Nikon N6006 Newbie Question

[spencerchase]

I'm 19 and I've been doing digital photography for many years now. I decided I should get into film photography a couple weeks ago when my mother opened up a box filled with 4 Nikon SLRs and 8 lenses.

The one that seems most functioning is a Nikon N6006 (of F610). To feel my way around the camera for the first time, I out it in manual mode. The F number on the camera reads "F--" which isn't surprising considering the lens has a manual aperture ring and there's no elctronic communication between the lens and camera. I'll look in the viewfinder and watch the light meter change as I change shutter speed, but the light meter doesn't change when I change aperture on the ring. My question is: Am I supposed to read the light meter as if it's reading for the lenses max aperture (which is 3.5), and if so, how do I set the max aperture so that the camera knows what the max aperture for the lens is?

 

[dxqcanada]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/Product_Resources/bodylens.jsp

What specific lenses do you have ?

 

[compur]

Assuming you're using AF Nikkor lenses, the N6006 must be in either Manual Mode or Aperture Priority Mode for the meter to change when you turn the aperture dial on the lens. If you want to use one of the other modes then set the aperture ring at its smallest aperture (largest number) and leave it there.

You can find the manual for this camera here:
Nikon N6006AF camera instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals

 

[spencerchase]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/Product_Resources/bodylens.jsp

What specific lenses do you have ?

I'm currently using a Nikkor-H 1:3.5 28mm.

 

[spencerchase]

Assuming you're using AF Nikkor lenses, the N6006 must be in either Manual Mode or Aperture Priority Mode for the meter to change when you turn the aperture dial on the lens. If you want to use one of the other modes then set the aperture ring at its smallest aperture (largest number) and leave it there.

You can find the manual for this camera here:
Nikon N6006AF camera instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals

I'm not using AF Nikkor, I'm using a Nikkor-H lens. I am trying to shoot in Manual and Aperture Priority... I think it may just be stuck metering for a specific F-stop. Is this something that can occur?

 

[Derrel]

A Nikkor-H lens of that vintage would be what is commonly called pre-Ai or non-Ai, meaning it would not have any way of transferring the f/stop in use value, or the maximum aperture number, to the camera. (Unless of course, it has been modified/updated/converted to the Ai-specs.)

Go here and see all the lens/body compatibility issues charted out in a very nice, comprehensive manner

Nikon Lens Compatibility

It has been 20 years since I held an N6006 in-hand. I sold a few of them when they were current. According to Ken, the pre-Ai lenses shoud not be used; perhaps the lens has been Ai-modified at some point in the last 35 to 40 years of its life?

Seems as if the 6006 did not have a depth of field preview button; normally, many Nikons can be used in manual exposure metering and shooting mode with what is called stopped down metering, by pressing the DOF button all the way in, holding it in, and then adjusting the lens aperture ring, or shutter speed, or both, to get the light meter centered and "correct"...but it seems to me that the 6006 was not equipped with a DOF button...

Regardless...using a "fat-barrel" type Nikkor lens made before the switch to Ai lens types, which began in '77, can at times damage one, or two, critical body parts on modern Nikon bodies: the minimum aperture sensing pin, located a 7 o'clock, and also the Ai Indexing follower, located at 1 o'clock, as one faces the camera from the front.

MANY older alphabet-series pre-Ai lenses WERE converted to the Ai-specification, so it's possible that the lens will not damage the N6006 in any way.

 

[spencerchase]

A Nikkor-H lens of that vintage would be what is commonly called pre-Ai or non-Ai, meaning it would not have any way of transferring the f/stop in use value, or the maximum aperture number, to the camera.

Go here and see all the lens/body compatibility issues charted out in a very nice, comprehensive manner

Nikon Lens Compatibility

It has been 20 years since I held an N6006 in-hand. I sold a few of them when they were current. According to Ken, the pre-Ai lenses shoud not be used; perhaps the lens has been Ai-mofiied at some point in the last 35 to 40 years of its life?

I believe you are correct. I believe I figured out a workaround though... Since there is no DOF button on the N6006, I can ever-so-slightly unscrew the lens to force the iris and trick the camera into metering the stopped-down lens. I understand that stopped-down metering can be a hazardous in terms of getting a right reading though.

 

[Derrel]

I believe you are correct. I believe I figured out a workaround though... Since there is no DOF button on the N6006, I can ever-so-slightly unscrew the lens to force the iris and trick the camera into metering the stopped-down lens. I understand that stopped-down metering can be a hazardous in terms of getting a right reading though.

DUDE!!!!! Yessss! That is **the classic** workaround! Yes! Glad you figured that one out.

I used stopped-down light metering quite a bit back in the 1980's. I have found that it works pretty reliably, but a person does need to make sure the DOF button is held in allll the way if using a camera that meters stopped down by pressing the DOF plunger in, and when deliberately partially un-mounting the lens to make the iris diaphragm stop down in this way on a camera that lacks a DOF button, ya' gotta make sure to not allow the lens to fall off the camera and hit the ground.

 

[spencerchase]

I believe you are correct. I believe I figured out a workaround though... Since there is no DOF button on the N6006, I can ever-so-slightly unscrew the lens to force the iris and trick the camera into metering the stopped-down lens. I understand that stopped-down metering can be a hazardous in terms of getting a right reading though.

DUDE!!!!! Yessss! That is **the classic** workaround! Yes! Glad you figured that one out.

I used stopped-down light metering quite a bit back in the 1980's. I have found that it works pretty reliably, but a person does need to make sure the DOF button is held in allll the way if using a camera that meters stopped down by pressing the DOF plunger in, and when deliberately partially un-mounting the lens to make the iris diaphragm stop down in this way on a camera that lacks a DOF button, ya' gotta make sure to not allow the lens to fall off the camera and hit the ground.

Ok great. Thanks for the advice Derrel! Also since you seem pretty knowledgable about this kind of stuff, I'd really appreciate your advice on another question I just posted about the Canon AE-1
Canon AE-1 | Photography Forum