evan_bedford2

There's definitely something wrong with the camera, even if the internal battery is shot, the camera shouldn't be going through three sets of batteries for two rolls of film. According to the manual you should be getting between 15-35 rolls of 36 exposure film on a set of batteries at room temperature..

I'll have to experiment a bit more rigorously going forward, since the first set of CR123's was from another camera (therefore perhaps low already). The second set occurred when I was shooting at a snow scene and perhaps did not have the circle focus indicator on (thus thinking the batteries were at fault...I later used a multi-meter to determine they was still OK).

In the next few days, I'll use the F6 extensively at -10 degrees C, so I hope to get something close to the 6 rolls that the manual states.

I do know that the internal clock battery is shot, so I'll also have to see if the camera will keep my custom settings if I take the CR123's out overnight. The second post in this thread (Nikon F6) indicates that battery drain is somewhat of an issue, so I can see myself removing the CR123's occasionally.

Not to sound patronizing, but how much AF experience do you have?

 

Admittedly, no, not a lot of experience with AF. And the F6 was mainly just a technical itch I had to scratch. My best luck with robust SLR's which didn't need a lot of thought,, have so far been the Oly Om-4ti, and the Leica R7. One of these days, I'll hopefully learn to leave well-enough alone.

Good info from Maurits on this thread: Nikon F6

Maybe I should hold out for a later serial number.

Another update. Voltage fluctuating from 2.89v upwards to 2.94. Maybe that's what the lithium batteries do?

However, I now think my real problem is simply that when I think the camera is broken, the actual culprit is that it won't take a photo if the subject is not in focus (ie, I'm getting a triangle or two in the viewfinder, instead of the circle). So I'll just have to learn to keep my thumb on the AF-on button when I'm composing a photo.

An update. Two rolls of film, and three sets of batteries. The third set was bought right from the store, and I immediately confirmed they both had 3.26v of charge in them. Popped them in the camera, re-set the date/time, and turned the camera off for the night. Next morning, checked the voltage, and it was down to 3.04v...and I was prompted to re-set the date/time again.

Can I safely assume that the internal rechargeable battery is totally shot, and that it is somehow providing a short circuit to quickly drain any of the CR123 batteries that I put in?

Thanks in advance.

Is the serial number of your camera 18753 or lower? If so there is a firmware update for the F6, It has to be done by an authorized Nikon service center. One of the things the update addresses is the battery level not reading correctly. I also bought my F6 from Japan and it has been great! Since it's gray market, Nikon USA won't service it. I sent it to Home - Photo Tech Repair Services to have the firmware updated and they also replaced the internal battery since the clock would loose the date and time when I removed the batteries. I was told the internal battery tends to fail if the camera has been in storage for extended periods of time without having power applied to it. The service cost me about $200.

 

Here is information about the firmware update:

F6 のファームアップについてのご案内 | ニコンイメージング

Google Translate

Yup. Mine is 0009322. So that's probably the issue. I guess a possible work-around is to just have a spare set of batteries around, in case the unit starts to behave weirdly. But if anyone knows of a place in Canada that might be able to service the unit, please let me know.

Is this a new F6 or used? If used, I would check with the seller.

It's an ebay item from Japan which I could still likely return. I hope I don't have to do that. But if the menu system decides to go rogue again...

Thanks folks, but yes, I had the S selected on the focus mode selector, and I did try both the shutter activated af, as well as the "af-on" button activated af. But I still couldn't get af to work.

However, since then, I've gone into the guts of the menu and set everything back to default individually (as mentioned above, the universal default re-set didn't seem to work). Now, the af works again. (shrugs with quizzical look). Could there have been something inside the menu that could totally disable the af?

You can't use stop-down metering with a shifted P-C lens anyway. You have to meter wide open, or shift after metering.

 

Of course, you could simply ignore the CPU in the camera and use the one in your head.

 

The wide open metering says 1/500th @ f/2.8 for example, and you want to shoot at f/5.6: That's two stops down and you need to move the shutter two full steps to 1/125th. It isn't that hard, and doesn't take that long.

 

Or ditch the F6 and get an old Nikkormat or the like that has no problem using pre-AI lenses. The pictures will look no different.

Ahh, but will the Nikkormat also do autofocus with my 28-105 zoom? :D

The problem with the manual is that it scatters info regarding metering with non-AI lenses in three different sections separated by dozens of pages. Its presented in tangled haiku, often in minuscule type accompanied by obscure footnotes.

 

The essentials are covered on page 39 in the "Lens Compatibility" chapter. In the "Non-CPU" lens chart, to the right of the line for "Non-AI Type Nikkors", you'll see the possible meter modes listed as Aperture Priority and Manual, with only possible meter pattern being Centerweighted. Footnote 6 re Aperture Priority instructs "release shutter while pressing DOF button" (i.e., camera will set correct shutter speed thru stopped down lens). Footnote 7 re Manual Metering Mode vaguely states only that it works "via stopped down metering" (which in Nikon-speak translates to "press the DOF button while adjusting aperture ring and shutter speed control to null the meter"). Footnote 8 re Centerweighted metering with Non-AI lenses suggests using the half stop boost in the b6 menu.

 

The reason the F6 doesn't want you to input any lens info when using Non-AI lenses is that it has no way of tracking the variables: without the AI or AF coupling it can't register the aperture set in the viewfinder display or EXIF card. The data system is operating blind, so to speak: it can measure the light and meter correctly in a purely analog sense, but the computer has no way to track aperture ring settings with non-AI lenses. This holds even if you were able to get the F6 non-AI mount compatibility modification: all that does is let you flip the fragile AI tab out of the way from non-AI barrel intrusion. Why the hell Nikon cheaped out and made that 99 cent part a $99 retrofit option instead of just including it as standard on the multi-thousand dollar F5 and F6 (as it was on the far less expensive F3 & F4) remains a mystery known only to Nikon board members.

 

The Df adds a redundant non-AI aperture setting: you tell the camera the focal length and max aperture as if it were an AI lens, then use a separate control to input the aperture you set on the lens itself into the meter/EXIF system. While rather awkward, this does emulate how an AI lens would cooperate with the AI tab, allowing full aperture metering (without pressing DOF button) and recording proper EXIF data with non-AI lenses.

Very well put. You should be a technical writer for Nikon.

Unless you are a collector, you may wish to send your lenses to John White at:

 

AI Conversions for Nikon Lenses: Effective, Fast and Affordable!

 

and have the converted to AI. Then you can meter at full aperture.

I think this only works for non-shift lenses, though. My Nikkor PC 28mm f4, for example, has the aperture ring right up near the front glass element. Same with my Oly/Leitax conversion.

Hmm. I guess I should've read the manual a bit more closely. On page 144, it clearly indicates that the need for inputting non-CPU lens data only applies to AI lenses. For non-AI lenses, the user is supposed to specify the null option (ie, -------) for both widest aperture and for focal length.

But I will report back on how the testing goes, since I have 2 non-AI's (including an Olympus with a Leitax adapter), one AI, and one CPU.

... the exposure lock is tied to DOF only with AF lenses. Manual focus lenses (AI or non-AI) apparently don't trigger the DOF-exposure lock synergy because they lack the necessary interactive electronics.

Exactly. And nowhere in the manual -- that I could find -- does it mention using the DOF button for non-Ai lenses.

 

No, "b6: screen comp" is a sticky function. You'll need to go back in and turn it off when using AF lenses. You could probably get away with not using the b6 setting for most non-AI lenses: Nikon is sometimes more anal in its instructions than real life dictates. Using b6 optimizes the meter for stopped down readings with slow (f/4.5 or slower) lenses, but may not be significant otherwise. Other than the 80-200mm f/4.5 Zoom-Nikkor, 18mm f/4, or 20mm f/4, I can't think of a common non-AI lens slower than f/4 that would require the b6 meter compensation. A test roll should indicate whether you need it or not with your lenses.

Thanks. I should've read this before I replied to rodeo_jpe above.

The Df is the only camera I know of that provides full open-aperture metering with both AI and non-AI lenses, and the latter through the two step aperture setting procedure(set on both the lens and the camera). All other AI cameras I know of that support non-AI lenses(F2A/F2AS, F3, F4, EL2, FM, FE) require the use of stop down metering with AI lenses.

 

I can't check my F6 at the moment hands on, but the manual seems to indicate that it does not work with stop down metering. Specifically, the manual says(if I'm reading it correctly) that when the DOF preview button is pressed, the meter reading is "locked" at the value before seen before the lens is stopped down. So, it would seem that, unlike an F4, no metering is possible with non-AI lenses.

 

BTW, I would use extreme caution with non-AI lenses on the F6, and assuming you can still do it have a flip-up aperture tab installed(there was a report on here probably a month back that in at least one country, Nikon no longer had the parts).

Yes, that was I who had contacted Nikon Canada to discover that they no longer have the parts to allow a flip-tab. However I will file off an extremely small sliver of one of my non-Ai lenses, since it barely touches the tab as it rotates into position.

It seems that metering works with the non-Ai lenses, since the meter in the viewfinder changes when I change the lens aperture. I'm just puzzled as to why the camera then would need to know the widest f-stop and focal length of each lens, and then have it recorded in the menu system (just like the Df). Wouldn't the sensor automatically know what amount of light is getting through whether the lens is a CPU unit or simply a piece of cardboard with a pin-hole in it?

Ain't there a manual for the camera?

 

Focussing screen compensation has absolutely nothing to do with the lens being used BTW. Unless it's a screen specifically designed for extremely long or short lenses.

This one is a puzzle. The menu item refers not only to differing focus screens, but also differing lenses or tele-converters. I guess I'll try it both with the function set as advised by the manual, as well as with the function set to zero compensation. I wouldn't want to have to delve into the guts of the menu each time I switch from non-Ai to either an AI lens or a CPU lens.

I don't know how it would behave because Pre AI lens are not supported with the F6. The F5 is OK because with the F5 when you use non cpu lenses no matrix metering available. The F6 support matrix metering with AI lenses I don't know how it works with pre AI lens. Not in the manner of the Df though.

Throughout the manual, it does say that most non-AI lenses are supported, but only via stop-down metering, and center-weighted or spot metering.

Hi All,

So I've got a couple of non-ai lenses (which don't seem to interfere with the tab, thankfully). But a couple of questions, since my Nikon Df seems to handle these lenses somewhat differently than the F6. With the Df, I have to tell the camera how much I've stopped down the lens, but with the F6, am I OK to stop down without telling it what the aperture is set at? (I've already entered the correct non-CPU lens data into the camera).

Also, when I set "b6: screen comp" to +0.5 in the menu (as mentioned in the manual p.39), will the camera still operate normally when I exchange the non-ai lens for an AF lens? Or would I have to go back into the menu and change the setting every time I change the lens?

Thanks in advance.

Evan

On a whim, I thought I'd try attaching my two shift lenses to my f100. The PC-Nikkor 28mm f4 slides freely past the aperture mechanism on the f100 with less than 1/10mm to spare. But it seems to work just fine in manual mode and stopped-down metering. And the Oly 24mm shift with the Leitax adapter fits with absolutely no danger of touching the aperture mechanism. And on the +++ side, the very unwieldy Olympus glass is better balanced and has a better overall ergonomic relationship with the f100 than it ever had with my OM-4ti or my Nikon Df or the Sony A7s I used to own. So I'm now quite sure that an f6 will be on my Christmas list...or perhaps even in my halloween goody bag.

On the arctic blizzard stuff, yes, I may have been exaggerating slightly. However, I have been reduced to cursing twice in the past, on long hikes at about plus-5 degrees Celsius, when in one case, several batteries for a Sigma DP digital refused to work, and in the other case, when the shutter mechanism for a Mamiya 6 refused to work (typical magnet weakness and linkage lube issues, as I later learned). So the extensive testing of the f6 in cold conditions really puts my mind at ease.

I came across this page: Nikkor AI conversions DIY | Photographs, Photographers and Photography

So if I get an f6, I'll probably take a file to my PC-Nikkor. As for my Olympus 24mm shift with the Leitax adapter for Nikon, John White said he would probably be able to adapt that (easier sending an adapter through the mail than the whole lens).