j_williamson

<p>السلام عليكم Rashed, you have many people following this discussion now. I hope that you are not spending all of your trip on this problem and are out seeing Amazing Thailand and taking pictures. I for one am really looking forward to seeing some of what you've shot on this trip and do hope that you will post to your favorite site (pbase, flicker, whatever) and let us here know when you have.<br>

Thanks very much<br>

Leo Laksi... I'm very glad to hear that. My statement was reactionary based on other experiences with other places. I failed to mention that I've had no first hand experience with Nik Thailand and for that I am sorry. If they are as you say than I am very happy for that. Mine was a general impression and I should have made that clear.</p>

<p>Can't speak to the OP's question about buying gear but I was there some years back and during a walking tour around the Ben Thanh Market I came upon a little side street full of antique shops and the like... anyway right smack in the middle of this block of shops was a nice, bright, modern glass fronted place that looked very out of place. You could see inside the whole place from the sidewalk. They were working cameras!!! I looked up and sure enough this was an Authorized Nikon Service Center. What luck... I had two Nikormat FT bodies an older, used F4 that I'd just bought in Hong Kong and 4 non-AI lenses with me.<br>

I had the lot cleaned and serviced overnight for $50usd.<br>

From what I remember the place was on Le Cong Kieu (just east off the round-about near Hen Thanh Market) but Google Maps says the service center is now on Ho Tung Mau about 4 blocks due East from the round-about.</p>

<p >If you should happen to be in Hanoi I stumbled upon a Nikon Service Center in the middle of a street full of antique shops (very odd) and had 2 Nikormat FT and an F4 cleaned & seals replaced along with CLA on 3 old lenses that hadn't been serviced in probably 30 years.</p>

<p >As this was my last day in town this service was performed OVERNIGHT at a total cost of $50 usd!!!!</p>

 

<p>Salam! سلام Rashed, my experience with purchases in Thailand (my wife is Thai and I've been there quite a bit) is that -<br>

A) cost on Tech items (non-counterfeit) are much higher than in other places around the world (if it’s much less expensive than it is most likely counterfeit) even if they are manufactured there and,<br>

B) you will have a VERY HARD time trying to make any return or exchange even from manufacture shops with full warranty etc.<br>

Perhaps you'll be able to get better service in Qatar... perhaps you can return/exchange for the VRII there?<br>

Bettawfeeq بالتوفيق!</p>

<p>Thanks very much for the suggestions guys… here’s where I am after taking in what you’ve said.<br>

Okay on the Nikkormats… I will never get rid of these. They belonged to my father who was a professional photographer (owned John Henderson Studios in Detroit) when I was a kid. I lost him to Alzheimer’s in April of 2000. He was 69 or 70 at the time and had been in the hospital for about 10 years by the time he died. Shortly after he went into the hospital he was basically “gone”. He did not recognize anyone or talk much at all. I just can’t imagine a creative mind trapped like that! Anyway, as I’m 45, I basically lost my father when I was in my early 20’s. Right so there’s really no point (or way for that matter) to trying to use modern lenses on them since I’ll lose metering function. I’ll keep the two MF lenses and maybe pick up other pre-AI lenses along the way. Odd thing though, as I’ve been spending today doing research on Nikon gear… the s/n on my 135mm Nikkor-Q (804951) should make it a 13.5cm according to (<a href="http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/lenses.html">http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/lenses.html</a>) however it is clearly marked 135mm.<br>

As for the F4 w/MB-23… I bought that at a second hand camera shop in Hong Kong in 1999 ($300 body and MB-23 only). It’s the first camera I ever really bought myself so… I think I’ll take your suggestion Joseph and start getting some lenses that I can fully utilize on both the D70s and the F4.<br>

I bought the D70s maybe 3 or 4 years ago now and enjoy it quite a bit. I think that I’ve gotten a lot better simply because I can shoot so much without worrying about the cost of film processing. I just got to thinking that it would be nice to make the most out of what I have and wanted to see what kind of options I had already at hand. The romantic side of me would like to shoot some film again. I think I’ll even pull out and run some test rolls through all the Medium Format I have:</p>

<ul>

<li>Minolta Autocord w/ 1:3.5 75mm & Uneeda Telephoto Lens</li>

<li>Seagull 4 w/ 1:3.5 75mm</li>

<li>Koni-Omegaflex M w/ 1:3.5 90mm & 1:3.5 135mm</li>

<li>Konica Rapid-Omega 200 w/ 1:3.5 90mm.</li>

</ul>

<p>Heck I might even buy a 50mm lens for the first camera my dad ever gave me… it’s a Praktina FX with a 300mm lens and wind up power winder (not very practical for a 13 year old kid but it was fun).<br>

Thanks again and I’ll be in touch to let you know how things progress.<br>

Oh, I have some images up on pbase if you are interested. Check out favorites and Cambodia… http://www.pbase.com/pbasewilliamson</p>

<p>Jeff</p>

<p>Here's what I've got...<br>

Bodies:</p>

<ul>

<li>D70s</li>

<li>F4</li>

<li>Nikomat FT</li>

<li>Nikkormat FT</li>

</ul>

<p>Lenses MF:</p>

<ul>

<li>Nikkor-S Auto 1:2.8 35mm</li>

<li>Nikkor-Q Auto 1:3.5 135mm</li>

<li>Mitakon MC Zoom 1:3.5-4.5 35-200mm</li>

</ul>

<p>Lenses AF:</p>

<ul>

<li>Nikkor AF-S 1:3.5-4.5G ED DX 18-70mm</li>

<li>Nikkor AF 1:4-5.6G 70-300mm</li>

</ul>

<p>So here's my questions:</p>

<ol>

<li>Could I use my AF lenses on the F4?</li>

<li>Could I use the AF lenses (w/ what restrictions) on the FT's?</li>

<li>If you had these camera bodies what lenses would you buy?</li>

</ol>

<p>I spoke to Greg this a.m. and given that a re-build on this back could go $50 to $100 I think that I'll see what damage I can do and start by trying to rebuild the clutch myself.</p>

<p>You guys are all the best... thanks so much. I've since remembered that I had a circular polarizer on and it's not very slim. Guess I'll be looking for a slim one.</p>

<p>okay I just ran into these images in my files and was wondering what you all thought might have caused this. Here's the link <a href="http://www.pbase.com/pbasewilliamson/image/119761552">http://www.pbase.com/pbasewilliamson/image/119761552</a> the shot was taken w/nikor 18-70mm AF-S DX kit lens that came with my D70s<br>

Thanks very much</p>

<p>OMG the internet is an amazing place. Martyn thank you SO VERY MUCH for this info. I think I'll get a hold of Greg and see what he would charge to work on it (or if there's just something simple I'm overlooking). then maybe I'll dive in and do it myself given the detail of the instruction on Randy's Koni page.</p>

<p>Okay I'm stumped... my wife was looking at one of my old cameras (got it from my father and I've not used it in years). It's a Koni-Omegaflex M. Anyway she pulled on the film advance handle and now it's stuck in the fully out position. I can't get it to release or move at all. It's as if it is mechanically stopped not just "jammed".<br>

The film back is empty, it was in the Load position (now it's at the 1 green dot leader position), the dark slide was in.<br>

I removed the film back magazine from the camera and it still won't budge. I seperated the back from the front... still nothing. The arm moved out for her easily enough which makes me think that it's not just a matter of lub or anything like that...<br>

HELP<br>

Thanks very much<br>

I had the camera out because I'd like to do some shooting with it again. I moved into the Digital world a while back so that I could practice and work on fundamentals without the expense of processing and now I'd really like to shoot some MF again.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone... here's my thoughts on the matter. I've got mostly 35mm some 120 and a small bit of MF but I do really like the flexibity of a flatbed scanner. I'd just like it to have a full top light source and have some holders for the MF and larger. I'm not looking for pro level quality at this time. I'm just trying to put together a book layout draft to pitch it to a publisher.<br>

The HP that I'm using is one that uses an external plug in light box that you put on top of the film holder and it's barely 6" x 6" so... Anyway it's just a pain to use. I'll muddle through unless you know of something like the V750 that isn't $800</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I've got an old HP Scanjet 5370C that I'd like to replace. I've read quite a few sites and like what I've read (for the most part) about the Microtek i800 flatbed.<br>

I've got a lot of 35mm neg's and slides but there is a good number of 120/220 as well as 4x5 and a handfull of 8x10 neg's too.<br>

Basically my question is this... is there a new scanner out on the market today that has all the same features as the i800 (flatbed with full size top light source for transparences / film, holders for 35mm neg, 35mm slides, 120 neg's, 4x5 neg's, and the ability to do 8x10ish film as well)?<br>

Thanks</p>