Nikon FE

Type: 35mm · Still

The Nikon FE and F series cameras were highly popular among professional
photographers in the past, valued for their durability and ability to operate
in extreme environments. They are true workhorses, and I personally shoot with
my Nikon FE almost every day.

I found mine through a local seller about ten years ago. It was serviced when
I got it and hasn't needed anything since.

I shoot it with the motordrive, usually in daylight. Most of it is memories and
good moments. The rest is work: I use it for scouting and for shooting reference
photos for projects, so a lot of frames aren't pictures in themselves, they're
notes for something else.

For film I stay with the Portra series, 400 or 200, and ProImage 100. I also
experiment with expired old stock to see what it does.

Ten years in, it still runs without maintenance and works in every condition
I've put it in. I've shot it in Toronto at minus twenty and in Los Angeles at
twenty plus, and it behaves the same in both.

The difficult part isn't the body, it's the glass. I shoot primes and keep the
setup as compact as possible, because portability is the reason the camera comes
with me at all. I'm not really a fan of zoom lenses. But a genuinely good 50mm
prime is hard to come by, and I'm still looking.