1. From : Toby (whatever@here.com)
Url : http://
Date : 07:06 PM Friday 05 May, 2006

Hi Rick, I've just bought some Ilford FP4 plus 125 ISO black & white film. This will be the first time I've used b&w fim in my FM2. I presume I need to set the film speed to 100. Is there anything I should bear in mind? I've got an orange Cokin filter, is it a good idea to use that on all my shots to get more contrast when taking pictures of the sky etc? Not sure if this is the correct forum for such a question...? Thanks a lot. Toby

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2. From : rick (rick_oleson@yahoo.com)
Url : http://rick_oleson.tripod.com
Date : 03:57 AM Monday 01 May, 2006

Hi M. Mohan: First, I would try using your 50mm; you may find that the small spot has no effect on your photos. If the fungus (assuming that it IS fungus) has not been in there too long, it can probably be cleaned out; if you leave it there it will eventually damage the glass. 50mm lenses are cheap enough today that it might make more sense just to replace it.

I'm not much of a zoom person, I'm afraid. Train pictures, for me, benefit from fine detail and sharpness, and from a few basic perspectives: a wide angle of 24-28mm for close-up shots with exaggerated perspective, a normal and a tele for compressing perspective. I might go with a zoom (maybe something like a 100-300) at the tele end, as there are a number of degrees of perspective flattening that make for interesting shots, but I would probably just get either a 28 or a 24 at the wide end and keep the 50mm for in between. The fixed lenses will generally give better sharpness, lower distortion, higher speed, lighter weight, smaller size and lower cost compared to zooms.

(One long zoom that I WAS very impressed with was a 60-300mm made by Tamron... very sharp and contrasty, and a good range of focal lengths. A bit heavy and bulky, but that's what you get at 300mm.....)

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3. From : Mohan M. M. (pennymohan@eth.net)
Url : http://
Date : 12:57 PM Sunday 30 April, 2006

I have just acquired a NIKON FM camera with a 50mm/1.4 lens. It looks good except for a tiny dot on the lens, presumably fungus growth. I have been taking pics with a borrowed Nikon FM2 for quite some time. I am a intermediate level amateur photographer.

I NEES ADVISE as to what kind of a zoom lens I should acquire - a zoom that will help me in almost all situations since I have not yet specialised in any subject. Of course, i am a train/rail-road buff and takes quite a lot of photos on trains and locomotives. Thank you

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4. From : rick oleson (rick_oleson@yahoo.com)
Url : http://rick_oleson.tripod.com
Date : 08:59 AM Saturday 29 April, 2006

Hi Katrina: I think you're looking at a typographical error. There is no such camera as a Nikon FM2A. There is an FM3A, currently in production, which I suspect is what was intended. There are also an FM, an FM2 and an FM2N.... but the last of these, the FM2N, I believe was discontinued and replaced by the FM3A, so you can only find these used.

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5. From : Katrina Kamantauskas-Holder (katrina.kamantauskas@holderlaw.com)
Url : http://
Date : 01:04 AM Saturday 29 April, 2006

Hello -
I am looking at a Parsons Photography Department required supply list that calls for a "Nikon FM2A". I can't seem to find that particular model on the internet. Does it go by a different name perhaps? Thank you.

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6. From : rick (rick_oleson@yahoo.com)
Url : http://rick_oleson.tripod.com
Date : 07:50 AM Friday 28 April, 2006

Go for it, Toby! Good luck! (I removed the link to the page, no point adding to your competition unnecessarily....) :)=

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7. From : Toby (toby@whatever.com)
Url : http://
Date : 05:51 PM Wednesday 26 April, 2006

Thanks a lot for your response Rick. It sounds like the 2x teleconverter is the way to go then. I don't really want to be getting any closer to the subject. I used my friends 50mm 1:1 macro lens and you had to practically put it inside the flower to get to the maximum range of the lens, and by doing so blocked out all the light. There is a Nikon TC-200 on eBay which is currently at $25....

If the price stays low I might just put in a bid. Even with the postage from America to the UK that's pretty cheap. Probably wasn't a good idea me advertising it on a photography forum... Oh well :-p

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8. From : rick oleson (rick_oleson@yahoo.com)
Url : http://
Date : 08:22 AM Tuesday 25 April, 2006

Hi Toby:

Any 2x teleconverter will get you to 1:1 with the 55mm Micro, and any one will lose 2 stops of light. The more you spend, the better optics you will get, so you can go anywhere from a cheap aftermarket converter for $10-20 up to the Nikon one for $85. It's a very viable way to achieve 1:1, and has advantages: you don't have to get any closer to your subject than you have to be for 1:2 now, and you can focus to infinity without taking the converter off.

Your other option is a 27mm extension tube. An extension tube has no optics in it, it only moves the lens 27mm farther away to make it focus closer. With the tube, your lens focuses at 1:2 when set to infinity, and up to 1:1 at its close limit. You don't lose 2 stops, but the extension alone loses you one stop (you're already losing a half stop when you're at 1:2 with the lens alone)... nothing you can do about that.

There are 2 ways to get an extension tube of this size; one is to buy the Nikon PK-13 tube that originally went with the Micro Nikkor for 1:1 magnification. A cheaper way to get the same result is to buy the cheapest 2x teleconverter you can find and remove the glass from it. This leaves you with an empty tube of about the right length, with the auto diaphragm linkage and everything. Since you're throwing away the glass anyway you don't care how nasty it was, so aim cheap.

The disadvantages of the tube are that it will ONLY focus close; your whole range is from 1:2 to 1:1 magnification... and to get to 1:1 you have to get twice as close to your subject as your current 1:2 position.

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9. From : Toby (toby@whatever.com)
Url : http://
Date : 07:00 PM Monday 24 April, 2006

Hi Rick,

I've been using my 55mm f2.8 Nikkor Micro lens that you kindly recommended. It's an excellent lens and I've been really pleased with the results I've got so far.

I would like to be able to achieve 1:1 magnification to explore a few more areas with my photography. It says on this site that I can use an AI TC-200 Tele-Converter:-

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/teleconverter/index2.htm

I looked for one on eBay and it says you lose two stops of light, thus making my maximum effective aperture 5.6. The cost of the converter I found was $85 (Buy it now).

Is this going to be the best / cheapest way for me to achieve 1:1? Losing two stops of light seems a lot...

Thanks again for your help.
Toby

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10. From : rick oleson (rick_oleson@yahoo.com)
Url : http://rick_oleson.tripod.com
Date : 08:31 AM Monday 24 April, 2006

Lenses from other camera brands will not fit the Nikon. However, all aftermarket brands offered lenses in Nikon mount; there are dozens of brands, but some of the main ones are Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Vivitar and Soligor. Usually, an aftermarket lens will be marked, toward the rear end, with letters to indicate the make of camera that the lens is made to fit. You want a lens made to Nikon "AI" specifications; typically, an aftermarket lens made to this spec will be marked "NAI" or "N/AI" on the mount flange or on the aperture ring.

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