ed_alban

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2341/3635950790_841654a203.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /><br>

Nikon D700, 24mm f/2.8 AIS</p>

<p>I use the Fn button to set bracketing steps. <br>

I then use the AE-L/AF-L button to spot-meter by itself, or same button with the dials to change non-cpu lenses.<br>

These buttons are set for all shooting banks, otherwise I will confuse myself!</p>

<p>35/1.4 AIS is almost always on this past month.</p>

<p>Lex, I do mean veiling. I will post a sample soon. I must have a bad copy. But that is its only shortcoming (IQ wise) and as long as I'm not shooting into the sun, I'm quite happy with it!</p>

<p>I've had the 35-70/2.8 AFD for more than 10 years. Its only shortcoming is a heavy veiling lens flare, even with the sun just slightly out of image, and even with the HB-1 lens hood. At least, my copy does. In any other situation, it is contrasty and sharp and is my go-to lens when I need the versatility of a zoom.</p>

<i>...so why doesnt it work the other wayaround. ?? i want to be able to overexpose my background(in slow sync mode) while not over exposing my flash-lit subject... </i>

<p>That's because the flash output depends on the meter inside the camera body (located at the bottom of the mirror box). If you fiddle with the meter, you affect both ambient and flash readings. If you fiddle with just the flash, you're just telling it to put out less (or more) than what the camera meter will tell it to.

<p>Another way around your "problem" (it's not really) is to use manual metered mode on your camera and lower your shutter speed from the recommended reading however many stops you want the background exposed. The beauty of this lies in the fact that the shutter speed does not affect flash exposure, only aperture does (remember the GN formula?).

<i>...focusing ring in manual mode, although not perfect, is FAR superior to the old Japanese version....</i>

<p>I have both a 12 year old Japanese 50/1.8 AFN (with the wider rubber focusing ring than the original AF) and a 1 year old Chinese AFD version. I cannot "feel" any degree of difference as far as manual focusing is concerned. Both are equally dry and under-damped. If anything, the newer Chinese version has an even shorter focus throw than the older version, based on the number of turns the AF screw makes from infinity to close focus.

<i>..."Feel" is for equipment masturbators...</i>

<p>I don't get off on fondling my Nikons, but there is still something to be said about "feel". Then again it is totally personal, this whole experience of taking a picture. It begins with picking up the camera, to fiddling with the controls, to pressing the shutter release button, to viewing the results. If something does not "feel" right in the process, it can be quite nagging. So a generic statement like the above can be dismissed as purely one man's opinion. Just like my post. ;)

<i>...why would the f16 "rule" give me dark shots?...</i>

<p>What a lot of people forget is that the "Sunny 16" rule works only on <b><i>front-lit subjects</i></b> under sunny skies. The backside of this same subject is a full 3 stops darker, i.e. you need to open up your aperture from f/16 to f/5.6 when shooting back-lit subjects (or use a flash). Indiscriminate use of "Sunny 16" even under skies can lead to underexposure. Even a simple side-lighting needs to be opened up 1 stop to capture some shadow detail (if that's what you want), or the shadows would end up totally black. This is the same reason that "Sunny 16" can be used for quick-n-dirty silhouettes: the dark side is 3 stops underexposed (black on film) while the background has correct exposure.

<p>Regards,

I don't really mind the occassional Nikon ads in this forum for the reasons stated in this old thread (participated in by forum moderators and, in which I had assumed the issue has been decided):

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005G0I

I bought my F4s in 1990 and this was before the Internet boom so I didn't know any better. I regularly used my "made in Korea" 283's on my older FM2, and I needed a flash for the F4s, and so I thought why not? I actually used the F4/283 many times over the years. Luckily, my F4 came out okay. That's not to say yours won't. Like Ellis said, check the voltage.

Seung,

 

1. Correct.

 

2. I've never heard it called "A-TTL" by Nikon. Canon has referred to it as "E-TTL" and "A-TTL". I have seen Nikon manuals refer to this mode as "TTL auto", to differentiate it from the Vivitar 283 auto-thyristor method "non-TTL auto", a capability the Nikon speedlights also have. In any case, the answer is yes, "TTL auto" or "A-TTL", this is your "balanced" flash exposure mode.

 

Matrix-balanced - what you get when you couple any modern speedlight to an F4 or F801(s) cameras. The matrix-metered ambient exposure is registered *prior* to flash exposure (before the mirror flips up), and together with the real-time OTF flash reading, the ambient meter reading is used by the on-board computer as another factor to the equation when figuring total flash exposure. Thus it is said to be "balanced". Note the F4 and F801 cameras have only one flash sensor, and they are believed to be center-weighted (emphasis on "believed").

 

Multi-sensor Balanced - this is what you get when you couple SB-25 and newer speedlights to cameras with multiple flash sensors located at the bottom of the mirror box (F90/N80,F5,F100,F80/N80,etc). You can probably see them on your F5 if you lock up the mirror. These sensors are arranged in a fashion to mimic the five main segments of a matrix meter. Together with the ambient matrix-metered reading, the burst of pre-flash exposures and real-time multi-sensor flash reading, a "balanced" flash exposure is achieved.

 

3D Multi-sensor balanced - add a "D" type lens to the above.

 

3. Yes. Flash compensation is needed in Standard TTL in bright situations. "TTL auto" flash throws in its own automatic compensation, but most photographers still find this too hot, and add their own manual flash compensation.

 

4. I don't bother when I'm indoors.

 

5. Can't answer that, there is no Canon in my house. That said, I used to shoot with an EOS that used the older A-TTL which stood for Advanced-TTL.

 

6. Only Nikon can answer that, and like somebody said, they're not talking.

<i>...By the way, that other thread sucks...</i>

<p>

Well, I like that thread. Goes over and beyond the usual vague and useless answers like "why not shoot a roll and test it yourself?" type of answers.

Slow sync with the SB-24 (and F801s) is achieved by sliding the switch in the back of the SB-24 from "normal" to "rear". Yes, rear-sync and slow-sync are two different concepts and should not be confused with each other. Unfortunately the SB-24/25/26 Nikon engineers incorporated the two features into one switch.

 

You can verify this as follows: Set your exposure mode to either Program or Aperture-Priority. With the SB-24's slider set to "normal" (or front-curtain), the shutter speed will be default between 1/60 and 1/250 sec (depending on light levels). Then slide it to "rear". Now, if light level is low, your shutter speed will fall below 1/60 sec all the way to 30 sec depending on how dark it is and what aperture you've set. You've now achieved slow-sync. At the same time, you'll be shooting with rear-curtain sync. You can only do this in P and A modes on your camera with the SB-24/25/26.

 

In Shutter-Priority and Manual, you achieve slow-sync by dragging your shutter speed to anything below 1/60 sec, since by Nikon's definition, slow-sync means any shutter speed below their pre-set 1/60 sec. In this mode, you can either shoot with front-curtain (SB-24 slider to "normal") or rear-curtain (SB-24 slider to "rear"). Therefore, in Shutter and Manual modes, you can achieve slow-sync on the F801s with any flash, even auto-thyristors like the Vivitar 283/285's.

 

I believe that if you mount the SB-24 on your F601m, the SB-24's slider switch takes priority over the F601m's slow sync mode. That is, you still need to slide the SB-24 to "rear" to achieve slow-sync on the F601m.

That's the same "problem" I have with my Newton brackets which are flash-rotators (i.e. flash rotates around the axis of the lens). Although I haven't had any problem with the flash auto-zooming to match the lens setting, Newton recommends manually setting the flash head to the 35mm setting when using these types of flash brackets. This is to cover, like you said, the top & bottom areas of the frame in vertical shots.

 

The problem area I have shooting vertical is when I shoot too close to the subject and I forget that the flash head is waaaaay up there. This results in light falloff towards the bottom. The times I don't forget, I tilt the flash head down. (Then there's the problem of forgetting to move the head back to its normal position...).

Yeap, I have to admit I did the same thing on a wedding reception 10 years ago on (what a coincidence) a SB-24. For some silly reason I can't recall, I had set the flash on manual zoom and forgot to reset it. Some shots worked (like single or couple shots), others did not (group shots on 35mm lens). And seeing the same lighting over and over again, proof after proof, the "spotlight" effect gets old really really fast.

 

Vertical shots came out kind of okay, the light falloff towards the lower torsos were acceptable and the falloff above the heads were not noticeable, helping the viewer focus on the perfectly exposed head and shoulders. Other shots did not come out as good. Hope you have better luck than me.

<i>...Do you have any experience which cams do best is this conditions?...</i>

<p>I was taking pictures of my then-2-yr-old son with my F4 and 50/1.8 AF lens 10 yrs ago on the New Jersey shore. During a break, I laid down the camera on the blanket, when suddenly my son merrily decided to kick sand all over the place. The F4 shrugged off the sand like nothing but the lens...well, you guessed it...the sand got into the seams around the focus and aperture rings, making both a lot gritty to turn. I removed what I could without disassembling the lens but the focus and aperture ring actions left a lot to be desired from that moment on. The sand worked itself out after a few days (and nights of watching TV while turning the rings endlessly), or maybe some are still inside, though I see no evidence of the sand getting into the elements. The focus ring has been okay but the aperture ring is now getting a little sticky.

<p>I have shot with the F4 and 105mm AF-micro under steady Vancouver drizzles with no adverse effect. But then again, I've done that with an FM2n on occasions too. And once, the F4 was doused with Coke. I had too liberally wipe it down with a wet paper towel to remove the Coke's stickiness. But the shutter release button got spongy after a few minutes (due to drying Coke underneath). To restore the lost satisfying click of the shutter release button, I had to stick wet paper towels into the rim of the button hoping to wick away the Coke from under. It worked after a few tries and the shutter release was as good as new. I don't think any moisture got into any of the internal electronics because it's still working today. (Nikon claims there are rubber gaskets around all moving buttons, wheels and knobs of the F4 - and F5, for that matter).

Look for a lab who uses a Fuji Frontier printer. See if that makes a difference with your prints. I go to a lab that uses both analog and Frontier printers, and I can see the difference in my 4x6 proofs.

<i>Jim wrote...Wasn't the question MF?</i>

<p>Yes, Jim, but the poster relaxed the "restriction" when he wrote...<i>"...your favourite Nikon that uses MF gear (thus you may include your trusty F100/5 if you so desire and why?"</i>

No contest, F4. I've used (and own) the F3HP, FM2n, FE2, FE, FG, EM and N2000. Almost all the others have shortcomings which the F4 has solved *for me*. The perfect viewfinder manual metering display (down to 1/3 stop increments from -2 to +2 stops range), spot meter, matrix meter (with AI/AIS), runs on AA batteries forever (seems like), etc. And finally, I honestly don't think it's heavy at all.

 

The FM2/FE2/FE cameras are a far second. The F3HP is a close third, but I just can't get over that meager viewfinder meter display whenever I shoot with it, but the F3's smooooth film advance lever makes the FM/FE series feel ratchety cheap.

My 35-70/2.8 AFD flares widely when the front element is hit by direct light, even with hood and no filter attached. Flare is evident in the viewfinder and in the resulting photos...I have lots of samples! :( This sample is my second, having returned the first 35-70/2.8 to B&H for what I thought was haze and polishing streaks on some internal elements. Like Todd said, this could be sample variation because I don't read a lot of complaints about flare on this lens.

I have both the 28 and 35 primes in AIS and AF versions and a Tokina 28/2.8 in AIS mount. The AF focus rings are well-ribbed and are wide enough (but not as wide as the AIS) for manual use. IMO, they do not feel as smooth as the manual focus rings, feeling a little dry. That said, they are adequate for manual work, while the consumer AF zooms like the 18-35 make you wonder why Nikon even bothered with focus rings on these lenses.

75-150mm f/3.5 Series E

<br>105mm f/2.5 AIS

<br>28mm f/2.8 AIS

On one side, you're limited by the F4 in that you don't get any 3D matrix stuff (with any Nikkor lens - AF/AFD/AIS/AI/etc), but you do get TTL matrix balanced fill flash, ala SB-24/25/26.

 

On the other side, you're limited by the SB-28 in that you lose rear-sync and slow-sync, in auto mode. Slow-sync is still available by going manual mode and choosing a slow-ish shutter speed.

Have to agree with all the above posts, being an owner of a mixed bag of AF and MF bodies and lenses. (And yes my 50/1.8 AF has a terrible MF feel - dry and loose.)

 

The short focus throw of AF lenses can be exemplified by the 105/2.5 AIS and the 105/2.8 AF-micro. Although different designs and made for different purposes, I'd like to compare their focus throws. The MF 105 goes from closest focus (approx. 3ft) to infinity more than 1/3 turn of the focus ring. In comparison at the same focusing distances, the AF 105's focus ring moves less than an inch! It can be frustrating to overshoot the focus with such a focus ring. However, the AF 105's manual focus feel is very well-damped (though still a bit gear-y).

 

That said, shooting through glass and fences has nothing to do with either an AF or MF lens. So you can use either.