Will try to respond to two questions in one reply: 1. To use the 5T and 6T close-up diopters with the 70-300 -- yes you will need a tripod or you will have lots of frustration and not good results. In close up work you will need to keep the body absolutely still, often at slow exposure times, and you cannot do this hand-held. The plane of sharp focus is so shallow, even at very small f stops, and any movement of the hand is magnified by the magnification being used, so a tripod becomes an essential piece of gear. Get a good sturdy one, with a good head. The Bogen/Manfrotto 3001 or 3021 are good choices. The 3021 is slightly taller and sturdier than the 3001. If you have more money to invest, look at Gitzo. For heads, you need to choose between the pan-tilt head and the ball head. The classic ball head is the Arca Swiss B1, but it is expensive. Check out Bogen 3026 or 3055. Also get a Kirk Enterprises catalogue and look at their selection of less expensive ball heads and their modifications of the Bogen heads to use the Arca-style quick release system. You will be glad you did. Check out the Bogen pan-tilt head 3028 and the 3029, 3030, and 3047. I think the 3047 is the one John Shaw used in the earlier stages of his career for close-up work. Check to see if they can be fitted with the Arca quick release system. Pan-tilt heads are cheaper and some people like them better for close-up work than ball heads. You will also want to get a remote release for your N70 when you do close up work. Nikon sells the MC 12A. This is expensive, but it enables you to release the shutter wihtout touching the camera, desirable in close up work (see comments about camera movement above). You do not have DOF preview in the N70 but you can compensate for this by experimenting to find out just how much DOF you have with your lens in closeup work. Shoot the same object at different f stops and compare the results. With time you can guess well about what is going to be in focus. There are also some charts you can buy. You can do a quick-and-dirty DOF preview if you force the lens to stop down. You can do this on the N70 by pressing the lens release button and turning the lens slightly on the body while you are looking through the viewfinder (like you were going to remove the lens from the body) but I've tried this technique with a 6006 body and find it awkward and not too helpful. Lack of DOF preview is an example of the kind of frustration that Nikon builds into cheaper models to encourage you to move up to more expensive bodies as you get better with photography. Clever people those Nikon marketing folks. 2. The TC 16A has never worked fully on all Nikon bodies. With the 6006, for example, the TC 16A will go on the body but the AF function will not work. Apparently there is a connection between the body and the TC 16A that is required for the body to know to drive the TC 16A when you want to AF with it. This connection is built into the F4 and F5 and 8008 and N90 bodies but not the 6006, the N70, and now apparently the F100. I guess Nikon figures the TC 16A is such an old and rare item that there is no longer a need to carry forward compatibility for it with the newest bodies. This is one small reason some of us are sticking with our F4 and 8008 bodies. (not to say we won't take an F100 or F5 body if you give us one :-) -- John N. Wall email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/j/jnweg/html We are not revitalized or transformed as often by a change of circumstances as we are by a change of perspective.
