Nikon FG-20 User manual

NOMENCLATURE
CD Shutter speed/mode index Meter coupling lever @
®Shutter speed/mode selector dial Film rewind crank ®
®Frame counter Film rewind knob @
®Neckstrap eyelet
®Lens mounting flange
@Reflex mirror
<D Self-timer lever
@Aperture '
® Focusing ring
@Distance scale
([j) Aperture-direct-readout (ADR) scale
@Depth-of-field indicators
2

@Contact for the Speeclight SB - 19
@ Hot -s hoe contact
® Ready -light contact
@ ASA / ISO film speec ring
@
ASA / ISO film speec index
@Film rewind fork
®
ASA / ISO film speec scale
@Film cartridge chamber
@Film plane indicator
@Shutter curtains
®Viewfinder eyepiece
@Film
re wind button
® Motor drive coupling
@Motor drive positioning hole •
Shutter release button@
Shutter speec/mode selector dial
lock release button@
Film advance lever
Accessory shoe@
Film take-up spool @
Film pressure plate@
Film sprockel@
Memo holde
r@
Film
Tripod/motor drive coupling socket @
Motor drive electrical contacts®
Battery clip®
3

CONTENTS---------------------------------
NOMENCLATURE ........... . ... 2- 3
FOREWORD
.. ... ..... .. .... . ........ 5
BASIC OPERATION . . .. . . . .. 6-19
CONTROLS IN DETAIL. . ....... 20-31
Shutter Relea se Button . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 20
Film Advance Lever . . ...... 20
Frame Counter ............... . ........ . ........... 21
Memo Holder. . . 21
Shutter Speed/Mode Selector Dial . . ... 22-23
Focusing Screen ............................. 24-25
Exposure Viewfinder Information . ......... . 26-27
Exposure Compensation Button. . ........ 28
Self-Timer Lever. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 29
Film Plane Indicator. . . . . . . . . . . . ... 30
Infrared Focu si ng Index. . . 30
Meter Coupling Le ver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ 31
For lenses or accessories without
automatic diaphragms.
For fixed
-a perture lenses. photomicrography.
or astrophotography.
. ..... 31
TECHNICAL INFORMATioN . .
... 31
32-42
Relationship Between Shu Iter Speed
and Aperture
... . .......... . ............... .. 32-33
Depth of Field. . . 34-35
EV Range of the Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 36
What is EV ? . .. ... ... .... .. . ...... 36
EV range. . . . ... ... •. .. . . ......... 36
Exposure Compensation. . .. 37-39
In the manual mode. . ..... 37
Duplication work and photomicrography . 38-39
4
Fl ash Ph otography.
Re ady-light indication in the viewfinder.
Relation
shi p between the camera 's meter,
. 40-42
.... 41
ready-light indication and shutter speed. . ...... 41
Nikon FG -20/Speedlight combination chart. ........ 42
ACCESSORIES. . .... 43 -48
Ele ctronic Fl ash. . ....... . , , .. . ... , . . , . . ..... 43
Nikon Speedlight SB-19 . . ........ , ..... 43
Motor Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Nikon Motor Drive MD- 14 and MD-E. . .... 44
Close-Up Eq uipment. ................. 45
Filter s. . . . ... . . . . . . . 46
Len s Hoods . . .... , , , , . . . . . . 46
Eyepiece Correction Lenses ...... . .... , ... _ ........ 47
Rubber Eyecup . . . . . . . . . . . .... 47
Eyepiece Adapter . .
... 47
Anti-Cold Battery Pack DB -2 ..... ,'. ... . .... 47
Cable Relea se AR-3 . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . .. . ..... 47
Semi-Soft Camera Cases. . . . . . . . . . . . ... 48
Neckstraps. . ..... . ................. , .. . ........ 48
TIPS ON BATTERY USE. . ..... .... .......... 49
TIPS ON CAMERA CARE . . ............. 50-5 1
SPECIFICATIONS . . ....... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52-5 3
USABLE LENSES. .
...... 54
WHAT IS
AI? .......... . . . .. 55

FOREWORD-----------
Welcome to Nikon's worldof picture-taking ease. With
your new
FG-20 it's easy to take the type of high-
quality photographs which have become synonymous
with the Nikon name.
The FG-20 features automatic exposure control. Just
set the camera to
A, select a shooting aperture on the
lens,
and fire away. The FG-20 then instantaneously
sets the proper shutter speed for.correct exposure
steplessly over the range of 1 to 1/1000sec.
If you
desire, you can set the shutter speed dial to the ((~ .
mark. Then an audible warning is provided to let you
know when the scene is too bright to get correct e x-
posure or when the shutter speed is around 1/30sec.
br slower, indicating that you should use a tripod.
Moreover, the FG-20 offers full manual control of
all
shutter speeds for creative experimentation; in addi-
tion there are two mechanical
settings-M90 (1 /90
sec.) and B (bulb)-which do not require batter y'
power.
Before using your camera, please read this instruc-
tion manual from cover to cover. A few minutes
in -
vested now will
payoff in years of rewarding picture-
taking experiences.
5

BASIC OPERATION-------------
1 Remove the battery
• clip ® .
Use a coin to unscrew it in a
'counterclockwise direction.
6
2 Insert batteries.
• Wipe the battery terminals
clean
and insert the batteries.
making sure that the + signs
are
up.
Usable batteries for the Nikon
FG-20 are:
-
One 3V lithium battery (CR-1/3N)
-
Two 1.55V silver-oxide batteries
(SR44)
-
Two 1.5V alkaline-manganese
batteries (LR44)
3 Reattach the
• battery clip.
•
•
Slip the clip back into the camera
body
and screw it tightly into place.

4 Depress the shutter release
• button @ halfway to activate
the exposure meter.
Make sure to remove the camera body cap.
,000
500
250
125
60
30
15
,
4
2
Sufficient
battery power
,000
500
250
'25
60
30
15
,
4
2
] Insufficient
battery power
5 Check the meter needle in
•
the viewfinder.
Make sure the needle is above the bottom red
zone. This indicates that battery installation is correct
and power is sufficient. If the needle is in the red zone,
recheck battery orientation
or , if necessary, replace ,
with a new set.
With sufficient battery power, the needle remains
above the
red zone for approx. 20sec. after you take
your finger off the button.
If the batteries are almost
depleted, the needle will drop back into the
red zone
immediately after
you take your finger off the but-
ton.
In this case, replace the batteries as soon as
possible.
• To check batterypower, set the shutterspeed/mode selector
dial ®
at anysetting except M90and B.
7

-BASIC OPERATION-continued---------- -----;:
6 Mount the lens onto the camera.
• Lenses which are usable with the Nikon FG-20
are AI-S Nikkor, Nikon Series
E, AI-Nikkor, most AI-
modified Nikkor, and certain special lenses. (For
details about usable lenses, refer to page 54,)
To mount a lens, first line up the aperture/distance
index ®
on the lens with the lens mounting index @
on the camera body. Then twist the lens mounting ring
® counterclockwise until the lens clicks into place.
Check to see that the aperture/distance index
is
exactly at the top.
8
To remove :While pushing the lens release button @ ,
turn the lens mounting ring clockwise until the lens
comes off.
• With film loaded in the camera, be careful not to expose th e
mirror box to direct sunlight while you are changing lenses.

7. Open the camera
back @.
Pull up the film rewind knob @ until
the camera back pops open .
8. Install the film
cartridge.
Position the cartridge in the film
cartridge chamber @ with the
leader pointing towards the takeup
spool
@; then push the rewind
knob back down to hold the car-
tridge
in place.
The FG-20 accepts any type of
35 mm film on the market. During
film loading,
it is advisable to
handle the film
in the shade to
avoid direct exposure to sunlight.
9 Insert the film
• leader into the
takeup spool.
Pull the leader and in sert it into
anyone of the slots in the takeup
spool.
9

-BASIC OPERATION-continued---------------,
10 Engage the film
• perforations with
the sprocket teeth @ •
rurn the takeup spool slightly with
your thumb,
so that a perforation
at the bottom edge of the film is
engaged with the small tooth at
the bottom of the slot
in the takeup
spool,
and the top and bottom per-
forations mesh securely with the
sprockets.
10
11. Advance the film with the film
advance lever @ •
Wind the film advance lever and depress the shutter
release button until the film sprockets engage the
perforations
on the edges of the film. Confirm
that the film
is properly seated between both film
guide rails @ and there
is no film slack. Then close
the camera back until it snaps shut.

12. Take up the film
slack.
Fold out the film rewind crank ®
and rotate it slowly in the direction
of the arrow on the film rewind
knob until you' feel slight resis-
tance.
Then fold the crank back in.
13 Make blank exposures.
• To dispose of the first few frames exposed during film loading,
continue to alternately advance the film
and depress the shutter release
button until the frame counter ® reaches frame
1. While making blank
exposures, check that the rewind knob
is rotating, indicating the film
has been loaded correctly and
is advancing. If the knob does not
rotate, reload the film.
-B efore the frame counter reaches frame I, with the shutter speed/mode selector
dial set
at A or the ~\. mark, the shutter fires at a fixed speed of 1/90sec. regard-
less
of scene brightness. To indicate blank expcsures, the shutterspeed needle in
the viewfinder pcints to e9o. Ata manual shutter speed setting, the shutter fires at
the speed set on the dial although the meter needle will not necessarily point to
that speed.
11

_. BASIC OPERATION-continued-----------
14 Set the film speed.
• Lift up the ASAIISO film speed ring @ and
rotate it
in either direction until the white index dot
@ is opposite the film speed in use.
The scale ® on the ASA/ISO dial has settings from
ASAIISO 25 to 3200.Two dots between each number
stand for intermediate settings, such as 64, 80, etc.
As a convenience, the most popular film speeds of
64, 100,400, and 1000 are
in red.
12
The film speed, in the form of an ASAIISO number, is
printed on the film carton and also on the cartridge
itself. This number is a numerical rating of the film
's
sensitivity to a given amount of light; the higher the
number, the
greater the sensitivity, and vice versa.

15. Set the shuHer speed/mode
selector dial to A or (, •.
Both settings indicate automatic exposure operation.
At (,. ,an audible warning is provided to let you
know when the scene
is too bright or too dark to
get correct exposure
or when the shutter speed is
around 1/30sec. or slower, indicating that you
should use a tripod.
A locking mechani sm is provided between the A and
(,. setting. To move from A to (,. or vice versa,
depress the lock release button @
as you rotate the
dial.
• For manual shutterspeed settings from 111000sec. to 1sec.,
refer to page
23.
16. Set the lens to the desired
aperture.
With a 50mm f/1.4lens and ASAIISO 100 film, use the
following suggestions
in setting the f/stop on the lens.
Indoors:
f/1.4-f/4
Outdoors (cloudy): f/4-f/8
Outdoors (clear): f/8-f/16
13

-BASIC OPERATION-continued---------- ------"
~
17 Hold the camera steady.
• Many blurred shots are caused by unsteady
holding of the camera.
The basic shooting posture is
~his : Cradle the camera in your left hand with your
fingers wrapped around the lens barrel
and your
elbow propped against your body for support.
Then
grasp the end of the camera body in your right hand
with the index finger
on top of the shutter release
button and the thumb between the camera film
ad-
vance lever. You can look through the viewfinder with
either
eye ,while you can keep your other eye opened
or closed. It's ea sy to adapt this basic posture to both
horizontal-
and vertical-format shooting.
14
For maximum stability, stand with your feet flat on the
ground
and slightly apart; also when using slow
shutter speeds, try to lean against something stable,
such
as a tree, fence post,or wall.

18. Center the main
subject and focus
on the subject.
Because the Nlkon FG·20's ex·
posure meter
is centerweighted,
compose the picture with the
main subject at the center. The
Type Kclear-matte focusing screen
is provided as standard. Turn the
focusing ring ® until the two halves
of the split image rangefinder coin-
cide perfectly to form a single
unbroken image and the image
in
the microprism appears sharp.
Correct focus will then
be secured.
15

-BASIC OPERATION-continued-------------'-
C10
-
..
®
:: JI ~,~ poo".
~ : Correct exp os ure
I l r-- Possiblepicture blur
, p- U """~poo""
19 Check the exposure.
• Depress the shutter release button halfway
to activate the exposure meter. If the meter needle
in the viewfinder points to any number between
1 and 1000 (indicating shutter speeds from 1 to
111000sec.),
you can get correct exposure at the
aperture selected. Note that, however,aslow shutter
speed causes blurred image. With the shutter speedl
mode selector dial set at
(I. , the audible warning
sounds if the shutter speed
is around 1/30sec . or
16
slower (For more information on avoiding blurr ed
images, see page 32 .) If the meter needle stays in the
red zone at the bottom (underexposure warning zone)
or swings
up to the red zone at the top (overex po sure
warning zone), under- or overexposure will occur
at
the aperture you have set. In this case, reset the lens
to a larger or smaller aperture
as the case may be .
Note that with the dial at
(I. , the audible warning
also sounds to indicate under- or overexposure.

20 Take the picture.
• To take a shot, trip the shutter by pushing
the shutter release button all the way down; apply
light but steady pressure with the ball of your index
finger to avoid camera shake which might result
in
blurred images.
·If you trip the shutter in darkness or with the lens cap
attached, the shutter remains open.
In this case, reset the
shutterspeed/mode selectordial to a manual setting.
21
Advance the film.
• Stroke the film advance lever to transp~ ' rt
the film to the next frame.
·If the lever becomes difficult to operate at the beginning of
the roll, this menas that the film is not winding onto the take-
up spool properly.
In this case, rewind the film immediately
andload it again.
17

-BASIC OPERATION-continued-----------
22 Depress the rewind buHon @ •
• When the film reaches the end of the roll,
the film advance lever cannot
be wound any further.
When this happens, do not force the film advance
lever any further but prepare to unload the film.
Turn the camera upside down and depress the film
rewind button, so that the exposed film can
be reo
wound back into its cartridge. You don't have to apply
continuous pressure to the button; just press
it once.
• If the film rewind button is depressedbefore the film reaches
the end
of the roll, advance the film by one frame in dark·
ness
or with the lens cap attachedto reset the button.
18
23 Rewind the film.
• Fold out the film rewind crank and turn it in
the direction of the arrow. When you feel the tension
lessen, give
it a few more turns until the crank turns
freely, indicating the film leader is rewound completely
back into the cartridge.

24 Open the camera back and
• take out film cartridge.
Avoid unloading in direct sunlight. If there is no shade
available, turn your back
to the sun and use your own
shadow to shield the camera.
19

CONTROLS IN DETAIL---------- --
~
Shutter Release Button @
Depressing the button halfway switches on the expo-
sure meter and activates the viewfinder exposure
~ nformation . The meter stays on for approx. 20sec.
even after taking your finger off the button;then turns
itself off automatically to conserve battery power.
Depressing the button
all the way down releases the
shutter.
The shutter release button is threaded in its center to
accept a standard cable release for tipping the shutter
when the camera
is mounted on a tripod.
• The shutter cannot be tripped unless the film advance lever
@
is strokedcompletely to cock the shutter.
20
Film Advance Lever ®
To advance the film, wind the lever to the right com-
pletely until it stops.T
he lever returns to the standoff
position
as soon as you take your thumb off the leve r.
A single complete stroke or a series of shorter ones
advances the film one frame
and simultaneously
cocks the shutter.