showed' electronic specs to be in error...

 

The location? The OP never asked where the only magnet in the camera was; after all, he stated:

"I disassembled the body, removed the shutter and flushed it" He could clearly see (also from his factory manual) that the magnet is attached to the 2nd shutter curtain 'latch'...

 

Now to put this issue to rest, I've repaired many Nikon FE2 units, mainly for people putting their fingers in the ultra-thin titanium blades; the other being magnet armature surface contamination caused by outgas fuming or dust debris.

Never for mechanical inaccuracy of this amazing & factory set shutter assembly. So don't do what this OP did !

In fact, confidence is very high that he didn't see or experience ANY actual imaging/picture taking symptoms...

How do you check the shutter speed against a DSLR? I am very curious. I can check the shutter speed of a film camera easy but not a DSLR.

Hi Bebu & Greg, I have used 3 independent methods to determine the accuracy of the shutter speed - two of which have a different assay principle. I am a scientist and I know very well that if a peer has produced consistent results using different approaches that are grounded in different principles, then there is very little room to dispute the findings.

 

I tested the camera with a roll of film in manual mode and compared the same frames with a dslr on the exact same settings. Then I used the method of relatively (with a different dslr), determining the shutter speed accuracy through the lens of a DSLR. Finally, I used a single sensor centered in the shutter to determine the absolute shutter speed. All those methods showed that my shutter speed was slow, at least 1 to 2 stops slower in fact.

 

I can't find the original link that described the second method (comparing the shutter speed through the lens of a DSLR), but here is one that comes very close.

A great way to test shutter speed accuracy

The principle herein is measuring the luminosity(via photoshop) as an index to shutter speed. For each speed, 3 tests were taken on both the DSLR and the SLR, where the means and standard deviation (or CV%) were determined. The CV% was around 5-10%, so very negligible.

 

Of course, the findings are relative and you need to first assume your DSLR shutter is accurate. One advantage of using this method is that you can actually see 'bounce' and 'capping' occurring, which I was able to rule out in my nikon fe2.

I can't justify spending presumably hundreds of dollars on a 3 sensor shutter tester and seeing that I have ruled out capping and bounce, the single sensor will have to suffice. Also, the shutter magnet which I previously located (though didn't mention) was dirt free, though I still cleaned it but that did not change anything.

Hi Belal_chami!

I am very interested in your method yet I still can't understand how you did it. Let assume that the DSLR shutter speed is accurate how do you find out if the SLR has different speed? How do you measure the luminosity of the SLR using Photoshop?

I am very interested. You can answer in private message if you don't want to post here.

Hi Bebu,

 

I digged a little deeper and found the original description to the method which is the one I used. See below

 

Snippets of this and that: How to test/ calibrate a manual SLR camera's shutter using a digital camera

 

To measure luminosity, you need to draw a rectangle of fixed size (using the transform tool) in the center of the blurred light (just ensure the 'spot light' is not over exposed and if it is, adjusted the ISO of your dslr. It is as simple as opening the histogram bar thereafter and in the expanded view, show statistics. Though there are other ways to measure luminosity in photoshop.

 

Let me know how you go. Good luck!