cgarrett

I am printing them myself and I am getting pretty good results, I was just wondering

if I am making it harder for myself by using a difficult film to expose properly. Since I

don't have a meter that can handle night shots, I mave been mostly just bracketing

exposures, starting at 5 seconds then going to ten, etc., but I have had a few pretty

hard to print negatives. I also wanted to know what films are espescially well suited to

this sort of photography. Since I am in the process of getting a camera with a more

versatile meter, I will definitely try out acros at night. I have used that film for studio

lighting and I really loved it. Thanks a lot!

Here's some pop

<Img src='http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/2776696-md.jpg'>

I have been starting to get into night photography, mostly shooting Ilford FP4+, and I

really like it except for the fact that my best shots seem to be off of the proper

exposure just enough to be unprintable... (I have been using a Nikkormat FTn, so

metering has been out of the question, but I am about to upgrade to a Nikon FE with

aperture priority) Anyway, I hope someone on here can help me out with my question:

Which b+w film has the widest exposure latitude, or is otherwise very well suited to

night photography? I am not the biggest fan of grainy prints unless the shot really

calls for it and the grain is very pronounced, so the finer the grain the better. Thanks!

although I am a bit strapped for cash to spend on photo gear, I sprang for a very nice

multi-coated B+W UV filter to switch between my lenses (a big benefit of having only

52mm filter size nikkors), because I cannot have the luxury of shooting with a 'naked'

lens due to the fact that I mostly shoot black and white film, which is much more

sensitive to haze-inducing UV light. My point is, if you have the choice between one

good filter or a bunch of cheap-o filters, go for the nice one and switch it between

your Nikkor primes. You'll be glad you did it.

my 50mm f/1.4 pre-AI Nikkor has given me some pretty good results, but it can be

succeptable to the little hexagon things. The trick is to either stay away from strong

light sources, or to overexpose a little.

On a side note, is it true that if you set a nikon FE to auto mode, it will meter a long

exposure perfectly?

<img src='http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/2776727-md.jpg'>

<img src='http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/2776706-md.jpg'>

there is a pretty in depth page about this on the nikon mall section of nikonusa.com,

in the same part where you can buy diopters.

I wouldn't call a nikon FM2 loud, but the moment you burn a few frames at 1/4000th

with an MD-11, you start to worry that you are pissing everyone off in the room next

to you...

if you are looking at zooms for travel, then you will definitely want one that can go

pretty wide (24-35mm) and goes out long enough for portraits (105mm). You will

find these lengths more usefull than a zoom that starts longer and goes out to super-

long.

In my recent quest to find some good used lenses, I have run across a lot of third

party lenses with enticing price tags, but I am terrified that I will end up with a dog

even if the lens is in great condition. My question is this: can any of these third party

lenses be comparable to the quality of our reliable old Nikkors, especially in the used

market? I am sure that there are a few acceptions to the crappy third pary lens

generalization, but are there any specific brands that have a high standard of quality?

I am not very lens-savvy, so I am very curious...

well, with a little elbow grease I got the battery holder to fit, but the damn thing

didn't work anyway, so I mailed it back. thanks for your help!

I'm not sureif this is how the f3's film counter works, but check the top of the groove

where the film door closes, and see if there is a little gap or hole along the right side,

and see if any light seal foam has gotten in there and clogged it up. that's all I got...

I think the screw-in lens cap connected to the tripod mount seems like the easiest

and most reliable option so far

<img src='http://www.luminous-landscape.com/images/Carrier-M2.jpg'>

<img src='http://www.luminous-landscape.com/images/Carrier-M1.jpg'>

I think that if you were carrying a wide angle lens and a normal lens (ie, no huge

zooms or teles), one of these guys would be great for carrying around with a lighter

body like a FE. A little gangly, but much cooler than a fanny pack.... I have a salvage

Nikkormat, so I might try to rig up one for myself, does anyone have any tips/

instructions??

I just recieved an MD-11 motor drive in the mail from KEH, and it is

not working... I believe that the battery holder is to blame, because

when it is screwed into the motor drive, the bottom of the holder is

not flush with the rest of the unit. I know that KEH does their own

repairs on some of their used items, so is is possible that they sent

me an MD-12's battery holder by accident? The bottom of the MD-11's

battery compartment has a sort of dove-tail thing to ensure a proper

fit with the battery holder, but the holder which I recieved does not

have the same configuration of ridges. I got a great deal on this

winder, and I would hate to see it go without giving it a shot at

solving the problem, so could some kind soul please have a look at

their MD-11 or MD-12 and see if I am correct? Thanks!

I seem to notice that on all of the lens rating websites, the E series lenses have a

much wider range of rating (for example, a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens might recieve a

4.3 out of 7 rating, while a 50mm f/1.8 E-series lens would recieve a 3-4.5 out of 7).

This leads me to believe that the lenses can be good as long as you don't get the bad

apples (i guess since Nikon didn't classify them as Nikkor lenses, their inspection

policy went a little lax), so choose your used series E wisely. They aren't multi-coated,

but I have read somewhere that because of their simpler optics, the coating isn't

necessary, and it was used when needed on some series E models.

one more thing, would upping the voltage a little bit or maybe using lithium batteries

instead of alkaline help the speed a little?

Thanks for your advice, I think I will look into the 3rd party booster

battery (does anybody know what companies made them and

where I could find one?). The conditions I will be shooting under

will definitely be sub-zero, so do you think I should get/make an

external battery pack to stick in my jacket?

Is there any way to boost the slightly wimpy 3.5fps speed of the Nikon MD-11 (I'm

using it on an FM body)? I just bought one from KEH for 30 dollars (bargain condition,

so my fingers are crossed...) simply because it was the only option for a motor drive

for my camera, but I would really like to squeeze any speed out of it that I can for

skiing series shots. I am worried that the cold could suck some of the juice out of it

too, lowering the frame rate even more. Have any of you tried to/ succeeded in

souping up a Nikon motor drive? Is there any sort of governor in the camera or in the

motor drive that keeps it below 3.5fps? Would a simple cleaning and lube of the

camera and motor drive help? Thanks.

^I would think that your lack of grainyness is simply by virtue of the size of your

negatives

If you can find an AI 50mm f/1.4 Nikon lens, then you can simply

measure where the notch starts and stops on the AI lens's

mount and replicate it on yours. I have the same problem (and

the same lens, in fact), and I posted a question about this a few

days ago, and there are some great links in it. This link is

helpful, and he seems to know what he's doing-

www.aiconversions.com

The AI-modification seems like the best option for me, do any of

you know the cost for a well done job? Who would be a good

person to do it?