joe_margetts2

When I was a student, we once got 11 people inside a Mini and drove it for 100 yards. This was for charity of course.

I think that now, with the same people, because we are a little fatter these days we may only get in 5 or 6 people!!

If I found some new thinner friends we may even be able to beat the old record!!

Joe

I use AIS lenses quite happily on my D70 - including the 50mm 1.2 as above. Metering is a bit of guesswork, but the advantage of digital is you can see immediately when you've got it wrong and correct.

Joe

There is not an 8 second auto exposure limit on the FM3a. The FM3a will, on A, time exposures accurately for many minutes - far longer than the maximum manual setting. This is a very useful feature for night photography.

I'm not sure that turning the dial to 1/4000th will end the exposure but the M250 setting certainly will if not.

Joe

I've just (with some trepidation) bought a D70 with the 17-80 kit lens. I have been putting off this purchase for a few years. I have been using over time an FM3a, F4 along with various lenses and a Canoscan FS4000. The F4 is a beautiful cross-over between manual and auto-focus with great metering.

The reason for eventually going for the D70 though was speed. Scanning negs or slides with my Canoscan FS4000 film scanner gave great results but was so slow. I can scan and crop about 10 frames a night. Any processing of the image you need to put a weekend aside for!!

With D70, I have just been making shots, putting the card in my PC and immediately working on the image.

The workflow for D70 is far better.

The only problem I have with it is that I keep getting white out areas shooting towards the sun but I know this just needs practice, I have only had the D70 a week and I've been shooting film for years!! I accept there are some different skills required!!

My advice to Bo Chen and anyone considering the switch is - just do it! This is the advice I took from a colleague who had been shooting film and medium format for years, who bought a Canon D20 and loved it. (I wonder if he still needs that 'Blad?)

The viewfinder is rubbish when compared with an F4 but still works fine though.

Hope this helps.

Joe

I'm pretty new to the D70 but in P, when I rotate the main program dial, the P* comes on on the display and the aperture/shutter settings change along the linear exposure line keeping the exposure the same.

The only time this does not happen is when you have hit maximum or minimum aperture.

Joe

As posted earlier, I just bought the D70 with the 18-70mm lens in

kit form.

Some of what I have been reading suggests the AF-S 18-70 lens may be

a bit of a poor performer. It has been said by a number of people

that it suffers from vignetting which renders it almost useless on

35mm bodies. If this is really the case, surely it can't be that

good on a D70. I've not noticed any problems so far but I am only

just learning the controls of the D70 and have not studied the

results closely yet - other than to congratulate myself on some

rather better than my usual standard compositions seen on the

display.

I intend to print a few A4's out when I get home later which should

give a better idea of what it can achieve.

Should I look to exchange this lens for something better or will

this be good enough?

I have just bought a D70 and have to admit, I'm pretty impressed

with it.

My question though is about the flash compatibility of the SB28. Not

the DX version. I use the SB28 on my F4 with great results on fully

auto TTL mode. What limitations are there to using this flash on the

D70. I've yet to find this question addressed in either the SB28 or

D70 manuals (that's not to say it's not there - I've just not found

it yet.) I know the DX version was designed to offer TTL on the D1

body but I understand the D70 not to be compatible with either the

SB28DX or non DX versions.

Joe

Can I use the lens from my D70 which is a AF-S 18-70 3.5-4.5 lens

with my F4?

I appreciate that I won't have control of the aperture so will have

to use shutter priority or program modes but other than that, will

it work? I was kinda hoping the AF-S focus system might improve the

focus speed of the F4 as well as giving me a nice wide angle zoom.

Joe

My experience is the 420EX works fine with the T90 but there are a couple of limitations.

1/ You can't adjust the zoom head manually so your stuck with using a 50mm lens.

2/ In (P) mode, the viewfinder display flashes like a low light warning but if the green light on the flash comes on after the shot then the exposure is correct.

I used one for a while when it was the only flash I had and was quite happy with it.

I hate to say it here, but the best flash combinations I have found have a Nikon badge on!!

Joe

Nikon F4 has a silent mode. Even without this, it is the quietest SLR I have used.

I also have an FM3a which with the MD12 motor must be the most alarmingly loud camera ever!

Joe

I too can confirm they do this. Mine had been doing it for about a year but I don't find it a major inconvenience to click it on again.

I don't think it is the cold that causes it although it may cause the metal to contract moving the contacts further apart.

Anyway, as the previous contributor states, these camera's can be used in some pretty seriously low temperatures, more than we would ever find in England.

Regards,

Joe

BTW, the syntax and spelling errors in the quotation marks are all Nikon's own work!! I just did C&P.

Joe

Nikon's website (.co.uk) says:

"The SWM technology used in Nikons AF-S lenses, work by convert

travelling waves into rotational energy to focus the optics. The

ultrasonic traveling waves move in a spiral pattern inside the lens

barrel. The motor is positioned on top of the waves, and they drive

it from below. In prinple it is similar to surfing, the waves drive

or push the surfer provided he's balanced atop them. This enables

high speed auto focusing that?s extremely accurate and super quiet.

The lens receives the power for it's internal focusing motor and the

focusing instructions from the camera body and therefore can only be

used with suitable cameras."

Which cameras? The website doesn't say. I guess this is like Canon's

USM products?

Joe

I have to agree, the FM3a is a great little camera, very robust and has most of the features needed. It doesn't have auto-focus (obviously) nor does it have any programmed exposure modes but who needs those?

It does have TTL flash and DX coding which do prove useful. With an MD12 motor, it handles pretty well, but it becomes very noisy. People do sometimes look for cover when you start pressing the trigger!!

I neither have ever used an FM-10, I don't think it has ever been officially sold in the UK where I am based, but I do know it is a cheaply built consumer model designed and built by Cosina. It is probably wise to leave it alone.

One option you may consider (I have just bought one) is a used F4. If you are after build quality it has it in spades although it is quite heavy. Used F4's are dropping in price quite significantly, I paid half for my mint used F4 than I did for my new FM3a.

F4 gives almost silent operation, matrix metering, auto-focus (a bit slow) more sophisticated TTL flash than FM3a and compatibility with almost every Nikkor from AI onwards. A nice feature is an electronic rangefinder to confirm you have correct focus with a manual lens. Manual lenses can be used in Aperture priority and manual, same as FM3a.

I really like my F4 although I've not had it for long so haven't used it as much as my FM3a. I suspect that your only problem with an F4 may be that it shows up the build of your D70!

I also have an FE and FM2n all of which are strong and easy to use and have never given me any problems even though the FE must be well over 20 years old.

You won't be disappointed with any of these cameras. although I suspect you would be with the FM-10.

Joe

A friend of mine has given me an 80mm f2 manual focus Nikkor in mint

condition and is trusting me to pay him a fair price for it. It

comes complete with a Nikon metal lens hood. My friend inherited it

and has no interest in photography.

I can't find a new price for this lens and nor could I find one on

Ebay.

Could anyone give me a guide price for this lens, preferably in

pounds sterling?

Many thanks,

Joe

The A-1 has interchangeable focussing screens. I would guess that the dust is behind the screen.

Best bet, buy yourself a spare screen with the tool for changing them over. Take out the existing screen, gently use a blower brush to clean the underside of the prism (more blowing than brushing) gently clean the screen and replace or if your new screen is better than the old one put that in in it's place.

Joe

The meter used a detachable selenium cell. Have you got this as well, it would be to the left of the front plate as you look at the camera. I'm not quite sure how this works in practice but it will tell you the aperture you require for the shutter speed you have set.

The camera used 'super-canomatic' branded lenses which I believe differ in a number of ways from the later early Fd lenses. The lens did though feature a fully automatic diaphram and if working correctly would close down when you press the shutter.

It's an interesting old camera though, the Canon Flex RM was only the second Japenese SLR camera to have a built in meter. (The Konica F was the first)

Joe

I've almost got a justification to buy the D2X!

I currently use FM3a FM2n and FE bodies with motor drives and AI or AIS lenses.

The key to my 'excuse' is the AIS and AI glass. I can use these with the D2x (I know they won't autofocus - D2X is not quite that magical) which means I can have all the useful features of my FM3a and not have to re-invest massive amounts of money in new lenses. I'd kinda use the D2X as a digital FM3a.

One small problem though: The current D2H has a UK price of ?2799.99GBP so the D2X when it becomes available in the UK in January 2005 will most likely be at least ?4000.00 (New cars in the UK start at ?4695.00!) meaning I need to save every penny on glass I can!!

I have a wife!

Joe

Mine definitely doesn't do this!!

I think you should get it looked at.

Joe

I currently use a mix of FE, FM3a and FM2n with motor drives and an

SB28 flash.

I'm thinking the time is right for a move to a digital body and I

currently have sufficient funds to do this.

My question is, which digital SLR bodies will offer the robustness

and speed of handling of the FM3a and still allow me to use the

range of fast AI/AIS lenses I have. Most of the photography I do is

outdoor, landscapes, architecture although I do also do some sports

stuff from time to time.

I've used point and shoot digitals before and the shutter delay is

horrendous. Do the better SLR bodies avoid this problem? Also, I'm

not sure I like what I've seen of the D70, it looks a bit flimsy, so

what of the other options, D1, D2 or the Fuji bodies?

Joe

They are noticeably brighter.

I think I am also right in saying that the T90 is a good camera to use them on because it meters off the film plane in spot or flash metering modes using the SPD in the mirror box.

In a Nikon FE or something the only meter cell is in the pentaprism head so changing the screen actually lets more light through to the light cell meaning exposure compensation is required. I guess you would still have to compensate for the extra light hitting the light cell if you use centre weighted or partial metering on a T90 with a Beattie screen fitted.

I have never had a problem with the standard screen on my T90 though so to my mind, a Beattie IntenScreen is a pretty expensive item for not much benefit.

Joe

OK, I can't make the link work so if it is not just me, it is item number 3833415871 on ebay.co.uk

!!

Joe

Does anyone know what this is?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?

ViewItem&category=30033&item=3833415871&rd=1

I have looked on the Internet and not come up with any information.

It is the sort of thing I might want to bid on to add to my Canon Fd

collection but I would be happier if I knew what it was.

It looks like the seller has little idea either.

Can you help?

Joe