Camera Talk

At last I got locally a simple eye-level prism for my Nikon F. It came from a very battered F body, but it fit and it worked.



The old F feels like a different camera with this prism, as compared to the Photomic I was using before. The ergonomics get much better!

People say that the shutter release of the Nikon F is in the wrong position. But when doing the "Contax grip", i.e. with middle finger on top of the camera, the release lies just below the index finger. I had not noticed this before; maybe the grip is just different with the smaller prism. Changing shutter speeds also feels more natural.

Did a roll of FP4+ with the 105 and 35 lenses, in order to get acquainted with the new prism, mostly waterfront subjects. Summer is ending here.













Now I have another favorite to keep in the rotation.

Thanks for looking!

Julio, I enjoyed all of these fine photos. They seem to me to be very peaceful and calm.

Bill Delehanty

When I got my eye level prism, I thought maybe it would be more like shooting a Nikkormat, but it still felt like an F. Only better! Some really good images there, Julio.

PF

Thank you, Julio, for the photos, #1 is the mist I enjoy.

Thanks for the comments! This little prism is going to give a new life to my old F. Glad I took the opportunity.

The position of the controls came directly from the Nikon S rangefinder, as far as I can tell. That's why the "Contax grip" works.

It's surprising how a single piece (in this case, the eye-level prism) can transform a camera.

Congratulations, Julio, the plain prism for the F is like hens teeth - almost impossible to find separately. I have never liked nor used the Photomic prism - I always found it too bulky and it upset the balance of the camera. I got my first Nikon F with plain prism in 1963 and I have used the plain prism ever since. Nice images BTW.