james_w2

<p>I use to do that a lot with my N90.</p>

<p>Basically, try not to use it wider than 35mm. 55mm is practically perfect with the lens. Wider than 35mm and you're dealing with falloff and distortion. After about 26mm, vignetting, and by 18mm it vignettes like mad and barrel distorts like a fisheye.</p>

<p>I'd also recommend checking out Newtonville Camera.</p>

<p>Well you could always move up. An N90 is the cheapest AA option and easily goes for under $50 at places like KEH and Ebay.</p>

<p>I also agree with Shun. Dust doesn't affect the image, and it's easier to just live with it. If viewfinder dust annoys you, try living with eye floaters.<br>

I've been trying to clean my N90's finder for around forever. I blew the mirror, took off the focusing screen and blew and washed it, and tried cleaning the eyepiece. The dust is still there.</p>

<p>The 55-200 VR is vignetting free on FX/film from about 135mm-200mm. On my N90 with 92% viewfinder I get no vignetting in the finder at 105mm and use it on it regularly, but I'd go 135mm to be safe.</p>

<p>It's manual focus only, but since it's an AI-P lens (manual focus lens with a CPU), you'll get full matrix metering.</p>

<p>I get mad amounts of wiggling with the barrel on my 55-200 VR, with over a millimeter worth of play between the outer barrel and the inner one, but maybe it's because of all the hits it has taken. Once my tripod tipped over in high winds and the setup landed squarely on the lens with the full weight of an N90(yes I use the lens on film as a tele) and my tripod on it, but fortunately the lens hood took most of the hit. It's also gotten banged around several other times. Still works like a charm though and is quite sharp, and the wiggling doesn't bother me at all.</p>

<p>I prefer mounted slides since it's much easier to handle(I handle film in a pretty cavalier manner) and also easier to view with a light table. Also, as Frank Schifano mentioned, most viewfinders aren't 100%, with the one on my N90 being 92%, so I lose nothing from losing some of the edges.</p>

<p>I use a VR 55-200 on my N90 regularly, and I get vignetting from the 70-105 range and some falloff on the rest, but otherwise it's usable. It's probably different for the non-VR version. However, the 55-200 range on film is a very, very useful range.</p>

<p>Also point it at a bright, uniform object to check for falloff. In addition distortion will be worse on film than on DX.<br>

Also the 55-200 is gelded so I believe it won't work on the F3.</p>

<p>When shooting lightly with my D40 or N90, I just use an blue lunch cooler with a shoulder strap. Everyone thinks I carry food in there.</p>