humanist

If the battery door is a removable part as Peter suggests, it should also be possible to have it replaced at very low cost - certainly for less than the price of the battery pack. So unless you want the battery pack for its intended use (AA power & vertical grip), maybe it is better to simply order a replacement battery cover (talk to B&H or check with your local Nikon dealer). If it were me, even if I was regularly using the MB-18 I would still like to have a working cover for those times when I don't want to bring the battery pack along.

Regards, Kenneth

Oh, and one more thing. If the selected compensation is

"unrealistic" (according to the manual; I think this simply means

"unfeasible" due to the shutter speed range of the camera) the

shutter won't fire. When you press the shutter release, nothing

happens. Might be good to know, so you don't think something is

wrong with your camera... //Kenneth

Yes, it's possible by using the bracketing button ("S+/-") _and_

the flash mode button together. Like this: If you press the S

button and keep it pressed while pushing the flash mode button

once, you will have a sequence of two shots: as metered and

-0.5 stops. If you press the flash mode button again, you'll have

two shots at 0 and +0.5, and so on. For a single shot with

exposure compensation of 0.5 you need to press the flash mode

button four or five times - the selected combination of shots will

be shown on the LCD.

For combinations involving +/-1 stop compensation, you press

the S button twice, and then push the flash mode button as

described above.

Regards, //Kenneth

If your problems with night time pictures refer to street scenes,

cityscapes etc. (rather than people photos and other close-ups),

the reason is probably that you're shooting in Auto Flash mode.

The camera will determine shutter speed as if your subject is

illuminated by flash, which of course it won't be if it's five meters

away or more - the flash on any P&S is quite limited in range, so

you'll end up with underexposed subjects.

Instead, turn off the flash with the mode button (for details see

responses above), find some support (tripod, a wall, tree, etc.)

so you can keep the camera steady during the long shutter

speed needed for low light, and shoot away. I've done quite a bit

of casual night photography with the T4 in this way, with

increasingly decent or even good results. For this type of

situation, the "Landscape" mode (push mode button four times)

is usually preferable, as focus is fixed on infinity. In Flash Off

mode, the camera will try to focus with the infrared sensor, which

can give unreliable results for distant subjects.

Regards, //Kenneth

Probably you would actually notice the difference between the

28-100 and 28-105 even in 4x6 snapshots, unless you have a

very bad lab. I confess I haven't used the 28-100, but I did use a

lens in a similar class, the now-discontinued 28-80/3.5-5.6D,

and now am the happy owner of the 28-105/3.5-4.5D. When

using decent film & developing, there is a clearly noticeable

difference in colour rendition, sharpness and general "snap"

between the two, in favour of the 28-105. If you shoot mostly in

bright sunlight at f/8 or f/11, the difference is probably minor, but

for most other situations you'll be _much_ happier with the

28-105. So, IMHO the choice is fairly simple: if you cannot afford

the better lens, the 28-100 will be "okay" and serve you well, but if

it's within your price range the 28-105 is a _great_ all-around

lens.

Oh, and if you have some spare change after buying it, add a

50/1.8D for those low-light situations where the zoom will be too

slow...

Regards, //Kenneth

Jason, I don't know the exact nature of the connection between

Fujifilm and Rollei, but it's quite clear that there is one, at least in

the P&S department. The Klasse and the AFM 35 are the exact

same camera, although it's possible that the lens coatings differ

according to brand. In either case, it's a pretty good camera (with

a high price tag...), and the Rollei version got top marks for

optical quality in the major Swedish photo magazine "Foto"

(which tends to be much more critical in its assessments than,

for instance, Popular Photography).

The Fuji Zoom Date 1000, which is indeed the same camera as

Rollei Prego 100, also got fairly good reviews, but I don't think

you'll come close to the Klasse/AFM in image quality with it - it's

more of a run-of-the-mill zoom P&S, while the AFM is a high-end

fixed focal length camera.

As for your actual question, I'm not so sure the Prego 30 is a

good choice. It may have a good lens - haven't tried it so I don't

know - but the specs are very limited (only accepts 100, 200, and

400 speed films, no exposure compensation). If you can find it,

the Rollei Prego Micron would probably be a better pick - but

again, if you can afford it the AFM 35 is in another league entirely,

not least because of its manual control capabilities: you can

adjust aperture, exposure compensation and even focus

manually if you wish.

Regards, //Kenneth

If the camera has been stored for a couple of years, there might

be some slight corrosion/dust etc. on the battery contacts in the

camera. If so, cleaning the contacts with a soft cloth (or a

not-so-soft cloth if that does not work) might help. That's the only

"simple" solution to this problem I can think of, depending (of

course) on what conditions you've stored the camera in, that you

are using the right type of batteries etc.

I hope you'll be able to get your N70 working again. It's a good

camera. I miss mine...

Regards, //Kenneth

Adam, are you sure the F65 has 3D Matrix Flash? I find it quite

conspicuous that at www.nikonusa.com, the "3D Multisensor

Balanced Fill Flash" is featured prominently in the specs for the

F80, but not for the F65. Instead, the latter is said to have "Matrix

Balanced Fill Flash" only (no mention of 3D), i.e. flash output is

guided by the six segments of the metering system without

taking distance information into account. I may be wrong about

this, but you should check it out if the 3D flash metering is a

factor in your choice of lens.

<p>There is no doubt, however, that the <i>exposure system</i>

on the F65 is "3D Matrix" and will be able to benefit from the "D"

feature on the new 50/1.8D lens (for whatever that is worth).

<p>Regards, //Kenneth

As such, G or D doesn't say anything about optical quality, but

with the two specific lenses you mention it should be pointed out

that they are quite different. The 28-100/3.5-5.6G is one of the

cheapest Nikon lenses available, while the 28-105/3.5-4.5D is

considered a midlevel "consumer zoom" and costs almost three

times as much. Since you usually get what you pay for, that

means you will most likely find the 28-105 to be *much* better

than the 28-100 in terms of optical quality.

Regards, //Kenneth

There is a review of the 24-85/3.5-4.5G AF-S at <a

href="http://www.naturfotograf.com">Bjørn Rørslett's website</a>

(after entering look for "Lenses" in the list on the left). Otherwise,

there is virtually nothing on the web about this lens yet since it is

so new - no reviews at <a

href="http://www.photographyreview.com">Photography

Review</a>, for instance. Bjørn Rørslett is fairly positive in his

remarks on the new 24-85, but concludes that it's substantially

better towards the long end than at the wide end.

Here in Sweden the new 24-85 is now available (listed as "in

stock" at our leading mailorder house), and the price is

approximately 30% *cheaper* than the old 24-85. Price excl. VAT

here is roughly USD 650 for the AFD version and USD 460 for

the AF-S G version (as you can see, our prices are substantially

higher than in the US). Although it's no guarantee, that *should*

mean that the new lens will be cheaper than the old one in the

US as well.

No, I believe the IS-50 is called IS-500 in Europe (28-120 lens),

while the IS-5 is called IS-5000 in Europe (28-140 lens). Haven't

used either, though, so I'm afraid I can't help you with comments.

Regards, //Kenneth