As Good As a Leica M

[ktmrider]

I had a couple SLR's on consignment at Camera and Darkroom in ABQ since 2012 and since my Nikon F body did not sell, I decided to get it back and use it. Now, my 55f3.5 Micro Nikkor was misplaced and Camera and Darkroom replaced it with a 50f1.4 Nikkor.

I shot with a couple F's in college and paid my way through Indiana University as a photographer back in the early 1970's. I worked full time at a newspaper in Ohio for 18 months using the same Nikons before heading off to OCS and a 33 year career in aviation.

Anyway, shooting with a plain prism F with a "B"screen and that 50f1.4 felt wonderful, easily as good as my two 1959 M2 bodies. Anyway, it brought back lots of fine memories from my youth and had me thinking just for a little while of leaving the M9 at home and taking my old friend the "F" with me on an upcoming trip around the world.

And anyone looking for film gear should check out Camera and Darkroom in Albuquerque. All they handle is used film equipment in formats from 35mm to 8x10.

 

[zuiko85]

A home made pinhole camera is as good as a Leica M if it is what makes you happy. Never owned Nikon system cameras but if I ever wanted one the F with a plain prism is at the top of the list, it just looks right.

 

[Godfrey]

There's magic in the old Nikon F for sure. A friend gave me a 1960 plain-prism F that he'd been given and was sitting, sans lens, in a dusty box in the basement for ten years. I had it overhauled and put a Nikkor-H 85/1.8 on it.

Feels and works like new. A superb old camera.

G

 

[aizan]

i would use my nikon f if the eye level finder didn't have separation and desilvering. it's a real drag, but i'll get a replacement someday. otherwise a wonderful camera to use.

 

[JChrome]

I adore my F3 and 35mm 1.4 AIS. A match made in heaven I tell you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dave lackey]

A Nikon F with plain prism is so elegant. Never had the pleasure but I do have an F2. The metered prism is a love/hate thing for me but a DE-1 is too expensive. Still... I wonder/dream about getting Sover Wong to do his magic and add a plain prism with new focusing screen.

The F on your trip sounds almost as exciting as the trip itself!😀

 

[ruby.monkey]

The F still has its shutter release in the wrong place. The F2 may not be quite so pretty, but it is a much better design.

 

[burancap]

Funny thing. I have one Leica left, an M2. It sits next to my F2 with 50/1.4. As I continue to whittle down to that one or two camera set, I think I am going to be selling the M2!

 

[Keith]

Similar to the way I feel about my OM1 ... which manages to make my M2 feel like a bit of a clunker occasionally.

 

[kshapero]

I had a couple SLR's on consignment at Camera and Darkroom in ABQ since 2012 and since my Nikon F body did not sell, I decided to get it back and use it. Now, my 55f3.5 Micro Nikkor was misplaced and Camera and Darkroom replaced it with a 50f1.4 Nikkor.

I shot with a couple F's in college and paid my way through Indiana University as a photographer back in the early 1970's. I worked full time at a newspaper in Ohio for 18 months using the same Nikons before heading off to OCS and a 33 year career in aviation.

Anyway, shooting with a plain prism F with a "B"screen and that 50f1.4 felt wonderful, easily as good as my two 1959 M2 bodies. Anyway, it brought back lots of fine memories from my youth and had me thinking just for a little while of leaving the M9 at home and taking my old friend the "F" with me on an upcoming trip around the world.

And anyone looking for film gear should check out Camera and Darkroom in Albuquerque. All they handle is used film equipment in formats from 35mm to 8x10.

I still use my Nikon F that I bought used in 1974. BTW what does OCS mean?

 

[-fp]

Are you a rider of KTM motorcycles and will you be riding said KTM around the globe?

 

[_goodtimez]

I love the F ! My count is now 43.

Nikon F sun bathing afternoon by Joan, on Flickr

 

[burancap]

I love the F ! My count is now 43.

No wonder I can't find a nice one!

 

[kshapero]

I love the F ! My count is now 43. Nikon F sun bathing afternoon by Joan, on Flickr

amazing. Many folks might remember Pete Smith the Nikonsmith, RIP. Anyway he had over 300 Nikon F's in his repair shop in various states of repair. All of which I saw with my own eyes.

 

[ktmrider]

OCS is officer candidate school. My KTM's have been replaced with BMW's and I have 240 miles to ride yet to my home in El Paso before my third motorcycle trip to Alaska is complete.

I will not be riding bikes round the world but plan on renting them in many of the places I plan tto visit like New Zealand and the Philippines. It is a very small world as a few days ago I met Greg Frazer fueling his bike in Buffalo, Wy. Greg is an auther and has written many book on long distance riding and has ridden around the world half a dozen times at least. We talk for an hour as I was trying to do 600 miles that day.

43 Nikon F's . . .love it!

 

[FrankS]

Good times!

 

[Godfrey]

I love the F ! My count is now 43.

Nikon F sun bathing afternoon by Joan, on Flickr

Delightfully excessive. 🙂

G

 

[rbsinto]

One of my mainstays is my motorized black beater F with the meterless, eye level prism.
Looks like ****, but runs like a champ.

 

[Huss]

I love my Fs and use them quite a bit, but firing one off has quite the recoil and noise that is completely missing in an M. Beautiful, solid? Yes. Quite, vibration free? No.

 

[_goodtimez]

You guys have re-started me on this ! I'm gonna be digging for more Fs 🙂
Talking about recoil and sound, the top of the range is the F36...