Nikon EM

Here it is, as promised! The first real update in a very long time.


Today's featured camera is the Nikon EM.

This camera was produced from the late 70s until the early 80s. I've been told that the letter "E" on Nikon gear indicates that it is for beginners. As such, the EM I believe is the novice's counterpart to the Nikon FM and FM2. (On a side note I've been looking for a cheap FM2, so if you have any leads let me know!)

The EM is a fun little camera. When it works, it works really well. I think it was even criticized when it came out for making taking good pictures too easy for people who didn't know anything about photography. If only those critics could have seen how far digital photography has come!

Basically, it is entirely automatic. You choose your f-stop and it chooses the shutter speed by itself. If the exposure is over 1/30 of a second or if the shutter would be way too fast to expose properly it emits a little beep to tell you that something's wrong (or to grab a tripod). 

My only issue with it is that sometimes it just doesn't expose correctly. I suspect it's due to the battery, although it uses the same batteries that are available today so the voltage shouldn't be a problem. It might be a wiring issue which is a pain because this camera does NOT have a manual function (except for M90). It is completely dependent on the light meter and so cannot work without a battery.

I bought this model at the Vancouver flea market for $40 (haggled down from $50). It was missing the shutter rewind knob, so I bought a replacement off ebay and fixed it myself. It came with the 50mm E series lens which has some dust trapped inside and doesn't have any caps, but otherwise the camera is in pretty okay condition. The foam could be in better shape. Overall I'd give it a B.

Last but not least, here are some photos! I don't remember what film I used but I'm pretty sure it's 400ISO.

xoxo Caity Brown