Help me understand Nikon F2 motor drives...

BradS · Jul 16, 2021

Thinking I want a motor drive for the Nikon F2. I see that there are several...it gets confusing.

What are your experiences? What are the pros and cons of each - especially considering they're all OLD now.

neilt3 · Jul 16, 2021

I've no experience with them , but I take it you've seen this page ?
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/motordrives/index.htm

Your choice might be made by specifications , it depends on your needs .
The link might help .

Bearman · Jul 16, 2021

They're heavy, noisy, battery-munching monsters.
Do you have a use case where lugging all that weight improves your photography?
Film's expensive, especially at 4fps!

I have the motor drive for the F3 and have used it maybe once. Close to doubles the weight of the camera. Looks cool though, and it's mint, so I've kept it.

Vincent Peri · Jul 16, 2021

I use MD4 motor drives on my F3HP cameras, but I set it to single shot, NOT continuous shooting. That way, I don't have to jiggle the camera around by manually advancing the film. I'm always ready for the next shot.

Paul Howell · Jul 16, 2021

I used the MD2, heavy, fast for the day, still heavy, the MD3 is really a very fast winder rather than a drive, no rewind but is somewhat lighter. I don't know how many rolls I ran though it, in the 10000s. As a working PJ I took it from the topics to the artic, never a hiccup, just had it serviced once a year along with the body.

narsuitus · Jul 16, 2021

There are three motor drives for the Nikon F2.
MD-1
MD-2
MD-3

I have one MD-1 and two MD-3 motor drives.

The MD-1 and MD-2 motor drives are very similar in looks and function. The MD-1 and MD-2 motor drives cannot be removed from camera body when film is in the camera because the film will be exposed to light.

The MD-3 motor drives are less expensive. The MD-3 has a slower firing rate than the other two. The MD-3 has plastic parts that tend to break. The MD-3 does not have a rewind feature. The MD-3 has one major advantage over the MD-1 and MD-2 in that it can be removed from the body without exposing the film in the camera to light.

There are two battery packs for the three motor drives.
MB-1 Battery Pack
Battery holders are very fragile
Battery holders hold 10 AA batteries (1.5 volts per battery).
Uses alkaline or rechargeable alkaline batteries.
Also uses NiCad batteries.
Can use rechargeable NiMH batteries but they are not recommended because they are only 1.2 volts per battery.
Fresh batteries will last for over 30 rolls of 36-exposure film.

MB-2 Battery Pack
Battery holders hold 8 AA batteries (1.5 volts per battery).
Uses alkaline or rechargeable alkaline.
Cannot use rechargeable NiMH batteries because they are only 1.2 volts.
Fresh batteries will last for over 30 rolls of 36-exposure film.

Nikon F2 with motor drives by Narsuitus, on Flickr

mshchem · Jul 16, 2021

The MD2 and MB1 are very cool. But quite heavy. I have this stuff, my recommendation is get a F5 . For manual focus F3 and the MD4 much lighter and still cool.

beemermark · Jul 17, 2021

mshchem said:
The MD2 and MB1 are very cool. But quite heavy. I have this stuff, my recommendation is get a F5 . For manual focus F3 and the MD4 much lighter and still cool.

Buy the MD2, it will not improve your photography but will increase your upper body strength. The cool factor is beyond Uranus. I have one on my F2 and it doesn't even work -

Miguel Asensio · Jul 17, 2021

Similar with my F2 - I have am MD2 and it works for a little while but the batteries don’t last a whole roll. Uber cool Looking, though. LOL

Huss · Jul 17, 2021

Vincent Peri said:
I use MD4 motor drives on my F3HP cameras, but I set it to single shot, NOT continuous shooting. That way, I don't have to jiggle the camera around by manually advancing the film. I'm always ready for the next shot.

Same. And even though it adds a lot of weight, the handling is through the roof! It makes it much steadier to hold and it is great having the camera at eye and always ready.

BradS · Jul 17, 2021

Paul Howell said:
I used the MD2, heavy, fast for the day, still heavy, the MD3 is really a very fast winder rather than a drive, no rewind but is somewhat lighter. I don't know how many rolls I ran though it, in the 10000s. As a working PJ I took it from the tropics to the arctic, never a hiccup, just had it serviced once a year along with the body.

Thanks Paul. Any idea what the routine maintenance involved?

BradS · Jul 17, 2021

narsuitus said:
....The MD-1 and MD-2 motor drives are very similar in looks and function. The MD-1 and MD-2 motor drives cannot be removed from camera body when film is in the camera because the film will be exposed to light.....

Thanks Much!!! for this excellent summary. I've read a few of the usual on-line pages about everything Nikon (like the mir pages linked by one of the other replies) and this is the first time that I've read mention of the film fogging mid-roll issue. Of course, it is completely obvious once mentioned but had escaped me.

Paul Howell · Jul 17, 2021

BradS said:
Thanks Paul. Any idea what the routine maintenance involved?

Not sure, in my case I dont think Nikon ever replaced a motor or gear, assume it was just CLA.

Huss · Jul 17, 2021

Sover Wong IIRC works on the F2 motor drives, and replaces the plastic bits with metal gears.

Chan Tran · Jul 17, 2021

BradS said:
Thanks Much!!! for this excellent summary. I've read a few of the usual on-line pages about everything Nikon (like the mir pages linked by one of the other replies) and this is the first time that I've read mention of the film fogging mid-roll issue. Of course, it is completely obvious once mentioned but had escaped me.

Nikon warn against mounting or removing the motor drive with film in the camera. But if you do it indoor in relative dark place it's OK.

Help me understand Nikon F2 motor drives...

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