In article <3209A8EA.3455@magna.com.au>, kelvinl@magna.com.au says...

>Why does the Nikon FA seem to be the 'forgotten Nikon', along with the
>F-301, and FG? It doesn't seem to crop up in those teary-eyed monologues
>so popular on this newsgroup, which mostly involve FM2s, FE2s, F2s
>and F3s.

Some of us do like the FA, N2000 (F-301?), and FG.....
They are compact, feature-full, solid, reliable, and pleasant to use
(and they have viewfinders that are quite sharp near the center, making
manual focus easy). All but the FA do lack DOF preview, though....
But TTL flash on all of them is mighty useful.....

>The reason I am interested is because I might want to buy a second hand
>one / trade in my F4S for one. The F4S is a bit too heavy and, after
>working with it for a while, I discovered that it's harder to focus than
>my FM2. Also I had a bit of a scare while shooting a rock concert,
>when it started to run out of batteries. At least an FE2 and FA still
>has film transport after the batteries run out!

My 8008's are a pain with batteries, also - no warning before they quit,
just lock-up, so I do a lot of preventive (and wasteful) battery changing
when shooting things that won't permit interruptions. Batteries in all
the cameras you mentioned last years instead of days (or hours). (BTW,
If you want to trade an FA, N2000, or FG for an F4, give me a call
[I have all three.....;-])

>Soooo....a couple of questions about the FA.
>1 - is the 'shutter release lag' rumour true?

Yes, but it is slight, and probably no worse than the F4's - it doesn't
bother me. Also, it slows down the exposure sequence just enough to
give a smoother release than the similar-bodied FM and FE - helpful for steadier hand-holding of slow shutter speeds. (The F4 is excellent, also,
in the smoothness of its shutter release.)

>2 - is the early matrix metering any good? Especially when handling
>stage lighting (with the lights in the frame) - the F4's matrix seems to
>handle it very very well!

I don't like any matrix ("throw-o'-th'-dice") metering. The center-weighted
metering of the FG/FA/FE/FM/N2000/F2 works well for me, as does the
large center-patch pattern of the 8008/F3. I have never been a fan of
in-camera spot meters (Just WHERE is that middle grey subject, anyway?!;-),
though I can see its usefulness for stage, and a few other types of work.

>3 - are these stories about unreliable electronics true?

Not in my experience.

>4 - is it easy to manual meter?

Very.

>5 - is it true that it's an ergonomic nightmare?

No - I find the FA very user-friendly (and if you mis-set controls, the
camera overrides the mistake and indicates the change it made). It
is compact and light (great for trips, and for job-packing), but can
be made heaftier (with a nice handle added) by adding the MD-15 motor,
which also powers the camera (forever! ;-).

>6 - is the AI-S Program setting reliable? Or is the new-generation Nikon
>program (using lenses with chippies) faster/better/whatever?

Part of the release slow-down involves allowing the camera to meter
the stopped-down lens just before exposure - you can't get more accurate
than the combination of a Quartz-timed shutter, stopped-down (actual, not
simulated, aperature) metering, and fast and accurate camera meter.

>7 - or should I just buy one of those little MB-20 handgrips to shrink
>my F4S?

It makes the already large grip even larger around - a poor match for
hands, unless they are reasonably large (and battery life is brief).
It is harder for me to reach the controls with it.

>Please reply via e-mail. Sorry to bore you all.

ZZZ-ZZZ-ZZZ-... SNOF! Er, WHAT?!! Oh..... ;-)
Hope This Helps