Hello, all
Just thought I'd say--after an agonizingly long wait as it went first to relatives in the USA, then through air parcel post from them to me, my E3 arrived today, and thanks to Kiu's generosity in selling me a battery, I can confirm it works!
It's serial number 8300022, already in the s/n list, but now could be changed to owned by a forum member.
It's in pretty nice shape, with a bit of paint wear on the bottom. I downloaded the DS505 manual available on the web, and it answers most questions (and anyway, having used Nikon AF SLRs, and more recently, a D70 and a D2x, most of the controls are obvious), but there are a few critical differences I am wondering about.
On the lower back there are a button for bracketing and a CSM button. I asssume I can work out how to use the bracketing button, but I'm a bit worried about fiddling with the CSM button, which I assume has something to do with saving or altering custom settings. Also, the main on-off dial has positions not documented in the DS505 manual; instead of L, S, C, SD and PB it has L, S, C, PV, PB, and PC. L, S, and C are obvious, and I suppose PB may be the same as on the DS505/E2, but what do the other positions do?
I'm also curious about what Nikon had to say about "official" lens compatibility--in the table for the DS505, the 60/2.8 macro is listed as unsuitable, while on the E3 it seems to work pretty well, with only minor vignetting, and even a 20/2.8 AIS looks reasonably good, although the extreme corners get fairly dark. I presume the improved ROS in the E3 may mean that more lenses work.
Is there _any_ way to clean the ROS without an AC adapter? I am not particularly eager to do this, but it would be good to be able to. Manual shutter speeds seem to go only to 1/8, so putting the shutter on B does not seem to be an option.?
Curiously, does anyone know about compatibility of the SB30 and SB800 with the E3? I was interested to see that the E series aren't even mentioned in the SB800 manual, which mentions just about every other camera Nikon has built since the advent of TTL flash. I tried the 800 on the camera and it appears to communicate correctly, but it would be nice to know if there is an official position on this.
So many questions. I just hope my charger shows up soon, as I am sure I will run the battery flat quickly fiddling with the camera.
After I get the charger I will certainly try to take some photos that are worth putting on my pbase site with this camera, just for fun, and will post a link to them here.
Cheers,
Ross
My "new" E3 arrived, and it works!
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Re: My "new" E3 arrived, and it works!
Congratulations. Good news.
CSM = Custom Setting Mode
PV = Preview mode. Images displayed on screen after each exposure.
PB = Playback mode. Via Video out port, play back on TV screen. NTSC or PAL (selectable)
PC = Personal computer or printer mode.
I wouldn't worry about playing with the CSM button. It's not a very difficult/advanced camera to use, at least not compared to a modern DSLR with its multitude of settings.
Let me know if you have any other specific questions, and I'll test it with my own unit (for which I have an original AC power adapter..)
Jarle
CSM = Custom Setting Mode
PV = Preview mode. Images displayed on screen after each exposure.
PB = Playback mode. Via Video out port, play back on TV screen. NTSC or PAL (selectable)
PC = Personal computer or printer mode.
I wouldn't worry about playing with the CSM button. It's not a very difficult/advanced camera to use, at least not compared to a modern DSLR with its multitude of settings.
Let me know if you have any other specific questions, and I'll test it with my own unit (for which I have an original AC power adapter..)
Jarle
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- Joined: Sat May 21, 2005 1:30 pm