Nikon FE - Years of Wedding Use

This Nikon FE camera has worked a lot of weddings! It's my wife's camera really, but after getting married, I took it from her.

When I first started photographing weddings in 1990, this was the camera I used. It's a camera capable of shutter speed priority, but I usually used it on manual mode. Really, a Nikon FM would have probably been better for wedding use as the FM allows for Aperture Priority. But it really didn't matter. Manual shooting was the norm for me back then and using a Nikon FE along with my trusty Minolta light meter, I was fully capable of taking care of business.

Today, the Nikon FE doesn't see any action. I haven't shot a single frame of film in many years since going to digital. And, like my old Canon AE-1 Program, this camera weighs "nothing" compared to my current Nikon D3.

By the way, the Nikon FE still works perfectly!

While I used the Nikon FE for weddings, I used a Nikon FM2 for my work in law enforcement. I had a power-winder on my FM2 which also helped me in holding the camera as well. Today's cameras have "built-in" grips which make holding cameras a lot easier. But older cameras like the FE and FM2 do not have any grips and you can easily drop the camera if you are not careful.

I used this Nikon FE with a Stroboframe R7 flash bracket along with a Sunpak 622 flash. Together, it was a monster of a rig. While my current camera is pretty heavy, it is more compact than my older rig with that Stroboframe bracket. Today's photographers often go without a flash bracket, but for me, a bracket is nice to have to keep shadows behind the subject. It's a nicer look in my opinion.