The Nikon FE is an advanced semi-professional level, interchangeable lens, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera.

As on the FM, its model designation did not appear on the front of the camera, but was engraved as a small "FE" preceding the serial number on the rear of the housing.

It uses a rugged aluminum-copper alloy (duralumin) chassis developed from the one introduced in the Nikon FM in 1977, with minor external controls and cosmetic differences.

The FE was discontinued with the introduction of the visually similar FE2, which had faster top and sync shutter speeds, as well as TTL (through-the-lens) flash metering, but which was no longer compatible with non-AI lenses.

Full lens compatibility requires support for the Aperture Indexing (AI) feature (introduced 1977), and thus the majority of Nikon lenses manufactured in recent decades will work.

The industry was trying to expand out from the saturated high-end professional and advanced amateur market and appeal to the large mass of low-end amateur photographers itching to move up from compact automatic leaf shutter rangefinder (RF) cameras to the more versatile and glamorous SLR but were intimidated by the need to learn all the gritty details of operating a traditional SLR.

Although Nippon Kogaku enjoyed a sterling reputation among professional photographers with their Nikon F2 of 1971,[opinion] the F2 was far too massive, expensive and complicated for most amateurs and beginners.

It kept using high-strength alloy parts, hardened metal gearing, ball bearing joints and gold-plated electrical switches, all made to precise tolerances and largely hand assembled, in the Nikon compact F-series.

Its unusual roots were most obvious in its backup ability to operate without batteries – albeit in a very limited fashion: completely manual mechanical control with two shutter speeds (1/90 second, marked M90, or Bulb) and without the light meter.

The FE's deliberately limited but tightly focused features were not intended to appeal to snapshooters with no intention of learning about shutter speeds and f-stops.

Nippon Kogaku believed that advanced amateur photographers were not interested in every possible automated bell and whistle, but rather the highest possible quality and precision of control.

The Nikon FE was a good seller, but not as popular as more cheaply built and less expensive competing auto-exposure SLRs, such as the Canon AE-1 (released 1976) or the Minolta XD11 (in the USA and Canada; XD7 in Europe; XD in Japan; 1976).

Time has proven that Nippon Kogaku's choice of simplicity over gadgetry made the FE tough and reliable, and it is now regarded as one of the finest SLRs of its generation.