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Doug Greenberg
Guest
Clearly, there is controversy surrounding the announcement of the new D7500 dx DSLR. Much of the furor relates to the change from two to one SD card slot. But to me, the most disappointing omission is the lack of the AI metering pin which allows non-CPU lenses to utilize through the lens metering. This feature was included in all previous cameras in the D7xxx series, as well as in all pro model cameras.
I have been surprised that so few people seem to care about this omission. "Get with the times," say many of them. Ok. Maybe not that many of us still own and use AI and AIS lenses, but the context here is that Nikon has supposedly prided itself on the fact that almost all lenses produced over the pasty fifty years or more are still usable on modern camera bodies. This in contrast with Canon, which rendered all of its older lenses obsolete when it introduced the EF lens mount in 1987.
Some people have argued that this omission is a nod "to the engineers," who are asked to include more and more features into cameras while keeping costs down. I suspect it was not the engineers but the bean counters who made this decision to save some money (how much? I cannot imagiine this is a hugely costly feature) so that the camera will be more profitable.
Personally, I still own and use a few AI/AIS lenses of shorter focal lengths, including my original 50 f1.4 from my 1968 Nikon F, a 105 f2.5 AI, and a 24mm f2.8. More importantly, however, I have been able to save money as a bird photographer by making use of AI/AIS long lenses, including a 400mm f3.5, 600mm f5.6, and most recently, an 800mm f5.6. These lenses have terrific glass and yet cost a fraction of the newer, auto-everything lenses.
But I guess it's only me who still uses these non-CPU lenses.
Doug Greenberg, Berkeley, California
I have been surprised that so few people seem to care about this omission. "Get with the times," say many of them. Ok. Maybe not that many of us still own and use AI and AIS lenses, but the context here is that Nikon has supposedly prided itself on the fact that almost all lenses produced over the pasty fifty years or more are still usable on modern camera bodies. This in contrast with Canon, which rendered all of its older lenses obsolete when it introduced the EF lens mount in 1987.
Some people have argued that this omission is a nod "to the engineers," who are asked to include more and more features into cameras while keeping costs down. I suspect it was not the engineers but the bean counters who made this decision to save some money (how much? I cannot imagiine this is a hugely costly feature) so that the camera will be more profitable.
Personally, I still own and use a few AI/AIS lenses of shorter focal lengths, including my original 50 f1.4 from my 1968 Nikon F, a 105 f2.5 AI, and a 24mm f2.8. More importantly, however, I have been able to save money as a bird photographer by making use of AI/AIS long lenses, including a 400mm f3.5, 600mm f5.6, and most recently, an 800mm f5.6. These lenses have terrific glass and yet cost a fraction of the newer, auto-everything lenses.
But I guess it's only me who still uses these non-CPU lenses.
Doug Greenberg, Berkeley, California
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