NIKON MF-21 BACKThe Right Half of the N8008's Brainby Jack and Sue Drafahl

When we first fieldtested the NikonN8008 in the No-vember 1988 issue of

PHOTOGraphic, we were extremelypleased with the camera. What wedidn't realize at the time, was that theN8008 we tested was only running onhalf of its electronic brain; the otherhalf is found in Nikon's MF-21 multi-function back.

The MF-21 is so importantto Nikon N8008 users that wefelt that an in-depth report onjust the back was essential tototally understand all the pos-sible uses for the N8008.

First, understand that the"MF" in the product namerefers to five basic operationsof the N8008 camera: Intervaltimer function, long time ex-posures, autoexposure brack-eting, freeze-focus, and dataimprinting.

CONFIGURATION

The MF-21 is slightly larger thanthe standard N8008 back, weighs a lit-tle more, and requires less than a min-ute to install. You'll only have to in-stall it once, because once you've triedthe MF-21 back, you will never wantto remove it! On the left side of theback is the standard viewing window,for reading film information off thecassette. On the right is a small batterycompartment that holds two 3V CR-2025 lithium batteries used to operatethe large LCD display on the back ofthe MF-21 (even when the camera isturned off). The center section consistsof a very large liquid-crystal display,and an extensive control panel hiddenbehind a tiny, magnetized door.

The LCD shows information aboutsingle functions, or combinations offunctions. The control panel has sevenbuttons. The FNC button cyclesthrough each of the five functions tobe selected. The MOD button allowsthe photographer to modify variousfeatures of each function. Pressing theSEL button selects a specific modifica-tion so an adjustment can be made us-ing the ADJ button. If the intervaltimer or long-exposure function is

used, a START/STOP button is usedto control the action. Once a functionis selected and modified, a SET/RE-SET button will activate or deactivateeach of the specific functions selected.And finally, the PRN button printsone of eight types of data in the lowerright-hand corner of the film frame.

INTERVAL TIMER

When selecting this function, theMF-21 first asks you what time youwant the sequence to start. Using theSEL and ADJ buttons, pick the date,hour, and minute you want the actionto commence. For example, 7 12:07 isthe seventh day of the month at 12:07.The next question asked by the back ishow much time should elapse betweeneach event photographed. For exam-ple, 01:02:04 is one hour, two minutes,and four seconds between each event.The last question is, how many expo-sures should be taken per event, andhow many events will be photo-graphed. For example, 3f-03 would in-dicate three frames taken of eachevent, and three complete cycles be-fore the entire sequence is over; or 3hours, 6 minutes, and 12 seconds totalelapsed time using the example citedabove.

We found this function extremelyuseful for documenting nature events,such as a flower opening, an egghatching, sunsets, and bird-nest activ-ity. If you set the N8008 to multi-ex-posure, you could set the camera totake nine exposures of the moon in dif-ferent positions on one frame, and not

lose any sleep getting the shot. If youwanted to document a constructionjob over a month's time, you could setthe interval to one exposure every 24hours and let the camera do therest... for the next 30 days!

LONG EXPOSURE

If you desire exposures that exceedthe 30 seconds, the long-exposure

function can be selected andadjusted to a maximum set-ting of 99 hours, 59 minutes,and 59 seconds, by using theSEL and ADJ controls. Thismode is handy for photo-graphing star trails, nightscenes, or any subject that re-quires extremely long expo-sures. This function could becombined with the intervaltimer, for instance, when pho-tographing star trails. Youcould set the interval for oneexposure, one event, and setthe shutter to open at 9 p.m.and stay open for six hours, so

the shutter would close at 3 a.m. Isn'ttechnology great?

AUTO BRACKETING

The auto-bracket function is fairlystraightforward. It asks two questions:how many exposures—3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13,15, or 17—and how much difference inexposure between the frames; for ex-ample, .3, .5, .7, 1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.7, or 2 f-stops. If the motor drive of the N8008is in the continuous mode, all bracket-ed exposures will be taken immediate-ly. If it's in the single mode, one partof the bracketed sequence will be takenwith each press of the shutter button.

FREEZE-FOCUS OR FOCUSPRIORITY

The most misunderstood control onthe MF-21 is the so-called freeze-focuscontrol. The manual states that thiscontrol is designed to automaticallytrip the shutter when a subject entersa preset plane of focus. This point istrue, but there is much more to thisfunction than meets the eye. Nikongives the example of a sporting eventwhere the subject passes through apoint of preset focus and trips the

68 PHorographic/June 1989

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NIKON MF-21shutter. In order to accomplish this,you must turn the camera's autofocusoff. This concept made us wonder:what if you place older manual-focuslenses on the N8008, and set the backto Freeze Focus? If you press the shut-ter button, nothing happens until youmanually focus the lens. When the im-age is sharp, the shutter is tripped,making a semi-autofocus system out ofyour old manual-focus lenses.

Let's take another situation whereyou are using a macro lens to photo-

One of the best uses ofFreeze Focus isn 't even

discussed in the manual!

graph flowers. If you place the camerain manual focus, and set the lens to thedesired magnification, you can movethe camera and lens in on the subjectuntil it comes into focus, tripping theshutter at the correct magnification.

We found the best use for FreezeFocus was not even discussed in themanual. If you set your N8008 to con-tinuous focus, and the motor drive tocontinuous-low, with the freeze focuson, you have created a tracking systemfor the N8008 camera. We tried thison several moving objects such as pass-ing cars, planes, and joggers, and wereextremely impressed by the ability ofthe N8008 and the MF-21 to keep upwith moving subjects.

DATA IMPRINTING

The fifth function of the MF-21 iswhat most photographers think ofwhen they think of accessory camerabacks. Data can be printed on the filmusing the PRN button, or just display-ed on the LCD panel for the photogra-pher's information. Using the MOD,SEL, and ADJ functions, the photog-rapher can select four slightly differentvariations of the date to be imprintedon the lower right-hand corner of theframe. For example, (8 3 89) (8 2:48)(89 3 8) (3 8 89) all represent March8, 1989 at 2:48.

Two types of frame counts can beimprinted with the MF-21. The first isthe standard frame count found on thetop of the camera; the second countsuntil you reset it, like a trip meter ona car. If you want to keep track of howmany photos you have taken on ashooting, this function will keep add-ing until you reach 999,999 exposures.

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If you desire a specific number be onevery frame, a fixed number can alsobe selected and printed onto the image.This would be useful if you were mak-ing several copies of a slide show andneeded to number each series of dupeswith the same number.

Shutter speed and f-stop can also beprinted on the film with the DATAIMPRINT function. This is handywhen running film tests so you don'thave to write down the information—the MF-21 does that for you.

A special sixth function allows thephotographer to vary the intensity ofthe imprint exposure. Auto-imprintexposure and manual-imprint expo-sure (L, M, HI, H2) can be selected toachieve the desired effect.

CONCLUSIONS

After using the Nikon MF-21 Mul-ti-function back for studio, sports, na-ture, and AV production, we found itan absolute necessity for the N8008 us-er who wants to get the maximum helpin solving a variety of photographicproblems. The N8008 is a great cam-era, but the MF-21 Multi-controlBack just makes it better. Why settlefor half a brain? Remember how thesaying goes . . . two brains are betterthan one . . . or something like that! ffl

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PHOTOgraphic/June 1989 71