Carl Zeiss sells some adapters at around $2000 that will have only little quality loss, not many shots would notice it, specially if shooting handheld. Adapters under $100 should have quite a noticeable loss...
Would you buy a Nikon FM2n in 2020?
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Carl Zeiss sells some adapters at around $2000 that will have only little quality loss, not many shots would notice it, specially if shooting handheld. Adapters under $100 should have quite a noticeable loss...
The Zeiss adapters are tailored for specific lenses. Most ;igh grade optical firms made or make them.
However, the prime lens is invariably superior.
Dear George Mann,
I have opened this thread asking questions for the FM2n. I don't care about the F90 a bit.
I hope this clarifies.
Cheers.
Funny how, even the filthiest plastic toy cameras sell expensive today. I still regret for cameras I sold for just a few some time ago and now it takes quite more to buy them back. At least some of them seem having a good resale value and that adds for something I think.
Interestingly I'm probably the youngest contributor to this thread so far! But we do like your music, turntables and mechanical cameras
Check Leica prices on their old and used film cameras. Or any of Kardashian cameras. You might reconsider your judgment about Nikon film camera prices.
Fair enough, and good luck with your new camera.
Indeed. I own an M4-P and an M6. Never complained for the price of cameras I like. I try though to get them at the most reasonable price possible. I had a look at the FM2n and the 45P and just realized that the price I got them was more than fair.
Of course the FM3A is neccessarilly more expensive then the FM2 for many reasons: potentially 20 years newer, very limited production and a one of kind in camera history hybrid design.
An excellent writeup about it at https://imaging.nikon.com/history/chronicle/history-fm3a/index.htm if you haven't already seen it.
BTW, the K3 split prism screen introduced with the FM3A is so bright and will never blackout regardless of slow lens. Canon New F-1 introduced earlier a similar screen. Great as this sounds it is problematic to use with wide lenses shooting in relatively dim situations as everything seems in focus!
As an engineer, I am disappointed in their decision to use plastic gears.
But on the other hand, the electronic portion will likely fail before the gears do.
But on the other hand, the electronic portion will likely fail before the gears do.
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Which model has plastic gears?
Only an opinon unless you can provide studies and test results proving one way or another. Without supporting material I'm afraid a disappointing opinion.
I'd also like to see the evidence of electronics failures ahead of gears. I remember that the F3 LCD was only intended to last for so long and were designed to be easily replaced for this reason. At that time, LCD lifespans were very short but many years later and my F3 LCD has not yet failed. Even though the execution of the lightsource for it is IMO terrible, that still works too.
The FM3a.
No Les, I am not going on a wild goose choose to prove something that is already proven thru time and use!
I work on machinery for 40 years and I found it's the mechanical that failed more often. Although the mechanical parts tend to give you a warning before failing completely while the electronics don't.
I work for a company - one of the first to setup in the Stanford Park right after WWII, and I work on equipment that was previously unbelievable to me just a few short years ago! I wish they would allow me to take pictures of some of this equipment as it is literally like being in a Twilight Zone episode! Apparently we have electronics in the satellite that was launched some decades ago and just went past the solar system - still actively transmitting! Now I truly understand why NASA soldering school was a 6 week class when I took it many decades ago . . .
On a photographic sidenote, the brothers who established this company, had their portraits taken by none other than Ansel Adams!
I work for a company - one of the first to setup in the Stanford Park right after WWII, and I work on equipment that was previously unbelievable to me just a few short years ago! I wish they would allow me to take pictures of some of this equipment as it is literally like being in a Twilight Zone episode! Apparently we have electronics in the satellite that was launched some decades ago and just went past the solar system - still actively transmitting! Now I truly understand why NASA soldering school was a 6 week class when I took it many decades ago . . .
On a photographic sidenote, the brothers who established this company, had their portraits taken by none other than Ansel Adams!
That is Voyager I and II. I designed many of the scientific instruments for the Jupiter fly-by. Both Jupiter approach movies and both the Red Spot movies were designed by me.
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It turns out the FM2 also has at least a few plastic internal components, too.
I have a motorcycle that has a delrin gears driving the coolant pump as well as the oil pump. 14 years and over 150K miles so far. In a very tough environment. The material doesn't necessarily condemn components to premature failure.
Not to mention..............it's Italian.
Not to mention..............it's Italian.
I find the K3 screen annoying in the way the split image behaves. The split images are out of focus until the images line up. The K2 doesn't have this behavior, and I much prefer it for anything but with the slowest lenses.
Which came around just about the time that Marty Forscher said that camera companies should make tools, not toys.
Under normal use (not mistreated), these gears may last the lifetime of the camera. But as with anything else in life, it is not guaranteed.
Super bright split image screens that never black out seems like it could be the only screen you would ever need but not really. I reckon that's why they made them interchangeable . . .
Yes, but the plastic parts are replaceable, they can even be 3D printed with excellent accuracy and with even better materials (not to mention that you can replace them with metal parts). Electronics on the other hand are not always repairable and nowadays not even replaceable too. FM3A has two plastic gears. If they ever break, you send the worn/broken gear here:
https://www.mcmaster.com/gears/
And you get brand new in any material you like. Now do something like that with electronics from that era.
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OK for something like a camera where size and form factor play important role then it's easier to fabricate mechanical parts than electronics. For a machine where the size and shape of the electronics doesn't matter it's easier to build new electronics that perform the same function and much better.
Would it stop you from buying a new one?
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