Been there, you captured it well!
The train to ridiculous left the station many hours ago!
I have dealt with Midwest Photo Exchange since they opened maybe 30 yrs ago? I always found them to be honest and fair. I know the owners would not "push" a customer away from what suites their needs best. BUT your particular salesman may have his own reasons for being pushy. Maybe the salesman is a Fuji fanatic? Similar to the way Canon or Nikon long time users feel about their personal favorites? Would you consider going back there, and talk to a different salesperson, or ask for Jim, one of the owners. But be prepared to wait as Jim is quite popular. He is honest as they come. Tell him about your experience there and hear what he has to say. A business owner wants honest feedback so he can keep his business strong! Jim will listen and give you the benefit of his considerable experience. Then make your decision about both Midwest and the camera for you.
Please private me and I will tell you more?
I agree with Peterff, and know from experiences, JIS sized tooling is the only way to go. Save money with a cheap driver and you will often pay later with a repair you cannot handle.
Please do yourself a favor and forget about drivers that work great on eyeglasses, computers, etc. The threads those devices use are cut to sloppy tolerances, because they can be made more cheaply doing that, and they do not need optimum holding power in those applications. They come apart easy with philips, and even sometimes flat blade drivers can be used in a cross-point screw. But camera lenses, which are expected to get bounced around and used in all kinds of temperatures are made to more exacting tolerances. The maker does not want his lens to need a warranty repair, so he uses closer tolerance fasteners. Imagine what happens when a tiny loose screw gets caught in a helicoid focuser? And god help us, they use chemical thread lock sometimes too. It takes as perfect of fit of a tool as possible to avoid damaging the screw head. If damaged, the removal of said screws go beyond what most amateurs can handle. JIS sized J00 and J0 are the two sizes I see used in lenses the most. Vessel brand is reasonable in price. Also a nice miniature set I can recommend is the "IFixit 64 bit driver kit" which I purchased on E-Bay for about $50. Kind of like those large sets of bits from Harbor Freight, and other brands, only much smaller hex bit size and smaller fastener capabilities.
I am only writing here twice because I went the cheap route and paid the price.
Maybe ask this question in the Macro area? Landscape and Macro each have their own requirements. Fits all never fits anyone perfectly.
I have repaired some Nikon, and other, lenses. Found it necessary to purchase very good quality screw drivers. Not going to find quality at discount or hardware stores! And you do need Japanese Std sized and formed for their cross point screws. Philips look the same but are a less than good fit. I had pricey watchmaker quality philips drivers, and they caused me grief on Japanese lens repairs. Vessel brand is great and decent price. Also be aware that some screws may have thread locker on them from the factory. I needed to purchase a hand impact driver to nudge those loose without stripping the screw heads. And I have also needed to drill out some screws that refuse to come out. For those I use left hand twist drill bits in numbered size (tiny) which are hard to find. If you need those let me know and I will look up the supply source. And use a drill press, preferably a mill to chuck up the drill bit and run it true. No hand drilling ever! All that said, it is fun to take apart a "junk" lens and restore it to like new performance. Take pics as your disassemble the lens so you can remember how to put it back together, and make witness marks to align things up.
Very well done! The simple subjects can make for stunning images.
I have a close friend whose family owned a camera store for two generations. He had to eventually close the store because customers would buy their cameras and accessories on the grey market, then come to his store when they wanted the operation of said equipment explained to them. At first he and other sales people he employed smiled and did their best to help. As he saw his true customer base erode more and more to this he still smiled, then quoted a rate to them to give lessons on their grey market cameras! Many of those "customers" went ballistic since my friends store sold such brands and they thought it was their right as a "customer" to get free help. To conclude: my buddy closed his store, put five full time and several part time employees out of work. This happened ten years ago and he is still paying off creditors from the store closure. Yes, he could easily have declared bankruptcy, but he did not feel that was the right thing to do! I admire his ethics, and question that of the "customers".
You are 100% correct. That may end up as the best plan of action?
I purchased both a cabled release and an infrared release a few minutes ago. I had neither remaining in my junk drawer of photo gadgets left over from my pro days. I will try to machine a yoke to go around one of the push button fobs. It will incorporate enough material robust enough to machine the cable release socket into it. Maybe it will allow me to use the release with or without the twin cable release? I am retired so all this is fun for me. And nice to have a great workshop to bring ideas to life. My wife is a saint to put up with me and my toys!
I looked up the AR-10, and it indeed can work, IF, I also purchase a MC-25 and an adapter cord to connect ML-3 to MC-DC-2 connections. That costs about $150 or more total, and adds three electronic components that can fail? Less is more perhaps? I already have an AR-4 twin release(actually the pentax version complete with the Leica bells)and decided to purchase a corded push button release for under $5 shipped from USA. I plan to take it apart, install a micro switch to augment the push button and include a socket for the cable release which I will have to machine. If it works I will let you all know. The nice thing about the later plan is that there is only one electrical device to fail, and it is inexpensive to try. The twin cable release has worked for the past 30 yrs I have owned it, and seems fine for another thirty yrs? I had really hoped to go directly from the mechanical cable release to the Nikon mini Usb port with a Nikon adapter. But I guess that device would not enjoy tons of sales. But thanks to all for some interesting thoughts.
I was hoping to find some obscure Nikon device that adapts the mechanical release to control the shutter of the D7000 electronic camera. I have been away from photography for over five years now and have no idea what is available out there. I retired from pro photography and needed a time out before my desire to do it as a hobby came back to me. Yes, I may just get one of the short range IR, or cabled triggers sold for the camera and make a new case or adapter for the device to allow the button to be depressed by the cable release pin. At least the rig would be more versatile. Getting another camera body does not appeal to me, I like my D7000. And I no longer need a stable of cameras like in the old days. I just thought someone had already solved this problem for the D7000's series of camera bodies? Thanks for your thoughts, all of you. Any other ideas??
I know I can use two steps, but since I had a twin cable in my box of spares I thought it would be nice to have one step pictures! I intend to do stacking, and that can mean hundreds of snaps. But I may have to resort to the old two step! Thanks, Lou
A similar thought crossed my mind, and I have a machine shop in my basement, so simple enough to do. But I am hoping there is a cleaner way of solving this problem using nikon parts, preferably, to be aesthetically pleasing. I also wish to make it more adaptable to a wide range of setups. Thanks for the 6-32 idea, I was going to try and cut a tapered thread, not easy, and I do not have a taper tap that small.
What I want is to attach the cable release to an electronic adapter, that I can then use either the Nikon ten pin, or the mini usb.
Thanks, nice ideas!
I have a Nikon PB-4 bellows and an E-1 extension to attach the micro-nikkor AI-s lens and allow the diaphragm to be controlled by one of the twin cables. I would like to use my D-7000 body on the other end of the bellows and release the shutter just after my lens stops down. The cable allows mechanical adjustment to make sure the lens stops down before the camera release trips. But so far I see no adapter to allow me to use the other mechanical cable release to trip the electronic shutter. Anyone have a nice fix for this issue?? I would hate to have to re-invent the photo wheel!