Hello everyone. I am currently in the market for a new SLR, and would like some comments from you all. I have been using a Nikon FM10 for a few years (I know, BLECH, but believe me when I tell you I had fun with this thing, and beat the crap out of it as well) and would like to upgrade to something that I won't outgrow (at least for a long while). My main interests lie in nature/landscape/wildlife photography, but I shoot film whenever and wherever I can. One part of me is leaning towards the Nikon F100, and another towards an F5. I know the F100 doesn't have MLU, but I am having trouble justifying the extra $700 or so for the cost of an F5. There's another little voice inside pushing for an F3HP, but I know if I pick one of those up I will shoot myself the next time a bear jumps out of tree on a backpacking trip and I fumble to get the camera focused before the mauling begins. I know it sounds like I am maybe a little too gung-ho with the whole jump from an FM10 to and F5, but I am incredibly dedicated to my hobby (and hopefully, someday, part-time career) and I don't want to spend the money on something that I will look at in a year or two and think "This just isn't doing what I need it to do". I would much rather make one sound investment now, rather than two or three investments in the near future. Any thoughts or ideas would be truly appreciated, including those involving other brands and models of cameras as well.

-- John Dulger-Sheikin (opus87@inreach.com), April 25, 2000

Answers

John,

I vote for the F3, for several reasons. Mainly because autofocus is not nearly as important a part of nature/landscape/wildlife photography as it is for sports. Unless you're trying to capture images of birds in flight, in which case be prepared to spend $15,000 or more on your new toys.

The F3 has a big advantage in that it's mechanical design is much easier on batteries than the new wonder cameras. I've been shooting sports and features for a local weekly newspaper for the past month and I'm still on the set of batteries than came with my used MD-4 motor drive.

One more advantage is price. I found a near mint F3 and a very good condition MD-4 for about half the price of the F100 and MB-15 grip, which works out to a bit more than one-third the price of an F5. I added three used lenses (85/135 and 300) and a new 24/2.8 AF-D lens and spent about what the F5 costs new.

These lenses will all work with the F100 and F5, so investing in them is not a dead end.

Other cameras to look at are the Canon EOS 3, which gets you the ability to buy those IS lenses which are so handy in the field. The Minolta Maxxum 9 is also an excellent camera.

The best thing to do is go to a store and take your time to handle each camera and get to know the user interface. The interface is, by far, the most important part of buying a camera. When that bear jumps out of the tree you need to pick up your camera and start shooting, not pick up the user manual and try to figure out how to switch from aperture priority to shutter priority. Don't worry about focus: just use a 24mm lens at f/11.

Whatever you choose, it will be hard to go wrong in this class of cameras. They're all excellent. I went with Nikon because I could buy into pro gear relatively cheaply, then add piece by piece while using my manual focus lenses with an autofocus body (when I get one), and keep my F3 as a backup.

-- Darron Spohn (dspohn@photobitstream.com), April 25, 2000.

Hi John, I agree with Darron, buy the F3. I has an F3 HP plus MD-4/MK-1 and an F4 S. I'm still happy with the F3. I tested the F100 and the F5, there AF is really fast but the handling of the cameras is slow sometimes. For effect changes you need two hands, one to press a button and one to turn a wheel. This may become a problem when photographing wildlife. As well there viewfinder are darker than the viewfinder at the F4. So, when AF is a must, I'm still with my F4. Have fun with the new camera, Ralf.

-- Ralf Grambrock (101.51955@germanynet.de), April 26, 2000.

John, my last AF camera was a Nikon N6006 (I traded it to my father-in-law for some transmission work). I know that things have gotten better with the latter cameras; however the thing that really frustrated me was having a 35 mm lens set at f8 and waiting for the AF to "lock in" even though DOF already had everything in focus.

I too have an F3 and would recommend it. It's only "problem" is it's slow flash-synch speed (1/80 sec) but it really isn't that big of a deal.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@nauticom.net), April 26, 2000.