Nikon bellows system

chip j · Jul 2, 2016

I just ordered a PB for my F. Will it also work on my F3? Thanks.

Les Sarile · Jul 2, 2016

chip j · Jul 2, 2016

Thank you, Les

Les Sarile · Jul 2, 2016

You're welcome. More specifically I have the Nikon PB4 and a few manual focus bodies including the F, F2 & F3. The F3's aperture priority comes in handy and so do the high magnification finders if you have them.

chip j · Jul 2, 2016

I am going to get a 6X for the F3.

cooltouch · Jul 3, 2016

I have a 6x for my F2. It's a nice accessory to have, especially for high-magnification stuff.

I also own a PB4 with PS4 slide duplicator. I consider the PB4 to be Nikon's best, mostly because it has a modest amount of movements permited, similar to a large format camera. But really, any Nikon bellows will work well for general macro work.

RalphLambrecht · Jul 3, 2016

chip j said:
I just ordered a PB for my F. Will it also work on my F3? Thanks.

if your lenses do;your bellows will too

narsuitus · Jul 3, 2016

I have used my PB-4 on my F, F2, F3, F4, and EM Nikon film cameras. I use a DW-2 6x magnifier finder on the F2. I sometimes use a Nikon DG-2 eyepiece magnifier on the other bodies.

I have also used my PB-4 on DX bodies but I had to use an M2 extension tube between the bellow and the DX body in order to provide enough clearance between the handgrip and the bellows. In this configuration, I lost the ability to infinity focus but that was no loss because I used this setup for close-ups and macro—not for focusing on infinity.

Nikon Close-up by Narsuitus, on Flickr

Theo Sulphate · Jul 3, 2016

Les Sarile said:
... The F3's aperture priority comes in handy ...

Yes, the PB-4 is the most flexible (heh) due to the movements; not sure why the -5 and -6 excluded them - cost?

Anyway, my plan was to use a pre-AI 35/2.8 with my PB-4 and an F2 and manually calculating the exposure.

I could use my F3/T instead but how does the aperture priority help, being that I'd have to be in stop-down mode? Is it as simple as letting the camera select the shutter speed? Doesn't it need to be given aperture information?

Les Sarile · Jul 3, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
I could use my F3/T instead but how does the aperture priority help, being that I'd have to be in stop-down mode? Is it as simple as letting the camera select the shutter speed? Doesn't it need to be given aperture information?

Correct, in aperture mode, the F3 meters the scene as long as you stop the lens down before firing the shutter whether you are using a pre-ai or bellows mounted. Easy to do on the PB4 with the dual trigger that stops the lens on the bellows down just before firing the shutter.

BTW, TTL flash works too.

chip j · Jul 3, 2016

Thanks so much for the PB-4 info. I see you have a MD-4 on there--I was planning to do the same--does it affect sharpness?

Mick Fagan · Jul 3, 2016

chip j said:
Thanks so much for the PB-4 info. I see you have a MD-4 on there--I was planning to do the same--does it affect sharpness?

In a direct answer to your question, no.

But, you will find there is an issue if you use rear movement, the MD4 will not allow you to move the camera along the rails. There is also the issue of running the camera sideways, or at a more than subtle angle from the horizontal position where you may be correcting a landscape horizon (among other things if duping film).

I used my bellows with an F3 and MD4 drive attached to make colour slides from C41 film using the Kodak color print film quite a lot in the past. I literally slid whole rolls of C41 through the slide/film holder unit I have, firing everything with the MD4 cabled remote thingy. The camera batteries certainly take a beating if you are doing gross numbers of long(ish) exposures, so the MD4 unit was attached and things improved a lot for me from then on.

That picture looks like the 55 f/2.8 Micro Nikkor, which is my lens of choice on my bellows.

Mick.

Mick Fagan · Jul 3, 2016

chip j said:
I am going to get a 6X for the F3.

That is a very good idea, if money is tight, or you cannot find the DW-4 magnifier, then you may find the waist level finder DW-3 with the flip up 5x centre magnifier will do reasonable duty. The waist level finder DW-3 is the one pictured in the above F3, MD4 equipped camera/bellows set-up.

I have both of those viewfinders and have used both on bellows with the focusing screen Type E with excellent results. My preference is for the DW-4 magnifier overall, but the waist level finder with the flip up magnifier is certainly usable.

Mick.

chip j · Jul 4, 2016

Yes, I have the DW-3, thanks.

chip j · Jul 4, 2016

What kind of lights are good for table-top/close-up photography? (I have a SB-28, but was thinking of a small LED kit w/stands). Another thing--if I have a bellows and 200mm nikkor, do I need a 200mm micro-nikkor?

Les Sarile · Jul 4, 2016

chip j said:
What kind of lights are good for table-top/close-up photography? (I have a SB-28, but was thinking of a small LED kit w/stands). Another thing--if I have a bellows and 200mm nikkor, do I need a 200mm micro-nikkor?

Most of the LED kits I am seeing don't have much light output and the volume of light not very big so I built my own using a 100watt (not 100 watt equivalent) and it is working quite well. As a reference, I metered a scene lit by a 100 watt light bulb and it recommended 1/8 shutter speed. Same scene and distance with my DIY 100 watt LED and I can attain 1/400 shutter speed. A benefit to continuous lighting is you're not limited to the cameras sync speed. Also, depending on the magnification used, the viewfinder can get very dark and you may need a lot of light to see what you're doing and to focus.

Practically any lens I have tried will work on a bellows. I don't have the Nikon setup but I do have a Canon 200mm on this one. Makes for really nice closeups.

chip j · Jul 4, 2016

Well, I'm definitely not a DIY guy. Can anyone recommend a (reasonably-priced?) unit? Thanks, Les. MY! Some of you guys do have the goodies!

MattKing · Jul 4, 2016

With respect to lights, are you taking shots in colour, or black and white? If you are working in colour, you need to be concerned about the colour of the light source.

chip j · Jul 4, 2016

Les Sarile · Jul 4, 2016

chip j said:
Well, I'm definitely not a DIY guy. Can anyone recommend a (reasonably-priced?) unit?

Of course the Nikon SB-21+AS-12 shown in the F3 bellows picture works very well with the F3's TTL.

There were also some Lester Dine ring lights with Nikon TTL.

cooltouch · Jul 5, 2016

I have the above Lester Dine ringlight with the dedicated Nikon module and Kiron 105mm /2.8 macro. It works great if you're using a Nikon camera that supports its TTL mode. Otherwise, its manual controls are very limited.

Nikon bellows system

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