A Brace of Vintage Nikon F's

Lynn; Those are great cameras. I used a pair for years. I now use a couple of F3s. If you don't know they are there, you have the right camera. Concentrate on the image.
p.
 
I have a brand new Nikon F photomic tn black and matched F36 motor drive and original F camera back with all boxes instsructions cards etc. Not a mark on it not a film thru it.
Deciding if I should sell it and what its worth. Anybody help please ?.
 
Fs

Fs

I bought two Fs new when I was a still photographer in the army in '71 or '72 and accumulated a few lenses and motors. I threw the boxes and other stuff away. I bought tools and they went right to work.

Although I have F2s and F3s, the Fs are dear to my heart.

They just feel right.

When you say there are only three settings on the camera; stop, speed, and focus, today you usually just get a blank look in return.

Also you know that the brain is not engaged.
 
I feel much the same way. The eye level non-metered prism F was a bread-and-butter camera for photo journalists for many years, and for good reason (which is why it's now hard to find prisms without extensive signs of use!). When in good condition, the shutter and advance mechanism on this camera is an inspiring mechanical work of art. I really like the way that one can use almost any Nikon lens, in fact there are millions of lenses that can be used. The non-AI Nikon lenses are particularly well made and have very good optics by any standard (and are reasonably priced by-in-large).


P. Lynn Miller said:
This pair of Nikon F's have become my daily user's...

4770776590_db6286b253_b.jpg


The first is my original Nikon F bought quite a few years ago, #6424323 with an early Nikkor-S 5.8cm f1.4 #158742, making them both 1960 vintage. This Nikon F has restored my belief in the Nikon F, it has fully recovered from its second burial at the beach with no ill effects. I thought that the Nikkormat FTn was the only camera that could survive such an ordeal.

The second Nikon F is a recent acquisition found in a box lot of stuff bought off the local eBay, #6409109, making it the oldest Nikon F I own, apparently made in late 1959. It is mated with a very early Nikkor-S 3.5cm f2.8 #920429 'Tick-Mark' with a nine-blade aperture.

After several years of experimenting with a number of different formats and types of cameras, I have come full circle and found the Nikon F to be the best camera for me. As a tool, it simply disappears. Oddly, the Nikon F with an eye-level finder is the only camera that I can use thoughtlessly, I do not even second-guess my exposure choice, it just happens.

The Nikon F only requires me to make 3 decisions when making a photograph, shutter speed, aperture, and focus, which happen instinctively allowing me to concentrate on the world through that huge 100% viewfinder.
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Last week's camera show had a 9+ condition F2 with motor drive, and 43-86 zoom in the $200 range, and Campus Camera just had a few F2 bodies very reasonably priced.
When you find one, it seems you find another.

A dealer snapped up a 4x5 rail with lens and case, two Leica Cases, a Contax SLR with Tamron Adaptal lens, plus another camera for $175.
People walking in were mostly selling, I think more than a hundred folks came in-- was an annual Club show.

Regards, John
 
I am about to shoot a small job that requires only 4x6 prints. My original black F is packed with a 28mm f3.5 Nikkor, and Broncolor FCM meter. Everything fits in a tiny case.
 
paulfish4570 said:
Wonderful thread. Those plain prism Fs are so stinking cool.
I am seriously conidering a switch to the F-series or FM-series, for one reason: the easy and cheap availability of corrective eyepieces.
Thanks, P Lynn for starting this thread ...
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What? They take the exact same corrective eye pieces.
 
Well, i don't have any working Fs left but I do have 5 F bodies with no finder, no backs which i bought for 10$ each as curtain parts...
 
I agree with Roger, (again).


Roger Hicks said:
Dear Helen,

Black Fs are the way to go. Not F-anything: just F. The F2-3-4-5-6 are lineal descendants, with ever more disputable 'improvements', but F-anything-else is at best a less well-made Nikkormat -- and you might also want to consider a Nikkormat (I have 5 Fs and two Mats).

Most of the screens are far more usable than you might believe from internet hysteria (I have quite a few): remember that there is to some extent a trade-off between brightness and acuity. I've also got at least one aftermarket screen -- Brightscreen, as I recall -- and that's pretty good too.

My Fs range from an unbelievably ugly chrome body, with dinged prism, self-timer fallen off, etc. to a couple of black Fs with the kind of brassing and patina that make strong men weep and say, "I used to have one like that..." when they see it.

Note that black paint often costs a LOT more than chrome, and that a black prism on its own can cost more than a body on its own.

A few hints on use.

1 Make sure the rewind collar is FIRMLY twisted ALL the way towards 'advance', or the camera will appear to function perfectly while making no exposures whatsoever.

2 Strap lugs can and do wear through. I forget now whether I had two pairs replaced or three. My repairer used harder steel lugs from another camera entirely.

3 Film counters can get sticky but are easy to unstick.

4 Fred's experience notwithstanding, the F36 motors aren't all that clever. Every now and then they will fire an entire roll for no apparent reason. This is from personal experience of using Fs with matched motors, bought new and well maintained, in an AV production house. I must have put hundreds of rolls through those cameras myself, and others used them too. Also, they're bloody great heavy things.

5 The metered heads (Photomic series) are huge, crude and (today) no longer reliable or easily reparable. Go for a plain prism.

Cheers,

R.
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Here's my collection of F's and F2's. I have early and late periods. And, a F2 finder collections. Sover helped me get some of this stuff period correct.

Nikon F plain prism 6424xxx <EP> Nikkor S f=5.8cm 1.4 hood and cap 165xxx in Nikon box/shipping manual and caps
Nikon F plain prism 6402xxx Nikkor S f2 f=5.8cm 2 tic marks 524xxx
Nikon F BLACK plain prism 7450xxx
Nikkor SC f=55mm 1.2 276xxx cap chrome filter
Nikon F Flag prism early 6518xxx Nikkor H f2 609xxx hood and cap
Nikkor S f=50mm 1.4 323xxx hood and cap
Nikon F2 BLACK plain prism 7740xxx Nikkor 50mm 1.4 4009xxx hood cap
Nikon F2 DP-2 7829xxx Nikkor 50mm f1.4 3835xxx cap
Nikon F2 plain prism 7108xxx Nikkor 50mm f1.4 1118xxx hood cap
Nikon F2 plain prism 8061xxx Nikkor 50mm 1.2 339xxx
 

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Keith said:
Very nice Lynn ... as much as I admire my FM3A I'm not convinced it offers me any more than what one of these beauties would, maybe I made the wrong choice.

But then, that may start another whole 'gas' cycle ... and we can't have that! 😀
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I have a FM3a and recently got an F for $25!! then had it modified into an RF type shutter (another story). Never thought I would say this but now that I am not afraid of a meterless camera (thank you M3), the F rocks and rocks!
 
Remember if you are looking for an F and want one that really works, Pete Smith at Nikonsmith has over 300 F's!! Some working, some for parts. Tell him what you want and he will have it or assemble it. The man is the F Master bar none. And a nice guy.
 
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