Best Nikon VF

[etn]

No new Nikons introduced since your previous thread

No new film Nikon at least... (but who has interest in anything else? )

 

[Chris Livsey]

Just curious, is this a Red-Dot screen? I'm curious how much better they actually are than the normal screens, having never owned both Red-Dot and standard versions of the same screen.

I have a B type screen for F3 in both types.
On a light meter the transmission difference is negligible, the meter needle may move its own width when screens are interchanged but I put that down to tolerance rather than an effect.
It is my understanding that the fresnel is cut differently and this affects the screen contrast rather than the transmission making the image appear brighter.
Slower lenses >f2 seem easier to focus with the red dot screen and faster <f2 with the original in lenses around 50mm focal length but that is anecdotal from me I have not spent time comparing them on the same scene just in general use.
Beyond 100m the U screen was recommended with the same B markings but again presumably a different cut for the image, it vignettes with short focal lengths so is not a "universal screen" and is also one I don't have.
I have nearly a full set in F/F2 screens, I will not pay the silly prices asked for the rare ones for completeness though, there is no U screen for these.

 

[apoglass]

My understanding is that the statement "A /1.4 lens will be twice as bright as a /2" is no longer true with the use of modern focusing screens which are optimized for f/2.8 autofocus lenses, and which vignette away the extra light, so that an f/1.4 lens will appear no brighter in the viewfinder than an f/2 lens. This focus screen vignetting also limits manual focus to less than wide open, making manual focus with a smaller effective aperture more difficult and less accurate.

I fault Nikon for making high end cameras without interchangeable focusing screens, so there is no longer any way to reliably focus manual focus lenses through the optical viewfinder or to benefit from the full viewfinder brightness that a fast lens could deliver. This hurts long time Nikon customers with many legacy AI/AIS lenses which are no longer actually compatible with contemporary Nikon camera bodies, the F mount notwithstanding. If this is being done to interfere with competition from Zeiss manual focus lenses, it is a shortsighted policy that will hurt Nikon.

 

[apoglass]

If you like the Nikon action finder, the Canon Speed Finder Viewfinder Prism for the Canon F-1, has a swivel that allows viewing either from above as well as at eyelevel. A "unique arrangement of prisms allows the entire finder image to be viewed from up to 60mm away – pivot the optical view-port to view either at eye level or waist level position by a simple twist of the view-port with internal detents that hold the finder in place but do not impede the action in the slightest making this a favorite with sports or action photographers."

 

[Chan Tran]

Just curious, is this a Red-Dot screen? I'm curious how much better they actually are than the normal screens, having never owned both Red-Dot and standard versions of the same screen.

To be honest I don't know. It's a genuine Nikon screen and I am not aware of the red dot screen until now. I have to take it out and look.

 

[Leigh B]

What's a "Red-Dot" screen?

- Leigh

 

[Chris Livsey]

What's a "Red-Dot" screen?

- Leigh

The screens supplied with the F3 were direct descendants of the F/F2 screens, indeed an F/F2 will fit (but not lock in place) on an F3.
When the F4 was launched an new way of cutting the screens which made them "brighter" or higher contrast depending on your take was used for the F4 screens. As the F3 continued to be sold alongside the new F4 ( for discerning purchasers) and there were a large number of F3 bodies as well the F4 screen technology was used to manufacture F3 screens for new bodies and the aftermarket. These were identified with a red dot on the side. This would show as, in red, NIKON JAPAN with the screen type eg C on the LHS a red dot screen then has a red dot on the RHS of the lettering. If you look on e-bay you will see a mix of screens many red dots that are not identified as such in their description. Note i have seen unscrupulous sellers asking a premium for red dot screens when the dot has been added after market, it is a particular shade of red that will match the lettering when genuine.

I am not sure if all the 23 F3 types of screens were made as red dots as the F4 only had 13 screens available. It is possible to fit an F4 screen in an F3 and many swop the actual screen with the cages that hold them for a better fit for access to an F3 screen not made as an F4 ( you are following all this I trust) the F4/F5 are incompatible.

 

[Leigh B]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the info. I have a C screen in hand. It does in fact have a red dot on the right side.

I have no F4 screens that I know of, since I do not have (and will never have) that camera.

I was servicing Nikons for the DC photojournalist crowd when the F4 was introduced.
They universally hated the F4. I found their assessment to be quite sound.

- Leigh

 

[Chris Livsey]

Hi Chris,
I was servicing Nikons for the DC photojournalist crowd when the F4 was introduced.
They universally hated the F4. I found their assessment to be quite sound.

- Leigh

I have an F4, makes me appreciate my F3P all the more

 

[Glen Diamond]

I think that glasses wearers need to be careful. Viewfinders can be fooled by light entering from forehead/cheek/eye socket. If you shine a torch (or phone torch) through a view finder, an SLR in auto modes (A,S,P,Ph) will get the exposure horribly wrong (because the light sensors are housed within the viewfinder). So I think it would be wise to go for a camera with a diopter and a rubber eye-piece. If you meter externally and predominantly use Manual settings then this is not an issue. Also, a camera that has that curtain that flicks down across the viewfinder is great for auto-exposure when using a tripod. Ae lso, I think that the older AIS manual focus lenses were "brighter" at the same f-stops compared with newer AF-S lenses. The f-stops match for depth of field, but the measured brightness is different between lenses (this is known as T-stops).

 

[Huss]

I think that glasses wearers need to be careful. Viewfinders can be fooled by light entering from forehead/cheek/eye socket. If you shine a torch (or phone torch) through a view finder, an SLR in auto modes (A,S,P,Ph) will get the exposure horribly wrong (because the light sensors are housed within the viewfinder). So I think it would be wise to go for a camera with a diopter and a rubber eye-piece. If you meter externally and predominantly use Manual settings then this is not an issue. Also, a camera that has that curtain that flicks down across the viewfinder is great for auto-exposure when using a tripod. Ae lso, I think that the older AIS manual focus lenses were "brighter" at the same f-stops compared with newer AF-S lenses. The f-stops match for depth of field, but the measured brightness is different between lenses (this is known as T-stops).

An advantage of rangefinder cameras like Leica M7, MP, M5, Zeiss Ikon ZM, Bessa R3, Minolta CLE etc. No light sensors in the VF to have to worry about this.

 

[apoglass]

Regarding the suggestion of using a Nikon F4 screen in a Nikon F3 body, I read somewhere a caution that "Nikon F3 and F4 camera focusing screens are optically incompatible because the position of the fresnel in the frame is at a slightly different height (0.23mm thicker than F3 screens) that is enough different to cause misfocus."

 

[Glen Diamond]

An advantage of rangefinder cameras like Leica M7, MP, M5, Zeiss Ikon ZM, Bessa R3, Minolta CLE etc. No light sensors in the VF to have to worry about this.

Yes... I agree, in many ways the range finder cameras are amazing. You can see around the outside of the actual image (greater than 100 percent view) and that helps when anticipating moving objects into a scene. No viewfinder auto exposure issues. Quiet to operate. Nice to look at. Prime lenses with little in the way of distortion at the focal plane. Thinner than SLR's. But, then again, I enjoy the flexibility of an SLR. The Nikon F4 has a large bright viewfinder, but I gather the camera is the most hated Nikon because of its hefty weight and awkward locks on most of the dials.

 

[Huss]

Yes... I agree, in many ways the range finder cameras are amazing. You can see around the outside of the actual image (greater than 100 percent view) and that helps when anticipating moving objects into a scene. No viewfinder auto exposure issues. Quiet to operate. Nice to look at. Prime lenses with little in the way of distortion at the focal plane. Thinner than SLR's. But, then again, I enjoy the flexibility of an SLR. The Nikon F4 has a large bright viewfinder, but I gather the camera is the most hated Nikon because of its hefty weight and awkward locks on most of the dials.

I use both, as they both have their + and -. Like you said.

 

[Les Sarile]

Also, a camera that has that curtain that flicks down across the viewfinder is great for auto-exposure when using a tripod.

An advantage of rangefinder cameras like Leica M7, MP, M5, Zeiss Ikon ZM, Bessa R3, Minolta CLE etc. No light sensors in the VF to have to worry about this.

The Pentax LX has a variety of viewfinders that range from the largest (1.35X) to smallest (0.55X) magnification with most having built-in diopter adjustment.

There is one metering cel in the mirror box that cannot be influenced by any light coming in from the viewfinder - even if the viewfinder is removed, so a viewfinder blind is not needed.

 

[Glen Diamond]

Some Nikon's also have a couple of metering cells in the camera body for old style flash metering (reading the flash off the film) and spot metering. I think it's just the matrix and centre weighted metering that's inside the viewfinder.

 

[Les Sarile]

Some Nikon's also have a couple of metering cells in the camera body for old style flash metering (reading the flash off the film) and spot metering.

The Nikon F3 has one metering cel in the mirror box but uses a mirror with holes to read TTL metering and OTF metering for TTL flash only. The eye level prisms have a viewfinder blind to keep light out of the viewfinder. All the other Nikons AE capable bodies with TTL flash have an OTF cel in the mirror box as well as two metering cels in the viewfinder for all other metering functions.

 

[Chris Livsey]

The eye level prisms have a viewfinder blind to keep light out of the viewfinder. .

=Just for the pedants the F3P does not have a blind