Advice please on Nikon analog cameras

[BullcreekBob]

Hi

I am about to become a (very) mature aged student doing a photography and journalism degree at Curtin uni. I want to add a fillum camera to my bag - usage is expected to be occaisional rather than frequent but being able to use my current mix of Sigma (Bigma, 105mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2. and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lenses is required.

Cost is a very limiting factor.

I know nothing about Nikon SLR's other than what Wikipedia has just told me. What I think I know is:

- an F6 would be great but will be out of my price range.
- an F5 would be okay but they're getting a little dated now. Probably out of my price range.
- an F100 is a newer camera based on the F5 with some dumbing down of features. It should be affordable.
- an F80 again is newer and could be considered an F100 spin off without the weather proofing. It is affordable.

So, is my understanding as outlines above correct? Are there any other cameras I should consider? Would an F80 be better than a F100? at what price would I get an F5 in favour of an F100 or F80?

What is my price range? Well, I'd like to get the fillum body and an old Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 or Sigma 80-200 f/2.8 from the $950 *bonus* from Uncle Kev. Does anybody have a suitable camera around they want to exchange for some cash and much respect?

Cheers
Bob in Bull Creek

[ATJ]

What do you want to get out of the camera?

I reckon you could go for something much older, like the FE2. You don't get auto focus, but it is a fantastic camera.

[Yi-P]

I would pick a manual camera if you are to learn film.

A FM2 is ideal as it is an amazing manual camera. I started with this and it worked for so many years and still kicking without a battery change (it does not require one to start off).

Other like FE2 as mention is also good choice.

Get a manual camera, and a hand held meter ( does not need to be fancy ) and you're all good with a good old 50mm lens.

[Reschsmooth]

For that price, you could probably get an F3 (manual focus, TTL) or F4s (auto-focus, TTL), or, as the others have said, a cheaper, manual focus SLR such as FE(2), FM, etc.

You may be part of the experiment of my FE that is going round the traps. This camera is beautifully simple - manual focus, effectively aperture priority TTL metering, exposure comp and away you go. You can buy this with the MD-12 motor drive for about $300+ in good condition.

[BullcreekBob]

I would pick a manual camera if you are to learn film.

It's not so much that I want to *learn* film, it's just that some of the images I am required to take need to be taken with a fillum camera. I do already know a little about fillum cameras already having used Canon AE-1's and A1's from mid 70's to mid 90's and the T series from the mid 80's to the mid 90's. The various camera I used in the 60's also used fillum as did my Minoltas and Pentax's in the mid to late 90's.

My current '52 Kodak rangefinder also uses fillum but is not as adaptable to low light as I'd like for shots.

I am just looking for a relatively recent and inexpensive Nikon body that gives me the most flexibility I can get with my current collection of lenses. Whilst, at times, I am happy to manual focus and manually set exposure sometimes I like the ease of autofocus, aperture priority with easy twiddle of an accessable dial for adjustments of exposure compensation.

Cheers
Bob in Bull Creek

[sirhc55]

james.m has a very nice F100 for $450, see

http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=35482&p=381961#p381961

[shakey]

If you have "G" lenses then you need one of the more recent bodies. I have a F80 and its a good little unit. If you can get a F100 for just a bit more, then that would be a good option too.

[ljxphotography]

I got a F90X for $170 on ebay with a grip , pro quality, weather seald and works with all my old MF lenses.
with most of the above comments, though I think getting a film SLR with AF is a good idea because if you get a DSLR later on down the track, your AF-S, G or D type lenses will work with it.

Mick

[aim54x]

I love my F80, but that F100 looks really good at $450. Both can be had at reasonable prices.

[Grev]

I shall repeat this, I recently got a F100 for $250 with only one roll of film through it, still brand new basically and that thing works great, lighter than the F5 and such, good features still although with AiS lenses, it won't show what aperture you are in, so you have to remember how many clicks you did with the aperture ring.

The FM2 or FE2 are great choices as well, definitely how I like them, great to learn, no distracting stuff in the viewfinder, just shoot!!

[gstark]

still although with AiS lenses, it won't show what aperture you are in, so you have to remember how many clicks you did with the aperture ring.

It's in the display in the viewfinder, at the bottom, pretty much dead centre. Immediately to the left of the metering segments.

[Grev]

still although with AiS lenses, it won't show what aperture you are in, so you have to remember how many clicks you did with the aperture ring.

It's in the display in the viewfinder, at the bottom, pretty much dead centre. Immediately to the left of the metering segments.

Maybe I just totally missed the thing then... And I've only taken a few shots since I've been really busy for the past month...

[ixero]

The F80 seems to be the best fit, supports all your current lenses and is relatively cheap, especially when you compare to what their RRP used to be. The F100 is nice if you can spare the extra $$$, with better control and rugged body.

[viper_ximat]

still although with AiS lenses, it won't show what aperture you are in, so you have to remember how many clicks you did with the aperture ring.

It's in the display in the viewfinder, at the bottom, pretty much dead centre. Immediately to the left of the metering segments.

Maybe I just totally missed the thing then... And I've only taken a few shots since I've been really busy for the past month...

I thought that was only on CPU lenses, not AiS lenses (unless I've missed something to set it up with like the DSLRS)

[gstark]

[quote="viper_ximat"]I'll see if I can dig something out of a manual for you.

As promised.

This is from the FM Users Manual, which would date from the mid 1970s, I would expect.



Note that the lens has an "Aperture-direct-readout scale". This is the smaller set of aperture values that the "Lens aperture direct readout window", on the underside of the pentaprism, is able to read.

In an earlier post, I stated that the ADR appears in the centre of the bottom of the viewfinder. It actually appears at the TOP of viewfinder, but still in the centre, as seen in the third section of this image - the small grey square with "5.6" inside it.

[viper_ximat]

Yes but he has a F100 not an FE or FM. The F100 doesn't have ADR... it is a pain

[gstark]

Yes but he has a F100 not an FE or FM.

No.

The OP was looking for suggestions as to what he should buy, and was thinking in terms of the F100 or similar. Others suggested perhaps the FE/FM series - which includes the FA/F601/F801 bodies - and Grev mentioned that he thought those bodies did not include any aperture setting information in the viewfinder.

I was merely correcting that information, including my own mis-information that the ADR was at the bottom of the VF; it was actually at the top, as indicated in the camera manual pages included above.

The F100 doesn't have ADR... it is a pain

Well, no ... it doesn't need ADR, as it has the aperture in the digital VF display.

[creakingbones]

Go for an F5 if you can find one. Bullet proof, easy to use. Great light meter and P,A,S and M user controls. Don't forget that you can scan your negs and then produce great prints(large to huge) with better resolution than with most affordable DSLR's.

[DaveB]

Gary, I also read Grev's post understanding that he was referring to the F100.

It's been a few years since I used an F100, so I'm not 100% on the compatibility with various lens types (oh for the simplicity of the Canon EF mount ).
But my first reaction on reading the OP was to think of the F100.

[DaveB]

Don't forget that you can scan your negs and then produce great prints(large to huge) with better resolution than with most affordable DSLR's.

Nice theory. Most people have trouble making it match reality! But that'd be a discussion for a different thread (in the Nerd and Pedant Corner?).

[gstark]

Dave,

Gary, I also read Grev's post understanding that he was referring to the F100.

Yes, Grev's post was definitely referring to the F100, and my comments are correct: the F100 display shows the current aperture, basically unless you're using pre-AI glass.

While this is probably not 100% accurate, as a guide, FM styled Nikon bodies use the ADR, G series compatible bodies will have the electronic display, and I think that all will have some sort of aperture readout in the viewfinder.

(oh for the simplicity of the Canon EF mount ).

That's the one that's wholly and totally incompatible with FD mount bodies, right? The mount that forced all Canon users to go out and buy whole new kits, right? The one that cannot work on what is arguably the best camera that Canon ever made, the A1 ?



Oh, sorry ......

[DaveB]

Hey, I never said the EF mount had compatibility with old lenses. But the question of what an EOS camera is compatible with is really simple.
If it's been made by Canon since 1987 it should work (only with the exception of the EF-S lenses which physically will not mount on older bodies). Nikon's maintained some level of compatibility with old lenses, but the question of what features work with which combination of lens and body is often not simple.