hkr4627@acf4.UUCP (Hedley K. J. Rainnie) (03/14/85)
I have a question about Nikon FM2 and the motor drive MD-12 that perhaps some owner might be able to clear up. Does the MD-12 have a release on its grip? If so, how does it fire the FM2's shutter, considering that the FM2 is a mechanical camera? Is there a solenoid in the FM2 to fire the shutter on an external charge? Is this why there are four contacts on the bottom of the FM2? Additionally, what is the difference between the MD-11 and MD-12? Apologies for the possibly limited interest of this message -R-
juliom@ihlpa.UUCP (j. medrano) (03/15/85)
> I have a question about Nikon FM2 and the motor drive MD-12 that perhaps > some owner might be able to clear up. Does the MD-12 have a release on > its grip? If so, how does it fire the FM2's shutter, considering that > the FM2 is a mechanical camera? Is there a solenoid in the FM2 to fire > the shutter on an external charge? Is this why there are four contacts > on the bottom of the FM2? Additionally, what is the difference between > the MD-11 and MD-12? > > Apologies for the possibly limited interest of this message > > -R- The MD-12 does have a release on the grip which fires the shutter via the 4 contacts on the botttom of the camera. I have an FE2 which is for all practicle purposes the same as the FM2. The FM2 is a manual camera but, if I'm not mistaken, it has an electronic shutter which would allow the motor drive to trigger the shutter. One thing on the FE2, which I would suspect is the same on the FM2, is that the shutter release on the camera itself must be in the locked position in order to allow the motor drive to take over. I'm not too positive about this but I believe the MD-11 was either for the F-2 camera or for the FM and FE cameras. The MD-12 is made for the FM2 and the FE2 exclusively. Again I'm not positive about this but I do believe this is correct.
juliom@ihlpa.UUCP (j. medrano) (03/15/85)
> I have a question about Nikon FM2 and the motor drive MD-12 that perhaps > some owner might be able to clear up. Does the MD-12 have a release on > its grip? If so, how does it fire the FM2's shutter, considering that > the FM2 is a mechanical camera? Is there a solenoid in the FM2 to fire > the shutter on an external charge? Is this why there are four contacts > on the bottom of the FM2? Additionally, what is the difference between > the MD-11 and MD-12? > > Apologies for the possibly limited interest of this message > > -R- This is me again! Scratch what I said earlier about the MD-11. The MD-12 is a replacement for the MD-11 which was for the FM and FE cameras but was not for the F-2 camera. The MD-12 is probably faster than the MD-11 and maybe has an extra feature. Overall, the MD-12 is a great motor drive and it does have speed when you need it, (3.5 frames a second), provided the shutter speed is not too slow. I found out that the FM2 camera does indeed have an electronic shutter which explains its 1/4000 sec. top shutter speed. This shutter is a very good shutter and is extremely fast. What else would you expect from a Nikon!?! Julio Medrano ihlpa!juliom
jordan@ucbvax.ARPA (Jordan Hayes) (03/17/85)
In article <2720010@acf4.UUCP> hkr4627@acf4.UUCP (Hedley K. J. Rainnie) writes: >I have a question about Nikon FM2 and the motor drive MD-12 that perhaps >some owner might be able to clear up. Does the MD-12 have a release on >its grip? of course. there's also the switch for single/continuous with a lock that can be one-handed without taking your eye from the finder. >If so, how does it fire the FM2's shutter, considering that >the FM2 is a mechanical camera? Is there a solenoid in the FM2 to fire >the shutter on an external charge? Is this why there are four contacts >on the bottom of the FM2? yep. >Additionally, what is the difference between >the MD-11 and MD-12? MD-11 was released for the FM, and was replaced by the MD-12. You can use either drive on FM/FM-2/FE/FE-2, but the MD-12 is slightly faster and a little less hungry for batteries, but unless you find an unbelievable price on a really well-taken-care-of MD-11, you won't find much difference. /jordan ------- Jordan Hayes ARPA: jordan@ucbvax.ARPA UUCP: ..ucbvax!jordan
yoonkim@sun.uucp (Yoon Kim) (03/18/85)
> I have a question about Nikon FM2 and the motor drive MD-12 that perhaps > some owner might be able to clear up. Does the MD-12 have a release on > its grip? If so, how does it fire the FM2's shutter, considering that > the FM2 is a mechanical camera? Is there a solenoid in the FM2 to fire > the shutter on an external charge? Is this why there are four contacts > on the bottom of the FM2? Additionally, what is the difference between > the MD-11 and MD-12? > > Apologies for the possibly limited interest of this message > > -R- Yes, MD-12 has a release on its grip. But the actual triggering happens via a small mechanical release located at the bottom of F[ME]2 body. I use FE and FE2 and my MD-12 works on both of them (plus of course, FM and FM2). The MD-12 is operable only when the film advancer is in locked position, but when it is in on position, then you are can use the shutter release on the body -- helpful when you don't want the MD noise. The four contact, as far as I know, are used for power supply, triggering the meter on by half-touching the release button on grip, and flagging whether the film is already advanced or not. I never heard of MD-11's. If they are for F[ME] series then they are pretty old because I bought mine several years ago and don't remember seeing it then; but if it is a new product, then it might be for another model -- each model has its own MD. I am satisfied with MD-12, it's the only one you can use anyways. I did get it fixed after about 6 months of normal usage; the repairman said he had to replace some parts from both MD-12 and FE but never found out exactly what. So MD-12 might be know for some known bugs. But then it works just fine now. yOOn -- yOOn {ihnp4|decvax}!sun!yoonkim
barry@mit-eddie.UUCP (Mikki Barry) (03/21/85)
Nikon's MD-12 was manufactured before the advent of the FM2 and FE2, originally for use with the FE and FM. The MD-11 predates even the MD-12, and was (and is) also used with these cameras. The major difference (and a quite important one) is that if you forget to turn off the MD-11, it continues to drain the batteries, even when the drive is not in use. The MD-12 has been improved to disable battery drainage. great if, in the midst of a great shoot, you forget to turn off the drive and it sucks the life out of 2 paks of duracells. Mikki Barry