Nikon F100 Question

My father passed away last year and my brother got his camera gear.
Yesterday he sent me a large quanity of it to sell on ebay. I decided
to keep my father's Nikon F100 along with 3 lens and a flash. I will
just pay my brother for it. I have a Canon setup with 2 Canon 1N
bodies and lots of L glass so I'm giving this setup to my wife. It
didn't come with a manual which I will order but as I tried to get it
setup for her to start to use yesterday something strange happened.

I loaded a roll of Fuji 200 ASA print film and when I checked the iso
by pushing the button it says 400. I loaded the film by inserting the
cartridge and pulling it accross to the orange mark on the other side.
Did I do something incorrectly. I assume the F100 reads the dx code
and sets the correct iso speed.

The Nikon lens I received are a 50mm f1.8, 28-105mm f3.5/4.5D, and a
70-210mm f4/5.6. I'm not familar with Nikon gear so I don't know if
these are good lens or not. I also received SB-24 flash that may or
may not go with this body.
In the box was also a mint like new Nikon 6006 and a Nikon 85mm f1.8
non D and a Nikon 28-70mm f3.5/4.5 non D lens. Will these work with
the F100 and are they better then the other lens mentioned above.

I will be selling a bunch of Minolta Maxxum equipment like a 7000 and
9000 body and also a Leica M3 and 3 lens. My primary concern right now
is keeping and giving my wife the best of the Nikon gear and to pay my
brother a fair price for what I keep.

Thanks, Art

 

"Art Salmons" dropped into the real world with a crash and proclaimed...

From what I can tell, I'd say the previous user may have used a non-dx
coded cartridge and set the film speed manually to 400. If you hold down
the button and turn the wheel to adjust the film speed until it says DX
in the LCD display, all should be well.

The D feature is not mandatory for a lens to be used on an F100.
I'm not quite sure about AI (somebody more knowledgeable than
me may chime in here) but I think the F100 is pretty versatile with
what lenses it will work with. I think the lenses you got there should
all work. I'd say the lenses are, if not top-notch glass, at least pretty
decent.

Cheers,
ink

- "I'll do the time with a smile on my face
thinking of her in that leather and lace."
(Ricky Martin)

 

The camera needs to be set to "DX" in order to read the codes on the
cartridge. Otherwise you will need to manually put in the ISO yourself.

Steve Kramer
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com

 

Hold the ISO button down (on the left side of the camera) and turn the
command dial (on the back right side of the camera). You can then set the
ISO manually, or turn it to DX and it'll set itself automatically.

 

It's also the case that cameras occasionally read the DX code
incorrectly (happens to me on maybe one out of every 20 rolls). My habit
is to check it every time I insert a new roll.

 

Thanks, That was the problem. As soon as I set the camera to DX it
read the film correctly. My Dad was in his 80's and probably never
read the manual or set the camera up.
I don't think my Dad shot more then 5 rolls with this camera and my
Brother probably shot the same amount. I can't wait for the manual I
bought to arrive and I want to get a Magic Lantern guide for the
camera. At least she can start to take pictures in P mode until we get
thew manual and she wants to do more creative things with the camera.

Any opinions on the Nikon 85mm f1.8 lens (non N) as far as if it's a
keeper. She will want to do a lot of portrait pictures with the
camera. She could use the 28-105 mm but the 85mm is so much faster and
will be so much better in natural light.

Art

 

The 85mm f1.8 is best used as a doorstop. But at that, it does a fine job
and is worth the $25 I'll offer you for it.

All seriousness aside, my 85mm Nikkors are among the sharpest in my bag of
tricks. I also have the 1.8 non-N AF model. So sharp, in fact, that you may
need a softening filter when shooting portraits of middle-age folks with any
wrinkles.
Ken

 

The 85/1.8 is a classic lens in the Nikon lineup. So keep the
lens. The 28-105 is one of the best "non pro" zoom Nikon has
made.

Max

 

Actually it's funny because there was a Nikon softening filter on it
when I received it. I figured it should be good but thought I would
ask because I know the Canon version is really sharp.

Thanks, Art

 

Hi Art,

I'm currently in the middle of down-loading the F100 manual from Nikon's UK
site for a friend, and if you go to Site Map, Download Software,, select
F100 as product and Manual under Category you then get the option to
download in pdf.

Have to say I was most surprised to be able to do this, as its normally
digital manuals you only get access to!

Cheers,
Stephen

 

Stephen, I just went up and downloaded the file and printed it out.
This will be a big help because my wife is wanting to use the camera
this weekend at the Race For The Cure. I'm one of the offical
photographers for the event this weekend and she wanted to kind of
freelance at the event. My Canon gear works completely different from
the Nikon F100 so the manual will help me show here how to do more
then shoot in P mode all day.

Thanks Bunch
Art

 

Actually, the camera is set to DX auto by default when it arrives new. Your
dad must have changed it to manual. Maybe he knew exactly what he was
doing?