Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/05/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]mak@teleport.com wrote: must we all shoot with Canon? While the EF F1 Fin F1New were impressive the last time I pawed over Canon gear was when we were in jr high and my 15 yo girlfriend had an FTb. come to think of it the FTb was sort of in the way... Nikon and Leica stuff has geek chic that techno Canon lacks... --------------- Nah, Nikon is cool in their own way. They still support decades of cool AIS lenses with their F mount, and heck, still manufacture and sell some of them. I bought a new FM3a last year and just love that camera. Just the right amount of automation mixed into a manual camera. The dual shutter thing is brilliant. Batteries die? Just pull out my little Twinmate meter and keep shooting. Only thing I don't like about my M6 kit is that they make it so I barely touch my FM3a kit these days, which is a real shame. I put together a 28/2.8 + 45/2.8-P + 105/2.5 + 135/2.8 AIS lens kit for a song and love each and every one of them. To fill any holes, I can use my 24/2.8, 35/2 or 85/1.8 AFD on the FM3a too (mix and match). Got a D70 too, and wouldn't have if it weren't such a capable little (ok, not little compared to an M or the FM3a) camera at a good price. Best selling DSLR out there last year for good reasons. Got the 12-24 wide zoom in the last month, and now combined with a 45/2.8 (it's chipped) or a 50/1.8 (a little clinically sharp, but it does the job) and the 85/1.8, the D70 is finally stealing just a little shooting time from the Leica M kit. Sticking the 28/2.8 AIS on the D70 and shooting with manual metering with a meter is quite a hoot as well. And then there's the Nikon flash system. Got me a big SB800 and boy I'm glad I did. This thing just works, whether fancy balanced fill flash with iTTL on the D70 or good old TTL on the FM3a with it's simple center weighted metering, this thing works like a charm. It's like magic. Just bounce with the little reflector card up or shoot direct with the included diffuser, and I can't believe the amount of good shots I get. Don't know. Had a much loved and abused Canonet 28 when I was 13 or so. Shot some Canon manual body and a 50 (ex-father in law's) in my early 20's. Even bought my dad a Canon A75 digi. But to me, Nikon is just cool. They make really capable products at what seams to be just the right price point for the pro-sumer market. Sort of "high end bargains." The F100 is another great example, but a camera I don't own personally. Nikon has it's flaws or "holes." I'm convinced (hoping, at least) along with many others, that the D200 will be the "F100 of DSLR's". Metering with AIS lenses, fast autofocus and finally a good BIG BRIGHT viewfinder in a DSLR at a decent price. Oh yeah, and some more megapix too I guess. I'm also still waiting for Nikon to produce some 85/1.4 and 105/2 AFD quality prime portrait FL lenses in some focal lengths more suitable to the DX sensor size. I use my 85/1.8 on the D70, but I'm not all that fond of the resulting ~130mm FL and while quite sharp, the bokeh blows with this lens. So I'm certainly not jazzed to blow ~$1K on the 85/1.4 to use on the D70. Nikon needs to produced some really nice 60/1.4 and 75/1.4 lenses or thereabouts to make for rough 85 and 105 equivs. Anyway, the white balance encryption is certainly lame. I've read some interesting technical justifications for Nikon's actions, but still, it's stupid. I hope Nikon will see the light, open the WB format in their NEF format and get back to the business of making cool camera equipment. But in the meantime, I like Nikon just fine and never find myself tempted to switch to Canon. Scott >-----Original Message----- >From: David Mason <masonster@gmail.com> >Sent: May 6, 2005 11:16 AM >To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org> >Subject: Re: [Leica] nikon in NY times > >FS: Nikon gear. > > > >On 5/6/05, George Lottermoser <imagist@imagist.cnc.net> wrote: > > >>please find below a great story about Nikon published today in the New >>York Times. -- Mark >> >>From: "The New York Times Direct" <NYTDirect@nytimes.com> >> >>"How can you review a Nikon camera without mentioning that the company >>is now encrypting its photo files? Nikon apparently thinks that my work >>belongs to THEM, not to me! If they someday decide to change the format, >>they can hold my photos hostage forever!" >> >> > > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >