"A & R Balm" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: >John - I'm amazed about this article. I've used a Nikormat, a FM2, a 801s >and a F4s at the same job all with 50mm f1.4 lens - all used by different >people & you cant tell the difference between the pics. If youv'e got camera Hmmm... you amaze easily. Interesting that you find that neither the equipment nor the photographer make a difference. >shake in your 801 shots due to camera shake, I'd suggest it is probably due >to operator induced shake not due to shutter curtain induced shake. Quite possibly. In any event, it would be more likely to be the mirror than the shutter. I simply quoted what somebody else had suggested. I said I had no idea if it was true. What I DID say was that the conditions were such that I would have expected BOTH sets of images to show shake, but only one did. That is fact, not speculation, verified by additional tests I did. >Using a tripod will NOT make any difference to the auto focus! Can't disagree with that, but what has autofocus got to do with what I said? >Using a tripod will NOT make any difference to shutter induced shake! Yes it will. Just like increasing the mass of the camera will. Simple Newtonian physics. One of the reasons I like Nikons is that they are HEAVY, and great for hand-holding. If I was guessing at why I can hand-hold the F90 more successfully than the F801, the mass difference would be high up my guess-list. Well, that and the slightly better ergonomics. Whatever. But I was rather hoping that somebody would provide some more scientific input. >But using a tripod WILL eliminate operator induced shake! Indeed it will. But as I said, I rarely use tripods. >Sometimes we see & believe what we want to see or believe and another >upmarket piece of gear becomes the supposed answer. You could not possibly know what anybody other than yourself sees or believes, so this remark is simply condescending. >I have purchased plenty of gear over the years that has fallen into this >category & had no problems - or bank debit. When talking to the ex-owners >they have later admitted they just wanted to upgrade and there really wasn't >a problem. In nearly forty years of photography, I have owned only nine cameras, five of which I still own. Only two were bought new. Only one ever disappointed me, and it wasn't either of the new ones. Oh, and it wasn't the F801 either. >I think you should sell your 801 real cheap - (because its obviously faulty) >this will make some one else real happy to get a bargain that probably works >fine. Perhaps you really need the new F100. Finally the sarcasm. Oh well, each to his own. Sorry about the length of this reply, folks. I should probably have ignored it, but I promise this is my final word on the matter! -- Regards John Bean http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~john-bean or http://john-bean.freeserve.co.uk