buying F100, nikon system building

[thewaker43]

In few weeks I plan to purchase a new F100. Being 20 and in college

this is a huge investment for me. At the moment i own a FM2n with a

24 2.8 and 80-200 4.5, both MF. I plan to use my 50 1.8 on the F100

for awhile and purchase a 105 macro followed by a 28 2.8. This would

give me 24 and 80-200 MF and 24,50,and 105 in AF. This would also

keep my filter size at 52mm for all five lenses. Am i makeing a

reasonable (comprehensive) plan or am i just totally misguided? I

have also been looking at the 28-105 zoom as an all around lens. Any

thoughts? all comments and suggetions would be appericated. Thanks

Casey

[richard_laepple]

Hi Casey! A FM2n is a very good camera, why do you want to switch to a F100 (also fine, ok)? If you already have a 2.8/24 in MF, a 2.8/28 in AF is not necessary. IMO AF is not important for wide angles about 28 and shorter. If you really want an F100 the 28-105 is a fine lens. You can use it in macro mode until 1:2. It's not the same as a special macro lens, but not bad for a start in macro. If you want to get large posters of bumble bees, take the 105 micro instead.

[kevin_tan]

Hi Casey

 

Since you are still in college, i would suggest you acquire the N80 (which can do at least 99% of what F100 can do) instead of the F100, and use the savings to get more lenses. For zoom, the AF 28-105 is good. For primes, the AF 50mm f/1.8D, the AF 35mm f/2D and the AF 85mm f/1.8D are all fine lenses. You could upgrade to a better body later on when you are financially better off.

 

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Cheers

Kevin

[ShunCheung]

If you are planning to stay with film for a few more years, the F100 is a good choice. But people are already switching to digital in fairly large numbers and prices are coming down pretty quickly. If you are willing to wait another year or two, especially after you graduate from college, DSLRs could be quite affordable. I would think long and hard before investing in another film SLR body at this point. Not that you should not do it, but you should have good reasons and know why you are not coverting to digital in a year or two. Otherwise, your existing FM2n can serve you well for a couple more years while you are waiting for digital to get better and cheaper.

 

I agree that you don't need a 24 and a 28. A 35mm/f2 AF may be a better choice and that works well with an existing 24mm. Moreover, 52mm doesn't seem to be Nikon's standard filter size any more. A lot of the AF lenses use 62mm and the higher-end AF-S lenses are 77mm. In other words, when you add more lenses in the future, 52mm probably won't be the norm for much longer.

 

Finally, you need to specify what type of photography you are into before we can make intelligent suggestion on lenses. I personally don't like 50mm lenses, but that may or may not apply to you. As they say, YMMV.

[larry n.]

Casey,

 

There is no way to know whether you are making a reasonable plan without knowing what you are planning to accomplish, but here are some thoughts:

 

Before buying the (expensive) AF 105 macro lens, try attaching a Nikon 4T close-up lens to your 80-200 zoom. Doing macro with a zoom is a pleasure because you can change the framing effortlessly, and the 200mm end of the zoom will give you much more working distance than the 105 macro. Furthermore, you don't need AF or a fast lens for macro.

 

It does not make a whole lot of sense to have both a 24 and a 28. Nikon AF 28/2.8D is not considered one of their better wide angles.

 

If you've decided you need AF, and don't think you'll be moving 100% to digital soon, you've made a good choice with the F100. Sure the F80 is cheaper, but it feels cheaper, won't meter with your MF lenses, and has a number of other drawbacks which you may or may not care about. But, if in two years you find yourself shooting digital you might feel you could have saved some money. (I have the F100, but I know I'll be shooting film for a while).

 

Finally, I commend your desire to stick with the 52mm lens thread. It won't work. The 28-105 you mentioned has 62mm threads. And sooner or later you'll be aching to have a 72 or 77mm lens. For me, the worst offenders are the 72mm lenses. So close to 77, but not there. That's life in Nikon Land! Happy shooting.

[mskovacs]

You probably don't want an N80 if you plan on using MF lenses since it won't meter with them. The 80-200 in particular is a great lens that doesn't have a real equivalent in autofocus.

 

I would agree that the AF 35/2 is a good choice. Do make sure you buy a new one with the Nikon warranty for your country. The earlier models are known to leak oil on the aperture. Apparently this has been fixed by Nikon but get one with the best warranty just in case. An alternative is the MF 35/1.4 which is a wonderful lens!

 

In the end though, I don't know what you'll truly gain with the F100 with these lens choices. AF is best used tracking fast action with long telephotos and you won't get much better AF in the Nikon line than the F100. It will leave you with an excellent camera to grow with for the future and more metering options. AF is marginally useful at 50mm, less so at 35mm and useless for macro photography. I shoot a lot of macro and I really prefer the 105/4 or 105/2.8 MF lenses over the AF 105/2.8 because they provide much more working distance.

[tim geiss]

Casey,

 

I had to make a similar decision 2 years ago and I opted for the N80 because I couldn't quite buck up for the F100. What a mistake! Now I wish I had saved up for the F100 with its faster motor drive and its ability to meter with manual focus lenses. That camera will be more than adequate as long as you shoot film.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but I agree with the others who said that the 28 f/2.8 is not necessary if you have the 24, especially if you plan on purchasing the 28-105 (I have no experience with this lense and therefore no comments).

 

Cheers,

Tim

[thewaker43]

Wow. Thanks for all the quick responses. I guess the 28 is out of the question now. How would my 24 work with the F100? It is a new AiS lens. I just do general photography, i carry my camera with me almost everywhere and just shoot what i find interesting. My girlfriend has a N80 with 28-80 and 70-300 zooms that i can use. Is there another wideangle lens i should consider? And i do believe that i will be sticking with film cameras for a while. Thanks

[charles_miller]

"Am i makeing a reasonable (comprehensive) plan or am i just totally misguided?"

 

Casey, in my mind, an autofocus camera, a highly automated TTL flash, and a zoom lens all sort of "go together". You are probably several decades away from needing autofocus because of failing eyesight. Probably you need autofocus now simply to track moving subjects. But it helps to have all three advantages for that purpose, not just autofocus. In short, unless you know you need very top quality images for some professional purpose, I would go with the 28-105mm AF lens and a TTL speedlight first.

[thidglance]

Forget the 28mm AF - it isn't very good.

 

I shoot with an F100 and have had an FM2 (though I don't currently). The F100 is a good choice for film because it is compatible with pretty much everything old and new. The 105 Micro is very good, AF is good for macro if you want an off camera flash in your had etc... Something that the F100 is very good for. Seriously consider the 70-180 Macro as well.

[mark_jordan3]

Hi Casey, I've had my F100 for 2 years and love it...trying to gain a sense though as to what you're after in upgrades. From what you've described it sounds like you have strong interest in expanding into other lenses...while continuing to use what you currently own in MF. If you're not in immediate need of higher end body features...you may want to consider sinking your current $$ into getting the best lenses you can afford, even buying them in AF so that they can be used down the road with either an AF film/digital body. The FM2N is a great body...if it meets your current needs you may want to just stick with it for a few more years and reap the benefits/enjoyment of usuing quality lenses NOW.

[ShunCheung]

Your 24mm AI-S will work fine with the F100. There is no AF, of course, and there won't be matrix metering, but center-weighted is fine.

 

Again, you haven't quite specified what type of photography you are into, but most people believe that the 24mm is the "best" all around wide angle. There 24mm + 35mm would be a good combination. Another option, perhaps further down the road, would be the 18-35mm AF zoom. But you can always just use the 24mm for now and buy additional wide angles later as you see fit.

[mark_jordan3]

I think what Shun states is true regarding the 24mm...it rides the edge in terms of having that overly obvious wide angle look like a 20mm would...and therefore is a bit easier to handle. Any forum I've seen on the 24mm vs. 28mm leans towards the 24mm hands down.

[jsbc]

I think the above comments are almost unison in saying F100 rather than F80 (for compatibility with MF lens), and the zoom rather than another 28F2.8. There's a difference between 24mm and 28mm but it is not that dramatic.

 

It would help if we know what you photograph, but I think the 18-35 zoom could be appealing too, or a 20F2.8.

 

In lieu of the 50, some people also use the 35F1.4 as well.

[neil_lupin]

in your case the F100 is probably better, with the missus having an F80 you can blag. Other than fps speed, I've not yet found anything on the F80 which limits my photography, but the F100 is a beauty. If the money were there I'd buy a second hand mint one - never new, there's just no point. Good luck

[vgoklani]

Rather than get a NEW F100 ($1200), why not get a USED N90s + MB10 for less than half the cash ($550)!! It does pretty much everything the F100 does, except for having built-in bracketting (you need the MF-26), and multi-spot metering (you don't really need this!!).

 

Don't buy a USED F100, since the first batch were a bunch of lemons. You might end up getting one of those.

 

And yes, the N90s meters manual-focus lens.

 

I disagree about the usefulness of the 28mm lens. I have both a 24mm 2.8 AIS lens AND a 28mm 2.0 AIS lens. The difference is NOTICABLE!! also for wideangle, you don't need autofocus.

 

Don't bother with an N80. Just do a search on this forum about comparisons between the N80 and N90s.

 

-V-

[william_tickle1]

The diff between the 28 and 24 is noticeable, but the 28 f2.8 AF from NIkon has awful optics and bokeh. I bought one about a year and a half ago when nikon had huge rebates on it b/c it was so lightweight I thought it would be a great beater lens to take hiking. The results were so bad I sold it on ebay after only using it on two trips. If I were you I would get a used 35-70 f2.8 zoom, which does macro. It isn't the best of anything, but it is tough to beat as an all purpose lens and the 24mm to 35mm jump isn't that bad. Then I'd get a 20mm f2.8 (nikon's ais and af versions of this are pretty good) before the 28mm.

[david_h._hartman]

Casey,<br>

<br>

Your lens line up sounds fine to me. If you mean trade the FM2n

to finance the F100 Id say no. If you mean add an F100 that

would be fine. If you dont mind the weight a used F5 and

your FM2n would make the perfect odd couple. <br>

<br>

The F5 is a better camera for use with AI and AIS lenses as its

finder is easier to focus on the matte surface than the F100 or

the F4. The F5 has an electronic rangefinder that uses easy to

see, bright diodes and the F5 has ADR which the F100 lacks.<br>

<br>

I personally find the F5 the best camera for use with manual

focus Nikkors. The F3 is another camera to consider. I just bought

one as it has full center-weighted ambient and TTL-OTF flash with

the beautiful DW-4, 6x high magnification finder. The F5 has its

own DW-31, 6x finder but one is left with only a spot ambient and

TTL flash meter. Since you mentioned the AF 105/2.8D Micro-Nikkor

I think you might want the option of a 6x finder. They are

beautiful! <br>

<br>

What ever you do dont let go of the FM2n. Feed it Tri-X or

HP5 Plus and youll have a fiend for life.<br>

<br>

Best,<br>

<br>

Dave.<br>

<br>

---<br>

<br>

<em>"The diff between the 28 and 24 is noticeable, but the

28 f2.8 AF from NIkon has awful optics and bokeh." --

William Tickle <br>

</em><br>

Rather than an AF 28/2.8D Id recommend a 28/2.0 AI or AIS

if you are more into low light candids or a 28/2.8 AIS (but not

AI) if you like wide angle close-ups.

[david_h._hartman]

<em>"Rather than get a NEW F100 ($1200), why not get..." --Vishal Goklani</em><br>

<br>

I paid $1,299.95 for my F100 back whenever. Painfully (to me anyway) the current price at B&H Photo is $869.95 after rebate.