From: goldberg@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mark Goldberg)
Newsgroups: rec.photo
Subject: Re: AF/AE vs. Manual aka All That Jazz
Date: 22 Jul 92 15:43:28 GMT
Reply-To: goldberg@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mark Goldberg)
Organization: Naval Surface Warfare Center, Annapolis, MD

In rec.photo, stb@dasher.uucp (25157-becker) writes:
>(A) Additional weight - the 8008 with 4 AA batteries is heavy compared to
>.... batteries).  That is 12 to 16 AA batteries!

If you consider the added weight of a motor drive and its batteries,
plus the added size, then I think the 8008/8008s is smaller and lighter.
The MD12 drives I used with my old FE2 bodies took 8 AA alkaline cells
>
>(B) Matrix metering is great for color print film - in most cases the
> camera is programmed to provide additional exposure when in doubt.  This
> works fine  for the print film, but I find it can tend to over-expose slide

My experience with the 8008 and 8008s has been that images have been
metered very well.  But you must know how to employ different metering
schemes for different situations.  I have taken portraits where I employed
reflectors and flsh fill, using incident meters.  Other times, I relied
on the built-in spot, center-weighted, or matrix metering.  The result
has been consistently correct exposures.  Several lab technicians have
told me how easy my negs are to print!  I have also had consistently
good results with slides.

I had a recent job to photograph an 1-year old child and her parents.
I used a photojournalistic approach, rather than the stiff portrait
studio approach.  She was at play with a Little Tykes car.  I used the
8008s with SB-24 flash in the 1-stop-under fill mode for some shots
with my 180mm AF ED lens.  Others were done with the 300mm F4 ED AF.
EVERY SHOT was properly expopsed and focussed - all 37!

With another camera, even my 2-1/4 Bronica, there would have been some
failures due to the changing ambient light conditions or subject motion.

>
>(C) Most of the lens manufactors have gone to variable aperature lens versus
> fixed aperature. 
> ...  In addition, the new lens are slower than
> the older lens!

Again I must respectfully disagree, but I buy only Nikon AF lenses.
Consider the 20mm.  The new version in AF is f2.8; the old was f3.5.
Consider the Micro Nikkor.  The old 55mm was f3.5 and needed another
accessory to do 1:1 reproduction.  The new AF 60mm micro is f2.8 and
does 1:1 by itself.  A 105 micro has also been added.  The 180mm ED
f2.8 has been improved in the AF version with internal focussing.  The
classic 300mm f4.5 ED has been updated in AF to an f4 - half-stop faster
in the AF.  Compared to my now-sold non-AF collection, I actually own
more fixed lenses and they are faster than their predecessors.

One may get the impression that variable aperture is taking over because
there are simply more varieties of zooms than the earlier Nikon line,
eg - 28-70, 24-50, 75-300.  But no fixed aperture designs were dropped
in favor of variable.

>(D) There is also a tendency for many of the current lens makers to "label"
> their lens as "professional" and "consummer".  The professional line usually
> has a major cost premium.  I guess I sort of resent paying $400 for
> a lens and then be told that the lens is not "professional", etc.  The
> alternative is major $$$$.

This may be the case with aftrmarket suppliers, like Tamron.  But I
don't think it is the case with Nikon.  In fact, Nikon dropped its series-E
(economy) line as it moved to AF.  There may be several apertures of
a particular focal length, but I don't think quality of performance
varies.

One inferiority of several of the AF zooms, like the 35-135 and 35-105,
is that the excellent macro feature of the older non-AF lenses was carried
forward into the AF version.  The AF designs go into macro only at wide
angle, making it difficult to get close to your subject.  The older
design allowed you to partially go into macro for close-up portraits.

   /|/| /||)|/  /~ /\| |\|)[~|)/~   |   Everyone's entitled to MY opinion.
  / | |/ ||\|\  \_|\/|_|/|)[_|\\_|  |      goldberg@oasys.dt.navy.mil
========Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein=======