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Nikon FG and MD14 motordrive


mike_willis1

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I have read on a few camera review sites about how some love the FG

and how some hate it and discount it as a toy. I realize that yes, it

wasn't designed to replace the F3, but I think it is a very capable

piece of photography equipment. I bought my first FG in 1986 and have

used it for many years, and eventually ended up buying a FE2, FM2T,

FA, F3HP, and even moved into autofocus with a few F90x's, N80 and a

F100 and an F4s, but for some reason, I still grab the FG, especially

once I installed the MD-14 motordrive. Maybe because it seems like an

old friend, but I'll tell you that the MD14 makes it seem more like a

pro type piece of gear, versus the toy some think it is.

 

My question is home many who like or dislike the FG, have used it

with a motordrive? The MD14 is a stought piece, same specs as a MD12,

3.2 fps.

 

Curious....

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The FG is indeed a lightweight, capable camera. I had the MD-14 on it all the time. It doesn't angle forward like the F3's MD-4, so balancing with any lens longer than about 105mm is not as secure.<p>Unfortunately, FGs have now become so cheap that it's not worth repairing. When the shutter accuracy went out on my FG, the repair estimate was $150. I decided to live without it, and sold it off. I also sold the MD-14 at the same time. So, back to the F3 it is for me.
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No, I have not investigated the MD-14. When the FG was new, I pretty much snubbed it as 'not worthy', compared to the FE, F3, etc.

 

Now I enjoy it as sort of a 'thinking man's point and shoot': a very lightweight and inexpensive body that takes most of my Nikon glass. It's a nice second (or third) body to throw in the bottom of the bag if I'm not sure I'll need it. I toyed with setting up an 'always with me' bag that included the FG, an SB-15, a 75-150/3.5 E, and something wide and cheap (28/2.8 E?, something else?). I have not followed through on the latter instinct yet.

 

Adding an M/D to it just seems sort of counter-intuitive; like adding a shoulder stock and a flash suppressor to a Makarov 9x18mm......

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I inherited an FG, SB-15 and generic winder.

 

When it first came out I thought that Nikon didn't understand the mass market SLR point and shoot market like Canon and others did. I thought for all its features (program mode, aperture priority or manual mode and TTL flash) with manual focus lenses, it was not the best camera to hold.

 

However, I know some who raved about it with an MD-14.

 

Anyway, now that I have one in my possession, I must say that even a generic motor winder (one that fits perfectly under the baseplate with 4 AA batteries) makes the camera much more secure to hold, especially in vertical mode, and a pleasure to use.

 

So, like the author of the MIR site says (Photography in Malaysia site) says, the FG with a motor winder is a great handling Nikon.

 

It wasn't until 3 years after the FG came out that Nikon finally responded to Canon et al. by introducing the N2000, which was the first Nikon with a built in motor winder, Programmed TTL flash (plus aperture priority and manual mode) with manual focus lenses, exposure lock, exposure compensation, manually overridable DX coding, etc. Although the N2000 was intended as an SLR point and shoot, I knew a wedding photographer at the time who used 2 N2000's, which had the same meter as the FG and EM. So, I guess you could say a pair of FG's with motor winder would be fine for a wedding. The TTL flash was new at the time (1982) the FG was introduced since the F3 (1980) and FE2 were not yet in widespread use.

 

Surprisingly, I like the flash photos from the recently acquired SB-15 better than the two SB-16's I had long ago. Very nice flash.

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As Nikon enthusiasts, we can all take a lesson from the folks over in the classic camera forum. They buy cameras that you and I might put on our desks as conversation pieces, clean them up, and produce amazing images with them.

 

I say: whatever works! I've got more sophisticated cameras also, but I always pack around my FE with a 35mm f/2.8 AIS lens. Sometimes I put one of my MD12's on it because the balance is so nice. When I'm in a bind for a camera, it's always there producing those terrific Nikon images I count on.<div>00Esft-27554584.thumb.JPG.71968f2e1e7d03e905186e457354e549.JPG</div>

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For every day, I don't want to take heavier or more expensive stuff around with me. So I have an FG, a 28mm AIS, a 50mm AI, and a 75-150 AIS; all knocking around in a simple little camera bag in the back seat of my wagon. Depending on how much light is available, I shoot Fuji Reala 100 or Fuji True Definition 400 print film.

 

It's not the camera, really. It's the sense of freedom, the enchanting lack of distractions, and the ability to get started on the spur of the moment. Oh by the way, most of the prints, up to 8 X 12, look just fine, and a few look fabulous.

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Personally, I love the FG for it's exceptionally small size and weight. IMHO, the motor drive nullifies these advantages. If I want a motor driven camera, I will use either my F3 or N90s. But I find that I often carry the FG, with a very small Tamron 28-70mm zoom, around where I don't wish to lug a bigger camera.
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It's certainly no toy. It competed with a lot of the Canon A-series and like them was a reliable camera - when new. Like the A-Canons, it also had quite a few cost-cutting mechanical internals and cheaper electronics.

 

Now that the FG isn't new any more, the internal build, and electronic costcutting are becoming more evident. I see malfunctioning FG and EM cameras on the repair forums at roughly 10:1 over F3, FM or FE series SLRs.

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  • 15 years later...

I bought the MD-14 when it was being closed out some 30+ years ago, new in the box. Sold it. The FG is a nice, small, compact camera. Put the MD-14 on it, loses that.

You can also use an MD-E. Much smaller, and more plentiful.

 

Random Ebay Example-

 

Nikon EM Black 35mm Body w/Motor Drive MD-E, made in Japan, 7827780/2241011 | eBay

 

With an EM for a backup.

 

I have a collection of Nikon motor drives, I ended up not using them. The one used most- MD-2 on the F2. The one used least- MD-4, same reason- Nikon F3FP is just right without it.

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FG/FG20 has a huge, fantastic viewfinder that rivals Olympus OM-1 for size/brightness and beats it for contrast/focus snap (I prefer it to even my beloved F2AS, or FM/FE/F3). Besides that viewfinder, the killer feature of the FG is its tiny take anywhere size, so the winders never appealed to me (they never appealed to me on the OM-1, either: the only mfr that really nailed compact winder/drives for small bodies was Pentax). The EM is similar but not something I'd ever use: way too obviously built down to a price, crippled and cheap looks/feel vs the later FG.
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When it was in production, I always thought the FG was a bit light when it came to features. So I passed on it. However, last year, at an estate sale, the seller had one LNIB and was asking $75 for it. I figured I couldn't go far wrong with it, and was I right! The only "light" about it is the weight. And for me, I prefer the MD-14, since it does add some heft to the camera. I also feel the same way about the FA, FE, and FE2 models; they all have the appropriate motor drives. Since I've always used either the F, F2, F3, F4, and F5 models, the added weight of the motor drive is accepted.
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...So unless one has a physical disability making use of one's right thumb painful or impossible; what's the point of a motor drive?

 

I use a motor drive on "single" rather than "continuous" to advance to the next frame without having to jiggle the camera around using the film advance lever. The little bit more stability comes in handy when I'm out shooting architectural subjects hand-held in New Orleans' French Quarter. God, I HATE tripods LOL.

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I use a motor drive on "single" rather than "continuous" to advance to the next frame without having to jiggle the camera around using the film advance lever.

In that case, you might be better off with a gyro stabiliser screwed to the base of the camera, rather than an MD.

 

I never owned one, but there were a few of these marketed back in the 1980s or thereabouts. They either had an electric motor or a spring-driven clockwork gyroscope weight, and simply screwed to the tripod socket of any camera.

 

Lens stabilisation and IBIS has taken over from all that now.

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I always want a motor drive back in the days. I need a 5fps motor drive, single shot mode so that I am always ready for the next shot (of course until I run out of film). Faster motor drive isn't needed because my own reaction isn't that fast. Today I have more fun advancing the film manually.
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I once owned a Leningrad - basically a Zorki with a clockwork motor-drive built in. There was no single shot setting, it just took shot-after-shot for as long as your finger was on the button, or until the clockwork ran down (after about 10 frames).

 

Anyway, I got fed up wasting film getting 2 or 3 exposures where I only wanted one, and traded it in for a neat little folding Retina that didn't run away with film.

 

I still sometimes get a double-trigger on a DSLR, but at least it costs nothing!

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