Need help with a FE2 problem

[bourboncowboy]

<p>I've got an old FE2 that I really like. A few days ago, I loaded a roll of Kodachrome in it and took a few shots. No problems. Today I tried to shoot a few more shots, and it acts as if it's locked up. The shutter release button seems stuck in the depressed position, and the film advance lever won't move the film. It will open slightly, as if to activate the meter, but it won't go any farther. I've tried to reset the camera, to no avail. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>

[robert_cooper3]

<p>Mark,<br>

Try turning the Shutter speed/mode dial (next to shutter release button) while depressing it's center post to M250 (M =mechanical).<br>

The batteries may be exhausted. The camera will not work correctly without good batteries.</p>

 

[User_276104]

<p>Sounds like a common problem - something has gotten out-of-sync. Initially, it's an easy home fix.</p>

<p>Here's a thread in which I described how a guy at a camera shop showed me how to fix mine, and also a couple of photos of what things look like under the base plate of the camera.</p>

<p>Photos with short commentary:<br>

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=790695</p>

<p>Thread from 2003:<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/005mF3</p>

<p> </p>

[bourboncowboy]

<p>Thanks guys, but no luck. The batteries were installed with the Kodachrome and the home fix didn't work. Everything seems to be in the right position, but the problem seems to be with the film advance lever and the shutter release button. The shutter release is stuck in the depressed position and won't pop back up, and (I think) that's got something to do with the film advance lever being locked.</p>

[joe_a2]

<p>Mark.... The shutter release and the film advance lever are the symptoms, not the cause. A camera is like that old game Mousetrap, and if one part of the sequence fails, nothing happens downstream. Is the mirror stuck in the up position? If the mirror won't come back down, the camera's locked up in it's sequence well before the shutter button and film advance resets.</p>

<p>I still think the problem is either power-related, or a jam in the "mousetrap" under the base plate. Have you tested the old "Kodachrome" batteries or tried new batteries, or are you just assuming there is no power drain that killed the ones you just put it?</p>

[bourboncowboy]

<p>Joe,<br>

The batteries are new. I installed them about ten days ago, so I don't think that's the problem.</p>

<p>There must be something wrong in the "mousetrap" that's got things fouled up. I've been thinking about sending it in for a CLA. This just might give me the reason to do it.</p>

[glockman99]

<p>I know that you must have thought of this, but are you SURE that you aren't at the end of the roll of film? If the film is still in the camera, have you tried depressing the film rewind button and rewinding the film (remove the film after it's wound back into the cassette), and then trying the shutter again? If none of this is the case, then I suggest that you try another set of batteries.<br>

Also, if you have access to a MD-12 motordrive, you might want to hook-up the motordrive to the camera, run it on "C" for a few frames, and see if that breaks things loose.</p>

[Gus Lazzari]

<blockquote>

<p>Dann F."see if that breaks things loose."</p>

</blockquote>

<p><strong>No No No</strong> - Please folks, let's all think logically. If the release <strong>button is stuck down,</strong> then we don't have a normal; battery exhausted or reset jam going on here.</p>

<p>You either have debris like grit or sand that got in to the "cupped collar" design surrounding the release button, or the button was struck by an impact of some sort while the advance lever was pushed in. (Meter off position) This assumes of course, no spillage of any kind recently; because corrosion growth could also seize the release mechanism.</p>

[peder_torget]

<p>I have a similar issue with my FE2. I posted the following over at flickr, and one user over there pointed me to this thread here. This is my problem:<br>

---<br>

<em>"The shutter release button on my FE2 is stuck as if the film advance lever is in the lock position, even though I have "taken it out". Also the little button to release for film rewind (the 3mm, recessed one under the camera) is stuck, I can´t push it in. That of course means that I cannot rewind the film. </em><br /> <br /><em> What happend was this:</em><em> I was winding the film to the 36th frame. It seemed to me that I got it wound all the way to the last frame, and that it wasn´t an "end of the film"-stop of the lever. So with the camera ready to snap the last image I was surprised to find that I couldn´t depress the shutter release button. It feels as if it is locked, even though the film wind lever is pulled out from it´s locked position. </em><br /> <br /><em> Then I thought that it might be that it was indeed the end of the film that had stopped me from winding the film completely to a new frame. So I thought that I might just as well rewind the film and forget about the last shot. But I then found out that I couldn´t depress the film rewind button under the camera either, which means that I cannot rewind the film.</em><em>"</em><br>

---</p>

<p>So, from reading this thread I figured there were some similarities, enough for me to unscrew the bottom plate to see if a mechanical illiterate like myself could fix it. I took some pictures to see if any of you guys could see what the issues are.<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/11060391-md.jpg" alt="" /><br>

I notice that the "wheel" at the bottom end of the film spool axle is rotated to a different location than what I see in Eric Sande´s images. This means that the "moustrap"-contraption cannot be put into a pre-shutter release position.</p>

<p>Anybody got a tip? I would love to be able to fix my own camera, and of course save that undeveloped film in there...<br>

Any help will be highly appreciated!<br>

-pdr</p>

[User_276104]

<p>This is getting into territory I'm not familiar with. The first thing that comes to mind is to get the film out of the camera. There have been a couple of times that I've swapped film from an FE2 to an AF camera and upon rewind, the crease in the leader from the FE2 caused the AF camera to jam up. I sat in a dark bathroom until my eyes adjusted to the small amount of light leaking in and manually removed the film & wound it into the cassette.</p>

<p>It appears that things are halfway through the wind cycle, so getting the film that is at the end of the roll out of the way may free things up complete the winding.</p>