New/Old Nikon gear

[Geoff M]

Or at least some old Nikon gear which is new to me I have just picked up in reasonable condition a black Nikon FE2, with the following E series glass, 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 75-150 f3.5 and a PN11 Ext tube.



Included in the package was a Gossen Lunasix 3 light meter.



and a Canon EOS650 with 28-80 f3.5/5.6 and 35-70 f3.5/4.5 lenses but the less said about that the better

Anyone had any experience with the Nikon FE2 and lenses? Here is a shot taken on my D90 with the 50mm f1.8

[CraigVTR]

That 50 seems to perform well. Nice composition as well.

[ATJ]

An FE2 (silver, I regretted not getting a black one) was my first Nikon SLR which I got in 1983. I still have it and it served me well for a number of years.

[Matt. K]

Take care not to wind the rewind lever in the wrong direction. It's possible to wind it off the shaft and lots of little bits fall into the grass. A weak point with this model.

[aim54x]

I have a FM2N....the fully mechanical version of your FE2..and ironically the Series E 28mm f/2.8 and Series E 75-150mm f/3.5 and have used the Series E 50mm f/1.8.

You will enjoy these lenses. The 28mm is not the sharpest lens in the kit, but even on the D300 it has a very pleasing look, the 75-150 is a very different story. It is quite sharp, especially when you shut it down a bit f/5.6 is really, really sharp already...it was a favourite of Galen Rowell when he needed something really light weight. The 50mm f/1.8 is a good performer as expected for a normal lens!

Get out there and take some pics!

[gstark]

Geoff,

The FE2 is a classic camera, and one that you will get a lot of enjoyment from. I still have one.

Are you sure the glass is E series? The glass in the photos doesn't look like how I remember the E series lenses. To my recollection, E series glass didn't have the aluminium ring. Certainly the early 50mm f/1.8 was an all black very compact lens.

And the Gossen is a legendary piece of kit too.

[aim54x]

Are you sure the glass is E series? The glass in the photos doesn't look like how I remember the E series lenses. To my recollection, E series glass didn't have the aluminium ring. Certainly the early 50mm f/1.8 was an all black very compact lens.

And the Gossen is a legendary piece of kit too.

They are all missing the "rabbit ears" of AI/AI-S lenses, and are later model Series E lenses (they added the aluminium ring to make the Series E lenses look nicer).

[gstark]

Are you sure the glass is E series? The glass in the photos doesn't look like how I remember the E series lenses. To my recollection, E series glass didn't have the aluminium ring. Certainly the early 50mm f/1.8 was an all black very compact lens.

And the Gossen is a legendary piece of kit too.

They are all missing the "rabbit ears" of AI/AI-S lenses, and are later model Series E lenses (they added the aluminium ring to make the Series E lenses look nicer).

Hmmm, interesting ....

The rabbit ears were removed some time after they introduced aperture indexing, which was the way that the very early lenses communicated the aperture set on the lens by the user back to the camera body. On AI lenses there's a little ridge on the back plane of the lens. Pre-AI lenses had solid "rabbit ears" with no ridge, and AI lenses with rabbit ears had cut outs in the rabbit ears, then they dropped the rabbit ears.

E series lenses, to my recollection, did not have the aluminium ring, and had "SERIES E" engraved in white on the ring surrounding the front element of the lens, but it seems that this may have been only for the earlier versions. They were also designated as Nikon, rather than Nikkor, and they were introduced to partner the EM body, which was intended to be a cheaper, entry level SLR.

Looking at Ken Rockwell's site, he says that the later Series E lenses had the aluminium ring; the earlier ones were all black; my recollection is consistent with his description of the earlier ones. If you look at the images here, there's no rabbit ears, the AI ridge I describe is clearly evident just below the f/11 mark on the aperture ring, and on the black lens, you can clearly see the "SERIES E" engraving on the front of the lens, towards the left on this image. Also check out this site, which contains some wonderful information as well.

[Geoff M]

I had no intentions of going back to film and the only reason I got this kit was that it was given to me for the grand cost of $0. I will make use of the glass but probably not the body. The 75-150 needs a good service and clean because although the zoom ring moves freely the focus is very notchy. Reviews of this lens seem very positive so probably worthwhile refurbishing. The 50mm is so compact, especially when compared to my 17-55 2.8, and looks like it will be fun to use.

All lenses are definitely E series, Camerons explanation makes sense, thanks for the info.

Both the 28 & 50 have "Nikon LENS SERIES E" engraved around the front element, the 75-150 has the same engraving but is placed around the circumference of the barrel adjacent to the front element.

Serial numbers are 28mm -2097004, 50mm - 3071739, 75-150mm- 1848134.

In my film days I shot with Olympus (OM2 /OM2sp) and Zuiko glass. I part exchanged all the gear to get into digital which is one of my regrets and something I should never have done! (that is getting rid of film gear, not getting into digital).

[Geoff M]

Also check out this site, which contains some wonderful information as well.

Interesting read Gary, and a great find.

On closer inspection and after looking at the images on the Ken Rockwell site my 50mm looks just like the later version, and the 28mm has the aluminum ring of the later version but also has the cutout where the distance scale is located as per the earlier all black version

[aim54x]

Your very lucky to have been gifted such a nice kit! go out and shoot some film...you may find parts of it that you like

[Geoff M]

I have given the 75-150 a go this morning (on the D90) and I have to say considering the age of the lens and its' less than perfect condition, in particular the lens elements which do have a fair amount of fungus growing on them, I am pretty impressed with the results. Should make a good portrait lens - my daughters were not prepared to pose for the camera today so opted for this cute model instead

[lightning]

try out this site it's got lots of info and will help you place the age of the lenses. http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html

[aim54x]

try out this site it's got lots of info and will help you place the age of the lenses. http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html

Definitely worth having a look at....if you are so inclined. Thanks for the link