Well it makes sense to carry two with you, one over each shoulder to balance you out. Otherwise you will just be walking in circles.
Should I buy an F5?
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Well it makes sense to carry two with you, one over each shoulder to balance you out. Otherwise you will just be walking in circles.
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Yes. Equilibrium is essential.
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For anyone interested in buying one of these beasts, er, beauties...
At 1200g sans lens, I'd rather carry my Bronica ETRSi and get the huge increase in image quality.
That said, I owned a Nikon D1x, which is based on the F5, and loved it.
That said, I owned a Nikon D1x, which is based on the F5, and loved it.
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I’m sure the pros that used this beast also had assistants to carry the heavy gear. It doesn’t seem that heavy when I hold it. It’s well-balanced. Perhaps I’ll change my tune after schlepping it around several hours.
Actually it is 1400g as you do need 8 AA batteries in there. Still you do get 8fps and auto focus, unlike the Bronica which is manual focus and no fps.
Actually it is 1400g as you do need 8 AA batteries in there. Still you do get 8fps and auto focus, unlike the Bronica which is manual focus and no fps.
OMG, could you imagine MF with 8 frames per second? Hold down the shutter, BRAAAAP, done. Whole roll gone in a heartbeat.
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The Hasselblad EM has a motor drive, though not capable of 8 fps. Did Rollei make a motor drive for the SL66 series?
Not many, most were used by press and photojournalist who have to lug their own gear. A commercial photographer might have an assistant or intern as did some government employees. A couple of hours is nothing, when I worked for the wires, many assignments were 10 to 12 hour days, little rest, day after day. I retired just as AF was coming along and all my systems were lighter than a F5, its the built in battery grip that adds the weight.
My GX680 is motor driven. But certainly not in any hurry to take that next shot. It takes a second between frames just to get to the next frame. Not even sure why they bother to have a "continuous" mode.
F5s were great for a sports shooter. Set up on the batter and grab three frames after the windup hoping to get the ball at the bat. Or get the soccer/footballer just as he's kicking. I got stories from an old press guy last year while we were both waiting out on a jetty for the sunset. He carried his own crap. And since he shot Football (mostly the 49ers) he told me stories if how he hauled the cameras and the ginormous lens to the sidelines, moving up and down with all his gear as the game shifted, trying to get like that perfect shot just as the ball hit the receiver's hands, or something similarly dramatic for the paper. F5s were heavy, but he loved them. Still had a grip on his digital because that size and the vertical shutter release really worked for him.
Who needs 8 frames per second. Buy a movie or video camera instead. Better yet, learn to take a proper photograph in one shot and catch the optimal composition.
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No “spray and pray”?
Real photographers, amateur and profession, do not need to do that.
You've never covered a war, a riot, 100 meter dash, (is it still called a dash?) swimming, or wildlife, like a lion taking down a zebra, there are times that spay and pray comes in handy.
Guess you've never seen a pro photographer at work, either at a game, covering a news event, or in a studio with models.
Pro photographers burn through film. Their editors then go through it all and pick out the best shot.
But yeah, "real" photographers bla bla bla..
I think it's more "Still" than "Again".
Seems a trope with internet experts and twelve year olds (of all ages). Probably just human nature. Always been that way. 20 years ago I showed a "photographer" friend a couple images I'd had published in a magazine. He asked what camera, I said "4004s" and he wrinkled his nose and proceeded to tell me what a horrible camera it was and that I wasn't a pro. As he was looking at shots good enough a magazine paid me for them and published them. Dude was more interested in gear snobbery than actual photographs. Silly me, I saw a cool thing happening and used the camera I had with me, not understanding that if I didn't have an F4 I shouldn't have been shooting.
F5s were definitely pro cameras, used by pros, for pro purposes. Nikon made the high framerate motor drive for a reason. The guy I mentioned earlier used F4s and F5s, he was a 90s sports guy, Steve Young was one of his main subjects to place the era. As he described it, every play he'd know how a qb rolled out and he'd set up for that spot and at the handoff or the pass he'd just spray a handful hoping for the exact moment and the right expression on one frame. Guy probably burned a few rolls every single possession to get the one the ran above the fold on the sports section.
It takes all kinds. If a person can't imagine WHY the F5 shoots 8fps, well that's on them.
As Marshall Mathers so eloquently put it:
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
Leica M3, Summicron 50 DR.
I'm shooting skateboard sequences with an F5 at 8fps (or is it 7.4?, either way I do need that speed for this) and projecting them with synchronised Ektapros to make a stop-motion skateboard movie:
I'm about half way through this project and will be mounting the next batch of sequences this coming winter. I started out filming skateboarding on Super 8 and Super VHS before moving to stills. This project sort of combines both which is fun.
I've seen footage of photographers shooting boxing matches and using short bursts to photograph the impact and the after effect. I saw a photographer use an F5 to shoot multiple exposures of dj's hands with high fps rates. I've also seen it used to bracket in portrait sessions so you get three shots before the model changes their expression.
I'm about half way through this project and will be mounting the next batch of sequences this coming winter. I started out filming skateboarding on Super 8 and Super VHS before moving to stills. This project sort of combines both which is fun.
I've seen footage of photographers shooting boxing matches and using short bursts to photograph the impact and the after effect. I saw a photographer use an F5 to shoot multiple exposures of dj's hands with high fps rates. I've also seen it used to bracket in portrait sessions so you get three shots before the model changes their expression.
I used to do support work/assist/shoot for wire services covering the 2-3 football games in Honolulu during the 90's the Pro Bowl was always a fun game to shoot. At the height of the 'sports cards stock agency' era the card shooters would shoot the blazes out of each player, burning rolls of Pro Fujichrome. One guy had a system of ripping the tops off a whole 20 roll brick of rolls, then dumping the loose rolls into a waist pack, he had two of them different colors held on different sides. He would be in constant shooting rewind loading motion; shot rolls dropped into one waist pack as fresh roll was extracted with the other hand. Those action sports shooters (nearly all men in those days) loved loved the F5, especially those old-school Nikon shooters who had to wait until it was released, Canon had the faster AF motors and the very capable EOS-1n with the 3 (three!) AF points and the Canon AF performance was definitely a noticeable edge. Although I did see the results of a top pro using a then brand new Nikon N90s with an equally new Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 AF-I. A more skilled shooter with a lower level 'consumer' body with a 'slower' lens blew away the team of faster Canon shooters I was supporting. The Nikon shooter said the N90s AF tracking was worlds better than the F4s and while the frame was slower the accuracy was better than the EOS-1n. He had to shoot more 'thoughtfully', since he didn't have the frame rate the Canon guys had, and he said he knew the rumored F5 was going to be a major game changer.
So yes, that 8FPS (mind you that only comes with the MN-30 NiMh battery pack) was used and was a huge part of the success of the Nikon F5. Just because it does not seem very feasible to burn thru rolls at those crazy rates of the past does not mean that the fast frame rate isn't still very useful today; I personally shoot ocean/surf scenes and I do bursts of 2-3 frames per burst on Continuous High. Anything more than a tap means 4-5 frames per sequence, but I want that when I see the situation in the viewfinder calls for it.
So yes, that 8FPS (mind you that only comes with the MN-30 NiMh battery pack) was used and was a huge part of the success of the Nikon F5. Just because it does not seem very feasible to burn thru rolls at those crazy rates of the past does not mean that the fast frame rate isn't still very useful today; I personally shoot ocean/surf scenes and I do bursts of 2-3 frames per burst on Continuous High. Anything more than a tap means 4-5 frames per sequence, but I want that when I see the situation in the viewfinder calls for it.
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I’m planning to get a Nikon SB flash unit, but I have a nice Vivitar 285HV. Is it compatible using the sync socket?
I’m thinking probably not, but I’d like confirmation.
(Edit: I checked the trigger voltage of the flash and it’s under 6V, so it should be safe to use in the hot shoe.)
I’m thinking probably not, but I’d like confirmation.
(Edit: I checked the trigger voltage of the flash and it’s under 6V, so it should be safe to use in the hot shoe.)
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Should be safe; I believe there is a cut off in the prism if its over voltage but not certain.
Older Nikon film era flashes work exceptionally well and are not very useful for the newer digital so often can be found for low cost; the Nikon speed lights are a nice jump from a 285. I used both the 282 and 285HV's for years until I started using the SB-24, which was nearly the equal of the 285 in durability but added in TTL which I increasingly used. Avoid the SB-25 which has a pin than will break.
Older Nikon film era flashes work exceptionally well and are not very useful for the newer digital so often can be found for low cost; the Nikon speed lights are a nice jump from a 285. I used both the 282 and 285HV's for years until I started using the SB-24, which was nearly the equal of the 285 in durability but added in TTL which I increasingly used. Avoid the SB-25 which has a pin than will break.
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Thanks for the tip. I’ve seen an SB-50DX locally for $30, but they’re going for about half that on auction. I’ll check out the SB-24.
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I have an SB-28 for my F5. Works well with my digitals too.
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