Apparently they improved it for the DP-2 units. My new one seems to work perfectly, and I've never had a problem with the DP-3. I've only had trouble with small things on the body... My first doesn't have X-sync and the back latch is extremely stiff.Its just the DP-1 meters I’ve had die on me not the bodies. That’s why I went plain prism this time.
Apparently they improved it for the DP-2 units.
Actually, the DP-2 is the least reliable finder do to faulty connectors.
Sover Wong details this issue on his site.
I've heard the DP-12 (F2AS) is the most reliable and I've almost bought one on several occasions, but now that I have the DE-1 I'm pretty sure I'll stick with that. Carrying the meter I use for MF and LF is no big deal.
Not only reliable, that version is also it is SUPER sensitive and ultra precise, "rated to read down to negative 4 EV at ISO 100 with f/1.4 lens! " This should be 30 seconds... This fact speaks on their own, telling how serious this 1972 Pro camera was.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/f2as.htm
I've only have shot a few rolls with a borrowed F2AS... but I soon realized what I had in my hands.
___________
All the one digit F are impressive, they mostly dominated the 35mm Pro market since the 60s to the 90s.
At one point Canon pushed strongly when they introduced lenses with the AF motor inside, for faster Pro AF. Nikon always had priorized using very well tested technology in the Pro cameras and they were slower in making a fast AF, the F4 (AF motor in the body) was slower than the Canon rival, their solution was the F5 but this was a very advanced development that required more time for its development. Pros were moving from Nikon to Canon because of the AF and the F5 was not ready yet... so Nikon had to promote the advanced Prosumer F90 to allow more time for the F5 development. When the F5 arrived in 1996 Nikon got the Pro market leadership again with some impressive features like the 1005 dots rgb matrix meter connected to a Neural Network, an impresive AF and a world class Flash exposure control.
In the digital era Nikon and Canon had an strong rivalry, today we have Sony challenging both... Canon sensors are said to be more portraiture oriented, depicting slightly better tonal separations of the skin, while Nikon (Sony sensors) are said to be slightly better for the rest, but that's about taste... what is true is that spectral sensitivity footprints are slightly different.
Pros were moving from Nikon to Canon because of the AF and the F5 was not ready yet... so Nikon had to promote the advanced Prosumer F90 to allow more time for the F5 development. When the F5 arrived in 1996 Nikon got the Pro market leadership again with some impressive features like the 1005 dots rgb matrix meter connected to a Neural Network, an impresive AF and a world class Flash exposure control.
Apparently they improved it for the DP-2 units. My new one seems to work perfectly, and I've never had a problem with the DP-3.....
Yep - one notable example is Galen Rowell, who certainly put his cameras thru some extreme conditions. He thought very highly of the N90s.As impressive as the F5 was, many pro's who bought the F90x (N90s) chose to stick with it when the F5 was released.
Yep - one notable example is Galen Rowell, who certainly put his cameras thru some extreme conditions. He thought very highly of the N90s.
As impressive as the F5 was, many pro's who bought the F90x (N90s) chose to stick with it when the F5 was released.
Oh really? I had no idea of this basic truth.It is problematic to draw conclusions about the population from sample size of one.
Oh really? I had no idea of this basic truth.
I am aware of a larger trend reported by others and I use my two cameras merely as examples of that trend
And people were telling me that owning two Nikon SLRs was overkill?
And people were telling me that owning two Nikon SLRs was overkill?
I like the Nikon F2.
Not only reliable, that version is also it is SUPER sensitive and ultra precise, "rated to read down to negative 4 EV at ISO 100 with f/1.4 lens! " This should be 30 seconds... This fact speaks on their own, telling how serious this 1972 Pro camera was.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/f2as.htm
Yes, though I believe that identical metering performance was available for the pre-AI system on the DP-3 the year before that.The Nikon F2 was released in 1971 while the DP-12 equipped F2AS was released in 1977.
The manual and other online resources list EV -2 as the lowest. The manual shows how you can meter and use exposure times lasting up to 10 seconds - which is the minimum speed available to set the shutter on. This is impressive for a Nikon.
The Nikon F2 was released in 1971 while the DP-12 equipped F2AS was released in 1977.
The manual and other online resources list EV -2 as the lowest. The manual shows how you can meter and use exposure times lasting up to 10 seconds - which is the minimum speed available to set the shutter on. This is impressive for a Nikon.
- - - which is impressive...
I think the real genius of the F2 is that they stayed out of their own way. They learned from the early problems of the F that they wanted to leave plenty of room for all kinds of different findera and accessories... Do you know that there's nothing on the F2 body that's specifically designed for the DS aperture control units? They slip on over the lens mount and flash mount. I don't think the designers had that in mind when first designing the body. But nothing gets in the way. Same with the DP's: Nothing on the body is involved with metering in any way, except to supply power to the head. Nothing about the body is groundbreaking, it's just a very nice body for the time with some features that, while they had existed, were somewhat rare at the time.Yes... sorry, I was not clear...
To compare, the year 2000 F80 is able to meter Matrix and Center: 0 to 21 EV; Spot: 3 to 21 EV (ISO 100; f1.4 lens).
Those -4EV in the 1977 F2AS, (or an older F2 with DP retrofit), is 4 stops more sensitive than the F80 made 23 years later, pointing what a serious device the F2 was... no dout, it was a true marvel of the era that ruled for a decade.
...and anyway the 1971 DP version is still two stops more sensitive than the F80 made 29 years later...
The F5 meters EV 0 to 20 , also less than the F2, still this is a miracle because it sports 1005 RGB spots, quite a more challenging technology. The AF in the F5 works from EV -1 to +19 (again rated at ISO 100 f/1.4), which is impressive...
I hadn't seen that one! That's for real!
. . . impressive until you compare it to the Pentax LX . . .
Rugged F's you say?... Ichinose Taizo...
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