Ian Rance

Lots of good info here. Working with lithium ion battery tech on a daily basis I have learnt a lot. Simply put, once a lithium battery discharges too far it is not safe to start using it. The inbuilt circuitry in both the charger and battery will protect against that however and will simply not register a battery if you attempt to charge it.

I had a D1 a few weeks ago. The battery would not accept a charge at all as it was in deep discharge. However I opened the battery case and was able to re-stuff it with brand new cells of correct capacity which got it going again. But connecting cells is hard and they must be tagged type as it is unsafe to attempt to solder to the caps simply as it may harm the venting. Lithium batteries ARE dangerous if not understood, they can burst into flames if provoked. That does take a lot but it can be done. Violent fire.

In the future we may struggle to get batteries so don't throw away failed original Nikon ones, they may be needed if supply of third party ones dries up. Like the special Sony LIP MiniDisc ones. Impossible to find even used.

I've done it, the 60-180 is easy to modify and make a neat job. It will mount on a Kenko X1.4 TC although the lenses crash at 60mm. Once on the TC you can mount the whole thing and any standard DX & FX bodies with AF possible with a screw drive body. As you say modifying the 30-80 is more of a challenge but I did get one of these to work on a DX body by tucking the circuit board down inside

Well done Brian. The 30-60 was a real challenge for sure and I had to use silicone and matt black camera paint as to prevent light leaks from where the PCB was as so much cut away. Worth doing though! And good that you have AF with the TC. That is an amazing find.

I haven't noticed it being mentioned in the Nikon literature, so probably not. I think personally such features have serious limitations as if anything moves in the scene, there will be artifacts. I guess for product photography, multi-shot pixel-shifting modes can be useful.

Thanks. Yes makes sense - but heard it may be on the new features list but could not find it mentioned. I have the Z7 but will missing this update I think. I'm almost tempted to help Nikon's sales but my money is not that abundant!

I still regularly use a Nikon D50. 6mp doesn't leave much room for cropping I wouldn't want to push ISO much over 400, but yes, fun to use a "classic". Think I'll take it out tomorrow.

Good luck with that Sandford. What lens - the 18-55?

Yes, I have lifted and rotated the dial. Over the years, I have used probably 5-6 F3 cameras but this is the first time I have encountered this sticking problem.

One problem I find with the F3 is the film speeds are on a adhesive label. This can ruck up and jam the mechanism. Nikon supplied a new improved part which I fitted myself one time. Mine was stuck almost solid.

I never thought about a D70 as I was 100% film and hardly into Nikon at all in 2004 until I picked up one with around 3000 exposures and near new condition in the 'unwanted and free' box at my local dealer couple of weeks ago. So I had to save it! I charged up the flat battery and checked a card was fitted - yes in place still - a 1024 MB Kingston.

So I took it on a short break which had one or two slots in the weather - I was happy with the performance and it worked intuitively and apart from the small screen, could be any modern camera.

Anyone still using as a regular camera? Any recent shots you are proud of you could share? Interested to see if any are still being enjoyed. Three examples are below that I took - I am still getting a feel for the photos and best ways to edit them but I am enjoying the small file size which makes for swift editing on my older computer.

So Nikon hasn't changed any of the exposure metering and control 'language' and as the FTZ has an aperture lever, it all works?

 

Remarkable!

 

Guess it should work on the Z50 OK?

Yes Mike, 100% as a normal G lens but without the (screwdriver) AF.

Not sure about Z50 but if you use the FTZ should be fine!

The only small quirk is that the EXIF data thinks I am using film so it gives 35mm equivalent as well as real focal length.

You used these lenses on your Z6? Manual focus I suppose?

Hi Mary. Yes, manual focus. Work fine on the Z6 apart from that.

Some of the fully manual FTZ clone adapters are almost baffle free... and about £10, so saw away!

 

Just had a thought, are IX lenses effectively G/E lenses with no aperture ring?

Yes Mike, they are G lenses so whatever adapter you use must have electric contacts.

Lastly a couple with the 30-60. So small as to be invisible! These are uncropped images. This lens was saved from the bin.

And 3 with the 60-180. So light and yet good consumer quality. There must be thousands just sitting unused, a shame. Get those hacksaws out!

I don't post here as much as I used to but have always enjoyed your past threads about making use of older, quirky gear, Ian.

 

Eric Sande

Me neither Eric, but I enjoy the content for sure. I felt inspired to write a bit more after some unabashed gear snobbery on display at my local camera shop. I left the shop with a whole load of good stuff - and only spent a tenner. So I'm here to share some cheaper ideas to balance things out.

Here is 3 with the 20-60mm:

Those are APS-C lenses, roughly the same as DX lenses. Maybe it would make some sense to use them on the DX Z50. On the Z6, you need to crop. But frankly, there are so many excellent Z lenses and then F-mount FX lenses, except for the novelty, there isn't much need to use those APS-C IX lenses on Nikon Z mirrorless, especially FX bodies.

That's the thing Shun, they were not like DX lenses - the image of APS film is much wider than DX. APS H format was 30.2 × 16.7 mm. So with some caveats you can use them on FX. If you have a set lying around they can be useful still. Of course better lenses are available, but I think you would be surprised how good the APS lenses can be - they were no slouch. Better than a lot of the consumer 35mm format zooms for sure.

Remember the APS film SLR's that Nikon made in the 1990's? With their own special lenses?

Had the whole set, nearly gave them away...but now I have a Z6 I had another look. They will not fit on any digital SLR due to the protruding rear element, so had hopes with the FTZ. Still no luck. Wont fit due to the baffles in the adapter.

So out with the saw! Cutting the plastic flange from the 20-60mm allows it to fit perfectly. The chip reports all data to the camera, but AF does not work (screwdriver). It works very well, with only the widest end showing corner shading on FX.

Same for the 60-180mm, cut the plastic flange off - works well at all focal lengths,

The 30-60 has long been a favourite of mine, its a very sharp little lens. Flare resistant and low in distortion too. But this one is more of a challenge. The rear element and electronics protrude very deeply, and cutting the plastic flange is not enough. It will leak light also. I needed to cut the rear flange off and then seal the gaps with black silicone. JUST clears the FTZ baffle. But now it also fits and works well, and is once again a useful and tiny zoom.

Anyone else tried this? If anyone is interested I can upload some files and photos of the mods. Make use of some rather nice lenses once again.

Details to 'nuts' please!

 

Does this mean of you do it the other way around you get super stability?

Image was swaying around and jumping. When I set it correctly to 20mm, rock solid. In fact the IBIS did better with the wide lens than the tele.

When I reversed it, any IBIS confusion was lost in the lens movement from hand-holding.

FX or DX?

 

So, 1/500 for FX or 1/750 for DX by the 'old' 1/X theory of handholdability.

 

Always seemed a bit generous,.....!

FX mike. Actually the entered lens value has a drastic effect on the IBIS operation. I fitted a 20mm with 500mm entered and the IBIS went nuts.

Do you have any long non-VR teles to see how well the IBIS works?

Just tested my 500 mirror handheld. Stabilised perfectly handheld at 1/250 but slight blur at 1/125th. IBIS really makes a difference.