When one catches a case of "NAS" and is also predisposed to being a collector, one sometimes finds oneself with cameras that are not overly practical but are still "must haves."
This was in a local shop when I visited yesterday. It was sitting on the counter without a lens(I grabbed a handy fluted focus ring non-AI lens to give it the right "look") and for the price they offered it to me for they didn't want to cough up the 8 AAs to check the motor
. Still, I was assured it worked and was told to bring it back if it didn't.
For those who don't immediately recognize it, this is a Nikon F fitted with an F36 motor drive. The F2 and F3 had provisions for separate motor drives for those who wanted them, but Nikon made them pretty well plug and play. Like the Nikon SP(on which the F is heavily based) putting a motor drive on an required someone who knew what they were doing to get things working right.
There were a few different battery packs available, but this one, IMO, is the most desirable as it uses 8 AA batteries and includes a shutter release button in a pseudo-normal position. The camera actually handles and balances quite nicely. Other battery packs for the F36 drive were carried off-camera and had to be tethered to it.
Still, both the F and F2 motor drives are a bit "clunky" to use, and there's actually a chart on the back that tells you the frame rate based on the drive speed setting, the shutter speed, and whether or not the mirror is locked up. The maximum rate is 4 frames per second, and requires MLU along with shutter speeds of 1/125 or faster. The maximum rate with a returning mirror is 3 fps(also 1/125 or faster).
Keen eyed folks will notice another prize here that is actually not an F part but rather an F2 part. It was actually what pushed me over the edge on buying the camera
. I've already dipped into my parts stash to replace that with a "proper" F part and the transfer the F2 part to an F2. Can anyone spot what it is?
Photo taken with a Kodak DCS 14/n and 105mm f/2.8D AF-Micro-Nikkor under my Norman strobes.
View attachment 771874
Orange
_DSC7859-Edit
