"Paul Furman" wrote in message
. net...
Robert Brace wrote:
Paul Furman wrote:
David Ruether wrote:
Robert Brace wrote:

And let's not forget the Nikon PN-11 originally made to take one of the
earlier Micro-Nikkors out to 1:1 as I recall. It is a 52.5mm auto
extension ring complete with an integral tripod mount.
Extremely useful with any current Micro-Nikkor (and others) to extend
the reproduction ratio. I find it works especially well with my 200mm
Micro-Nikkor when paired with the RRS 87-B mounting which locks the
whole shebang into one Arca-Swiss quick-mountable unit. The 87-B also
can act as a focusing slider, so you don't have to play with your
reproduction ratio during focus.

I have a PN-11 (and maybe a suitable RRS plate) available
if anyone is interested...

This would be a sweet setup:
http://damien.douxchamps.net/photo/pn11/index.php
I don't think I'd be up to the modification though. But to be able to
have metering, AF-S & VR on my 105 & 70-200 and strong enough to hold the
Tamron 300/2.8 AI

I have a Manfrotto quickmount & 2 plates (which I'm not real happy with).
A mount on the tube would be smart for macro work, is the Arca-Swiss the
only option there?

Paul:
I'm not sure that 7 electrical contacts would be enough for AF-S & VR
both with the 105 setup. I doubt the glued (epoxy, to be sure) contact
mounts would hold up to much normal (rough?) handling. I would not want
to trust the PN-11 contacts not to come apart while mounted to the
camera. Can you imagine the damage that would cause?
I've never had any problems with metering on the F5 and either of the
D2 bodies with the PN-11 attached to the AF Micro Nikkor 200mm 1:4 D with
ambient, constant artificial or flash TTL illumination.

I've found the D200 will meter with all kinds of odd setups like a totally
wrongly entered non-cpu lens length & such, maybe a little EC to fix it,
but I think the problem is the PN-11 doesn't couple the aperture for
controlling from the body so I couldn't adjust aperture with my new G
lenses that lack aperture rings. So it would only work with my old beater
Tokina 300, and would probably be super handy with that but bummer not to
use the 105 macro & 70-200.

The article I linked above reinforces what I've heard that the Kenko tubes
do give you all the goodies but they are flimsy and probably not wise with
the big heavy lenses where you'd need the whole set stacked.

Is there any Nikon extension tube that allows aperture control of G
lenses?

snip
Without the plate you could use the normal tripod mounting hole (1/4X20)
in the PN-11 mount as you would with any ordinary mount.

Oh, yeah Doh.

I don't think the PN-11 has been made for some time.

They don't appear to make *any* extension tubes these days:
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5

--
Paul Furman Photography
http://www.edgehill.net/1
Bay Natives Nursery
http://www.baynatives.com

Paul:
I have never seen a Nikon extension tube that allows aperture control with G
lenses. Some 3rd party ones do (like Kenko). It's a shame as it would sure
help flexibility. Nikon's backwardness in the area of compatibility with
some "accessory" attachments has been well known for years to those of us
who have used them since the original F days (and wish they'd held on to
some of those original bodies)!
I thought Nikon still made the PK11A, PK12 & PK13, but the US site doesn't
mention them nor does the "search" function bring up anything.
Perhaps EBay?
Bob