Thursday, July 17. 2008
FEE error on Nikon DSLR - fixed
Recently my Nikon D70s, when using a new Sigma lens, displayed the following error in the aperture display: fEE. As it took me some time to find out the cause and fix it, I'll explain it here perhaps for the benefit of others.
What does it mean? Some lenses require that the aperture is set to smallest when they are connected to the body (the largest f-number; this is usually coloured orange). fEE is indicated when the lens is connected wrongly and the camera refuses to operate until the lens is reconnected.
If like me you still get the fEE even though you've connected the lens correctly, then obviously something is broken. The camera "knows" whether the aperture ring is set to the right value due to a notch on the lens (rightmost picture) and a switch on the body ("EE Servo Coupling Post", left picture). In my case the switch on the body had broken off.
You can of course send your camera in for repair, but for me it was easily repaired by sticking a hairpin in the switch. A little piece of plastic and some superglue could work as well.
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Similar problem occurred when I tried to connect a new Nikon AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D. The lens is new so it probably isn't the lens. And the body is working with the original 18-55mm lens, so the body should be alright.
Do you have any other suggestions? (I have locked the aperture and have detach/attach the lens several times)
Please let me know.
Best,
Kai
Not all lenses require this aperture locking so it can very well be that one lens works and the other one doesn't. You say the items are new, but have you actually checked whether the lens and the camera indeed have the tab and switch as indicated in the pictures? Otherwise I can't diagnose it anymore from here and you'll need to go to a service point I'm afraid.
If that's true, it leads one to believe removing the metal tab and locking it in place would allow mounting pre-AI lenses without ill effect, other than no warnings when D type lenses aren't aperture locked.
The budget nikons like the D60 lack the AF screw drive motor. But the nub is retractable, so it allows mounting pre-AI lenses. Why is nikon permitting pre-AI lenses for budget models only? Does the nub inform the camera of an AF lens too, and hence budget models without AF motors wouldn't need to know?
To fix that problem with 50mm f1.8 lens, detach the lens and set the aperture to f22, lock the lens aperture by pushing the red switch downwards, attache the lens to the camera body(don't forget to hear the lens click else u will get f-- error) and finally unlock the lens aperture and it works normally.
enjoy clicking
Thank you for the quick and easy fix. Really appreciate you taking the time.
i did this and everytime I switch from f22 I still get an fEE message!:( Advice???
you are awesome...i have been using my stock lens because i couldn't figure this out. following your very simple instructions fixed my f ee error! thank you!
My response when I read this (and tried it with success) - "God, I love the internet!!" THANK YOU for taking the time to provide the answer to this error.
Yes! My new 50mm f1.8 lens operated perfectly the first two times I used it, then bam! I got the fEE error. I googled the error, found this page and read your post. I love the internet! Thank you everyone for sharing.
Be careful with superglue, the fumes might damage the sensor if they can reach it.
ARGGH, it broke off today. No warranty, so i need to use your trick. If you lock the tab, will it affect other lenses that don't use that tab?
No, it's purely used to display the warning FEE when a lens requires it, it doesn't do anything on other lenses.
I just wanted to say thank you!!
If you hadnt posted this more money would have been spent to try to solve the problem.
The error was easily fixed by removing, then realigning the lens when we put it back on!
Awesome!
Cheers!
Thank you so much for posting this. As its 6:30 Christmas morning, and my camera starts to act up. Happy Holidays :)
Your post save my photo vacation in Trinidad. I was very dismayed to find out that my 70 - 200 lens started with the FEE thing. When I had it on my d70 setting the lens to the smallest aperture fixed the problem. This time, no go. I tried the lens every morning before I went out and it did not work. Then, I read your post and realized that a "nub" had broken off on my lens that engaged the "post" at the 7 o'clock position just outside the aluminum mounting ring on the camera body. I did not want modify my new d90 with a superglue fix so I bent a paper clip in a way that engages this lever and attached the paper clip to my lens with a heavy duty rubber band.
I have seen a lot of "answers" to the F EE problem. Most of them pointing to the aperture ring not being set properly or references to the contacts being bad. Your post was the first to mention the aperture engagement nub.
Thanks - I just got back from shooting a bunch of birds in the rainforest. Thanks to your fix, I am a happy vacationer!!
thank you so much . my lense was out out order for a year i decided to look up to see was there anything i could do and you solved it . i cant believe how much i missed it . thanks again good sir
Thank you!!!!
I was about to rip the hair off my head, tear my eyes out, and all this after I had thrown my camera into a brick wall and watched it break.
Appreciate sharing your knowledge:D
Now I can continue taking pictures in peace..:)
OMG you have no idea how much relief you taken off of me. although now i know my camera is broken at least i can try to attempt to fix it :)
I got the bit about setting the lens to the smallest F stop. That stops the FEE error every time.
But what if I want to use the lens in total manual. I want to set the f stop myself, the shutter speed my self etc.
So if I set the f stop from f32 and want to set it at f8.. it shows the FEE error and I can't do that
I set the camera to manual first. It won't let me pick another fstop that I want to use. What am I missing?
I just wanted to give you an huge THANK YOU. my camera was broken since the beginning, and I didn't know. I fixed it as you said, and now it works :) I can use new lenses and I'm SO HAPPY!!
a lot of thanks from italy :)
silvie
Puchis , you are saving my life !
But how it is possible that this swith on the camera moved from a few milimeter from the orginal place !!!
Everything is working fine now with just a 1.5 mm little piece of plastic glue on the camera switch !
The lens aperture ring is intended for older cameras. With a D90 you control the aperture with the front command dial. To be able to do this you have to set the lens to the minimum aperture (maximum f/No.). You can lock it to prevent changing it by mistake.
Try this and let us know if you can't use the front command dial.
All this should be explained in the manual
i just encountered the same issue.. thanks for the post.. saved my day...
i am using Nikon D90 and mounted the nikkor 50mm f1/8.. was shooting in manual focus suddenly i saw fEE donno what it is.. so quickly googled it and landed here..
Thanks guys for posting u reviews and experience.. :)
great post! Thanks so much. Turns out I didn't have any broken 'nubs' just a shifted f-stop ring. Returned it to an f-stop position and 70-200 lens works on my D50 now.
Thanks for this info. It was my problem exactly. Now I am up and running again. Brilliant
Wow thanks so much I thought my Nikon was broken for good. All I had to do was take off my sigma lens, reattach it and its back to normal.
:)
THANK YOU! I am so happy to have found you in my google search on this problem. I was soooo frustrated. Thanks again!
wow man... i was thought my lens was broken until i found this thread. thanks a lot! cheers!
I totally forgot what fEE was. I feel silly, thanks for the clear problem solving!
Another one here in ireland that you have sorted out. Keep up the good work
Just got fEE w/my 70-300 and thanks to this I figured out that my lens "notch" broke off. Now I know why not to buy plastic body ...
Haven't figured out how to fix yet but at least I know what the problem is !! Thanks for the super-useful post!
Thanks so much for your help with my fee error, it really worked! :D
Thank you some much for this post. I am an aspiring photographer and this post helped with the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 af-d lens i just purchased. I am learning how to use a prime lenses instead of always using zooms. I want to expand my creativity and not feel handicapped by always using a zoom. Thanks
Another thanks from me:) Thought there must be something wrong with the lense as my other lenses worked fine. Just needed to set it back to f/22 and lock it in place so it doesn't baffle me again! Thanks again:)
Crazy awesome!
Like many others here I thought there was something wrong with my camera and now I'm very relieved to find out there isn't.
Thank you for the informative post.
Hi. Just bought a Nikkor 300mm 2.8 and was getting the F EE error, subsequently fixed by your post. However, when I set the aperature ring to 22, the image in the viewfinder is extremely dark. The picture will come out fine, but it's hard to see what I'm taking. If I change the aperature ring to a lower F-stop the viewfinder is as it should be. Am I missing something?
Thank you so much for advice! had just acquired new f2.8 zoom lens and it would not work on either D80 or D300.
Thank you so much!"!!
P
I join many others in giving thanks for this page. Having just purchased a used 70-300 ED D lens I found the fEE fault appearing. Looking at the camera body I saw the little lever and then comparing the lens I had bought with another D lens found the skimpy little plastic tab had broken off the lens mount. Not sure how I will fix that but I can use the lens by pulling the lever down using a little bit of bread wrap wire. Thanks for that! BTW the 70-300 ED D lens is really very good and the AF is not all that slow.
Thanks for the info. Solved my problem and now I can once again use my lens. Thanks for keeping the info up for so long. You are a lifesaver.
Ah! Thanks!
My camera tabs/nubs were just fine, and it was still giving me the error. Manually stopped the lens down to 22, hooked it up, and it works just fine. Saved me some cash!
Thank you so much. I just had my D70 fixed (broke flash) & I was going to return it to the repair shop because "the old lense wouldn't work". After reading your post I adjusted the aperature & Bingo-worked like a charm! Thanks!
Thank you. I have only had my D90 for a couple of months when I got this error. Re-attaching the 50mm lense at F22 seems to have fixed the problem. So glad I don't have to ship it off to be fixed!
Thanks, appreciate you posting this, I just got my new Tokina 100mm f/2.8 ATX PROD and was worried this meant that it would only work with Full Frame DSLRs.
One quick twist and now it's all good and an awesome lens - thanks!!
Thanks for this, same problem D80 and a 50mm 1.4 lens. Fixed with adjustment to F16. Brilliant, thank goodness for the internet.
Thank you for providing such a quick fix to a frustrating and baffling error message. :-)
Thank you soo soo sooo much, Just got my sigma 300mm lens it wasn't connecting and it only needed the aperture changed.:)
Thank you!!! I gave my camera to my friend to use out at the Balloon Festival in New Mexico (We are from Massachusetts). I had no idea what "fEE" meant. I look googled it. Got your comments...and he was able to get it to work. It turned out to be the aperture ring on the lens. He and his wife are so very happy. I look like a hero...and you made it possible. thank you, again. Cell phones and the internet. Truly wonderful. Now he and I just have to get more advanced so that we can get the internet on our cell phones.
Thank you so much. I was playing with the camera then this FEE thing went on. I was going crazy. I thought i broke the camera....thank you again because i really need the camera to work for a wedding in Hawaii. Much aloha and mahalo!!!
Thanks a ton for posting this. Have not used my 80-300mm lens in a long time and wanted to sit down at the bird feeder at sunset and take some shot. Got the FEE error and could not think of the solution so I goggled it, found this and again I thank you!
thank YOU so MUCH you saved me HOURS of frustration and saved my son's birthday present! HUGE thanks!
Thank you. I was in the middle of a portrait session when this happened and I googled for a solution and thanks to you.
error message - thankyou
I removed lens etc, but he f22 setting done the trick for me, I just could not see it away at the back of the lens area. and it was just a quick turn of it.
Nothing was wrong with my lens, but if I switched to manual I could take pix, so I held the shutter button down while twirling the mode dial and it began working again.i also removed and replaced the lens. D70. Can't wait to upgrade to aD90.
God bless you. I had never heard of this problem before. Thank you for helping so many others figure this out. setting the lens to f22 worked great.
thanks
Thank you so much for this explanation! I had just bought the 50mm 1.8 AF lens off Ebay and kept getting that error on my D90. I thought I got screwed long and hard by purchasing a broken lens. I was about ready to toss the dang lens out the window and complain to the seller when I came across this article... and voila! I am so glad I found this.
Hi There, i recently bought a Nikon d 90. I got an older Objectiv from Nikon ( 70-210) and when i would like to change the blendring want a smaller number it displays fEE my camera is ok aswell the objectiv has no visible damages. Made I something wrong ?
Perfect it works. I press my finger at clock position 04:00 on body switch and the error message disappear. I put a wide paper now but I'll glue something in the future
It was a transportation damage. I moved the lens from the normal photo bag to a bag with all kind of stuff inside and that little piece of plastic broke in contact with other strong object
Thank you again !
I recently bought the 50mm 1.8 AF Prime for my D90 and kept getting this error. I wondered what the little red lock was for. It now works fine, no fEE error. I did notice that even if you use the lens with the lock still on it seems to be able to change the aperture as needed to get the correct exposure when the body is set to AUTO. Anyway, thanks so much for sharing this information - may your pixels always be perfect.
Thanks for this info. I was in the middle of a photo shoot with a 6 mos. old baby today and all of a sudden my 85mm 1.8 lens on my Nikon d300 body gave me the fEE error code. I thought I would have to send the lens in for repair but found your posting here. I had inadvertently moved the aperture off f16 and that was my problem. I'm so happy I found your post before I boxed up this lens and sent it in. Thanks!
Hey, I still have this problems. My camera is a D90 and I am using a Nikkor Lens AF 50mm 1:1.4 D. The kit lens and all other lenses I have work fine except for this one lens. However it works on my D200 when the aperture ring is locked. It will give me the same error if I try to change the aperture ring manually. Is there a setting I need to change on the D90 in order for it to work properly?
Just bought a new 85mm 1.8 yesterday, test it before buying and worked perfectly, got home played around with and suddenly the fEE flashed ..... panic.....I thought i broke my camera ...... I knew the net can help point me to the right person ... so i came across this.... you are a great help... Thank you very much for sharing, your info most specially to novices like me.... thx again...
OMG - thank you SO much for this helpful display! Nikon and I have not been able to figure this out. I even sent the lens in...this was a BIG HELP. I'll be glad when I can begin to offer such help!:)
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