Nikon FE2

Hello, 35mm

The camera made me do it.

I was in Ryde, Isle of Wight, walking past the only camera shop in town.

“Oi, mate, have a look, will you?” a voice said.

I stopped and glanced around. Nobody there. Then it came again:

“Oi! In here, you numpty…”

The shop was busy. Folks browsing, chatting. None of them looking at me. And then:

“Psst! Down here, look…”

I looked down at the display window, and there it was.

A Nikon FE2. Fifty-millimetre Nikkor lens. Mint condition. And it was looking right back at me.

I was hooked. Right there.

I stepped into the shop to get closer.

Now, I know cameras don’t talk. Not yet, anyway. So maybe the voice was my own excuse, or maybe it wasn’t. But that’s how it felt. I saw the camera, and I saw the pictures it could take. The places it could take me.

I bought it on the spot.

That’s why this post exists. Because of that camera. I wasn’t hunting for a new one. Didn’t need one. But it found me.

And here’s the thing — I’m not a gear head. Sure, I love my cameras. But it’s never about the gear. It’s about the pictures.

Still, if there was ever a 35mm camera to help me write…

It’s the Nikon FE2.