ebogaerts

"None of your pre-AI lenses are going to be able to do Shutter Priority or Program modes on any Nikon body. They have a technical difference in aperture control from later lenses that simply prevents anything but Manual and Aperture Priority modes. Only AIs Nikkor lenses and Non-G AF-Nikkors can be used in P and S modes on the older modern Nikon bodies that offer these shooting modes."

 

That is with the exception of the FA, which uses what has been referred to as a "stop-down trick" where the FA will meter a split second before exposure but after the lens has been stopped down, and will enable the camera to take pictures using P and S modes with virtually any Nikkor - and I am sure that would include G lenses (but of course you could only use P and S modes with G lenses with the FA)

 

I never personally used this with the Non-AI lens I had when I owned the FA, but other users of this camera have noted that they recieved acceptable exposures.

I even think that Kubrick had an adapter to make it slightly longer than 50mm's (I think 70 or 75) as well.

 

The Zeiss lens that Kubrick aquired for "Barry Lyndon" was only mountable onto the camera (I believe it was a Mitchell) after *extensive* custom modification of the movie camera's lens mount.

Vivek -

 

One I can name off the top of my head is theonion.com :)

"He upped his game but his detractors can not bear to give him his due credit."

 

Did he up his game? I guess in this review he did. Still, in general I find it puzzling that even though his 'reviews' leave a lot to be desired, he has somehow (and I would like for someone to explain this to me) gained a lot of noteriety and his website is cited often. Years ago I had some email exchanges with him, and when I pointed out some problems, his seemingly "canned" response for all of them was that I should not take his reviews seriously. Which I don't, and never will again. There *are* people on the web (like Bjorn Rorslett and others) who *do* take their reviews seriously.

 

If I want comedy, or satire, there are lots and lots of outlets for that. If I want equipment reviews, I want that aspect eliminated or kept to a bare minimum

In my experience, "bargain" is what it sounds like from their description. Functionally it might be perfectly acceptable, but cosmetically it has seen its age. I stopped even bothering with "bargain" shortly after I started dealing with KEH.

 

In any case, you cannot beat their 14-day return policy.

I have had some shaky experiences with the equipment I have bought from KEH - which seems kind of odd given the seemingly stellar reputation they have within the photographic community - but they have an absolute first-class sales team who are helpful and friendly. As Lex noted, they sometimes are vauge regarding specifics about equipment (and in one instance they were wrong when I asked whether the 75-150 series e I ordered was black or chrome ring) but their customer service in general is outstanding.

 

B&H I have almost always dealt with just through their website - with maybe a few exceptions. I did deal with them used once, and the "9" grade lens they sent me was about as close to like-new as I have ever recieved from a secondhand piece of photographic merchandise. I have heard reports that they are kind of "to the point" when dealing with them over the phone, but I also know that they have seperate phone lines for ordering, and a different one for questions and so forth. I imagine if you just called their order phone # and started asking a ton of questions the person over the phone would probably be short and/or redirect your call.

 

I had one dealing with Adorama. Never going back there again. Why does it matter? B&H sells equipment for basically an identical price, (new, anyway) and they have a much better rep. The only time I think I'd ever deal with them is if I was in a position where they were the *only* place where I could get some relatively obscure part or lens that I had to have on short notice.

True - but this was an induvidual in the US who had sent a product purchased in the US to Nikon Toronto. I don't know if that would be the same as a Canadian citizen sending a grey market product purchased either in Canada or US to Nikon Toronto. In any case, this induvidual claimed that he/she was successful.

I don't know if this was already mentioned in this thread, but some months ago I recall a poster sending his grey lens to Nikon Toronto.

 

If Authorized Photo could not repair the grey camera/lens, (I don't own a grey product yet, just theoretical) then this would likely be *my* own personal second choice of inquiry.

"Basically AI was the standard and then some obscure tweaking of the aperture linkage took place that has NO relevance today, and that now-obselete update was called AIS."

 

Actually, AIS pretty much had little to no relevance up until the digital age, when some of the digital bodies (and the F6) with no AI "prong" can work (matrix metering, most or all exposure modes including program, ect) with manual focus glass - with the most (or only) options being available if the manual focus lens has a linear aperture, as the AIS do.

The best answer I can give is if you like the results of the lens in actually using it. I know that sounds pretty basic. As Bjorn himself mentions on his website:

 

"on its own, MFT testing cannot predict the pictorial outcome of any lens."

 

He continues:

 

"Thus, MFT tests will not show all problems from field curvature, colour fringing, flare and ghosting, the variability in performance that arises from near or distant focus, the subjective 'feel' of the images and in particular the out-of-focus rendition (given the buzz word of 'bokeh'), the way a lens handles under actual use, and so on. MFT data can just indicate there is a problem with a lens, or that a particular lens might be an excellent piece of glass. All of this information can be obtained as easy (but likely not as fast) just by shooting pictures with the lens. Averaging MFT numbers to arrive at a single value in order to rank lens quality is simply impossible and largely a waste of time.

 

The final verdict of any lens must come from using it for taking pictures..."

Authorized Photo in Illinois quoted me $179 for service on my F4. That was for a clean, lube, and adjust. They were of course Nikon USA's former midwest facility.

The shaky electronics in the FA were in the group of the earliest off the assembly line. Nikon corrected this problem. If there is an FA that has survived to this date, chances are it is one of the later versions.

 

It has the same shutter as the FE-2, so there's no difference in terms of reliability on that point, if anything.

"Others will offer good deals on used equipment via internet sales but won't readily discount used equipment for local buyers"

 

It seems to me that if they should be hitting up anyone for a large amount of money, it *should* be for the people who like to overpay for stuff on ebay. Not for the people who come through their doors regularly.

 

I would love for someone who works at a camera shop to attempt to explain the logic behind that policy.

@ f/1.2, you want to be fairly careful and discriminating with this lens. If you stray too far out of the optimal range of 5-15 feet wide open, you will see a fair degree of softness. At or around infinity there is a great degree of softness and light falloff at the edges. There is a pleasent effect that I have recieved with this lens when I have done the so-called "enviornmental portraits", and those focusing distances have always been at or around 10-12 feet. But I think this lens was originally designed with photojournalists in mind in bad lighting conditions, hence the optimal range. And of course you have to be fairly careful with focusing. The low depth of field can make accurate focusing difficult if the subject and/or photographer move a bit.

Wayne - Glad you like your MB-20. :)

 

I admit I occasionally missed the vertical grip, but that's literally the only thing I missed about switching from the MB-21 to 20.

"I understand that the bigger the winder/battery pack you slap on the bottom, the faster the AF can be. I guess it has more torque."

 

I've never heard anything like that relating to the F4. I do know from experience that the AF was quicker with a fresh set of batteries, but I never really noticed a difference between the MB-20 and 21 packs.

Hope to see you soon, Dave.<div></div>

AF lenses will give you access to all 4 modes. Actually, all "chipped" lenses will give you access to all 4 modes.

 

AI and AIS manual focus glass will give you access to the F4's Matrix Metering. AI glass has to be "true" AI glass - not AI modified, even with a factory conversion aperture ring. There is a maximum aperture indexing post on the mount of AI and AIS glass that trips Matrix Metering in both the F4 and FA. I'm assuming it's an identical mechanical linkage (it certainly looks identical) in both those cameras. But you can only use A and M modes with the F4 and un-chipped glass. This is different from the FA where you can use all modes with basically any lens, even AI converted. The FA uses a stop-down trick a millisecond before exposure with P and S modes with non-AIS glass, and apparently it is highly accurate. I never tried this with the AI converted lens I owned the FA, but apparently it is possible.

 

Hope this helps.

Hi Robert - the FM10 was my very first Nikon SLR. I had it for about 2 years and I used it quite extensively - at least once a day. I never dropped it. The ergonomics were o.k. - not great.

 

The build quality to me never inspired confidence, but then again not one knob or switch ever felt flimsy enough to give me concern. The only thing that I really don't care for with the FM-10 is a lack of any viewfinder info aside from whether or not exposure is over or under. You have to take your eye away if you want to verify shutter speed or aperture. I think the FM-10 could've been served better by at least having an ADR. I guess I am just use to having that basic info available to me right in the viewfinder.

 

I would not even bother with the 35-70 kit lens bundled with it. I would either sell it off, or keep it inside the box if you think you might sell the camera down the line.

 

There is one thing that I absolutely cannot take away from the FM-10. It won me a photographic award (with the 20mm f/3.5 UD) which was a big boost to my entire interest in the hobby. So yes, in a way this is kind of my own personal example of a very modest camera body delivering the goods.

 

I think you should consider an FM2N instead of the FM-10.

If yo're still considering the F4, I would more than seriously consider the fact that you can trim down the weight and overall bulk of the camera by going with a MB-20 grip. Also keeps the batteries down to 4 AA's instead of 6.

"Bargain" grade lenses from KEH for me have consistently been a mediocre bag. From a strict resale standpoint (which might factor into a purchase decision from one extent to another) "Bargain" is overpriced. You'll never see the same amount from a resale on ebay. "Excellent", however, is a much better purchase from a resale standpoint. "Excellent" guarantees clean glass - no marks, chips, or abrasions - and I've found that that grade also makes for relatively clean cosmetics in camera bodies.

I second what Robert mentioned above regarding the 50mm f/1.2 and what he refers to the "halo" effect. You can get some *amazing* results by placing the subject in the center and shooting wide open. You do want to keep the background relatively un-complex (or at the very least of one specific continuing shade or texture) if you can help it.

 

This lens is often cited as having its best optical results wide open focused between 5 and 15 feet, and my use has led me to support that conclusion.

"There are only a few cameras that actually made use of the S feature in an AIS Nikkor unless a CPU is added. They are the Nikon FA, F-301, F-501 and F4(s)"

 

The F4 *does not* take advantage of AIS manual glass in any way. The FA and F-301 (N2000) do, but even the FA does not actually *need* AIS glass because of it's stop-down trick in Shutter Priority and Program Mode.

 

I've seen you post this information before, David - specificially about the F4. The F4 *does* share the maximum aperture indexing sensor that the FA has, (which then supports AMP metering on the FA and Matrix Metering on the F4) but the maximum apeture indexing post exists on both genuine AI and AIS manual glass.

"B&H don't explain how to get IMP Nikon equipment repaired once it's out of warranty."

 

You're right - I've never seen any information on their website explaining what to do after their own warranty expires, but I would be willing to bet that if you called them, they'd forward your product to whomever they contract that work out to.

 

Aside from that, you can send *any* Nikon product to Nikon USA's former midwest facility in Illinois, authorizedphoto.com - and they not only will work on a grey piece of equipment, but they'll offer the same level of technical competency and parts supply that Nikon USA's east and west coast facilities have.

Last year I purchased a 60mm f/2.8 macro, and I followed all of the rebate instructions to the letter. Three months later, I realized I had recieved no rebate, so I called Nikon and I inquired into it. There was nothing in their database. However, the man on the phone had me write down an adress to mail the receipt and the warranty cards to, and to send along a brief letter explaining the problem. Eventually, I recieved the rebate, but it still seemed strange that on that particular occasion I happened to "lose" a letter in the mail...