liebermann

Hmm, that looks like a fine precision bit, esp. the string, that might be affected by the wet (but not so wet as a dunking, just shooting in the rain as I've done before of course - best light!). It seems to go from the wide to smaller aperture (e.g., 45 to 64) almost instantly, as in one minute of rotation, though if I try super slow I can sometimes see some indication of a 'middle' ; e.g., 5.6, 45, 64 (with lens off). I'm not experienced with camera repair other than door seals, etc., so a bit wary of trying anything myself. Should I send it to Nikon, or might another repairist do a good job? (I got this reply from Midwest Camera Repair today: "I would send to Nikon, it may need a main circuit or other circuit parts.")

1 o'clock position when looking from the front - is it? Yes. Is there resistance (some is normal) when the lever is moved? Does it indeed spring back when released? Yes All appears and feels as normal - except the aperture signal the camera receives... However - I did just fiddle with various non-CPU lens sets and found that the 'range' of the incorrect aperture readings varies by that - e.g., a 1.8 lens goes from 22-32, while a f4 goes from 45-64... commensurately variable range with lenses off, the range depending on widest aperture in non-CPU setting.

Camera in decent shape; shutter at ca. 15k. I only use manual (Nikkor AI, etc.) lenses (though have one G lens I could test with). Camera got a bit wet in rain a week ago for ~60 mins; possible some water seeped in minimally around buttons, etc. but not to the extent that water was inside on mirror, shutter, displays, etc. Just a rain soaking (mostly of me) as has happened now & then.... Camera was working great before (& during) the rain, then dried off with towel (camera then me) & a while later did a check and error appeared. After letting the camera dry, the aperture registered on camera (top & viewfinder; rear too I suppose) is way off - with lens on or off the display registers f5.6 (or 45 if lens on) then with only a short turn of aperture ring on camera, to f64. No 'intermediate' values. (This also called 'Meter coupling lever' in one manual). Camera has had plenty of time to dry by now... Seems to be error in sensor actuated by camera's lens coupling ring (which feels as it always has). There are no 'error codes' displayed, just a very wrong aperture indication from the AI ring on the camera (I did one fast experiment on manual and was able to make a decent exposure despite the incorrect aperture reading, but usually use aperture priority auto as basis for exposure). Have tried different lenses, removing battery, etc. with no change. Anybody have advice on what this might be? If needed, what are recommended repair places these days for this sort of thing? This camera does all I need for a Nikon digicam (even just finally got my Di-GPS going, which is great!) so hope problem is fixable... Luckily I brought my Panasonic GX85 along this expedition as backup... but a poor substitute for the Nikkor lenses!

<p>Well, all I was really wondering was if anybody had any inkling about the future of this scanner being discontinued or updated with a newer version - in light of the discounted prices.</p> <p>In response to an inquiry via the plustek website asking that, I got the following from a "Bubbles P." (who I think was maybe in the 1970s glam band 'boney-m', but I can't remember):</p> <blockquote> <p><em>"In regards your question many of the resellers could be having sales due to the holiday season. The opticfilm 120 will not be discontinued and many of the previous bugs when the scanner was shipped have been fix." </em></p> </blockquote> <p>[...ed].</p> <p>Another consideration is my buyer's regret for never being able to find the Nikon 9000 in stock for the last couple years it was allegedly in production except once in a while when I was broke (and, of course, immediately after I'd decided to buy the 5000 when <em>that</em> was available). Reminds me of shopping in the USSR!</p> <p>So anyway, I think I might go ahead and try it while I can and it's on sale a little. As they used to say in the ussr: 'if you see it and want it and have the money, buy it now, because you may never see it again'.</p> <p>My other gripe was that adorama and b&h offer 'free shipping*' on this, which as any Alaskan knows is actually included in the price shipping that is charged to all but offered only to lower-48 customers. However, upon asking if they'd consider me paying the difference between the avg. l48 shipping and the AK cost [<em>on principle!</em>] good old B&H (in caps now) offered to discount my shipping to AK by 50%, which is something like $30 and fair. adorama declined, but maybe B&H remembers I bought my 5000 from them (and a lot more). I cannot offer any words of help to our poor European, Asian, etc. fans of cheap shipping though!</p> <p>A lot of the vitriol to the P120 across the web seems to be based largely on reading of other vitriol (as usual), rather than actual experience. A real poo-storm flared up in particular on rangefinderforum when the initial announcement was followed by production delays!<br /> RE: the first-hand vitriol, however, well, I can't say I've had a 100% pleasant experience with my Nikon 5000 either (crashes, misalighnments, refusals to recognize either the slide holder or the film holder depending on the day, etc., etc. and of course the godawful software) and counting the different annoyances reported with the 120 and my 5000 (many, many many!) the score seems similar!I hope the P120 does well; I've been reading through threads and a lot of people who actually have it seem to like it and get good results.</p> <p>Scanning /is/ a hassle, and I assume always will be to get decent results, but still fun and in my opinion a worthwhile poke in the eye to our digicam world. Besides, with film I also get to run my freezer full of 2, 5, 10, 20-year old films (even at -40, since the coolant has to remain circulating even if no 'freezing' needed!), guess on exposure times with the ancient emulsions, mix and store the chemistry, keep the temperatures in the tanks spot-on while developing, dread the water spots and curling, AND unfurl the beautiful wet film after that to gasp at the magic of it all (esp. e-6!) before sitting idiot-like in front of the komputer for hours swearing at the scanner.</p> <p>Again I state how much I miss my old Polaroid SS 4000 and it's scanning software interface (ca. 2002)! Don't really want to think about scsi, though. </p>

<p>Well, my 5000 still works fine, I just want to scan some 120 and since I missed out on the 9000 feel like I ought to jump on the 120 while I can.<br> (and maybe try easier scanning of 35 with plustek's bigger holders). Boy, I sure wich i had my old Polaroid 4000 though; (esp. for b/w) -- the scan interface on that was the best!<br /><br />Leszek Vogt - have you used the 120 and found it lacking? Why?</p>

<p>... since I note they're on sale $200 off at a couple of places. Just hoping this isn't a 'closeout' promotion before they release a newer version with the many annoyances fixed!<br> I missed out getting a Nikon 9000 years ago because they were always out of stock whenever I had the $$, so I got a 5000. But interested in 120 scanning, and willing to take a chance on the plustek despite the variable reviews.<br> Also thinking I ought to while they're still available (who knows?)</p>