| The
command dials
Let's
start with the command dials. There
are two command dials on the F5, both located at the right
side; one on the front side and one at the back. The two command
dials have very distinct positions with clicks that you can
hear and feel. A dial travels 16 positions upon one complete
revolution.
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A
Black Heron taking off from a branch. This bird visits
us every winter, fishing in the river behind the house.
I believe it is pretty old, maybe this is why it has
a great, white spot on one wing. November 1999. Nikon
F5 using Ch film transport speed and dynamic
AF. Nikkor AF 80-200/2.8D at 200mm on Fujichrome
Velvia.
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The
dials are the two most important controls on the camera. The
form of the dials allows you to operate them even with gloves
on.
The
one on the front is referred to as "Sub-Command Dial"
(SCD) and the one at the back as the "Main-Command Dial"
(MCD) You typically operate the MCD with your thumb and the
SCD with the index finger. I'm mainly an Aperture priority
guy, so most of the time I use the SCD way more than the MCD;
the SCD is used for selecting the aperture in Aperture (A)
priority and Manual (M) exposure mode.
The
SCD is used for three things
You
manipulate the following three settings with the SCD:
1.
Aperture. Setting the aperture in A and M mode. You must
have the aperture ring on the (CPU) lens locked at the minimum
aperture to be able to use the SCD for aperture value selection.
2.
Bracketing. Setting the number of exposures and exposure
compensation steps if you're using bracketing. (I never use
bracketing - there's is no need to since the F5 exposure metering
is always dead right on). This is done in combination with
pressing a small button marked BKT hidden behind a small door
at the lower left back.
3.
Custom Setting item select. Selecting a value in one of
the Custom Setting Menus. This is done in combination with
pressing a small button marked CSM hidden behind a small door
at the lower left back. For example: you simply press the
CSM button and dial the SCD to switch between one of the two
CS register banks, or you go to CS #16 (self-timer duration
setting) by pressing the CSM button and dial the MCD until
"16-AValueSomething" shows up in the rear LCD, then
selecting one of the possible items (in this case the duration
of the self-timer, 2...60 seconds) by rotating the SCD.
The
default behavior is that the SCD decrease a value when you
rotate it CCW while it increase the value being rotated in
CW direction, for example the aperture value. If you for some
strange reason want to invert this behavior, you can activate
CS #6. Activating this CS, both the SCD and the MCD operate
completely in the opposite direction.
If
you want to disable the aperture selection via the SCD, you
activate CS #22. If you disable the CSD aperture selection,
you must set the aperture directly via the aperture ring on
the lens.
You
can lock a selected aperture in A or M mode by pressing the
[L] Lock button (you remember? That's the button hidden by
the small "door" at the bottom left back of the
camera) while dialing the CSD one step. One more step removes
the aperture lock.
The
MCD is allegedly the most important control of the F5 manipulating
at least ten different settings
"Important"
in this case means that it can be used for selecting and setting
a whole bunch of different functions and not necessarily
that you rotate it on a minute-basis :-)
Let's
see what you can do with the MCD. The most important aspect
of the MCD is likely to change the shutter speed in Shutter
(S) Priority and Manual (M) exposure mode.
In
S or M mode, you can lock the shutter speed by pressing the
[L] Lock button while dialing the MCD one step. One more step
removes the shutter time lock.
Most
often, you'll use the MCD in combination with one of the three,
tiny buttons on top of the camera, namely:
1. The AF area mode push button [+]
2. The exposure mode push button [mode]
3. The exposure compensation button [+/-]
All
three of these tiny buttons are really hard to press down
- I think. I have no idea how high the exact force is that
I must apply to operate them, but it's definitely pretty high
and I guess I will never be able to wear down these push buttons.
As soon as you have a bit of nail on that index finger, they're
really tough to operate. The ideal F5 push button finger is
either very bony with a "high pressure point", or
soft without a nail... Except for the [mode] button, I seldom
use these buttons.
In
combination with a press on another button, the MCD can be
used for the following settings:
1.
Exposure mode selection. The exposure modes are Programmed
(P), Shutter (S) Priority, Aperture (A) Priority, or Manual
(M) mode. You select the exposure mode by pressing the exposure
mode [mode] button and dial the MCD. There is no end to the
selection cycle, i.e. you'll for example see P...S...A...M...P...S
if you would dial the MCD CCW in the top (main) LC-Display
(if you haven't changed the dial direction with CS #6).
2.
Flexible program adjust. The MCD shifts the shutter speed-aperture
value pairs in P mode. If you adjust the default pair by rotating
the MCD in this mode, you will see a small star (*) to the
right of the P in the top LC-Display. Nikon calls this the
"Flexible Program". The flexible program stays in
effect until:
a)
the metering system turns off (after a couple of seconds.
The metering system on-time can be set to 4, 8, 16 or 32 seconds
via CS #15. I like to save power, so I have it set at 4 seconds
while 16 seconds is the default)
b) you change exposure mode
c) you turn off the camera
d) you reset the camera (by pressing the BKT and CSM buttons
simultaneously for at least two seconds)
3.
Exposure compensation. Press the [+/-] push button while
you dial the MCD. The compensation can be applied in 1/3 steps,
from -5EV to +5EV. The compensation, for example +0.3, is
visible in both the top LCD and in the viewfinder. The compensation
stays in effect even if the camera is turned off. You must
manually reset the compensation.
4.
Multiple exposure. Is this feature really needed? OK,
you press the Multiple exposure push button on top of the
camera (symbol looks like two frames with a slight offset
on top of each other), shoot one picture and then take another
picture. The multiple exposure is automatically disabled after
two exposures and the film will advance one frame.
5.
Dynamic AF on/off. Press the AF area mode [+] push button
and dial one step.
6.
Bracketing on/off. Press the bracketing [BKT] button and
dial one step. Yeah, really an overused function - not.
7.
Select a custom setting menu. Press the [CSM] button and
dial until the desired CS number is displayed in the rear
LC-Display. You use the SCD to select one of the available
items in the selected menu.
8.
Select film speed. (DX override). Press the [ISO] button
and dial until the desired film speed is displayed in the
rear LC-Display. A force change of film speed (DX-override)
stays in effect even if you change the film. You must press
the [ISO] button and rotate the MCD until the DX symbol dial
in rear LC-Display lights up to leave the override mode.
9.
Select flash sync mode. Press the flash sync button and
dial the MCD. The cycle is: Front-Curtain Sync, Slow Sync
and Rear-Curtain Sync. There's no end to the selection cycle.
The selected flash sync mode is displayed in the rear LC-Display.
10.
Camera back settings. Using an optional camera back, such
as the MF-28 or MF-27, you use the MCD for a whole bunch of
additional settings. Since I don't have such a back, the possible
settings won't be discussed in this review.
OK,
so much for the "most important control" on the
F5. As you can see, if you're shooting a lot of pictures in
Aperture (A) exposure mode (the most useful exposure mode
on the F5) you won't flip around on this dial the whole time. |
