sexgun

<p>Come on, people, my two early '70s FTN meters both work fine. Of course, I had them cleaned and adjusted to use 1.55 volt batteries about ten years ago. There are repair shops that can fix those things for you. I've even got an F36 motor that, according to the serial number, was built in late '59 or early '60, much earlier than any of my F bodies; it runs fine too. Have fun with your F!</p>

<p>Are there are any Nikon oldtimers here who can look up for me the length of the BR-1 tube and the minimum extension length on the old Bellows II? Thank you!</p>

<p>I had no idea that the Minolta XK was a <em>mechanical</em> camera :).</p>

<p>I love my 358 and use it with a digital camera that does not meter with manual focus (chipless) lenses, and with meterless film cameras, or old bellows and extension rings. </p>

<p>Hello, I wonder if someone can tell me which adapter I can use to attach a chrome 9cm F4 Elmar lens head to Novoflex bellows with an M39 mount. I believe the thread on the lens head is 33x0.75mm. This will be my first Leica lens, so I'm on unknown territory here. Was there a Leitz part to do this? Does the Novoflex LEIEL adapter work? Maybe Schneider has a ring to accomplish the same thing? I'm just trying to find out what the alternatives are, and which one is the most easily obtainable. Thanks for any help!</p>

<p>The top of the line D3 and D700 cameras have viewfinders that work fairly well for manual focus, but if you focus manually with one of Nikon's lower-end cameras, D40/60/3000/3100/5000, etc., you will find that a third-party focusing screen with a split-image rangefinder will make a very big difference. I have a $27 imitation Katzeye screen, and it really helps. </p>

<p>For most people it's a hobby, and a hobby is something you do purely for the enjoyment of it, without the thought of any ulterior motives. Your hobby is cheap compared to that of a guy who owns a decades-old automobile into which he's sunk a whole year's worth of income or more, and which he may drive a couple of times a month and only in good weather. I can see that you like to photograph and that you also enjoy cameras as fine mechanical objects. What's wrong with that? I like the convenience and instant feedback afforded by digital technology, but I also own more than a dozen old Nikons, mostly F's and F2's. I love those old cameras and won't get rid of them, even though I may shoot only a dozen rolls each year. I work with digital pictures every day, so to sit and look at photographs on a monitor is not "fun" to me. I think people who develop their own b&w film will be able to keep doing so for decades. Sure, the price on F3's has gone down a lot, making it affordable to people who dreamed about owning one years ago. Didn't Nikon D1's go for $5,000 when they were new ten years ago? Have you seen what they are selling for now? Enjoy :).</p>

<p>Canon F-1n and 17mm F4.<br>

Nikon D40 and 35mm F1.8.:)</p>

<p>KEH has one right now for $265, bargain grade. Why don't you buy it so that I can't. Thanks.</p>

<p>Jerry: thanks, that's what I needed to know.</p>

<p>Hello, I have a chance to buy this lens for use in a lens hacking project. It will cost about as much as two cups of coffee, and I do not know yet if this is an SMC lens, or what. But, since I have never owned, or even handled, any Pentax screw mount gear, I need to find out if the rear element, or elements, in this lens can be unscrewed, i.e., backed out, just about 1mm or so. Can any Pentax people here tell me if this is how this one is constructed? Thanks all.<br>

P.S. If it's not, I can still use this lens unmodified - I just remembered that I've got an adapter that can mount it on a Canon film camera.</p>

<p>Erie Patsellis wrote: "I have an -O that has a factory AI ring..."<br>

I also have a 35mm F2 Nikkor-O with a factory AI ring. According to Roland Vink's database (<a href="http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/aimod.html">http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/aimod.html</a>), all 35mm F2 O lenses could be fitted with an AI ring.</p>

<p>I've read that this camera's adoption of the relatively narrow Exakta lens mount was a bad design choice, since that physical limitation prevented Topcon from ever developing a full lineup of (fast) lenses to compete with other companies. And that was a problem that no amount of marketing could have overcome.</p>

<p>Here's another vote for the P screen; ground glass, microprism collar and 45 degree split rangefinder, all in one. Looks so nice and bright through the top of the turret of my F4 tank!</p>

<p>Wow, this thing has the potential to chop a hind quarter right off some sacred cows (Leica, Nikon, Canon....). Whether it's successful in the marketplace or not, it's still great to see new ideas being put out there. Maybe that's why some people seem to dislike the very idea of it. No doubt some others will find it useful and do great work with it.</p>

<p>Nikon F and F2<br /> Canon F-1 and FTb</p>

<p> </p>

<p>"It may be just Internet lore, but after Ken Rockwell gave a favorable "digital use" review of the lens, used prices spiked a bit and there was a bit of a run on them."<br>

I think the lens KR gave a favorable review to was the older AF 70-210mmF4 (fixed max. aperture), not this model.</p>

<p>Nikon F, F2 and mechanical-shutter Nikkormats for sure. In the early 80s, I bought a worn, brassy Nikon FTn with an F-36 motor and cordless battery pack from a Washington, D.C. based newspaper photographer who had used it for close to ten years. The camera body had an 74* serial number, so it was from the early 70s, but both it and the battery pack were considerably younger than the motor itself, because I looked up its serial number a few years ago, and was surprised to learn that it was the 1367th one built, most likely in late 1959 or early 1960. Well, I had the camera serviced in 1984 and as of today both camera and motor are still working perfectly.</p>

<p>I got a cheap D40 from the local want-ads and it came with an imitation Katzeye split-rangefinder focusing screen that I was told cost about $27. That single modification helps a lot when using manual-focusing lenses.</p>

<p>"In the old days nobody complained about the lack of body armor on a camera, why is it the norm today? Thank you."</p>

<p>According to legend - and in some people's experiences - the F camera, one that had no electrical or electronic components, could be drowned in a river, then cleaned up and dried out, and it would be ready to work again. This is not something you would want to try with an unprotected, unsealed "computer with a lens."</p>

<p>It's bad. For film:<br>

3 Nikon F's<br>

6 Nikon F2's<br>

Nikon F4<br>

Nikon FG ($25 craigslist buy)<br>

Nikkormat ELW<br>

Nikkormat FTn<br>

N6006 (a gift)<br>

Canonet QL17 (1965 model, belonged to my dad for 30 years)<br>

Canon F-1n<br>

Bessa L</p>

<p>digital:<br>

Canon A470 digital p&s<br>

Nikon D40</p>

<p> </p>

<p>A simple solution is to use an MR-9 battery adapter. It does cost about $30, but will enable you to use modern silver oxide batteries. And it works quite well. Mine has powered everything from an old Canon F-1, Canonet, Nikon FG, Photomic Illuminator, etc.</p>

<p>They all look good on Kodachrome 64 :). Almost all of my lenses are 20 to 50 years old, so I wouldn't know about the newer EDIFAFSVRG optics, but I agree with the previous posters about the 180mm non-AI lens (mine's got an AI ring). Also the 135mm F2.8 I used to own, and the 200mmF4 and 80-200F4.5 zoom, all non-AI. Creamy, almost liquid colors.</p>

<p>Most external hard drives are simply internal drives mounted inside plastic boxes. I assume you have tried prying open the casing and mounting the actual drive itself inside a computer? You might just need a SATA cable to make it work that way.</p>

<p>The SB (DP-3) has the same meter as the AS (DP-12), except it is pre-AI, so it will do full-aperture metering with AI and pre-AI lenses, and stop-down metering with AF lenses that have aperture rings. The meter in the DP-3 and DP-12 finders is among the most sensitive ever - at the low end, where it counts - and matched only by the old Pentax LX and the much younger Leica M6ttl. That's one advantage it has over the F3's meter. Another is that, in the dark, those LEDs are much easier to work with than the F3's inadequate backlit display.<br /> I agree that the prices you quoted above are too high in the current market, but there are reasons why both the F2SB and F2AS are highly regarded. Also, many repair shops would be surprised to learn that the F2's various meters cannot be repaired and kept going.</p>