A Brace of Vintage Nikon F's
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Mackinaw
Think Different
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Too bad we couldn't talk Nikon into making a limited-production digital back for the F.
Jim B.
Jim B.
Mister E
Well-known
I just put a CPU chip on my 5.8cm f/1.4 over the weekend so now I get full functionality out of every Nikon SLR made from the F on! Totally spectacular.
rodt16s
Well-known
My F's and F2, the Chrome Ft was a Dr's and came with spare unmetered, wlf prisms and also 50/2 H, 55/3.5 micro + M2, 105/2.5 (P 248***) and 135 looked like they had never been out of the surgery. Owned them collectively between 15 - 20 yrs.
ferider
Veteran
I only have a single lonely FTN. Got is as a gift, as below, and added some lenses. Really like that 55 - Roland.
helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
am THINKING about this EVIL SLR 'F' Experience
even though I am head over heels in LOVE w/ RF's and Leica M's
But the Prices are GGREAT & THE Kits Produce Phenomenal Results....
Which F would be the way to Go ...
I want it simple and Basic just like my Leica M6/M2
Just Look through the VF, select my f & shutter , Focus ...CLICK!
I have narrowed it down to F3 or FE ??? pros & cons Please
Two lenses: 55 1.2 and the 85 1.8 pros & cons
Thank You ...who knows I may be a 'F' Girl
(will NOT sell my M)
Cheers & Thank YOU in Advance for your Thoughts !
even though I am head over heels in LOVE w/ RF's and Leica M's
But the Prices are GGREAT & THE Kits Produce Phenomenal Results....
Which F would be the way to Go ...
I want it simple and Basic just like my Leica M6/M2
Just Look through the VF, select my f & shutter , Focus ...CLICK!
I have narrowed it down to F3 or FE ??? pros & cons Please
Two lenses: 55 1.2 and the 85 1.8 pros & cons
Thank You ...who knows I may be a 'F' Girl
(will NOT sell my M)
Cheers & Thank YOU in Advance for your Thoughts !
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FrankS
Registered User
Thanks to this thread, I transfered an F4 focus screen into my F screen frame. Unfortunately I did not have a spare screen with split image rangefinder finder, but its still an improvement.
Helen, if you are going to go down that route (like I did), I suggest the original F or F2 with non-metered prism. This will be most like the Leica M2 experience. Think of an Olympus OM1 on steroids.
Failing that, the F3 was a fantastic camera in it's day, and still is, for the silly cheap price (<$200) you can buy one for today.
Let me know if you want a 55f1.2 lens.
Helen, if you are going to go down that route (like I did), I suggest the original F or F2 with non-metered prism. This will be most like the Leica M2 experience. Think of an Olympus OM1 on steroids.
Failing that, the F3 was a fantastic camera in it's day, and still is, for the silly cheap price (<$200) you can buy one for today.
Let me know if you want a 55f1.2 lens.
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andreios
Well-known
Oh, these threads are a torment to me.. First I survived the zuikoholics thread without buying anything but I cannot resist any longer, just like helen. On my recent holiday I realized that I really NEED an film SLR system (for tele and close focusing things) and I think it will be a Nikon (F-something or FM something). Can anyone suggest a safe way to pick up a beaten one in a working condition for small money without buying ruined cameras from that big auction thing? There are almost none older nikons save few F3s round here, or at least I haven't discovered them yet.
parsec1
parsec1
My walkabout pleasure kit :- an M6 with a 28 + 40mm in pocket or on bottom of camera and an F2 with a 105 2.5 Ais.
Anything else is IMHO superfluous.
My working kit D3s D700 and 14mm 2.8 24mm 2.8 50 1.4 70-200 2.8 300 2.8 2x etc etc etc ad nauseum ad back breaking tedium.
For delight :- a small surplus in my bank account. Not easy these days............
Anything else is IMHO superfluous.
My working kit D3s D700 and 14mm 2.8 24mm 2.8 50 1.4 70-200 2.8 300 2.8 2x etc etc etc ad nauseum ad back breaking tedium.
For delight :- a small surplus in my bank account. Not easy these days............
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
Do you have a picture of the surgery... not much use to me since I do not have a modern Nikon DSLR to use... use a D70 when digital is called for.
Only a matter of time. If Nikon does not, I will. Just waiting for full frame sensors to become affordable.
That lonely FTn has beautiful mate called a Helios 85/1.5... now that is a lens I want to get my hands on as well.
Helen,
I buy most of my Nikon gear from eBay, with occasional local purchases. You should not have to pay over $200 for a working F with a screen and finder. I have bought most of mine for far less. The good thing about the Nikon F is that is hard to buy one that is not working. Talk to Rover, he had found a local seller with some Nikon kits priced quite reasonably.
I suspect with your very defined tastes in tools, that you would be better served to find someone local, such as a RFF member, that would be willing to let you use a Nikon F for an afternoon, day or two. You may not find that you like them at all and prefer that Canon F1, F1n or the Pentax LX or whatever. There is no doubt that the Nikon F is a great camera, but not for everyone.
As for lenses, I would not jump into the 55/1.2 straight away, it is a big and heavy lenses, makes the Nokton 35/1.2 seem like a flyweight. I would recommend that you buy a Nikkor-SC 50/1.4 and a Nikkor-PC 105/2.5, both can be bought inexpensively and are legendary. There is a thread about the 105/2.5 that is quite hot at the moment.
Do not over pay... I suspect a price jump in Nikon F's and old Nikkors after this thread. But remember there were 800,000 or so Nikon F's made and millions of Nikkor lenses as well, so you should be able to pick up an F, 50/1.4 & 105/2.5 for $400 or less in very condition.
And remember... it is not the tool but the craftsman that produces the result. But there is no doubt that the Nikon F is a very fine tool.
On holidays at the moment... so this is my walk-about kit for today.
Nikon F with Nikkor-S 3.5cm f2.8... film choice not yet made.
Mister E
Well-known
Actually no surgery was required on the 5.8cm which is why I used it over a different lens. I'll post some links to the instructions later. It would make the lens meter and work completely on your D70 which might be nice.
barnwulf
Well-known
Helen, I have a couple of FE2s and I love those cameras. I have a black one that I am going to keep but I have a chrome one that's very nice and CLA'd last year and hasn't been used since. I am planning on selling it if anyone is interested. It will probably be a few weeks before I list it anywhere. - Jim I"m sorry if this is inappropriate for this thread.
mynikonf2
OEM
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Helen,
I can't praise the 85/1.8 enough, it is one of my favorite Nikkors. The way this lens pulls & isolates your subject out from the backround & creates a smooth & pleasing out of focus area from it, rivals anything Leica has produced. Another good thing is the prices for this lens, in mint condition, have fallen to the $200-190 level. I'd go for a non-AI version, you can have it AI'ed later if you find you need to. Good luck & good light
I can't praise the 85/1.8 enough, it is one of my favorite Nikkors. The way this lens pulls & isolates your subject out from the backround & creates a smooth & pleasing out of focus area from it, rivals anything Leica has produced. Another good thing is the prices for this lens, in mint condition, have fallen to the $200-190 level. I'd go for a non-AI version, you can have it AI'ed later if you find you need to. Good luck & good light
Mister E
Well-known
Yeah for me the stock screens in any of those cameras are unusable. I have I think the D screen in my Nikon F and F2 with the grid matte screen in my FE, FE2 and FM3A. Much better, but the F/F2 sets the standard. I can focus any fast lens spot on with it every time while my FE2 is a bit too ambiguous and the D700 is worse.
barnwulf
Well-known
There are some beautiful old Nikons here. I bought my Nikon F, Ftn, in 1968 and still have it. It's showing quite a bit of wear and the slower shutter speeds are slow now. I bought a used black Nikon F FTN around 1980. It shows some wear an brassing but it still works great. It's really nice seeing these old cameras.
Mister E
Well-known
Bjorn's information is obsolete now that fully programmable chips are available:
http://ongabonga.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/russian-communicator/
http://ongabonga.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/russian-communicator/
I'd love a black paint Nikon F with the Nippon Kogaku logo (not the later Nikon logo type).
Probably crazy but ...... anyone want to swap a mint one plus a few period correct lenses for a mint F6???
Probably crazy but ...... anyone want to swap a mint one plus a few period correct lenses for a mint F6???
maddoc
... likes film again.
Reading all the comments here, I should bring my F3 and FM back with me to Japan the next time I visit Germany ... On the other hand, there was a nice black F with motor in some shop here locally ... 😱
amateriat
We're all light!
Ooh, so much to ponder here...
First trip to the Dark Side for me was a shiny, new Canon F-1, which reminded me of the (then-just-barely-current) Nikon F prism, but with a meter built into the body. As the F was the camera to beat, the Canon channeled a lot of F-goodness in their rival.
Some time later, I found myself with a gaggle of Nikon Fs: one black F body with both matching prism and barely-working FTn Photomic finders (the latter my sole remaining link to my Nikons, used the last few decades as a paperweight), an F2 Titan, an FM2, and, best of all, a pair of F3HP bodies. Of all my Fs, I really miss the F3s the most.
The only other SLR I have any warm fuzzies about is the Olympus OM series. I had most of the single-digit models at one time or another. My sole remaining SLR is an inherited black OM-2n with standard-issue 50 f/1.8 Zuiko and somewhat-rare Sigma 21-35 ultrawide zoom, which (together with a Vari-Magni finder) I use with the OM as a sort of ersatz miniature view camera.
The interesting thing about both the Canon F-1 and Olympus OM cameras is that both designs drew heavily on the Nikon F for an obvious reason: that was the camera to beat at the time, and I believe both cameras, along with the F, have stood the test of time for this reason. Other than the F3, I don't think much of the other SLRs I've used.
But then came the Hexars, eight years ago, and that was that. But the OM-2n still comes out for a project or two.
- Barrett
First trip to the Dark Side for me was a shiny, new Canon F-1, which reminded me of the (then-just-barely-current) Nikon F prism, but with a meter built into the body. As the F was the camera to beat, the Canon channeled a lot of F-goodness in their rival.
Some time later, I found myself with a gaggle of Nikon Fs: one black F body with both matching prism and barely-working FTn Photomic finders (the latter my sole remaining link to my Nikons, used the last few decades as a paperweight), an F2 Titan, an FM2, and, best of all, a pair of F3HP bodies. Of all my Fs, I really miss the F3s the most.
The only other SLR I have any warm fuzzies about is the Olympus OM series. I had most of the single-digit models at one time or another. My sole remaining SLR is an inherited black OM-2n with standard-issue 50 f/1.8 Zuiko and somewhat-rare Sigma 21-35 ultrawide zoom, which (together with a Vari-Magni finder) I use with the OM as a sort of ersatz miniature view camera.
The interesting thing about both the Canon F-1 and Olympus OM cameras is that both designs drew heavily on the Nikon F for an obvious reason: that was the camera to beat at the time, and I believe both cameras, along with the F, have stood the test of time for this reason. Other than the F3, I don't think much of the other SLRs I've used.
But then came the Hexars, eight years ago, and that was that. But the OM-2n still comes out for a project or two.
- Barrett
P. Lynn Miller
Well-known
The Nikkor-H 85mm f1.8 is the next lens on my 'to-buy' list. Well... there may be a very early 10.5cm f2.5 jumping the queue.
Please do not take an F-mount 85 and modify it. There are plenty of 85's out there that have been modified to 'AI' that non-modified early 85's are getting hard to find. One of my pet peeves is photographers modifying early F-mount Nikkor lenses. I am not a proponent of shelf queen's, but hacking a lens only diminishes the stock of original lenses. In fact, AI'd lenses are usually cheaper than original lenses these days.
Thanks for the link, Nathan. I may have to modify some of my user lenses. I have some really mangled F-mounts and AI-s lenses that would be nice to be used on the D70.
With patience you can often find an F3 for the same money as an FE2. The F3 was the pinnacle of the F system camera, the number of finders, screens, and accessories is simply mind-boggling.
I would like to have a really beat-up early black F at some point as well, but I am in no rush. Will get a few more lenses before I start chasing more bodies.
What I really want to know is where to get spare parts. I need a few parts for the 4-digit body, but cannot seem locate anyone with bits for sale. And unless a body is completely wrecked, I just goes against my grain to turn a working body into a parts donor.
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