Hey listers,
Well we receieved our Nikon docs for the N100 and new lenses yesterday at
the paper. It looks like a neat camera with some great crossover functions.
Here are a few things I thought were cool, different, etc.:
Looks like it does have the same meter as the F5 - docs noted the camera
checks against 30,000 stored metered situations. Sounds like the color
meter to me.
The knob that looks like manual rewind is actually a funky command dial.
Sort of a cross between the F5's frame rate switch and the command buttons
of the N90s.
The joystick on the camera back is different from the F5 and has a switch
to lock it out right underneath it (wish my F5 had that)
The camera also has a few extra custom functions like automatic rewind. If
anyone from Nikon is listening - PLEASE offer this as a firmware upgrade to
the F5! Don't make me beg.
One bad thing I saw was the optional vertical grip. Looked pretty poorly
designed as it leaves a large gap between the body and the grip just a few
inches away from the vertical trigger. I would imagine this would allow
water to creep into the grip of the camera. Not so good if you don't enjoy
electrocution and sending the camera off to NPS everytime you get caught in
the rain.
All in all, the camera seems to have a bunch of functions incorporated from
the F5. If the price comes down some (sub $1000) I think it would be a
great second body or possibly a first for those of you who don't need 8
frames a second. But, with the F5 dropping to just below $2000 and with
this camera expected to be about $1600 I would spend a little extra dough
and buy the F5 IMHO.
Looks like a neat new toy,
________________________________________________________________________________
Bob Croslin
Staff Photojournalist, The Tampa Tribune
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home1.gte.net/bcroslin/index.html
