Help! My FE2's mirror is locked up

[robert_cooper3]

I was clicking away with my FE2 and the mirror locked up (raised

position). I put in new batteries but that's not helping. Any ideas?

I was checking it over to have it ready for some Christmas day

shooting. Any help would be most apprciated.

 

Coop

[chris_leck]

Does the mirror release when you set the shutter speed to 'B?' (I think that it's 'B' that sets the FE2 to its mechanical shutter speed and that should release the mirror. It's been a long time since I've had or used an FE2.)

 

Make sure that the new batteries are good. IIRC, there used to be some types of batteries (powdered silver oxide?) that could not source enough current for the FE2, even when they were fresh, and a locked-up mirror could result.

 

If none of this works, it may be time to see a tech (unless you inadvertently activated the manual mirror lock-up).

[david_h._hartman]

Sometimes oil or wax on the batteries can stop them from

supplying power. Could there be a waxy limp balm or hand lotion

or even oil from ones face on the batteries? Are the new

batteries good? Are they installed correctly?<br>

<br>

I recommend that you check the batteries with a battery tester,

clean them with alcohol and buff them on clean cloth. You might

need to clean the battery cap or the contact inside and the

threads for the battery cap also. I use Q-tips for cleaning

battery contacts and cap threads. Do not get alcohol inside the

camera. You can roll the Q-Tips on clean cloth to remove the

excess alcohol so they are damp but not dripping. I prefer regent

grade absolute methyl alcohol which Nikon recommends for cleaning

professional large format lenses but rubbing alcohol should work.<br>

<br>

If the mirror in an FE2 or similar Nikon camera is locked up it

can often be lowered by changing the shutter to any battery free

mechanical shutter speed. On the FE2 its M250 or B. I first

encountered this mirror lockup thing with a Nikon EL2.<br>

<br>

Hope this helps,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.

[cowboystuff]

If you are using a motor drive, take it off and then put the shutter speed on B. If it doesn't release then, sometimes tapping the bottom of the camera on the palm of your and might shake it loose. If that doesn't work, it means that the linkage on the shutter box is stuck and a tech needs to take the bottom off and adjust or tighten the linkage. If that doesn't work, then it's time for a new shutter box. This has happened to me many times and most of the time the linkage is stuck and shakes loose, but two of my cameras now have new shutter boxes, and one more is waiting for a new shutter box.

If you are using a motor drive sometimes it's just that and removing that and resetting everything, clears it up. (plus new batteries in the motor drive).

 

Larry

[rolf_smithy]

And they say the FE-2 doesn't have MLU....

[albert_smith]

A lot of the previous replies are about the power to the camera, and this could be an issue, but the M250 should overide any power issue.

 

One other thing is that the foam at the top of the mirror box has degraded and turned to a sticky goo-like substance that has caused the mirror to stick in the up position due to the mirror being stuck to the goo. This happen to my FM2 (which has no power issues), based on the camera's age and the temperature where I live. You could try very gently to just pull the mirror down from the top of the mirror box. If the mirror is stuck to the foam, it will come back down as soon as you break the seal. You would then see a line on the mirror that matches where the mirror's surface contacts the foam. If this is the problem, then it is time for a seal change.

[ShunCheung]

Right, the 1/250 sec M shutter speed setting should override any low battery issue. I would try that first. If that fixes the problem, your "new" batteries might not have sufficient power. I have seen that happen before. You might want to try again with yet another set of new batteries.

 

If the problem is not the battery, it gets more complicated.

[jerry ting]

Robert, I just tried my FE2 (without batteries) and here is how you can release the locked-up mirror. Simply turn the shutter speed dial to M250 and the shutter should be released. If the shutter dial is set at the 'A' poistion originally, you need to press down that little button on the top of the shutter speed dial to be able to turn it.

[robert_cooper3]

Hello and thanks to everyone for the information. The batteries were dead so I put in fresh batteries and turned the dial to M250 and the mirror released as you advised. I searched high and low for my FE2 manual and finally found it. There is info on page 32 that describes what happens when the batteries go dead- mirror locks up. It's been a long time since I used it, last year I guess. I've been using my D70 since then and thought it would be fun to take some pics with film and enjoy that feel of an FE2 in my hands. Happy shooting!

 

Coop

[jim_helleck1]

My reply is late but you may have installed your new batteries up-side-down. Don't laugh, it happens.

[pooh]

<p>10 years later from the initiation of this thread for help, I myself have now encountered the same problem with my FE-2, and turned to Google and found this discussion! Thank you all. The problem was in fact dead batteries, and turning the shutter to B or M250 did the trick. </p>

<p>I keep a spare set of batteries on hand (in my refrigerator!) and installed them and all is back to normal. Granted, this moment in time is December 2015, and my spare batteries are from 2006 (already dated by 9 years, but working) ! I can't imagine how old the <em>dead</em> batteries are. I do know that they were working about a few years ago!</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>