The FM reborn redux, this time from the horse's mouth

Moderators: please do not delete this post unannouncedly again if you or

photo.net *haven't*

signed a non-disclosure agreement. Even if you have, it's expired anyway.

 

<p>Kenko will market an all-mechanical F-mount camera this summer.

Functionally

it's the same as the FM, with a higher 1/2000 top speed but no pre-Ai

compatibility. The chasis is cast aluminum (alloy) and the camera is said to

have "metallic exterior", though the top cover looks plastic to me.

 

<p>There is still a market for manual-focus gear in Japan, it seems.

 

<P>From the horse's mouth: <a href=http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/camera/slr.html>

http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/camera/slr.html</a>

 

 

<p>Scoop quoted in my post that got deleted earlier: <a href=http://

www.cameraunion.net/info/showarticle.php?id=5050>

http://www.cameraunion.net/info/showarticle.php?id=5050</a>

Somehow the links got screwed. Just copy and paste them into your browser:

 

http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/camera/slr.html

 

http://www.cameraunion.net/info/showarticle.php?id=5050

Fred, I deleted your last post and sent you e-mail to your registered e-mail address on photo.net. If that is not a working e-mail address any more, you need to update it. As I said then, please post it when you have an official announcement from Kenko, which you have now.

 

You had an error in the first link you provided; I have fixed it.

 

I have no non-disclosure agreement at all. However, there were like 10 Nikon D3 rumor threads and so called "confirmations" in the month or two before the PMA, and we all know that nothing materialized. So I'll continue to delete all new product rumors until people can provide official information.

 

It is not part of my job to determine what is vaporware and what is true information, so I only accept official announcements.

 

P.S. I happen to read Chinese so that I have no problem understanding Chinese web sites, but unfortunately I don't know Japanense.

Those hot links don't seem to work, but here is the first one in a form that seems to work for me. <a href="http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/camera/slr.html">http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/camera/slr.html</a>

<p>

I can't read Japanese, but just looking at that photo, it is NOT functionally the same as an FM. The build quality doesn't look the same. There's no ADR window, so no display of aperture in the finder. There's no viewfinder ready light contact on the hot shoe (ok, that was an FM2 feature, not present in the original FM). There doesn't appear to be any provision for a motor drive, though I can't tell for certain. I suspect that accessories like focusing screens and data backs aren't interchangable with those for the FM.

<p>

At best, this seems like a new FM-10, but perhaps without the quality or the Nikon nameplate.

Yeah, it looks like a cheap pressed-metal generic SLR. The only thing it shares is the F-Mount really. It's missing the ASA ring around the rewind, has a bunch of odd exposed screw heads, no DOF preview, square, not round eyepiece, etc.

It looks like the film speed ASA/ISO setting is on the shutter-speed dial. You pull that up to set the film speed and then press it down to set the shutter speed. Back in the 1970's, I had used SLRs with that set up.

 

There is a little more info I can read on the Chinese web site, but at least I don't find this exciting. Of course I don't shoot 35mm film any more, but if you want an FM/FE type camera, there are plenty of used Nikons at bargain prices.

<i>"<b>Scoop</b> quoted in my post ..."</i><P>

 

Hardly a "scoop", as the same info (with official link) was posted at Nikonians four days ago: <a href="http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID68/16036.html">http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID68/16036.html</a><P>

 

;-)

>it is NOT functionally the same as an FM. The build quality doesn't look the same. There's no ADR window...

 

By definition, funtionality doesn't include build quality, though you're right about the ADR and motor drive. But somehow I doubt anyone using a fully mechanical camera would mind advancing and rewinding film with their fingers, nor will this Kenko camera cost the same price as an equivalent Nikon. :P

 

You know, there have been more 2nd hand cameras in the world than everyone needs for a long time now. I guess there's no point in making or buying new cameras, huh? As for the electronic gizmos we call "digitals", they keep offering more and more the functions and modes (with all the requisite buttons and menus), but how many do people actually bother to use?

 

Michael: I couldn't find this info at Nikonians when I posted two days ago. Now we know it was hardly a "rumour." Those who are sensitive about "TV spoilers" would surely find paradise in the Nikon forum. ;-)

Oh darn, unlike the entry-level AF Nikons that we're all used to, the camera uses a pentaprism which makes the finder unnecessarily large and just adds to the weight and cost of the camera, huh? :P

Interesting that they seem to be taking a Cosina-like route here. However, if I were going to shoot film again (I'm not) and wanted a body like this, I'd just buy a used FM or FM2. Plenty of good bodies out there.</p>

 

Now if they would just make a <i>digital</i> version of this kind of camera (think the Nikon version of the M8), I'd really be interested.

"BRAVO!" from an FM2N film Luddite. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) has

eternal merits.

I'll take a second hand F3 any day, thanks.

 

Dave

Hi, dear friend. I have bought this camera two years ago: is marked Alstar DN60 (in Italy) and is made by chinese manifacturer Phenix (as Phenix DN60). Now, is sold in Japan with Kenko trademark, maybe to overwork the interest caused by Zeiss ZF lenses. Is an interesting camera, whit a robust all metal body (540 grams without the lens). The camera have the front right button for take the double exposure and two PC flash sockets (very good for the studio flashes). The finder is very simple, whit an oblique stigmometer rounded by microprisms. Both shutter speeds and aperture value don't are visible in the finder. The TTL meter is a semi spot type (silicon blue cell) and request practice. Ciao.

It's essentially a cheap clone of the FM10 with a metal body instead of the plastic Cosina body. You'll note the layout and styling are direct copies of the FM10 or Ricoh KR-5sv (K mount version of the Cosina body) with slightly modified controls.

 

I'd go for the FM10 instead, I trust Cosina's internals over Chinese ones, even if Cosina's body is a little lighter.

This looks exactly like a K-mount body that is sold under the Promaster and Dakota names. I've seen a variant with a Yashica/Contax mount sold with a Braun label also. I believe they are built in China by the same folks that built the Seagull TLR cameras. I've played with the Promaster camera and it's a decent student camera for parents on a tight budget. Build quality is mediocre but fine for a teenager who needs a camera for a few years. The Promasters had an excellent 50mm f1.8 lens. The whole package from Promaster retailed for $150.00.

Can't understand why anyone would buy one. Used Nikons are a dime a dozen here in Japan.

But the OP is right, film is farm from dead in Japan, and in fact has more prestige than digital,

which everyone knows provides inferior prints.

"How many (functions)do people actually bother to use"

 

Just about all of them, actually. Image Overlay, Double Exposure, interval shooting, A-S-M-P modes, exposure +/-, high speed crop mode, single vs. burst mode, etc. etc. With the beautifully designed user interface on the D2x, it's an easy task to make the camera do everything it is capable of. In this respect Nikon is miles ahead of Canon.

I teach high school photography and I can't understand who would buy this camera. Canon

and Nikon both have slr kits for about $200 new, and a perfectly good used slr can be had

for under $100 easily, much less if you hunt around. I picked up three working Minolta

bodies from KEH this year for students who broke or lost theirs. One was $35, one was $22,

and one was $16.

 

I just looked and KEH currrently has two Minolta 7000 autofocus cameras in BGN condition

available. One is $17, the other is $14!!

. . . and Minolta zoom lenses starting at $14. Kit price: $28 plus shipping.

There may still be a market for MF Nikons, but nothing that can't be filled by the used camera market. The FM isn't exactly rare and neither are 99% of the Nikons ever made.

 

Unlike Cosina that released the Bessa rangefinders to fill a market niche (inexpensive Leica LTM and M mounts bodies) I really can't figure out who is going to buy this thing.