FA vs FEx
From: John Foster [EMAIL PROTECTED]Subject: FA vs FEx Fellow users, Ok, ok, I had a handful of suggestions not to bring AF technology into dusty, humid tropics for months. I only have ~$400 or $450 to spend on a body. I want some sort of automation (at least aperature priority), I have a mechanical releasethat I intend to be useful (rather than buy an electronic release for those long exposures). It seems that an FA or FE-2 or even an FE would do the job. I am not going to shoot a billion photos so I don't think that I need a 'professional' body, but I do want something a bit on the sturdy side. What are the cons and pros of these bodies (FA, FE, FE-2)? Thanks for your thoughts,John FA: The most automation of the bunch, offers manual, aperture priority, shutter priority, and Program modes. Offers a primitive version (the 1st) of the Matrix metering system. TTL flash, 1/4000 top speed, 1/250 sync. Nice body, but I don't know if I'd drag it through the tropics. A lot of electronics = a lot can go wrong. FE2: One of the best amateur bodies Nikon ever made. Offers Aperture Priority and true Match needle manual mode. Has similar shutter to FA, so top end is still 1/4000, sync 1/250. Has TTL flash. Rugged, but these are in demand and will probably run $350-425 depending on condition. Metering is center-weighted only. FE: Another nice camera, predecessor to the FE2. Also offers Aperture priority, and true Match needle manual mode. Has a shutter similar to FM, which tops out at 1/1000 and does X-sync at 1/125. No TTL flash. Also very rugged, and will likely run $250 - 325 or so. Metering is center-weighted only. Hope this helped, Steve __ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Re: FA vs FEx [v04.n203/4]
John Foster [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: What are the cons and pros of these bodies (FA, FE, FE-2)? FA Pros 1) Program and Shutter priority modes 2) Matrix metering 3) MD-15 has theoretically faster release delay than MD-12. FA Cons 1) Viewfinder display is confusing and minimal. Depending on mode and settings, the little LCD can display different attributes. 2) Metering system is disabled when flash is ready. 3) Manual exposure +/- is hard to use. No idea of how far off the exposure is. 4) 1 second maximum manual exposures. 5) No autoexposure lock. FE2 Pros 1) 8 second manual exposures. 2) Viewfinder is very consistant. Best manual exposure viewfinder ever made. 3) Metering stays active even when flash is ready. 4) Auto exposure lock. FE2 Cons 1) No program or shutter automation 2) No matrix metering Sensing a little bias? I recently sold an FA (backup to primary FE2) to buy an FE2 as a backup. I love the FE2. It is a wonderful camera to use. It has truly useful features, without anything to get in the way. I didn't feel the same about the FA. If you don't need matrix metering, P, or S modes, get the FE2. If you do need those features, get the FA. I can't really address the FE, having only played with one for a few minutes. But this guy has something to say: http://photo.net/photo/nikon/nikon-fe.html But now I'm turning around and selling the backup FE2. Something even better came along... Dan.
FA vs FEx
Fellow users, Ok, ok, I had a handful of suggestions not to bring AF technology into dusty, humid tropics for months. I only have ~$400 or $450 to spend on a body. I want some sort of automation (at least aperature priority), I have a mechanical release that I intend to be useful (rather than buy an electronic release for those long exposures). It seems that an FA or FE-2 or even an FE would do the job. I am not going to shoot a billion photos so I don't think that I need a 'professional' body, but I do want something a bit on the sturdy side. What are the cons and pros of these bodies (FA, FE, FE-2)? Thanks for your thoughts, John
