P3D Nimslo vs Nishika for hacking

[Project3D@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 22/09/98 16:16:12 GMT, J Norman wrote:

<< Can anyone tell me whether, for hacking purposes, I'm better off with a
Nimslo
 or a Nishika (I'm interested in experimenting with a macro project using the
 whole camera, or scavenging the lenses for a macro project using a different
 camera).  Does it make any difference whether it's a Nishika or a Nimslo?
 Thanks for any advice. >>

I have NO experience of hacking a Nishika (though I have seen the inside of
one), but I would nevertheless recommend the Nimslo! Particularly those "Made
in Japan" (marked on the baseplate).

The Nishika is substantially made of plastic, so would actually be easier to
work, but the metal body of the Nimslo gives greater strength and stability. I
don't think I'd want to open the Nishika apertures to full frame height (24mm)
although I have opened Nimslos (up to 25mm, in fact...).

The lenses on the Nimslo were first class (given their maximum aperture of
f5.6) and will comportably cover full frame 35mm apertures. Unfortunately, the
shutter blades are located behind the lenses and shade the flim plane at small
apertures giving rise to vignetting. In practice, the maximum frame size that
can be achieved in bright sunlight with ASA 100 film is about 25 x 25mm.

The exposure on the Nimslo is controlled by sophisticated electronics which
work well once set up correctly. I _think_ that the Nishika has a simple
manually adjustable system, so it _may_ be easier to modify it for larger film
chips, but I suspect that (under critical examination of the resulting film
chips) the lenses would not really be adequate.

Just my opinion

Bob Aldridge


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