Nikon announces new flagship **FILM** SLR – the F6!

In article sNI2d.317911$8_6.133850@attbi_s04,
William Graham wrote:

"TP" wrote in message
Just buy the accessory AA battery pack. I suggest that most F6 owners
will buy one, just as most F4 owners purchased an MB-21 or MB-23
battery pack.

Yes....On re-reading the specs, I see that such a thing is available...I do
wonder where they put it. Does it hang on the bottom of the camera,
extending it's height to approximately the same as the F5?

Unfortunately the whole combination is even bigger than the F5:

http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/...g=1&mem=&arc=Y

Why on earth didn't they design it to accept internal AAs as an option?
After all, the F100 can take either an AA or CR123 internal battery
holder, without having to bother with the optional external grip.

Richard.

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .
Matt Clara wrote:

"Alan Browne" wrote in message

...not sure if anyone else posted on it ... but the F6 backs
off to 1/250 sync speed from 1/300. Yet another area where the
F6 is a watered down F5 or more likely an improved F100.




Whatever... Most modern Nikons will go to 1/300 (on manual), but it's
iffy,
even on the F5. Nikon's just playing it safe. Plus, look at the host
of

On the F5 it is spec so I would expect it to work within the temp
range of the camera flawlessly.

other bells and whistles, like the built in databack, inter-volvo-meter,
etc. Then there's the full metal body, including the back, beter meter,
better autofocus, mirror lockup, faster motordrive, shutter monitor, and
a

Shutter monitor? WTF is that? Nikon shutters are extremely
reliable in this class ... not something of value to monitor it, IMO.

super hightech shutter made in collaboration with DuPont. The list
goes on

About time they caught up to Minolta (Max 9 [1998] uses carbon
fibre reinforced epoxy blades and shoots to 1/12,000 (1/300 sync)).

and on.
If this is an improved F100, it's improvements are generational, at the
very
least.

I expected that the "F6" would be better than an "F5" in all
respects. Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it... but by
going to a fixed VF, slower sync, etc. etc. they've taken away
some of the king-of-the-hill pro appeal.



[Alan, I wrote this earlier in response to your post. I realize now your
point is that the F6 doesn't seem like an F5 x 2 (or 1.4, even), still, this
rant of mine is too good to let go...]

rant
Oh, I know. Whatever Nikon comes out with these days has to be defined in
terms of what it's not. It's as though they really haven't offered us
anything except big voids. They come out with a 12 megapixel dslr, it's not
full frame, it's not on time (should have been last year, right?). Hey, we
better not buy into Nikon, lest we get sucked into the void ourselves. Buy
a Nikon camera, get nothing, less than nothing, even, a great sucking
blackness, cleaning out your wallet, causing your wife to leave you, making
your life empty of meaning. And the pictures--all black. The void even
sucks at the light itself, so save yourself the trouble of developing your
film, there's nothing on it, except the emptiness that the Nikon Corp.
foists on the world! Move to Canon now--there's the light, there it is,
Carol Anne, move towards it. Or towards Minolta, like you, Alan, you willy
fox, you.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just sick of everyone bashing on Nikon. They've
come out with several fine cameras just now, with lots of attention to
detail and end user needs, and 90% of the discussion here is about what it's
not. Nikon hears the complaints about the F5's size and weight, so they par
the new one's size down, and yet pack in a lot of cutting edge technology,
and now it's called either an F200, or a rip of the EOS 1v, and not an
improvement over the F5, even though many of its features are improved.
/rant


--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
.. .
Matt Clara wrote:

"Alan Browne" wrote in message

...not sure if anyone else posted on it ... but the F6 backs
off to 1/250 sync speed from 1/300. Yet another area where the
F6 is a watered down F5 or more likely an improved F100.




Whatever... Most modern Nikons will go to 1/300 (on manual), but it's
iffy,
even on the F5. Nikon's just playing it safe. Plus, look at the host
of

On the F5 it is spec so I would expect it to work within the temp
range of the camera flawlessly.

other bells and whistles, like the built in databack, inter-volvo-meter,
etc. Then there's the full metal body, including the back, beter meter,
better autofocus, mirror lockup, faster motordrive, shutter monitor, and
a

Shutter monitor? WTF is that? Nikon shutters are extremely
reliable in this class ... not something of value to monitor it, IMO.

super hightech shutter made in collaboration with DuPont. The list
goes on

About time they caught up to Minolta (Max 9 [1998] uses carbon
fibre reinforced epoxy blades and shoots to 1/12,000 (1/300 sync)).

and on.
If this is an improved F100, it's improvements are generational, at the
very
least.

I expected that the "F6" would be better than an "F5" in all
respects. Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it... but by
going to a fixed VF, slower sync, etc. etc. they've taken away
some of the king-of-the-hill pro appeal.



[Alan, I wrote this earlier in response to your post. I realize now your
point is that the F6 doesn't seem like an F5 x 2 (or 1.4, even), still, this
rant of mine is too good to let go...]

rant
Oh, I know. Whatever Nikon comes out with these days has to be defined in
terms of what it's not. It's as though they really haven't offered us
anything except big voids. They come out with a 12 megapixel dslr, it's not
full frame, it's not on time (should have been last year, right?). Hey, we
better not buy into Nikon, lest we get sucked into the void ourselves. Buy
a Nikon camera, get nothing, less than nothing, even, a great sucking
blackness, cleaning out your wallet, causing your wife to leave you, making
your life empty of meaning. And the pictures--all black. The void even
sucks at the light itself, so save yourself the trouble of developing your
film, there's nothing on it, except the emptiness that the Nikon Corp.
foists on the world! Move to Canon now--there's the light, there it is,
Carol Anne, move towards it. Or towards Minolta, like you, Alan, you willy
fox, you.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just sick of everyone bashing on Nikon. They've
come out with several fine cameras just now, with lots of attention to
detail and end user needs, and 90% of the discussion here is about what it's
not. Nikon hears the complaints about the F5's size and weight, so they par
the new one's size down, and yet pack in a lot of cutting edge technology,
and now it's called either an F200, or a rip of the EOS 1v, and not an
improvement over the F5, even though many of its features are improved.
/rant


--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:57:56 +0100, TP wrote:

"Matt Clara" wrote:

As far as I can tell, the only thing lost is the interchangeable prisms.
That matters not a whit to me, nor do I know any photographers by
aquintance or word of mouth who change prisms by the job, or on any
regular basis, for that matter.


Nikon still have comparatively huge stocks of unsold alternative finders
for the F4, and sold very, very few for the F5, hence their omission from
the F6 specification. None of the D1/D2 series digital SLRs had/has
interchangeable finders, and apparently there is no demand for them.

It seems sensible not to offer something for which there is virtually no
demand, and which adds significantly both to the cost of manufacture and
to the risk of ingress of dust or moisture.

Where might I find these huge stocks of F4 finders? Are they selling them
off cheap? Because I would be interested in a couple of them.

--
Dallas www.dallasdahms.com
"Going down a dirty inner city side road I plotted
Madness passed me by, she smiled hi, I nodded"
- Sixto Rodriguez

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:57:56 +0100, TP wrote:

"Matt Clara" wrote:

As far as I can tell, the only thing lost is the interchangeable prisms.
That matters not a whit to me, nor do I know any photographers by
aquintance or word of mouth who change prisms by the job, or on any
regular basis, for that matter.


Nikon still have comparatively huge stocks of unsold alternative finders
for the F4, and sold very, very few for the F5, hence their omission from
the F6 specification. None of the D1/D2 series digital SLRs had/has
interchangeable finders, and apparently there is no demand for them.

It seems sensible not to offer something for which there is virtually no
demand, and which adds significantly both to the cost of manufacture and
to the risk of ingress of dust or moisture.

Where might I find these huge stocks of F4 finders? Are they selling them
off cheap? Because I would be interested in a couple of them.

--
Dallas www.dallasdahms.com
"Going down a dirty inner city side road I plotted
Madness passed me by, she smiled hi, I nodded"
- Sixto Rodriguez

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:57:56 +0100, TP wrote:

"Matt Clara" wrote:

As far as I can tell, the only thing lost is the interchangeable prisms.
That matters not a whit to me, nor do I know any photographers by
aquintance or word of mouth who change prisms by the job, or on any
regular basis, for that matter.


Nikon still have comparatively huge stocks of unsold alternative finders
for the F4, and sold very, very few for the F5, hence their omission from
the F6 specification. None of the D1/D2 series digital SLRs had/has
interchangeable finders, and apparently there is no demand for them.

It seems sensible not to offer something for which there is virtually no
demand, and which adds significantly both to the cost of manufacture and
to the risk of ingress of dust or moisture.

Where might I find these huge stocks of F4 finders? Are they selling them
off cheap? Because I would be interested in a couple of them.

--
Dallas www.dallasdahms.com
"Going down a dirty inner city side road I plotted
Madness passed me by, she smiled hi, I nodded"
- Sixto Rodriguez

"Dallas" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:57:56 +0100, TP wrote:

"Matt Clara" wrote:

As far as I can tell, the only thing lost is the interchangeable prisms.
That matters not a whit to me, nor do I know any photographers by
aquintance or word of mouth who change prisms by the job, or on any
regular basis, for that matter.


Nikon still have comparatively huge stocks of unsold alternative finders
for the F4, and sold very, very few for the F5, hence their omission
from
the F6 specification. None of the D1/D2 series digital SLRs had/has
interchangeable finders, and apparently there is no demand for them.

It seems sensible not to offer something for which there is virtually no
demand, and which adds significantly both to the cost of manufacture and
to the risk of ingress of dust or moisture.

Where might I find these huge stocks of F4 finders? Are they selling them
off cheap? Because I would be interested in a couple of them.

I wonder why they didn't design the F6 to take the F5 finders.....Then at
least, they would have a chance of getting rid of the ones they had on hand
that they had already made for the F5.

"Dallas" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:57:56 +0100, TP wrote:

"Matt Clara" wrote:

As far as I can tell, the only thing lost is the interchangeable prisms.
That matters not a whit to me, nor do I know any photographers by
aquintance or word of mouth who change prisms by the job, or on any
regular basis, for that matter.


Nikon still have comparatively huge stocks of unsold alternative finders
for the F4, and sold very, very few for the F5, hence their omission
from
the F6 specification. None of the D1/D2 series digital SLRs had/has
interchangeable finders, and apparently there is no demand for them.

It seems sensible not to offer something for which there is virtually no
demand, and which adds significantly both to the cost of manufacture and
to the risk of ingress of dust or moisture.

Where might I find these huge stocks of F4 finders? Are they selling them
off cheap? Because I would be interested in a couple of them.

I wonder why they didn't design the F6 to take the F5 finders.....Then at
least, they would have a chance of getting rid of the ones they had on hand
that they had already made for the F5.

"Dallas" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:57:56 +0100, TP wrote:

"Matt Clara" wrote:

As far as I can tell, the only thing lost is the interchangeable prisms.
That matters not a whit to me, nor do I know any photographers by
aquintance or word of mouth who change prisms by the job, or on any
regular basis, for that matter.


Nikon still have comparatively huge stocks of unsold alternative finders
for the F4, and sold very, very few for the F5, hence their omission
from
the F6 specification. None of the D1/D2 series digital SLRs had/has
interchangeable finders, and apparently there is no demand for them.

It seems sensible not to offer something for which there is virtually no
demand, and which adds significantly both to the cost of manufacture and
to the risk of ingress of dust or moisture.

Where might I find these huge stocks of F4 finders? Are they selling them
off cheap? Because I would be interested in a couple of them.

I wonder why they didn't design the F6 to take the F5 finders.....Then at
least, they would have a chance of getting rid of the ones they had on hand
that they had already made for the F5.

"Matt Clara" wrote:

Sorry for the rant, I'm just sick of everyone bashing on Nikon. They've
come out with several fine cameras just now, with lots of attention to
detail and end user needs, and 90% of the discussion here is about what it's
not. Nikon hears the complaints about the F5's size and weight, so they par
the new one's size down, and yet pack in a lot of cutting edge technology,
and now it's called either an F200, or a rip of the EOS 1v, and not an
improvement over the F5, even though many of its features are improved.
/rant


If it is any consolation, you would feel much worse if you were a
Leica user and paid any attention to the vitriolic anti-Leica nonsense
for which this newsgroup is justly (in)famous.

;-)