Nikon F2AS iso range question

Huss · Aug 22, 2020

I decided to shoot a roll of Lomo Fantome ISO 8 film in my F2AS. That was when I noticed the lowest ISO setting indicated was 12 on my DP12 (AS) head. But.. the dial turned past that to what seemed to be ISO 6. I checked meter readings at indicated 12, and what I assumed was about 6 - they were 1 stop apart so good to go.
I wondered why my DP12 head did not have markings for ISO 6 - and no they had not rubbed off! - especially since a quick google search showed other DP12 heads that do have an ISO 6 setting!

So.. did Nikon make a running production change on these heads?

beemermark · Aug 22, 2020

My F2 (with the DP-1_ has an ASA setting of 6. Since the F2AS meter is more sensitive I find it odd it only goes down to 12.

Huss · Aug 22, 2020

Yeah, weird. Here you can see where I have set it to what seems to be ISO 6 (and the exposure corresponds to that), but no marks for it.

beemermark · Aug 23, 2020

That is weird. https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/prisms/dp12/index.htm#ASA shows ASA 6. Maybe the engraver was lazy that day? I trade my DP-1 (with ASA 6) for yours -

Huss · Aug 23, 2020

beemermark said:
That is weird. https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/prisms/dp12/index.htm#ASA shows ASA 6. Maybe the engraver was lazy that day? I trade my DP-1 (with ASA 6) for yours -

What's weirder is that link shows the ISO 6, but the text says:
The meter can be set across the full range of from ASA 12 to ASA 6400.

Nitroplait · Aug 23, 2020

Interesting. It appears Nikon did something similar on the Nikkormat EL series. EL and ELW has no markings for 8sec on the shutter dial, but do have the click on the dial and the unmarked spot times 8sec perfectly.
EL2 does have the 8sec marking.

Huss · Aug 23, 2020

This current ad for one for sale (not mine!) shows the same markings as mine:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1659879

Huss · Aug 23, 2020

I developed my film, and the unmarked ISO 6 setting worked perfectly.

Chan Tran · Aug 23, 2020

You did set it on ISO 6. What you did was to set it to ISO 12 with +1 exposure compensation. Yes the F2AS does have exposure compensation although it's manual only camera. The EC serves 2 purposes . The first is to provide EC when used with the DS-12 c automatic aperture control. The second is to compensate for some focusing screens.

Huss · Aug 24, 2020

Chan Tran said:
You did set it on ISO 6. What you did was to set it to ISO 12 with +1 exposure compensation. Yes the F2AS does have exposure compensation although it's manual only camera. The EC serves 2 purposes . The first is to provide EC when used with the DS-12 c automatic aperture control. The second is to compensate for some focusing screens.

Can the F2AS cameras that have ISO 6 indicated also be set with +1 EC? Via the ISO dial? So they would read ISO 3?

Chan Tran · Aug 24, 2020

Huss said:
Can the F2AS cameras that have ISO 6 indicated also be set with +1 EC? Via the ISO dial? So they would read ISO 3?

There is no ISO 6 or 3 on the dial. The OP could set it to ISO 12 with +1 stop EC but actually the F2AS was designed to have only +1/2 stop EC to -2 stop EC. But being a manual camera who cares about the ISO range. You can simply increase the exposure by 2 stop via the aperture and or shutter speed when meter at ISO 12.

Huss · Aug 24, 2020

Chan Tran said:
There is no ISO 6 or 3 on the dial. The OP could set it to ISO 12 with +1 stop EC but actually the F2AS was designed to have only +1/2 stop EC to -2 stop EC. But being a manual camera who cares about the ISO range. You can simply increase the exposure by 2 stop via the aperture and or shutter speed when meter at ISO 12.

Yeah I get that...

Nitroplait · Sep 6, 2020

Huss said:
Can the F2AS cameras that have ISO 6 indicated also be set with +1 EC? Via the ISO dial? So they would read ISO 3?

I can see that on my F2 (with the DP-1) with a minimum ASA setting of 6 printed on the dial, it can be moved to the ASA 3 position.

Nitroplait · Sep 6, 2020

Sorry, I just noticed that it is half a stop i.e. 4.5 ASA:

Nikon F2AS iso range question

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency