TTL with a Bellows Extension

Hello, all!

 

I've got an N80 and I love the thing...except when it comes to this

fickle point: I also have the PB-6 Bellows extension, and to my

dismay, the camera's TTL meter won't function without a real lens on

the body! Aside from manually calculating exposure (which I've been

doing for quite some time now anyway), does anyone have any ideas on

how to trick this thing into thinking there's a lens when there's a

bellows instead?

 

I'm eager for your ideas!

 

Chris,

Minneapolis, MN

Get an N90. N90s, F100, F5 or F4 body. The last two have mirror

lock up and taht really comes into its own when used with a

macrro set up. The N80 body is looking for the computer chip in

the AF, AFS, or P lenses to complete the metering circuit -- if

there is no chip there, there is no metering functionality. I

suspect Nikon did this for two marketing reasons: to help

differeniate the N80 from the N90s & F100, and to push people

towards updatingthere lenses. They probably did a fair amount

of market research and found that people who use bellows and

extention tubes are more likely to have a body with mirror lockup

capabilities. If this makes you mad at Nikon, just buy a used

body, but perhaps it is something you should have researched

(this info is readily available from Nikon) before getting the N80.

Looking for a chip, eh? Guess jerry-rigging the thing won't be possible. I agree with you on reasearching the camera more. When I bought it, I was taking my first step into serious photography, unaware of how serious I was going to become. At that time, I'd never heard of a bellows or lock up or any of the other basic goodies in the camera world. Now that I'm movin' right along, I'll probably have to suck it up and acquire another body. Here'a another question for you...I've never heard of a used Nikon anywhere on earth! Do you know of a special place to watch for them? There is ebay, of course, but...anywhere else, too?

You've got to be kidding! Used Nikon is available all over the place.

 

Some of my favourites:

 

ebay

photo.net classifieds

www.bhphotovideo.com

www.adorama.com

www.keh.com

local buysell paper

 

With regard to Nikon's marketing ploys, I think that they stink. Any of the bodies (except the F4) will meter with the bellows, extension tubes or MF lenses, but you won't get matrix metering. The F4 is the most flexible body Nikon has ever built.

 

There's a fellow named Rolland Elliot that installs chips in MF lenses for $80. It might be possible to "chip" your bellows and fool your camera. It shouldn't really matter what type of chip he uses since bellows are strictly stopdown metering anyway. Do a search here at photo.net to locate his website/email. It would certainly be cheaper than buying a pro body.

 

Here's some interesting ideas from an F5 user to get his meter working to its full potential and fully apply to your N80: http://www.naturfotograf.com/CPU_extension.html#top_page

I should clarify: "any of the bodies" is refering to N90, F100, F4, F5 as mentioned in the previous post.

Folks left out the FE2, FM3a, and F3 as bodies that will do

TTL ambient or flash metering with a bellows. And I'm sure there

are others.

<p>

In fact, if you're just interested in ambient metering

(you don't say whether you're using flash), any old manual

focus body with a meter will work. For bellows work,

since you won't get autofocus or meter coupling anyway, a

Nikkormat is faster and more convenient than an N80, because

at least it has a meter that works with the bellows. It's cheap.

Drat! I was going to add the bit about "chipping" your bellows - until I saw that Mike Kovacs had beat me to it. :o) Can anyone think of a reason why this wouldn't work? If not, it's certainly worth looking into. Here's the <a href=http://home.carolina.rr.com/headshots/Nikonhome.htm>link</a>.

Ya know, Richard brings up another question on the matter, but just one I'm not familiar with: Given that I'm like most people and have limited funding, what would you guys say is the best way to artificially light a subject using close-up gear and an N80? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to buy an F5, but I should probably spend two grand and get me a healthy chunk of a better car instead! Someday, however...:-D Anyway, I really appreicate the feedback on these ideas, by the way.