Nikon FE2 - Design History

Design History

The 1970s and 1980s were an era of intense competition between the major SLR brands: Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Pentax and Olympus. Between circa 1975 to 1985, there was a dramatic shift away from heavy all-metal manual mechanical camera bodies to much more compact bodies with integrated circuit (IC) electronic automation. In addition, because of rapid advances in electronics, the brands continually leap frogged each other with models having new or more automatic features. The industry was trying to expand out from the saturated high-end professional market and appeal to the large mass of low-end amateur photographers itching to move up from compact automatic leaf-shutter rangefinder (RF) cameras to the more versatile SLR but were intimidated by the need to learn all details of its operation.

The FE2 was intended by Nikon as a quality alternative to the more cheaply built 35 mm amateur SLRs by other manufacturers of the day. It can be described as Nippon Kogaku’s Nikon FM2 mechanical (springs, gears, levers) camera with precision electronic controls grafted on. Its unusual roots were most obvious in its backup ability to operate without batteries – albeit in a limited fashion: completely manual mechanical control with limited shutter speeds (1/250th second, marked M250, or Bulb) and without the light meter. The FE2 shared the luxurious bearing-mounted film advance and transport mechanism of its other high-level cameras, and many were used by professional photographers. The FE2’s deliberately conservative external features (no program modes or matrix metering) were not intended to appeal to beginners, but rather to experienced photographers who required a reliable camera capable of withstanding extremes of climate, impacts, and extended use. Nikon believed that advanced amateur photographers were not interested in every possible automated bell and whistle, but rather the highest possible quality and precision.

Although the FE2 sold well, it was not as popular as less expensive competing contemporary SLRs with a fancier feature set but vastly inferior internal design and construction quality – for example, the Canon A-1 (1978) or the Minolta X-700 (1982). Time has proven Nikon's philosophy to be the right one – it is very tough and reliable and it is now regarded as one of the finest SLRs of its generation. It is very popular on the user-collectible market and commands prices (in excellent condition) higher than when it was new.