jim_gifford

They will work just fine on the N90S.

Be well,

You ought to consider the direct effect of perspiration on your carry-along camera, and the indirect effect of warmth and humidity from being right next to a perspiring human.

There are Olympus Stylus and Yashica T4 Super models that are moisture-proof enough to rinse off in the sink. They would be fine choices for a runner's camera. Pentax also made some nice weatherproof point-and-shoot models (I think they were the 90WR and 105WR) but they are a little bulkier. Note, some of these suggested cameras are out of production but easy to find used. There may be many more weatherproof cameras in current series production... I haven't shopped for such a camera recently.

Many other cameras that are NOT weatherproof take wonderful pictures in most situations but might be prone to fogging of optics or other deal-breaking problems in a warm, humid, wet environment like a daily run.

Be well,

For Mr. Trunfio:

You should test another AF or AF-D type lens to see if the behavior is a function of the body or just your Sigma 18-50. Also, test to see whether the behavior happens with a fully charged battery (many misbehaviors crop up when battery juice is low).

Having said all that... what you describe is pretty much what I was seeing with my D200, tested with two different batteries and four AF-D lenses. I don't have any AF-S lenses with internal motors, so all my autofocus lenses use the little screwdriver fitting and the motor in the body. It wasn't working correctly. Now that I have the camera back from the techs in Melville, it is working normally again.

Be well,

Following up on an earlier thread, "D200 focus screwdriver misbehaving"

My D200 was having difficulty focusing AF-D lenses. Sometimes it would work

normally, but at other times it would focus verrrrry slowly or whir

ineffectually, the itty bitty screwdriver-like drive in the body failing to

change the lens's focus. That made autofocus unreliable and essentially left me

with a nice manual-focus body.

I sent the camera to Nikon's service center in Melville NY for warranty

service. They replaced the bayonet mount on the body and adjusted the focus

mechanism. That seems to have fixed the problem. The camera now focuses my

various AF-D lenses as it should.

(They also cleaned the CCD and gave the camera the standard checkout and

tidying up.) No charge for the warranty service... the camera was a few days

shy of its first birthday. Turnaround time (including shipping both ways) was

13 days.

I post this because we do hear from folks whose service experience is

unpleasant, and it seems fair to take a minute to post when Nikon's service

technicians do good work promptly.

Be well,

If you want autofocus with a teleconverter on your Nikon, and are NOT using AF-S lenses, you want the Kenko teleconverter line.

I use Nikkor teleconverters, old school, manual focus only even with my autofocus lenses. That's just my preference. If I want autofocus (and I often do) I forgo the teleconverter.

Be well,

Thanks, gentlemen.

Time to find some bubble wrap, and send my camera in for service.

-Jim

My D200 may need a trip to the shop. I post this to find out if others have had

a similar experience.

The motorized screwdriver-like impeller for autofocus lenses appears to be

malfunctioning. The symptom is failure to focus, or a *very* slow (several

seconds) movement from near focus to infinity focus. The camera makes its

normal autofocus motor whirring sound whether it achieves focus or not... so

the engine is running, but sometimes it appears stuck in neutral or perhaps the

screwdriver is making a poor connection to the female autofocus fitting in the

lens.

Remounting a lens doesn't cure it. Switching lenses to another of my five or

six AF-D Nikkors doesn't cure it. Making sure the battery is fully charged

doesn't cure it. Changing from single to continuous AF does not seem to affect

the problem at all.

Very gentle nudging with a fingertip can rock the impeller back and forth a

millimeter or so laterally inside its little cutout in the lens mount on the

body, rather like a loose tooth. I'm not sure if that play is normal (only have

the one D200 here to check).

It is an intermittent fault, alas.

I say "alas" because repairs are so much easier when the fault is 100 percent

consistent. This one happens sometimes, and then it might go away (leaving the

camera and lens autofocusing normally) for a few hours. Then it recurs.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

Thanks. Be well,

AJ,

You wasted time, or money, or both. Sorry!

I have a Metz 45 CL-4 and it is a fine flash. The capacitor eventually failed and Metz repaired it, rapidly and well... for hundreds of dollars... nearly the cost of a new unit. So the "have Metz repair it" option is probably not an inexpensive or cost-effective one.

I'm sure you know that the D80 is designed to work with Nikon's Creative Lighting System iTTL speedlight models. The SB800 and SB600 are fully compatible with the D80 and work wonderfully.

The Metz -- even if you get it to work wherever the head is pointed -- will only work in manual mode and auto thyristor mode (no TTL) when used on a D80. It cannot do the preflashes that are required for TTL control of flash on digital Nikons like the D80.

Therefore, your brand-new digital camera will be mated to a 1960s-era or 1970s-era flash technology. Meanwhile, the Metz will always throw shadows to one side or other of your subject because its potato masher bracket-mount design has the flash head offset a few inches laterally from the lens axis.

Get an iTTL flash. It's the right way to derive maximum value for the money -- considerable money! -- you have already invested in the D80 body.

Don't make us waggle our index fingers at you... further attempts to save money with marginably compatible flashes will just frustrate you.

Be well,

Your wife is lovely but does she want to be this famous?

I agree that the 50 (especially on a NIkon digital) is likely to be more useful than the 85 for street shooting. The 24 might be better yet. I think my own favorite might be the Nikkor 35/1.4, which is a little heavy but makes a fast and sharp companion with a nearly "normal" field of view on a digital Nikon like my D200.

In the four shots you posted, the subjects wind up with worse light than everything else in the frame. That's one risk of shooting in a concrete canyon environment... the light is always over THERE.

By the way my wife's name sounds a lot like your wife's name... only difference is, my wife is h-less (Sara).

You specialize in "soft focus" portrait photography until you earn enough cash to buy a less lubricated lens?

Be well,

A few of the newer Metz models can work in TTL mode on a modern DSLR like the D200, but only if you use an appropriate Metz adapter for digital Nikon cameras.

Most Metz models cannot be adapted to work in TTL mode on a D200... but they can work in manual flash mode and Auto flash mode. You will need the little widget from Wein or Nikon that slips into the hot shoe and then lets you connect an old-school PC cable to your flash. The Nikon will then trigger the Metz at the right time.

You can be a 1960s sort of photographer and do the calculations in your head (to determine appropriate f/stop, divide flash guide number by distance to subject) using manual flash.

You can be a 1970s sort of photographer and set the Metz to (A) mode, which uses the onboard autothyristor technology to sense light reflecting from your subject and quench the flash at the appropriate instant during exposure.

Both those methods work fine.

Or you could get an SB800 speedlight and really enjoy the iTTL Creative Lighting System electronics you pay for in the D200.

The main thing is: whatever flash system you use at a wedding should be one you are confident and comfortable with... and one for which you have a backup.

One beautiful aspect of digital SLRs is the instant feedback you get while trying our different flash exposure techniques. You do not need to burn through roll after roll of film, bracketing and tweaking and fiddling with options, and then wait for a lab to process the film.

The digital process is simpler: Attach the flash and shoot. Look at the histogram and the image. Adjust the flash. Shoot again... Try a slower shutter speed. Change the ISO. Click to a different white balance. Shoot again and again, and for each shot, know right away how the new camera and flash settings affect the image. Find a few basic settings that work well for the situations you expect to encounter at the wedding.

Be well,

Kate, you have the opportunity to do wonderful photographic work for your friend at the wedding.

How comfortable are you with flash? Do you have an SB800 speedlight for that lovely D200 body... and a bracket on which to elevate the SB800 above the lens? Those two things will expand your options for where and how to shoot the formal pictures, and can make a world of difference in candids, too.

Your current lenses cover a nice range of focal lengths for film. They do not give you a particularly wide angle when mounted on the D200. Do you know the location for the wedding photos well? You might want to buy, borrow or rent a wider lens to allow for group shots in tight quarters. (There's a fine 18-70mm Nikkor zoom you could get for roughly $300 that has pretty much the same field of view on a D200 body as you would get with a 28-105 zoom on your film body.)

Tripod for formals? Makes your life easier... keeps the horizon where you want it, allows for slower shutter speeds without blur, etc.

You will want to have a backup for everything that might fail. Spare camera body, flash, memory -or- film, batteries, etc.

There is a wealth of info here in this wedding forum so read through the various discussions. I learned a ton of helpful info here before shooting my sister-in-law's wedding a year and a half ago. The shoot went fine. It would *not* have been fine if I had not paid attention to many helpful threads in this forum.

Be well,

Any AI or AIS Nikkor lens will work on the D200. I do not have photos from a 50/1.2, sorry.

Be well,

If your lenses are Nikkor AI or Nikkor AIs series lenses (and they probably are, given the not-so-old age of your camera bodies) then they will work just fine on the D70s.

However, the D70s will not *meter* the exposure for you with those lenses. The D70s exposure meter only functions when you mount a lens with a microprocessor chip (in other words, one of the few Nikkor-P manual focus series lenses, or any autofocus Nikkor lens).

So, as long as you don't mind not having an exposure meter, your old lenses should take great pictures on your D70s.

Because your digital camera's sensor is smaller than a frame of 35mm film, it effectively crops the image for you. You'll see that if you mount the 50mm lens on your F3 and then on the D70 and look at the same subject from the same distance. On the D70s body, the lens will have a narrower field of view.

As for the flash, it will work in auto mode and manual mode on the D70s, but its TTL circuitry is not compatible with the D70s TTL flash system.

Be well,

Set both cameras to same aperture. Use 100 film in the Hassy and ISO 200 on the Nikon. Set the Hassy shutter speed to HALF the shutter speed the Nikon recommends... one full stop slower.

For example: If the Nikon suggests shooting at 1/60 using ISO 200, you want 1/30 second at ISO 100 on the Hassy. If the Nikon recommends 1/500 second, set the hASSY FOR 1/250 second.

Do be mindful of the metering setup in the Nikon, so you understand what it is evaluating, and be mindful of whether both cameras really are "seeing" the same scene.

Be well,

You can use a TC-14A teleconverter with your 70-300 Nikkor lens... but the combination becomes a manual-focus lens. Your D200 will still be happy to meter through it. I have used this combo and it works quite well. One must have reasonable expectations. The 70-300 is a nice lens but not tack sharp wide open at the long end, and the addition of a teleconverter will not improve the optical quality. It exacts a small cost in optical quality. Given all that, for my uses, the lens plus teleconverter works better than just using the 70-300 alone and cropping the image more deeply.

You could use a Kenko Pro teleconverter with the 70-300 and, at least in theory, you then would retain autofocus. The maximum aperture would be fairly dim, so, as others have pointed out, the autofocus performance might be poor to nil unless you were shooting in oodles of light. I have not tried this teleconverter myself... but many others swear by the Kenko.

Be well,

<<I'd go for the D40 & 18-55 but will having to focus the 50mm at f/1.8 manually really be a pain?>>

Switch off the autofocus on your F80 body and spend an hour or two handling your normal photography tasks that way. You'll have your answer.

The viewfinder in the digital body may be a wee bit less conducive to manual focus than the one in your F80. But your film body is still a reasonable facsimile for this test. If you are like me, you will find the most significant difference about manual focusing is not the effort to see your subject come into focus in the viewfinder, it is the effort to focus and focus and refocus every time you frame a new subject. You're just holding the camera differently as a result... one hand on lens focusing ring, one hand on the body.

I have several manual focus Nikkor lenses and a couple of manual focus film bodies, plus autofocus lenses and (film and digital) autofocus bodies. They are all great fun to work with.

Autofocus is a fabulous improvement in 95 percent of the photographic situations I find myself in. If I were mostly a landscape photographer or a posed-portrait photographer that percentage would be much lower.

Most of the pictures I take are of kids and other family members. They move constantly, the little rascals. Autofocus helps me get better pictures by concentrating more on composition than on whether I have twisted the focus ring to the correct position.

Your mileage may vary, of course. Good luck in your decision. Both the D40 and D80 are delightful designs. Your 50mm lens is only a $100 investment in terms of gear the D40 will not fully utilize... hardly a deal-killer. The D80 is very nearly as capable as my D200, especially for folks who have all autofocus glass, and it costs significantly less than a D200 (which is why I bought a D80 for my brother who had no manual focus Nikkors lying around).

You'll enjoy whichever you get.

Be well,

There is only one focus point on an N90 or N90s body (the focus point in the center of the image area).

Later bodies featured multiple focus points.

Be well,

1. No... but you can get a new 50mm f/1.8 autofocus lens, very sharp and almost as fast as your f/1.4 lens, for about $100.

2. If new batteries do not help the flash, it probably is dead. Find a used Nikon SB-24 or SB-25 speedlight and take advantage of Nikon's very good TTL flash electronics in your N6006.

3. Manual focus: 28mm f/2.8 AIS Nikkor is lovely. For autofocus, perhaps a 35mm f/2 Nikkor or a 20mm f/2.8 if you like wider angles.

4. Bogen (a.k.a. Manfrotto) tripods are sturdy and not terribly expensive as good tripods go. Ignore all tripods retailing for under $100 (sorry!) as they tend to be flimsy. Carbon fiber tripods are lighter to carry than the garden-variety Bogen or Manfrotto aluminum models, but they REALLY lighten your wallet.

5. Not really... maybe $25 or so. Check eBay for examples of prices.

For rock climbing, the 35mm f/2 would be light, compact, and can work in pretty low light.

Be well,

A leather-and-brass case for an antisatellite weapon?

Be well,

I'm with Ben... three shots at a minimum, then one per person as the group gets larger.

But I do think that after 10 shots it's a matter of rapidly diminishing returns. People being photographed have finite patience and finite attention spans.

Too many shots and you might end the session with photos of a group with zero blinks... but a sea of scowling faces, one guy checking his watch and the Type A dude over on the left walking out of the frame.

Be well,

Liam, if the D200 has trouble with two different flash units, and through two different PC synch cords, then yes, it seems fair to suspect a fault in the D200.

Perhaps the internal wiring leading to the D200's PC connector has a fault. Since you plan to send it in for repair... you'll soon know.

Be well,

<<With the sync cord attached to the softbox, the flash only fires the first time. >>

Help us out... how are you defining "the first time" there?

In what sense is an unsuccessful firing attempt a "second time"?

What do you do to get back to "first time" status so that the flash again fires (once but not twice, evidently)?

Be well,

<<set them up wacked in the sync cord >>

??

Perhaps I also am being dumb and missing something, but I do not understand that phrase in your post.

Anyway... first suspect is a bad PC synch cord. Try another?

Try general troubleshooting... are there situations in which you CAN get the portaflash units to fire? Does the D200 fire any OTHER strobe using the synch cord? Et cetera.

Be well,