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Nikon Mechanical SLR with 8000th/sec Shutter?


leicaglow

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<p>I always shot with second tier cameras like the FM and FE. But now that better cameras like the F4s, F5, F100, and F6 are more affordable, I was thinking of getting one to use with fast lenses, wide open, on bright, outdoor days.</p>

<p>My original question was: did Nikon ever make a mechanical camera with 1/8000th of a second mechanical shutter, like a newer FM? After taking my old FM out for a spin the other day, I forgot how much I enjoyed the feel of shooting with a spring loaded shutter mechanism (I have other cameras, like the Leica and old Zeiss', but they don't really have the same mechanical feel as a SLR).</p>

<p>Upon listing some of the cameras in my first sentence, maybe my question should be: which of these top shelf Nikons had the best shutter mechanism, with 1/8000 second, and most mechanical/least electronic, if any? Thanks for your help. I could look it up, but reading about them doesn't compare to pros, like you, that have actually handled them.</p>

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<p>The F4 weighs a ton. It is a neckful when compared to the FM and FE. I never used the F5. I liked my F100 but gave it away and kept the 4. There is something about the 4's shutter or something else about the camera I think is extra dampened. I read about it years ago. I believe it to be true because the body feels so solid and. The F4s are pretty old now but they are dirt cheap. I have never had my shutter checked or calibrated but it seems dead on and I do shoot slides with it. I love it but it is heavy. I still consider the F6 expensive while the other cameras on the list are being given away. Last time I went to camera store there about eight of them in the case. Maybe I just convinced myself to pick up an F5 which I always wanted but never had.....even if I rarely ever use it.</p>

<p>I just looked at the Adorama used department. They have a N-90s (not on your list but a darn good camera) for $44. Double check me, but I am pretty sure that camera went to 1/8000. I would get that one unless yo felt the craving for an F. Which I totally would understand. Oh, I forgot about the lenses... check for metering compatibility, I never actually used the 90. </p>

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  • 2 months later...

<p>I've taken apart and replaced F4 shutters and curtains.<br>

<br /> Between you and I there is not that much electronics per say to the F4 shutter itself. Couple of solenoids to release each curtain and switches to tell when ends the travel, one way or another. The rest of it is pure mechanical, with gears and springs. The wirring you hear is just the equivalent of your thumb cocking the shutter, just a motor instead of a thumb <br /> <br /> This one destroyed the lower, inside, blade if you are observant.<br>

<br /> So it is mechanical and does 1/8000 sec and weighs a ton in hand. But I like it.<br>

If anyone takes F4's apart, I would be interested in a shutter assembly or just the curtains. I replaced these but now have one good (old) body without shutter curtains. I just do not feel like getting a full body (again) just for the 2 curtains. Not a cost issue, just hate to see these laying around uselessly.<br>

The shutter assemblies of the higher serial number F4's have a few internal modifications to them to help staballise the curtain mouvement.<br>

<br /> Marc N Fournier, Quebec</p><div>00cSiO-546403584.jpg.bca70c65d1745df7e0fd25e7f9589835.jpg</div>

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  • 4 years later...
Contax S2 has shutter from 1 sec to 1/4000 sec

 

Any need to drag up a 4 year old post to make this comment?

 

As was extensively stated in this thread, the FM2/FM2n and FM3a cover that same range(1s-1/4000) and are fully mechanical. The batteries in the FM2(n) only operate the meter. The FM3a does have aperture priority automation, but will operate as a purely mechanical camera over that shutter speed range without batteries.

 

Subjectively, the F5 is probably the "best" Nikon film camera for someone who needs 1/8000. Shutters tend to have accuracy issues at the far end of their ranges, and I trust the F5's self timing and correcting shutter. I'm not sure if the F100 and F6 share that the same feature-I'd expect the F6 and all DSLRs to have it.

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Any need to drag up a 4 year old post to make this comment?

 

It was a hot and boring night. The mosquitoes hummed quietly at the door, as the largest ones worked to loosen the nails attaching the screen. The cat, waking from slumber induced by too much catnip remarked, "Hey Marty, how about aggravating someone over at PN?" :rolleyes:

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<p>The accuracy of mechanical shutters much above 1/2000 sec begins to decline pretty dramatically, which is why electronic shutters are much more reliable above this speed.</p>

 

Electronic controlled shutters like those in the F4, F5 and F6 are still mechanical powered and at the high speed they are not really more accurate than the purely mechanical shutter. At speed around 1/250 and below they are significantly more accurate.

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The mechanical shutter (although timed by very accurate electronic timing circuit) isn't very accurate at high shutter speed due to the variation in shutter curtain travel time. A small variation in shutter curtain travel time can greatly affect the accuracy of high shutter speed while having no effect on speed like 1 sec.
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The D1X offered shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000. It was all smoke and mirrors. Above 1/250, the flash synchronization speed, the shutter was strictly electronic. You could use an electronic flash in manual mode at any speed, up to the point that the electronic shutter was actually faster than the flash duration. If you used a Nikon flash in TTL mode, the camera was limited to 1/500.
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The D1X offered shutter speeds as fast as 1/16,000. It was all smoke and mirrors. Above 1/250, the flash synchronization speed, the shutter was strictly electronic. You could use an electronic flash in manual mode at any speed, up to the point that the electronic shutter was actually faster than the flash duration. If you used a Nikon flash in TTL mode, the camera was limited to 1/500.

 

I use the D1 series cameras(although usually a D1X) to time the flash duration on my studio strobes for this very reason. Depending on the power setting, it's anywhere from 1/500 to 1/1000 of a second, with higher outputs having a longer duration(on the same pack).

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<p>I am quite sure that Nikon doesn't make any mechanical camera with shutter speed of 1/8000 sec but the irony is the highest shutter speed in the electronic cameras Nikon made is mechanical. The electronic only governs the slower speed. </p>

 

I haven't followed the details lately, but for speeds faster than the speed of the shutter curtains, where there is a slit moving across (in some direction) the frame, what you really want is for the open and close curtains to be coupled. That is, a fixed slit size, and not just release times.

 

If actually built that way, then there is no 'timing' in the sense that there is for slower speeds.

 

On my Canon VI, you can feel more resistance going between 1/60 and 1/30, as the mechanism changes.

-- glen

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That is, a fixed slit size, and not just release times. If actually built that way, then there is no 'timing' in the sense that there is for slower speeds.

 

IMO, Speed Graphic cameras probably are the truest and simplest implementation of this concept around.

 

The focal plane shutter on mine doesn't have separate front and rear curtains. Instead, the shutter is a continuous roll of rubberized silk with four different slit widths cut in to it. You turn a key on the side to "wind up" the shutter to the slit width you want. You can also select from two different tension settings-for example the smallest slit gives 1/1000 on high tension and I think 1/750 on low tension.

 

Of course, it's imperative that the shutter only be wound with the dark slide in place(or film holder completely removed) or the lens shutter closed. Cocking the shutter with the lens shutter open and a piece of film in place and uncovered will give at best a blurry, strong double exposure or most likely will lead to uselessly fogged piece of film.

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The two curtains of a Leica, and presumably every modern camera, travel at different speeds to compensate for acceleration crossing the film plane, causing the slit to widen. The focal plane shutter of a Speed Graphic has a governor to keep it at approximately the same speed throughout its traverse, which is very slow by modern standards. In addition to four slits, there are two speeds.

 

I have used the fp shutter perhaps twice in the 50 years I've owned one. You can feel the camera shake, and it sounds like a window shade when your hand slips off the cord.

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I have used the fp shutter perhaps twice in the 50 years I've owned one. You can feel the camera shake, and it sounds like a window shade when your hand slips off the cord.

 

No arguments from me. I only use mine with barrel lenses.

 

My Bronica S2a also had a focal plane shutter, and it shook ferociously-much more so than a 6x6 or 6x7 leaf shutter camera shakes. Heck, the RB67 is a 7x7 camera and it still shakes less than a Bronica S2.

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