After accepting a part-time job at a newspaper in Hollister, CA, last week I bought a near mint Nikon F3 HP with MD-4 motor drive. Faced with a similar decision in 1985 I bought a Canon F1 and motor drive partially because of the second shutter button on the Canon drive which was very handy for shooting vertical photos. I love the F3, but do miss that second shutter button. Does anyone know if there is a vertical grip available for the F3/MD-4 combination that will give me a second shutter release button?

-- Darron Spohn (dspohn@photobitstream.com), March 28, 2000

Answers

Darron,

Ever hear of the MR-3? It's a little screw-in vertical release that Nikon makes for the MD-4 and MD-12. I purchased one from B&H for about $35 some months ago. You can also attach a standard cable release to the MR- 3 - this can be handy for some macro set-ups when the cable release tends to dangle in front of the lens.

Eric

-- Eric James (eajames@u.washington.edu), March 28, 2000.

There's also the MK-1. It gives also gives you a second button, but it's on the wrong side (it's better than trying to use the controls on the drive, but it does take some getting used to). It also centers the tripod socket and allows you to set firing rates of 1 fps, 2 fps or 3 fps.

You might want to take a look at: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwa res/classics/nikonf3ver2/motordrive/index3.htm for more info.

-- Geoffrey S. Kane (grendel@nauticom.net), March 29, 2000.