I had my first F Photomic FTn from 1969 to 1975, sold it, and missed it. But other cameras (primarily Leica Ms and Nikon FM series) replaced it. Somewhere in the middle '80s, I had a gaggle of Nikon bodies and lenses, and a plain-prism F2 came my way. Nice camera, different feel from the F. I didn't keep it long, traded it off for an F3 and motor which I liked more. I used that kit of Nikon gear, with a Leica M on the side, from then up until about 2001-2002.
Then things changed around a lot as the infant era of new digital gear came and went. Somewhere in that time period between 2005 and 2015, I acquired an early plain prism, chrome F that had been abandoned lens-less in a basement box of junk, a few Nikkor lenses, and a black F Photomic FTn with a bad meter that Sover Wong overhauled. The plain prism F was overhauled by a local shop just before the owner retired.
I sold the black F Photomic FTn to a friend, along with a lens or two. He still has it although he rarely uses it. I still have the plain prism F along with a Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 and a Nikkor 28/2 (floating element model). I use it very occasionally ... simply because it's a bit bulky and I will more commonly grab a Kodak Retina IIc or Leica M4-2 if I'm shooting 35mm film. But the old F is always a natural fit to my hand, has such a pleasing clack-clack sound, and balances so nicely...
I should get a Nikkor 105/2.5 for it, or an 85/1.8. And an old Nikkor 21/4, you know: the one you need to lock the mirror up to use. Those, and the Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5, were always my most used lenses.
But I'm just walking down Memory Lane and remembering fondly my original F at this point... I lived with that camera over my shoulder and at my eye through three of my high school years and at least a couple of my early college years. It was the most precious thing I owned for a time, and I used/abused it constantly. It never broke (not that any of my cameras ever broke very often) even when I used it as a hammer to bang back together the 13' ladder I was on top of started to come apart under me...! 😉
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PS: ... "Look Homeward, Angel" by Thomas Wolfe always comes to mind when I think of that old F. I must have read that book a half dozen times during my high school years.
