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21
Camera Talk / Re: The Lens Adapter Nikon REFUSED to Build
« Last post by Les Olson on February 12, 2026, 04:12:54 »
Pentax introduced the K mount in 197something, and it has retained backward and forward compatibility right up to now. And much good it did them.

When the F mount was introduced in 1959, and for years after, all it had to do was make a stable, light-tight connection between the camera and the lens. What was there to change? Of course, 44mm diameter is too small for film with a diameter of 43mm, but no one who cared about image corners used 35mm. In 1977 Nikon introduced Ai lenses, and although it was all still F mount, so what they said in 1971 was true, backward compatibility was cracked, if not broken. Notably, although Nikon made it easy and relatively inexpensive to convert most pre-Ai lenses to Ai there were pre-Ai lenses that Nikon would not convert to Ai. 

SLR sales were strong in the 1970s. In particular, Canon sold a million (literally) of the AE-1, marketed with the slogan "About all you do is focus and shoot" - this was the first SLR with full auto-exposure - but manual focus turned out not to be as easy as Canon made it sound (which is why you can go to KEH today and find plenty of AE-1s in mint condition) and after AF compact cameras appeared in 1977 the SLR market tanked. Compact cameras went from 43% of the market in 1977 to 81% in 1987. In March 1983, Nikon introduced the L35AF "Pikaichi" and in 1984 its sales exceeded sales of all seven Nikon's SLRs - F3, FA, FE2, FM2, FG, FG-20 and EM - put together.

Obviously, the solution was to make SLRs with AF, but the first AF cameras failed (the F3AF, eg), because the cameras were much more expensive than the MF versions, you had to buy new AF lenses, and the AF was not very good. Then in 1985 Minolta introduced the 7000 (Maxxum in the US) with a new A (later Sony Alpha) mount that trashed backward compatibility but had AF that worked. It turned out nobody minded buying new lenses if you got good AF, and in 1986 Minolta was the SLR market leader, with more than 50% of sales. Canon decided it couldn't do competitive AF with the FD mount, and in 1987 introduced the EOS 650 with the larger and fully electronic EF mount, completely trashing backward compatibility. By 1989, 90% of SLRs sold had AF, Canon was market leader and Nikon, the only one who had not trashed backward compatibility, was in third place. 

Apparently, backward compatibility hasn't always been what it is now.
22
Camera Talk / Re: Convert a Nikon D800 to IR?
« Last post by David H. Hartman on February 12, 2026, 02:25:12 »
 


Will you give it a chance of selling it here?

First, I'm not currently a supporter so I can't advertise here. I was once but then a property tax issue made my finances dangerous.

Second, I was relieved to get an FX (36x24mm) camera but color moiré was required in post processing for so many photos that I was very relieved to move to a D850.

Third, I'm so please with my Nikon Z8 and D850's lack of an AA filter.

I can't wholeheartedly recommend less than a 46MP camera. To one who would buy a D800 I say, "Save and spend the extra to get a D850 or go for the Z8.

Dave
23
Your Weekly Blog / Re: February 2026
« Last post by golunvolo on February 11, 2026, 23:27:30 »
I was not expecting my daughter to feed the frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens) but she did.

Nikon Zf, 35/1.8S

  And she looks so happy!

  I like it too  :)
24
Camera Talk / Re: Convert a Nikon D800 to IR?
« Last post by golunvolo on February 11, 2026, 23:25:42 »
The D810 has EFCS at least.  Prices do not differ much.
I would go with a D810 instead.  I have a converted D800 that I will be selling soon.
 


Will you give it a chance of selling it here?

25
Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes / Re: Autumnal creatures.
« Last post by ColinM on February 11, 2026, 21:01:16 »
Ok, it's definitely not Autumn here at the moment
But these Turkey Tails probably showed up last year, maybe in the autumn.....
26
Themes, Portfolio Series, PaW, or PaM / Re: [THEME] Panorama, not stitched
« Last post by ColinM on February 11, 2026, 20:59:18 »
A question on the name of this Theme

I get that these are like panoramas
And that we didn't use stitching to make them.

In other circumstances, many might describe the format of these images as "Letterbox" maybe?
(plus, no one expects you to need any stitching to make a Letterbox image.......  :P )

This isn't a request - just a random observation.
27
Themes, Portfolio Series, PaW, or PaM / Re: [THEME] Panorama, not stitched
« Last post by ColinM on February 11, 2026, 20:55:42 »
That's a nice one Keith, with plenty happening

Meanwhile I agonised over the white balance on this image
It looks a bit unreal, but actually the moss at the base of each tree was almost fluorescent that (grey, overcast) day
This time it's a crop from a D500 file

Woods near Bristol, UK
28
Camera Talk / Re: The Lens Adapter Nikon REFUSED to Build
« Last post by David H. Hartman on February 11, 2026, 19:36:36 »
I started in serious photography in 1971 with a Nikkormat FTN and 55mm f/3.5 Micro-NIKKOR-P and I do remember Nikon advertising that they would never abandon the F-mount. I have a vintage 1964~1966, 50mm f/1.4 NIKKOR-S and a 135mm f/3.5 NIKKOR-Q 1969~1973 with official Nikon AI conversion aperture rings so I can directly mount those legacy Nikkor lenses on my D850 and with an FTZ adapter I can mount those lenses on my Nikon Z8 and even get IBS. That's pretty good compatibility. It's not perfect but realistically it can't be.

I'm disappointed that the FTZ II and FTZ do not support AF with screwdriver AF and AF-D Nikkor but I don't think it's financially feasible for Nikon to offer an F to Z adapter with that functionality. I do think a firmware tweak could add a red to green single point focus indicator for legacy manual focus Nikkor lenses. One can hope for the latter.

So the 1959 F-mount has not been abandoned but perfect compatibility is not possible.

Dave
29
Your Weekly Blog / Re: February 2026
« Last post by Ian Watson on February 11, 2026, 15:01:48 »
30
Your Weekly Blog / Re: February 2026
« Last post by Luc on February 11, 2026, 14:42:06 »
Construction of new town hall, cost Euro 118m.

Ricoh GRIII

GRIII_R0002554 by Luc de Schepper, on Flickr
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