Nikon EL2 User manual

Nikon
INSTRUCTIONMANUAL

NOMENCLATURE
Shutter-speeddiallock Filmrewindknob

Distancescale
Focusingring
Aperturering
Metercouplingridge
ASAfilm-speeddial
ASAfilm-speedscale
Filmrewindcrank
Film-speedscaleindex
Powercheckbutton
Powerchecklamp
Accessoryshoe
Aperture/Distancescaleindex
Metercouplingshoe
Depth-of-fieldindicators
Shutter-speedscale
Framecounter
MeterONindex
Film-advancelever
Film-planeindicator
Viewfindereyepiece
Hot-shoecontact
3

BRIEFGUIDETOCAMERAHANDLING
TheNikonEL2'sconveniently-placedcontrols
andfullyautomaticshutterfacilitateoperation
underevenrapidlychangingconditions.After
performingthepreliminarystepsaspresented
in"PreparationforUse"(pages8 ~ 12),shoot-
ingwiththeNikonEL2isassimpleas:
1)Settheshutterspeeddialto"A"toprepare
thecameraforautomaticoperation,asde-
tailedonpage13.
2)Setthelensaperturetothesettingappropri-
atefortheshootingsituationathandby
turningtheaperture ring, asdetailedonpage
14.
3)Turnonthemeterandshuttercontrolby
simplymovingthefilm-advancelevertothe
30°standoffposition,asdetailedonpage14.
4)View/focus/composethesubjectthroughthe
viewfinder,turningthelens'focusingringas
necessarytoachievea sharpimage(seepages
20- 25).
5)Assumea shootingstanceanddepressthe
shutterbuttontoexposethefilm(seepages
18and19).

CONTENTS
Foreword7
Preparationforuse' 8
Installingthebattery8
Removingthebattery9
Checkingthebattery9
Loadingthefilm10
Priortoshooting11
Operationofcameracontrols12
Settingthefilmspeed12
Settingtheshutterspeed13
Settingtheaperture14
Film-advancelever14
Framecounter15
Shutterreleasebuttonlock15
Self-timer16
Memorylock16
Unloadingfilm17
Holdingthecamera18
Shutterreleaseoperation19
Operationviacablerelease19
Focusing20
Infraredphotography22
Film-planeindicator22
Depthoffield23
Depth-of-fieldpreviewbutton23
Depth-of-fieldindicators24
6
Exposuremeasurement26
Automaticshutterspeedselection26
Manualshutterspeedselection28
Exposurecontrol29
Meteringrange30
High-contrastlightingsituations30
Stop-downexposuremeasurement32
Exposurecompensationadjustments34
EVrangeofthecamera35
Flashsynchronization38
Mirrorlockup39
Tipsoncameracare40
Changingthelens42
Couplingleverlock/releaseoperation43
Accessories44
Features/specifications46

FOREWORD
TheNikonEL2cameraofferstheseriousphoto-
grapherthehigheststandardofquality,performance,
convenienceandversatilityavailableinanauto35mm
SLRcamera.TheEL2isengineeredtotaketheguess-
workoutofphotographywithautomaticfeatures
anyonecanlearntouseinminutes.Togetthemost
outofyourNikonEL2camera,studytheinstruc-
tionscarefullyandpracticeusingthecontrolsbefore
youloadanyfilminthecamera.Keepthisbooklet
handyforreadyreferenceuntilyouhavemasteredits
basics,andfollowthesuggestionsforcameracare
givenonpage40.Thefewmomentsyouspendfamil-
iarizingyourselfwiththecamerawillguarantee
youthebestresultsandincreaseyourpicture-taking
enjoymentmanytimesover.
7

PREPARATIONFORUSE
InstallingtheBattery
Theexposuremeasurementandshuttercontrolcircuits
oftheEL2arepoweredbya single6-volt(type544)
batterymountedinthebatterychamberatthebottom
ofthemirrorbox.Toinstallthebattery,firstremove
thelens(ifmounted)fromthecamerabody(seepage
42)andlockupthemirror(turnthelockuplever
upwardasfarasitwillgo,asdescribedonpage39)to
gainaccesstothebatterychamber.Then,openthe
batterychamber(slidethelidtotheleft,thenup)
andinstallthebattery,makingsuretoproperlyalign
thepositive(+)andnegative(-)terminalsofthe
batteryasdepictedontheinteriorofthelid.After
insertingandproperlyseatingthebattery,snapthe
chamberlidshut,unlockthemirrorandremountthe
lenspreparatorytoshooting.
Caution: Shouldthebatterybeinstalledincorrectly(i.e.,inthe
reversedirection)inthechamber,itsenergywillbedepletedin
amatterofminutes;thus,takeextracaretoinsertthebattery
properly.Also,becarefulnottotouchtheshuttercurtainand
mirrorsurfacewhileinstallingthebattery.
Note: Removethebatterywhenthecameraisnottobeused
fora longperiod;thiswillpreventleakagewithinthecamera.
Also, keepthecameraaswarmaspossiblewhenoperating
undercold-weatherconditions;otherwise,thebatterymayfail
tofunction.(See"TipsonCameraCare"onpage40for
additionalinformation.)

RemovingtheBattery
Thebatterychamber'sbuilt-inejector-typemechanism
makesforeasierremovaloperationwhenremoving/
replacingthebattery.Toremovethebatteryfromthe
camera,takeoffthelensandlockupthemirroras
mentionedpreviously.Then,whileholdingthecamera
upside-down,releasethebatterychamberlidandpush
itslightlytowardthebackofthemirrorboxuntilthe
batterydropsfreeofthechamber.Afterremovingthe
battery,installa freshoneasexplainedpreviously.
CheckingtheBattery
TheEL2isprovidedwitha specialcircuitthatenables
thephotographertocheckthebatterypowercondition
withoutcausingexcessivebatterydrainwhichmight
occurbyhavingtoturnthecameraon.Tocheckbat-
terypower,simplydepressthepowercheckbutton
andwatchthepowerchecklampforindicationofthe
powerlevel.Ifthechecklampglows,batterypoweris
sufficient.Ifthelampfailstoglow,batterypositioning
shouldbechecked; then, ifthelampstillfailstoglow,
replacethebattery.
Note: Whencheckingbatterypower,holdthebuttondepressed
onlylongenoughforthechecklamptoglow;prolongedde-
pressingonlyservestodrainbatterypower.

PREPARATIONFORUSE-continued
LoadingtheFilm
Slidethecamerabacklatchreleaseatthesideofthe
rewindknobtotherearand,whileholdingtherelease
back,lifttherewindknobupuntilthecameraback
popsopen.Then,withtherewindknobintheup posi-
tion, dropa standardfilmcartridge(aNikonreloadable-
typecassettecannotbeused)intotheleft-handfilm
chamberwiththefilmleaderalignedalongthefilm
guiderails.
Afterpositioningthecartridgeandfilmleaderproperly,
pushtherewindknobdowntoholdthecartridgein
placeand, then, inserttheendofthefilmleaderinto
anyoftheslotsinthefilmtake-upspool.Ifnecessary,
releasetheshutterand, then, strokethefilm-advance
leverslowlytomakesurethattheleaderwindssmooth-
lyonthespoolandthatthefilmedgeperforations
engagewiththefilmsprocketroller.Whensatisfied
thatthefilmisproperlyfeedingand is travelingcorrect-
lyalongthefilmguiderails,snapthecamerabackshut
tosealthefilmchamber.(Also,see"TipsonCamera
Care" onpage40.)
Caution: Whenloading film, besuretoshadethecamerafrom
directexposuretosunlighttopreventinadvertent"fogging"
ofthe film.