has always been a great lens and remains so. i've used this lens many times and always great results. so, go have fun!

okey dokey,

as i've used and love (in alphabetical order) canon, nikon and pentax cameras, i won't be upset with your selection.
but i must point out, that using manual focus will give you much greater accuracy than any af system. your eyes are the best focusing device made. whether digital or film, i've always wondered at the reliance non-professional users place on af.

for critical work, and now i know i'm speaking of folks who want better than just "good enough", clients and art directors (who are a REAL pain!) will accept nothing but the very best. and that means i use my eyes and focus the lens manually. this is regardless of aperture and shutter speed. i also use either a cable release or wireless release. depending on the camera i'm currently using, i'll also pre-release the mirror. and (o the gods, here we go again) a wood tripod (when will you ever stop this, cody?).
so, good luck and hope you are having fun!!!

is this the third time i've done this? oh well, here i go again.
a wood tripod absorbs vibrations better than any other material. you may want to look at, in my personal order of preference:

1. Burlebach
2. Ries
3. Zone VI

the local hospitals, here, use wood tripods in their pathology labs for imaging really awful stuff that lives in and on us!!!

please remember,
anything at 300mm or longer and you will have to deal with atmospheric conditions. lots of yucky stuff that we breathe all the time may well show up on you images. here is where the haze filter and early morning image making play an important part in good results.

if we are speaking of af lenses, then the first generation minolta af lenses have some wonderful items. in addition to the above, the 70-300 constant f4 lens is highly sought after. also the first generation af wide angles, as much the same as their legendary mf wides.

ummmm,
isn't this the photography site?

don't feel bad, you have a wonderful camera in the F100. anything better, in af, would be the F6, which i currently use, along with my 1959 nikon F. have used the F100, and used it professionally. it will not let you down.

really smart thing to do. i'm with you on this, that's for sure!

oh boy, here we go.
it would be one of these three, in order of my preference.
1. Burlebach
2. Zone VI
3. Ries

please note, all are wood. the reason is simple. no other material absorbs vibrations as well as wood.

the funny thing about minolta cameras was the impression they were not useable as professional cameras. two great photographers, Sanne Sannes from the Netherlands and Lucien Clergue of France, both uses minolta srt cameras throughout there careers. and the simple reason for that was the lenses. up to and including the 85mm, they beat and still do, damn near everything out there. this is why e leitz (leica) used them for their slr line of cameras. that relationship goes back from the late 60's - early 70's. great cameras. i still use my sr7 (model 5) along with my minolta 9.

hi, and sorry for the late reply, not a good day for me yesterday. Erv did a little brainstorming and came up with this: the lines you are seeing may be caused by the disintegration of the foam sealing the pentaprism glass to the metal portion of the prism. he does not believe this is caused by any deterioration of the prism glass, itself.
the problem lies in repairing this. in his opinion, it would cost more than the camera is worth at today's prices.
sorry i don't have better infor for you, but do hope this helps a little. the condition should not actually interfere with your focusing and taking pictures.
good luck!

hi,
the fe and fm cameras were wonderful in their time. a main problem is the failure of the light meter. in the fe, this is catastrophic as the shutter will also be adversely affected. the fm will still work at all shutter speeds, even if the light meter goes south.
so, that leaves the f3 and the f6. the f3 is a remarkable camera, very pro, not huge like the f4 and f5. i'd go with the hp prism on the f3. i don't think you'd go wrong with it. ergonomically, is the best nikon ever, with the exception of the auto focusing f6. that is one great camera, probably the best nikon ever built, but used ones command a premium price $800 - $1100. but if you can swing it, it sure is the way to go. other auto focusing nikons are the n90s, and the n80s - both very good and will give you 85% of the f6 at much lower cost. this nice thing is nikon never changed their lens mount, so you have a plethora of nikkor lenses to choose from, with of course, certain limitations.
i do wish you all the best in your search.

let me weigh in on this for you.

bogen/manfrotto tripods and ball heads are excellent units. they manufacture many different tripods at specific price points. i believe they have a web page, so if you just went to google and stuck in the above name, i'm sure something will come up for you.
now, having said that, one the the great secrets in photography, and one which is never mentioned, is wood tripods absorb more vibration than any other material. this is why large format photographers are partial to them.
hope this is of some assistance to you.

the results are in the print, not in opinions.