FILM
LOADING
Loading of film seems to be fool proof.
The F5 had a very good film loading mechanism and the F6 seems
to be at least as good. My first F5 does not have a knob to
force you to insert the film with an angle. My second F5 and
the F100 have this knob though, just as the F6 has. When I
switch cameras back and forth, I sometimes find myself being
irritated by this small knob since on the first F5 I can just
drop in the film canister into place. Anyway, this is not
an issue.
Don't
forget to turn on the camera before you load the film if you
are using the data imprint on frame 0 function! Another issue
that could have been solved a bit more intelligently, but
knowing this, it should not be an issue. So, don't put in
a film, close the back door and then turn on the camera. Turn
on the camera, load the film, close the door and give the
camera some time to burn in the data on frame 0, a second
should be enough according to Nikon.
OK,
so I did directly two no-no's with the first rolls:
There are a lot of other things Nikon has learned from the
earlier models, such as a three-split battery symbol, not
just showing "full", "half" and "nothing",
but also a "2/3rds full".
Oh,
sorry, I got lost in ergonomics. It's just that the F6 is
such a sweet camera to hold. I find myself sitting and quietly
fumbling it in the evenings. There are a whole bunch of very
important technological advances found in the F6 though. Let's
take a look at some of the smaller ones first.
No
more lost caps. The rubber caps of the F6 cannot be lost as
they are connected with the body through a tiny "rubber
strap". A common issue on most bodies is that you lose
the sync and remote connector caps. On the F6 this can no
longer happen.
NO
APOLOGIES
Now you're not forgetting at what aperture and shutter speed
you were using, with which lens and on what film, to get that
keeper. The F6 keeps record of quite a number of technical
parameters for each shot you are making. Sure, the F5 did
this to a large degree too, but how many of us did ever bother
to connect the Photo Secretary to suck out the data out of
the body? Now though, the F6 provides us with this information
on a well readable LCD, can burn most of it into the film
and also spits it out on CF cards, should we decide to buy
the optional Nikon CF card reader/writer MV-1.
The
meta data recording capability of the F6 is probably one of
the major reasons an F5 guy like me wants an F6. Another reason
may be that you want a smaller F5. Depending on the granularity
of data stored into memory, you can record the exposure information
of either approximately 57 or 31 rolls of film in memory.
I have set my F6 to record at fine granularity, that is, the
camera is able to hold the information regarding some 30 rolls
of film. What I like with this fine granularity setting, is
that the camera records ISO, Film number, Unique image ID,
image counter ...
OK,
NO DRAWBACKS?
For the first few months I have been using the F6, I have
found very few things I have reacted on. I compared the focusing
speed on the F6 with the F5 under same light conditions, starting
out in really low light. My F6 is without the MB-40 battery
pack, so the comparison is maybe not completely fair. One
reason to get an F6 if you have an F5 is maybe because you
want to have a "smaller F5" and the F100 doesn't
really do it for you (for whatever purpose). The way the F6
drives the non-AF-S AF lenses, is smoother than the F5. That
is, it drives them with less torque. When the F6 reaches the
focal point, the drive is stepped down, going slower for a
short time, whereas the F5 drives the lens full speed very
close to the focal point and then slows down "immediately".
This stop can be felt in the whole F5 and this is not the
case with the F6. The way the motor is driven on the F6 is
most definitely saving energy compared to the F5's brute force
approach. I also assume that the F6 AF motor is different
and needs somewhat less power.
On
AF-S lenses this is not an issue since they are not driven
by the internal AF motor and I am quite positive on that the
higher voltage you get out of the MB-40 will modify the behavior
of the F6's AF motor drive some.
I
don't really like the 3V CR123A Lithium batteries. Why? First
of all, I think I know why Nikon used them: Hard to get more
energy into such a small space, but they last for a few films
only (Nikon says approx 35, I guess it will be less with the
AF play factor factored in). I don't really like the idea
of two small CR's driving the VR in my 80-400. They will die
pretty soon. OK, then can be replaced and yes, the F6 is smaller
than the F5 and yes, you can get the MB-40. Would have been
cool, should Nikon have used AA sized batteries in the camera,
but the step-up regulator could have been an issue, using
for e.g. 2 x 1.5V cells.
Actually
I only got out some 14 rolls of film from the first set of
CR123A batteries, but the lens play factor (I played with
the AF a lot between shots) has been extremely high.
OK,
ANYTHING ELSE?
Eager as I was to shoot off the first film, I loaded a film
and then started to read the manual. That was the wrong order
since I found out that you cannot turn on the digital meta
recording when a film is in the camera. There is really no
technical reason for not allowing this to happen (or at least
I cannot come up with a plausible explanation), but as soon
as a film is in the camera, several settings are locked and
cannot be changed. Not such a big deal though. One of the
very useful features of the F6 is the recording of this meta
information and I for now intend to keep it on at all times.
No more trying to remember with what lens at what settings
you shot a certain film.
I
am missing a USB connection from the camera so that a computer
can suck up the data directly.
All
in all a great camera. If you are into getting yourself a
smaller F5, the F6 without the MB-40 might be just what you
wanted.
See
also Jeremy
Bourassa's (balls007) first look at the F6 at the Nikonians
Resources.
