Repair: Nikkor 400mm f/5.6 ED-IF Ai-S

25 Apr 2025 1 Comment

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Hello, everybody! Do you know about the story of “Long Long Man“? It is a love story about a woman who is torn between his lover and a third-wheel in their relationship, a love triangle like no other with a twist at the end. It is an amazing story that can be considered a modern classic, it’s something that we should all watch at least once in our lifetimes. Watching that very short movie will help you appreciate what you are about to read in this article today. It’s also about something long, but unlike “Long Long Man“, it does not end in tragedy but there’s a little bit of a plot twist with this lens’ barrel construction.

Introduction:

The Nikkor 400mm f/5.6 ED-IF Ai-S is a masterpiece. It was made from 1982 up until 2002, a long 20-year run which is kind of unusual for a lens of this kind in my opinion. On the other hand, it’s understandable because it’s considered to be an exemplary performer. The Nikkor 400mm f/5.6 ED-IF Ai that came before is optically similar to this one except that the tripod collar is narrower. At least that’s the most obvious of all external distinction between both lenses. There may be some differences internally but I can’t confirm. This lens has a huge following amongst bird shooters and train spotters because of its weight and stellar optical performance. Very few lenses of this type could match it in terms of popularity, these are always in demand. For that very reason, it’s not easy to find a cheap one but I got really lucky and I’ll tell you why.

It is long, huge and black. The build quality is exceptional, fit for professional use. It is also very heavy so a tripod collar is supplied with the lens. Unfortunately, mind did not come with it so I was able to buy it for a very cheap price. There are three rings that you manipulate with – the aperture ring, a focusing ring and another ring that allows you to sort of constraint the range of the focusing ring, we’ll talk about it later. Its barrel never extends nor retracts as you focus because it’s an IF (internal focusing) design, this is helpful if you mount it on a tripod and doing precision work since the balance of the lens doesn’t change.

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Shopping: Camtec Photo Leica Boutique

17 Apr 2025 1 Comment

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Hello, everybody! This city cannot compare to Tokyo when it comes to shopping for cameras. It does not have the specialty boutiques that Tokyo has such as Kitamura Camera nor the used and junk paradise that is Fujiya Camera. However, it does have its own specialty places that cater to a certain type of market. You can say that it’s the equivalent of Mapcamera’s Leica Boutique in Shinjuku, but not quite there. Whatever it lacks in scale it makes up for the personal service that I’m used to in Japan, where the staff knows me by name and preference. This is the place to be in this side of the city.

Introduction:

Camtec Photo has been in operation for some time now and it is considered to be one of the best places to buy cameras in Montreal. They have two shops that are about a kilometer apart, we will talk about the one that’s more interesting because the smaller (original) one doesn’t have the same character compared to this shop.

This is the storefront which you can’t miss because of the sign and large windows. It looks small from the outside but it’s actually much bigger inside. I mostly use this shop for my processing and digitizing needs because they are fast and they won’t throw away your film if you have forgotten to pick it up. Other shops will throw them out if it didn’t pick it up after a few weeks.

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La Connerie: Fake Worn Camera

04 Apr 2025 3 Comments

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Bonjour, tout le monde! Es-tu un “poseur“? A poseur (poser) is someone who fakes his credentials to gain respect. He will try to wear expensive clothes to impress people or claim to be someone that he isn’t. I do not think it’s always a bad thing because we all have fantasies of our own, whatever they are. I sometimes imagine myself as a buff plumber giving assistance to a helpless housewife. We are all free to live up our own fantasies. There’s always a child inside of us, and this goes with photography as well. You can live an illusion all you want and it can sometimes be temporary so you can get back to your normal life when it’s convenient. We should never do anything permanent until we are in the right mindset. Today, I will show you how to live your wildest dreams, that is if you want to fantasize about being a press photographer.

Introduction:

Many people purchase cameras based on how they look and feel in their hands, these are accessories as much as they are tools. A lot of people buy black Leicas (or other black classic cameras) because of how they look when they are worn and weathered. Unfortunately, that worn look takes plenty of time and lots of handling just to get the brass parts underneath peeking out, and even more time and handling just so the patina will look just right. Some people don’t have the time and patience for that, so they cheat it by using sandpaper or denim to permanently wear the paint down. The result looks fake as fuck, but so are they. I will show you in this article an alternative way so you won’t fall into this foolishness, what’s better is it’s all temporary and you can clean it off anytime. It will also work on plastic parts, too!

This is the result that I got after spending not more than 10 minutes of faking the look of a worn camera. Do you think it looks convincing? I don’t think so but it can fool somebody looking from a meter or more.

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