On 21 Mar 2003 07:12:50 -0800, insominusjp@yahoo.co.jp (Chris) wrote:

> Assuming one can be had for a reasonable price, I intend on

>buying a Nikon F2. By reasonable, I mean cheap. Anyway, my first

>question concerns the reliability/lifespan of a camera body. How long

>can a camera go without repair? Is there any necessary periodic

>maintainence? I think I read that the F2 was built from 1970 to 1980.

> So maybe I'll find one that's 28 years old. If such a body is in

>decent shape, how much life could be left in it?

A LOT!!! The only things that tend to go (unless use is very

heavy) are the meter variable-resistor and the relative timing of the two shutter curtains - and this second is a

fairly easy repair... Try to find one with standard prism

(no meter), and use it with an old Weston meter...;-)

> Second point: having looked around on the net, I'm pretty

>confident that a 50mm lens is not hard to come by for this body. But,

>how about a 100ish or 200ish mm macro lens?

These are easy to find used - and AF lenses can also be

used (some bodies had AI meter connections, but for

the ones without, the coupling "prong" can be added

[whitejt3@aol.com], or the meter can be set for stop-down

mode [press finger nail up into slot in lower front untill

hear two clicks, mount lens, hold DOF preview button in

while metering...]).

>I realize that the

>shorter of these two is expensive, and the longer is even more so, but

>I'm using the "the lens makes the image, not the body" logic that I've

>read around the net. I know Nikon makes 105mm and 200mm macro lenses,

>but how about macros that are now out of production? I found plenty

>of info on the net about in and out of production 50mm lenses, but

>nothing about macro lenses. Oh, and would those current production

>lenses mount on this body? How about the Sigma macro lenses? I've

>read that Nikon has used the same mount for a long time (decades), but

>is it their entire line?

See above, and see www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/slemn.html

for lenses...

> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If this turns out

>to be more expensive than I'd like, I'll probably just get an Elan 7

>if I can talk myself into spending the money.

The VF quality difference alone between these two should

convince you...;-)