Re: The Nikon D3 makes everyone's life better, even mine!!!

TH O wrote:
>  Tony Polson wrote:
>> TH O wrote:
>>
>>> And best of all, Nikon has introduced planned obsolescence into its 
>>> line. We used to be able to use manual focus lenses on all cameras but

>>> now you need an $1800 camera or better (D300) since Nikon has removed 
>>> metering and aperture coupling ability from lower end bodies. Which 
>>> means that now the customers are more likely to buy new lenses. With
the 
>>> D40/D40x/D60, half of the autofocus lenses won't AF on the bodies, so
it 
>>> further limits the available used lenses, makes many AF lenses
obsolete, 
>>> and leads customers towards new lenses.
>>
>> Nikon has been doing this for years.  I was very disappointed indeed
>> when the Nikon N80/F80 did not offer metering with AIS lenses.  Within
>> a short time, the only Nikon SLR body options for a photographer
>> expecting to meter with AIS lenses started with the F100, at a price
>> not unadjacent to the equivalent value of today's $1800.
> 
> As far as I can see there is no justification for dropping this backward

> capability except to increase Nikon's sales. Is there really any 
> manufacturing cost for allowing a D80 to meter through AIS lenses that 
> were stopped down? How much would adding the features for AIS lens 
> coupling cost to the D80? $3? $5?

The relative aperture can be read by the camera in a 70/D80 (and 
probably for D40), Nikon only needs to stop disabling the meter which 
can do by installing a microchip from any broken lens. The camera 
doesn't know what the actual apertures are but any errors in metering 
due to this factor are minor.

>> So this is nothing new.