PB-4 / PB-5 nikon bellows mounted to Nikon digital cameras. (Last time on the subject, honest.)

The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows to
modern nikon dslrs.

--
www.mattclara.com

I have both the 4 and 5 and have been using both on a D200 without any
problem for the last year.

Toby
"Matt Clara" wrote in message
. ..
The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows to
modern nikon dslrs.

--
www.mattclara.com

"Toby" wrote in message
...
"Matt Clara" wrote in message
. ..
The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows
to modern nikon dslrs.


I have both the 4 and 5 and have been using both on a D200 without any
problem for the last year.

Toby


Thanks Toby--where were you when we started the search!!!? ;-)
All the same, it's good to have a couple experts weigh in on the subject, as
Nikon says it's a no-no.

--
www.mattclara.com

"Matt Clara" wrote in message
...
"Toby" wrote in message
...
"Matt Clara" wrote in message
. ..
The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows
to modern nikon dslrs.


I have both the 4 and 5 and have been using both on a D200 without any
problem for the last year.

Toby


Thanks Toby--where were you when we started the search!!!? ;-)
All the same, it's good to have a couple experts weigh in on the subject,
as Nikon says it's a no-no.

Oh! If I had known that I might never have mounted them. But I've had
absolutely zero problems. Just out of curiosity, why does Nikon say it is a
no-no? BTW I've also been using K-rings, in case that interests you...

Toby

Actually come to think of it, I think I have to mount the bellows "sideways"
(with the mounting collar rotated 90 degrees as if taking a vertical) to get
it to clear the grip. I can't really remember, since I've had to do this for
years anyway for mounting on the F4. But basically once it is mounted you
can rotate it to the horizontal position, although you have to re-rotate it
to dismount it...

It would definitely damage the camera if I tried to mount or dismount it
without that ;-)

Toby

"Matt Clara" wrote in message
...
"Toby" wrote in message
...
"Matt Clara" wrote in message
. ..
The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows
to modern nikon dslrs.


I have both the 4 and 5 and have been using both on a D200 without any
problem for the last year.

Toby


Thanks Toby--where were you when we started the search!!!? ;-)
All the same, it's good to have a couple experts weigh in on the subject,
as Nikon says it's a no-no.

--
www.mattclara.com

Yes, as I had thought, it is necessary to rotate the collar on the bellows
to mount and dismount it, and I will bet dollars to dimes that this is the
only reason why Nikon says these bellows cannot be used with their dslrs.

I've lived in Japan for more than 20 years and I know a bit about how their
corporate cultures function: I'm sure that some junior engineer was assigned
to determine which accessories and lenses were compatible with the D100 and
D200. He noticed that the PB4 and PB5 could not be mounted without an extra
step, and this translated to "not compatible". Only his little section
happens to know the reason, so when you wrote to Nikon asking for
clarification there was no way that some poor flunky in Nikon USA could
possibly get in contact with some guy who probably doesn't speak English in
some sub-sub department of some sub-department of some peripheral Nikon
office in some far-flung prefecture far away from Tokyo. One step up from
his is only some written document that states that those bellows are not
compatible, and that's all anyone who digs is going to find out, unless he
spends several days on the phone.

Toby


"Toby" wrote in message
...
Actually come to think of it, I think I have to mount the bellows
"sideways" (with the mounting collar rotated 90 degrees as if taking a
vertical) to get it to clear the grip. I can't really remember, since I've
had to do this for years anyway for mounting on the F4. But basically once
it is mounted you can rotate it to the horizontal position, although you
have to re-rotate it to dismount it...

It would definitely damage the camera if I tried to mount or dismount it
without that ;-)

Toby

"Matt Clara" wrote in message
...
"Toby" wrote in message
...
"Matt Clara" wrote in message
. ..
The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows
to modern nikon dslrs.


I have both the 4 and 5 and have been using both on a D200 without any
problem for the last year.

Toby


Thanks Toby--where were you when we started the search!!!? ;-)
All the same, it's good to have a couple experts weigh in on the subject,
as Nikon says it's a no-no.

--
www.mattclara.com

Toby wrote:

Yes, as I had thought, it is necessary to rotate the collar on the bellows
to mount and dismount it, and I will bet dollars to dimes that this is the
only reason why Nikon says these bellows cannot be used with their dslrs.

I've lived in Japan for more than 20 years and I know a bit about how their
corporate cultures function: I'm sure that some junior engineer was assigned
to determine which accessories and lenses were compatible with the D100 and
D200. He noticed that the PB4 and PB5 could not be mounted without an extra
step, and this translated to "not compatible". Only his little section
happens to know the reason, so when you wrote to Nikon asking for
clarification there was no way that some poor flunky in Nikon USA could
possibly get in contact with some guy who probably doesn't speak English in
some sub-sub department of some sub-department of some peripheral Nikon
office in some far-flung prefecture far away from Tokyo. One step up from
his is only some written document that states that those bellows are not
compatible, and that's all anyone who digs is going to find out, unless he
spends several days on the phone.

Or if he tries it g.


Toby


"Toby" wrote in message
...

Actually come to think of it, I think I have to mount the bellows
"sideways" (with the mounting collar rotated 90 degrees as if taking a
vertical) to get it to clear the grip. I can't really remember, since I've
had to do this for years anyway for mounting on the F4. But basically once
it is mounted you can rotate it to the horizontal position, although you
have to re-rotate it to dismount it...

It would definitely damage the camera if I tried to mount or dismount it
without that ;-)

Toby

"Matt Clara" wrote in message
...

"Toby" wrote in message
.. .

"Matt Clara" wrote in message
news:RvidnSakfca0W5jbnZ2dnUVZ_uDinZ2d@comcast. com...

The last bit of evidence is in:
http://www.mattclara.com/misc/nikonbellows/

It appears it is indeed safe to mount either of these old Nikon bellows
to modern nikon dslrs.


I have both the 4 and 5 and have been using both on a D200 without any
problem for the last year.

Toby


Thanks Toby--where were you when we started the search!!!? ;-)
All the same, it's good to have a couple experts weigh in on the subject,
as Nikon says it's a no-no.

--
www.mattclara.com

"Toby" wrote in message
...
Yes, as I had thought, it is necessary to rotate the collar on the bellows
to mount and dismount it, and I will bet dollars to dimes that this is the
only reason why Nikon says these bellows cannot be used with their dslrs.

You'd better not - you have to do the same thing to mount the PB6 on any
Nikon DSLR, and that is one that Nikon says is OK to mount on them

--
Apteryx

"Apteryx" wrote in message
...
"Toby" wrote in message
...
Yes, as I had thought, it is necessary to rotate the collar on the
bellows to mount and dismount it, and I will bet dollars to dimes that
this is the only reason why Nikon says these bellows cannot be used with
their dslrs.

You'd better not - you have to do the same thing to mount the PB6 on any
Nikon DSLR, and that is one that Nikon says is OK to mount on them



Yes, it's my guess Nikon is promoting sales of the PB-6, which is still
available in stores.


--
www.mattclara.com

"Apteryx" wrote in message
...
"Toby" wrote in message
...
Yes, as I had thought, it is necessary to rotate the collar on the
bellows to mount and dismount it, and I will bet dollars to dimes that
this is the only reason why Nikon says these bellows cannot be used with
their dslrs.

You'd better not - you have to do the same thing to mount the PB6 on any
Nikon DSLR, and that is one that Nikon says is OK to mount on them

I also have the PB6, and I have used all three (4, 5 and 6) on the D200
without any problems (quite often) for the past year.

Toby


--
Apteryx