Autowinder Compatibility Issue for Nikon FE (and maybe FM)

SelfishCyclist

New member
Has anyone experienced any issues with aftermarket winders on either the Nikon FE or the Nikon FM?

I purchased some non-Nikon autowinders years ago for my FM2n and FE2 cameras and never had any issues. Can't recall the brand names since they aren't imprinted on the winder. They only say "Winder for Nikon cameras" on the front. The FE2, of course, only manually fires at the setting of M250 (1/250) sec until the frame counter reaches "1" and then it meters and fires normally. The FM2n fires from the beginning of the roll. I might add that either winder works fine on my FA body as well. These winders performed more than adequately for what I needed and resemble the Nikon MD-11, MD-12 and MD-15 (which is for the FA only) except that they are somewhat louder and don't fire quite as fast. However, they only require 4 AA batteries instead of 8.

I recently purchased MD-12 motordrives for the FM2n and the FE2, and a week ago I picked up a Nikon FE with an MD-11 motordrive, which I mated up to my FA body.

I decided to retain the two generic winders and use them on the FE and FM...as soon as I can find one. However, when I attach the autowinder to the FE body, it only meters and fires at M90 and at the other shutter speeds, locks up the mirror. I can only release the mirror when I pull back the film advance lever and then move the shutter speed dial back to the M90 setting. I tried both winders on the FE and got the same result--M90 only. There is nothing wrong with the FE...using both an MD-11 and an MD-12 motordrive, it fires throughout the entire shutter speed range, including AUTO. There is nothing wrong with the winders, because they work on my FE2, FM2n and my FA.

You'll note that bottom contacts on FE and FE2, and FM and FM2n are identical, with four contact points, which match up to the four contact pins on the winder. The winder motor gear also mates up with the motor drive slot.

I do not know why the winder works fine on the FE2 and not the FE, and was curious if anyone out there who owned an FE or an FM experienced the same problem. I would think that an FM would be immune to this problem since it is entirely manual, but I could be wrong. That won't stop me from buying one.

I understand that Soligor makes an aftermarket autowinder that will work on the FE2/FM2 series but has a disclaimer that it won't operate on earlier Nikon models. No explanation was given.

Any comments are welcome...thanks.
 

SelfishCyclist

New member
Just an update to my own thread: several web sources tell me that the culprit for an FE not firing at other speeds other than M90 is the meter batteries. I did replace these when I got the camera and the battery check lever indicates that they are ok and my meter works fine. The camera does fire at all other speeds without the winder if advanced manually with the advance lever. I am going to switch the polarity and/or replace them again and see if this corrects the problem and allows the winder to fire at other speeds. Just so that you are aware, bad batteries will cause the same issues on an FE2, that camera has an M250 setting vice an M90 setting on the FE.
 

SelfishCyclist

New member
Well, nothing to update here. I took the FE and both autowinders to Central Camera and talked to one of the salepeople there. Another guy there said "bad meter batteries on your FE" and I replied "Nought...but I had him replace them anyway. Same result..neither autowinder worked on the FE other than M90 setting. They had an FM-T body there at the store and I used both of my autowinders on that camera without a glitch, so my FM question is answered. Apparently the winder electronics on the FE are different than the FE2 and both FM and FM2n cameras. This would explain why a Soligor winder won't work on earlier models (although I suspect that it would work on an FM since mine did). Still trying to run down a decent FM black body on eBay, they are getting ridiculously overpriced. Craigslist is even worse.
 

LensWork

Senior Member
I have no experience with aftermarket winders, but I can share a tip for the MD-11 with you: The main difference between the MD-11 & the MD-12 is that on the MD-11 when you turn the power switch on the motor on, it also turns on the meter in the camera which can result in dead camera batteries in short order if you leave the power switch on the MD-11 on overnight; on the MD-12, the meter is activated by pressing part way down on the motor's release button.

To prevent the MD-11 from exhausting the meter batteries if the motor is left on, put a small piece of electrical tape over the outside two contacts of the four on the motor. This disables the MD-11 from turning on the meter. With the contacts taped off, flipping the advance lever out to the stand-off position will now turn on the meter as it would without a motor attached.
 

SelfishCyclist

New member
I had heard that the difference between the MD-11 and the MD-12 was the auto shutoff capability. This doesn't really impact me because I have those motordrives on my FA, FE2 and FM2 respectively.

I still have the issue with the aftermarket winder not working properly on the FE. And I still am in the market to purchase a black FM body if anyone has one to sell.
 

SelfishCyclist

New member
In Westen Nichts Neues. Sin novedad en el Alcázar. Nothing new from Nikon. They had no answers for why the autowinder isn't compatible with the FE. Wouldn't address why it worked on an FM and not the FE, either.
 

SelfishCyclist

New member
Here we go again. Just got (finally) an FM body last week on eBay...body works fine by itself, but once I mate it up to the aftermarket winders or to an MD-11 or MD-12 the FM does nothing. The MD-11 or MD-12 indicator lights up briefly and turns the winder coupler about halfway. Frame doesn't advance, shutter doesn't fire. Taking it to a camera shop tomorrow. My theory is that the body coupler notch may be a tad too tight causing the motordrive to seize up. Leaving the aftermarket winders on the FM2n and the FE2 since they work fine on those. Any comments or theories are welcome. Thanks.
 
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