Gary Poole

I have been a Nikon user since I purchased a F-FT with 35/2.8, 50/1.4 and 135/2.8 Nikkors in 1965. The F became a F-FTn as soon as the FTn prism was available. Within a year or two I added 85/1.8, 200/4, 300/4.5 Nikkors. Then came 500/5 Reflex and 24/2.8 Nikkors. I also have had several other Nikon film bodies along the way: a Nikkormat EL, Nikon FM, N70, 2 F100s, FM2n, FM3a, and F6. I kept the F until 2003. The 135mm died an early death when the split ring for the strap on my F unthreaded and the camera and lens dropped to the cement. (The F kept working but the lens became a paper weight.) The rest of my pre-AI lenses were AI converted when I got the N70. I've upgraded the 35 to a 35/1.4 AI and swapped for newer 50/1.4 and 200/4 MF models.

I dragged my feet on digital because I couldn't find a digital body that measured up to my F6. Actually the D2x met the criteria, but I didn't like the size and couldn't afford the price. When the D300 was announced, I caved in and pre-ordered one the next day.

After a couple of years I started yearning for a successor to the D300.  I decided Nikon was not going to make an upgrade and started thinking about FX.  When the D4 was announced I now decided a pro sized body would be nice, set aside part of a recent inheritance, and ordered one the day it was announced.  (Mom always enjoyed my pictures, so I decided that she would have been glad to pay for my new camera.)   While waiting for the D4 to arrive I kept reading about the D800 and D800e.  After a couple of weeks I went to my local camera store and ordered a D800.   (Thanks again mom.) I keep reading while waiting for my position to come up on the store's list.  I went in and revised my order for a D800e instead.  Because of the lower demand for the D800e, I got it before I would have had a D800 and a week before my D4 arrived.

My D300 became neglected after getting my FX cameras.  In an attempt to make it feel useful again, I had it converted to IR.  After a few IR sessions, I lost interest in IR and the D300 again spends all it's time on the shelf.

A year and an half later, while on a photo trip, I dropped my D800e and then a few days later it fell onto a rock while mounted on my tripod.  The first impact damaged my lens, but the camera keep going.  The second impact stopped the camera from working.  It was completely dead.  I sent it Nikon, they got it working but declared it "BEYOND REPAIR".  Because my "beyond repair" camera was now working I kept using it.  Then I started reading about cracked D800 frames leading to the "beyond repair" diagnosis.  Then the D810 was announced.  I became worried about trusting the D800e and ordered the D810 the morning after announcement. 

NAS has been a problem for me long before I knew what it was. I got a couple AF consumer zooms with my N70. They have been replaced with "Pro" AF-D and AF-S lenses. As I've added lenses I've tried to keep compatibly with my MF film bodies. For a long time I had only one G type lens, the 12-24/4 DX Nikkor that was "necessary" to have wide angle abilities with my D300. All my other lenses had aperture rings!  Now I've added the 8-16/4.5-5.6 Sigma and 16-85/3.5-5.6 DX and 70-300/4.5-5.6 G to make a light weight kit with my D90.  I'm still adding lenses, unfortunately no new lenses come with aperture rings.  At this point I have 11 FX capable AF zooms (5 G types), 3 DX zooms (all G), 1 AF (G) prime, 2 MF zooms, and 15 MF primes.

When I picked the F as my first SLR I chose it over the Pentax Spotmatic because Nikon had a more extensive system and I preferred the Nikon bayonet lens mount to the Pentax screw mount. What a great choice I made, because after a simple mod I've been able to use my first lenses on my newest bodies and to use all but my G lens on all my old bodies!