Olympus v Nikon

[Ko.Fe.]

Olympus is double obsolete by now. Nikon still sells at least one film camera and several film era lenses.
I have three F mount bodies and one M43 Olympus .

 

[Acticus]

I have the K2, P3T and MX as well as the ME, and the MX is the least favorite out of those.
I have an F3P and an F3Ltd as well as the F4 and F6 (and F2s and Fs) and the F3 is my least favourite. From that miserable floppy mess of a film winder to that terrible exposure readout in the VF. I only have them because they are pretty and impress other F3 users.
I ignored the F5 because I did not like the size, doesn't matrix meter with manual lenses, and the fact that all I looked at had electrical issues.

Ah....that brings back memories. I loved that loose feeling winding arm on my F3HP. So smooth! I bought a new one in mid-80's. I don't remember who I sold that one to.

 

[John Koehrer]

At one time Ehrenreich was the official importer of Nikon and they wouldn't touch any Nikon they didn't import. The people
to ask would be Nikon themselves rather than any forum.
Nikon does have a web presence and may have a link on their site.

 

[Acticus]

At one time Ehrenreich was the official importer of Nikon and they wouldn't touch any Nikon they didn't import. The people
to ask would be Nikon themselves rather than any forum.
Nikon does have a web presence and may have a link on their site.

Good idea. Just got off the phone with Nikon. I was told that unless the FM3a was an official Nikon USA import, they will not service the camera. I was told the procedure would be to mail the camera in, and the technician would determine whether it is gray market or not. I asked the service rep was she sure about this, whether there would be an exception for an old film camera, and she said she was sure, she said she was "1000% sure." I asked her how long Nikon will be supporting the FM3a, she said until August of this year. She looked it up. So there you go.

 

[flavio81]

Thanks again everyone. Done a fair bit of reading now and I am now leaning towards either The FE or the FE2.(...) I have read that the FE2 has a new mirror design which results in noticeably less vibration than the FE.

The FE2 shutter has a lot of more energy so the vibrations between the FE and FE2 are probably the same. If you really care about vibration you should either select a horizontal shutter camera, or a very modern vertical shutter camera like a N80/F80.

As for your choices, i'd prefer the FE over the FE2 since the FE can mount pre-AI lenses.

If you don't mind extra weight, the rare Nikkormat EL2 is like a FE camera but much better made.

All those cameras are great choices.

 

[Les Sarile]

If you don't mind extra weight, the rare Nikkormat EL2 is like a FE camera but much better made.

Including the battery location?
I've been meaning to get one just for that oddity.
Is that thinking inside the box . . .

 

[Autonerd]

n the Nikon mount compatibility issue It's not really that difficult...it's quite simple in fact. Except in a few special cases, pre-AI lenses do not mount (can damage!) newer camera bodies that are designed for AI lenses and any AI lens with rabbit ears will also work on the older, pre-AI bodies. In summary, newer AI lenses work with older pre-AI bodies but pre-AI lenses generally do not work with newer AI bodies (The FE for example, is an exception). That's it. It is really quite simple.

So, if you have manual focus AI lenses, then just get a newer AI body like the FM, FM2, FM2n, FM3a, FE, FE2, F2AS, F3, etc...

But they may not automatically stop down when you fire the shutter. So they fit, but they aren't *really* compatible. You have to hold the DOF preview when you shoot, and that pretty much renders long-lens tripod shots (where camera movement must be avoided) impossible (and the OP did mention that camera shake was a concern). So no, they aren't really compatible in the sense that they are not fully functional. A given Nikon lens may mount to a given Nikon camera, but that doesn't mean it will work as you expect it to.

Please, please, please forgive me for being pedantic and argumentative, but I think this idea of universal Nikon compatibility is confusing, especially for someone like me who was originally a Pentax shooter. Every Pentax K-mount lens really does work on every Pentax K-mount camera; the only loss is that the ability for newer cameras to set the aperture (i.e. P or Tv mode) on an older lens. I was personally caught by the short-and-curlys when I found that "compatible" in Nikon-speak does not mean "compatible" in English, and I have half a roll of over-exposed photos to prove it.

Aaron

 

[reddesert]

But they may not automatically stop down when you fire the shutter. So they fit, but they aren't *really* compatible. You have to hold the DOF preview when you shoot, and that pretty much renders long-lens tripod shots (where camera movement must be avoided) impossible (and the OP did mention that camera shake was a concern). So no, they aren't really compatible in the sense that they are not fully functional. A given Nikon lens may mount to a given Nikon camera, but that doesn't mean it will work as you expect it to.

Please, please, please forgive me for being pedantic and argumentative, but I think this idea of universal Nikon compatibility is confusing, especially for someone like me who was originally a Pentax shooter. Every Pentax K-mount lens really does work on every Pentax K-mount camera; the only loss is that the ability for newer cameras to set the aperture (i.e. P or Tv mode) on an older lens. I was personally caught by the short-and-curlys when I found that "compatible" in Nikon-speak does not mean "compatible" in English, and I have half a roll of over-exposed photos to prove it.

The best source for Nikon lens compatibility information is Ken Rockwell's tables at https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

Nikon mounts are mechanically compatible, but the aperture sensing doodads around the mount change every couple of decades, which means you have to understand compatibility in order to get metering, and in newer cases aperture control. Stop down should generally work, though.

Nikon manual focus lenses (both pre-AI and AI) do stop down the aperture when the shutter is pressed, on manual focus bodies, pre-AI and AI. In fact, it works on nearly all combos with AF film bodies and most digital-era lenses and bodies. Most Nikon lenses and bodies have a simple mechanical linkage to stop down the aperture. Pressing the DOF preview lever and pressing the shutter button should have the same effect of moving this lever.

The only way I can think of to defeat the aperture stop down is to mount a very new electronic diaphragm lens ("E type", not Series E) on an older body, but most of us don't have an E type lens. I just put a "G" (no aperture ring) lens on an ancient Nikkormat, and it stopped the lens down when fired. It's a useless combination because there is no way to control the aperture, so it always shoots at f/22. There is truth to limited compatibility - my 2010 lens isn't useful on my 1970 camera. But I think your issue was different than you do.

Edit to add: Maybe you had a combination where the metering didn't work at open aperture, and that's why the photos were over exposed. If you say what lens and body and metering mode, or refer to Ken's tables, we might figure it out.

 

[Autonerd]

TMaybe you had a combination where the metering didn't work at open aperture, and that's why the photos were over exposed. If you say what lens and body and metering mode, or refer to Ken's tables, we might figure it out.

I apologize, I had it backwards -- the FE will stop down a pre-AI lens, but it will not do open aperture metering since there is no way for the lens to communicate its aperture to the camera.

I still stand by my original point -- the FE is not compatible with pre-AIs in that the combination is not fully functional. I suppose one could shoot in automatic mode and press the DOF preview before the shutter button, but I'd rather shoot with a Pentax and have full compatibility.

 

[flavio81]

Please, please, please forgive me for being pedantic and argumentative, but I think this idea of universal Nikon compatibility is confusing, especially for someone like me who was originally a Pentax shooter.

This.

Many cameras won't mount pre-AI lenses.

G series lenses are useless in mechanical film cameras and in many Nikon electronic film cameras.

AF lenses, and some AI lenses, lack the rabbit ears so they won't meter with pre-AI bodies.

pre-AI lenses won't meter with AI bodies unless converted.

etc etc

 

[reddesert]

I hope anyone with experience with the Nikon alphabet soup would not claim that Nikon has universal compatibility. That's why Ken Rockwell's page with the large tables of what mode works on what camera and lens needs to exist (it's much clearer than Nikon's own sites). Nikon's lens mount has existed for 60 years and they've maintained general mechanical compatibility, but the doodads that surround the mount for aperture, AF contacts, etc change with the times. It's an approach that allows the user flexibility (you can use new stuff with old stuff) but also gives the user enough rope to hang themselves without careful research.

Canon and Minolta, of course, took the "rip the band-aid off quickly" approach of changing the mount.

The OP of this thread asked about Olympus v. Nikon, and Olympus OM is another example - there are no variations on the OM mount at all. The disadvantage is it didn't survive into the AF era. The reality of these "versus" threads is that they're all good enough to let you do what you want, with a little research, but none of them will compose the picture for you.

 

[Autonerd]

Nikon's lens mount has existed for 60 years and they've maintained general mechanical compatibility, but the doodads that surround the mount for aperture, AF contacts, etc change with the times.

I rather like The Pentax Way, where any K-mount lens with an aperture ring works on any film camera made since 1972. All you lose is P and Tv modes if the lens has no auto-app setting.

Aaron

 

[Deleted member 88956]

Is there a particular reason to procrastinate only over Nikon vs. Olympus? What ever happened to established quality of Canon, Pentax and Minolta to name the other most recognizable names in film cameras?

 

[flavio81]

Is there a particular reason to procrastinate only over Nikon vs. Olympus? What ever happened to established quality of Canon, Pentax

They are superior to Nikon and Olympus so no threads necessary...