> Hallo,
> I just bought a Nikon FA camera. Now I realized that it provides
> a longest specified exposure time of just ONE SECOND, only !?
> It's hard to believe!! Does somebody has the experience that
> it takes longer times in the A mode, allthough it is not specified ?
Michael,
I have the FE2 where the shutter speed can be set manually for up to 8
seconds. The camera will also make exposures of 8 seconds and longer in
A mode.
The FA was released just after the FE2. Although it has a different
meter I imagine it would be capable of exposures up to 8 sec in A mode,
even though shutter speeds can only be set to one sec manually.
This should be relatively easy to test (without film). Set the
camera to A mode, adjust the film speed setting and aperture so the
shutter speed is about one second. Press the shutter and listen for the
length of the exposure. Then stop the lens down one stop and notice if
the shutter speed is about twice as long. Stop down again and repeat.
This is not an accurate test - you will need to use film to check the
results, but it will give an indication if the FA can handle longer
exposures.
> Also It is obvious that in the A and M mode it has another shutter
> sound than at the P or S mode. It sounds for me that the camera just
> uses a mechanical composed shutter control in case of the A or M mode
> while the P and S mode sound like the quartz oscillator triggered
> shutter from a FM 2 or a FE 2.
I think the difference is that in P and S modes, the camera stops the lens
down mechanically, while in A and M moded, the aperture is set manually.
It is probably the stop-down mechanism, not the shutter, which accounts
for the different sound.
Roland
