Considering "new" SLR have some questions

rbiemer

rbiemer

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I have been toying with getting a "new" SLR and have been considering two Nikons--F4 or F100. Most of the info I need/want is easy to find on-line but there is one thing that's got me stumped and I hope somebody here can help me out:

A long time back I briefly used a friends' Nikon FA and it was pretty nice except that with my vision and eyeglasses I had a hard time seeing the info in the VF.

So, my request is can anyone compare the VF of that camera and the VFs of the F100 and/or F4?
My specific trouble was that I needed to look through the top of my eyeglass lens and that distorted the view of the info displayed at the top of the VF.
This may not be an issue any more; I have better (thinner) eyeglasses now. And the high eyepoint VF of the F4 may help as well. And, from what I've been able to find out, the info in the VF of the F100 is along the bottom of the VF.

And, just to confuse things a bit more, how does the VF of the Maxxum 7 compare to the Nikons'?

Thanks!
Rob
 
Buy something with adjustable diopter viewfinder. F6 may be in that catagory.

Most cameras are set up so the user needs to be able to see a virtual image at 2 to 3 feet. If you can`t, then add on adjustable diopters are in order or you need to have special photo glasses made so you can focus at the correct distance with one eye. The diopters are difficult to find for older cameras and you can`t be sure it will be the proper strength until you try it. If you have astigmatism, then they will not correct that ever.


Modern digi slr like the Nikons have adjustable viewfinders and they are a godsend.
No more looking in trash bins for non existent diopters. I have bifocal computer glasses, the top set for arms length and bottom set for reading distance. They are perfect for old film slr like my Nikon F2 and Leica M cameras. In general, a +1 diopter and infinity correction in your glasses will work or glasses with the spherical in the shooting eye reduced by 1. You can see infinity with the other normal correction. There is no perfect solution for these old cameras unless you are a young person with good accomodation. Over 40, forget it.
 
Have you held both? There is a huge ergonomic difference between the cameras. Be sure to check that out as well.

I have an F4s. I love the results I get out of it - and my wife enjoys using it - so it probably won't be going anywhere soon, but it is a beast of a camera. Coincidence that I started using rangefinders shortly after picking up the F4s? Who knows. 🙂
 
Rob -
I've owned an F4 and F100 for several years now, just recently selling the F4 to help finance my purchase of a Leica. They're both great cameras and will work with just about any MF or AF lens you have. Old Nikon pre-AI lenses will not mount on the F100, and if you have newer AF lenses, VR wiil not function on the F4. Build quality of the F4 is more robust, but it's much heavier (about 200g) with a standard battery pack - it definitely feels like a "rubberizied brick". The F100 is no slouch, though and feels tougher than most current SLR's, other than the F5 or F6. The most significant difference is the controls - the F4 still functions like a traditional F body with traditional dials for most controls, a mirror lock-up and a rewind crank, while the F100 uses buttons and command dials, and you have to look at the top LCD or in the viewfinder to check your settings.

As far as the viewfinders, the F4 shows information at the top and bottom while the F100 displays everything at the bottom. On both, I have no problem seeing the entire image and info while wearing glasses, but I do prefer the F100 as I didn't have to scan top to bottom to see all the info in the viewfinder. Both have diopter adjustments so you should be able to adjust either one to a comfortable setting, but I think you can get add-on diopters as well if you need it. One plus to the F4 is the interchangeable finders - like the Action finder or Waist-level finder, if you think you might use them.

Ultimately, I kept the F100 as it has all the capabilities I need, AF is faster and it's lighter than the F4. I use it primarily for action and macro photography and the metering is great. The F4 was just getting too heavy to carry around, but if you need a camera that's built like a tank, it's your best bet. For 35mm I've been trying to keep it light and simple. Leica M2 for daily shooting, Olympus OM for longer/wider/closer than the Leica can handle, and the F100 when I want AF and motor drive capability. Just my experience, but remember the best camera for you is the one you're most likely to grab as you run out the door.

Can't help you with the Maxxum, though. Never touched one.

Good Luck!
 
I have an F4 and love it. I've got both small grip (MB-20) and large grip (MB-21) for it. Even with the small grip, it is a large, heavy camera that feels like it's carved out of a single block of stone. I'm more accustomed to old F/F2 cameras than to any others, so the F4's large size and control layout feel comfortable to me. For most people, though, I suspect that the F100 would be a better fit. It is much more technologically advanced than the F4, with far faster autofocus, and it can take advantage of the latest in Nikon lens technology, like VR. More than a decade younger than the F4, it was introduced at the dawn of the digital age, and you can probably pick up a pristine example of it for less than $200. I would get an F100 if I were you. Just make sure that the one you buy has a metal rewinding fork.
 
Thanks for all the info, folks!
Yes, they both are fairly large cameras but I used a Kiev 60 for a while and that one was not a problem for me to carry so I'm not too concerned about the size!

I have no problem seeing the info with any of my current cameras, as mentioned I have better glasses now than I could afford 15 years ago. They are much thinner so the distortion through the top of the lens is much less and I am now wearing bifocals anyway, so I look through the reading or the distance part of the lens depending on whether I'm composing or checking the VF info.

I'm not really dissatisfied with my current SLR kit but while I have my RF gear mostly figured out, I haven't yet got my best fit for SLR gear.

New toy searching fun awaits!
Rob
 
Rob, do you currently use a 35mm SLR? If you haven't made a lens investment yet it might mae a difference.
 
wlewisiii said:
Rob, do you currently use a 35mm SLR? If you haven't made a lens investment yet it might mae a difference.
Click to expand...

I have one or two🙄but I use a Canon Elan IIe. Don't have a huge pile of SLR lenses, just three specific to the EOS: a Canon 50mm f/1.8, and two Tamron zooms, a 19-35 and 28-105. I do use some other lenses on that camera via adapters (mostly LTM as macro).
Rob
 
The F4 has a diopter adjustment for the viewfinder. It has more traditional dial type controls. Build quality is awesome.

The F100's advantages are lighter weight and better auto-focus.
 
The F100 has more intuitive controls. I had Ken Ford's F4 in my hands and couldn't figure out a thing. Also, as said above, it has a faster AF and the viewfinder covers (IIRC) 92 or 96% of the frame. Adjustable diopters are included.

I have the F100 and the F5. For situations in which I may need quick image adjustments, I take the F100. If I have a little more time to work, I'll grab the F5.

BTW, both bodies support G lenses and VR. I think the F4 doesn't do that.

Enjoy the shopping experience! 🙂 Right now, the prices for these two bodies are fairly reasonable.
 
I've had both but sold the f100 I still have 3 F4s what I always liked about the F4 was how easy it is to use proper shutter speed dial and aperture, you dont even need instructions to use one. I always felt that the f100 compared to the f4 and f5 was not built as well. Why not stick to Canon if you have canon lenses I recently bought a boxed as new Eos 3 for £75 and two Eos 1v for about £150 each, and they are really well made and far more up to date than an F4 but similar price secondhand.
 
The 2 cameras you mentioned are classics in their way. The F4(s) was a legendary photo journalist tool, and the F100 was bought mainly for a back up to other gear (but a lot of people just ended up using the camera as their main body). Both are essentially bullet proof too. My difficulty w/ the F4's finder was that you had to shift your eye around to see everything in it, and I sold my F100 because I disliked the sound of it's mirror slap. The F4s had a distinct advantage there.

Ended up selling both and bought an N6006 and an N8008s for about $50 for the two. Those were great cameras, and smaller and lighter than the bigger pro SLR's. Both have good finders and spot and matrix metering. The N8008s was pretty much the equal of an F100, and took cheap AA batteries too. Since I wear bifocals I understand your priority for a good finder. You might want to invest a small amount of money in the cameras I mentioned just to see if they meet your needs. They worked perfectly for me, and one of my favorite things to do was to shoot my Leica R lenses on the N6006 w/ an inexpensive adapter. Just watching the shutter speeds run up and down while I changed the aperture was worth the 8 bucks I paid for the camera from KEH. The auto exposure was right on the money w/ the Leitz glass.
 
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Sorry Francisco, obviously I cann[t deny you your experience with the F4, but it was just a really weird thing to read because one of the main strengths listed for the F4 is the traditional control interface used by not just Nikons previous to the N90, but the majority of cameras made by any manufacturer, and introduced with the first Leica 35mm camera. But your experience is your experience. How's it going with the M5?
 
No problem, Frank... I guess my statement, without a context, made very little sense. You're talking to someone who once had an N90 in his hands and found it was like Greek to him! 😱

I'm enjoying my M5... and thinking of saving more pennies and get another one. The only thing I'm not enjoying is that I have to push the shutter release button fairly far to get it to shoot. My M3, in contrast, is such a sensitive shooter it's scary... and makes a soft release absolutely unnecessary.

Rob, have you considered a used F5?
 
Let me put in a word for the Minolta Maxum (Dynax) 7 - the last film camera from Minolta. it is a rather compact and reasonably light camera. Has a VERY good and nice to use viewfinder (check the specs, but I believe it is larger than on F100) and decent AF. The lenses I have chance to use it with (28/2.0, 50/1.4, 100/2.8 macro & 70-210/4) all are from very good to perfect.

If you want tougher model that have a look into Minolta Maxum 9. My friend has one - the camera is truly nice - heavy, solid, fast AF. If you want to change the focusing screen in the 7 you need to have it done by a service, on the 9 you can do it yourself.

I have never used the Nikon and I would guess that it may have more sophisticated light metering, but is also much bigger.

One more note on the Minolta 7. Minolta 7D - first DLSR from Minolta (I have one) was based on the film model, is actually much worse than the film 7. Buggy AF, easy to fool metering (the matrix is useless on the 7D).

Now more praise about the viewfinder of the 7. The viewfinder of the 7D is one of the largest once available for DX cameras (quite a bit larger than the low end DX DSLRs today) - but still the viewfinder of the 7 is sooo much nicer (& larger) to use. Actually the only camera that had larger viewfinder than the 7 was Olympus OM-1 we had for a while. Also - my wife wears glasses and has no issues to use the the camera (with glasses on).

*****
Still - you did not mention what is the main use for your SLR gear - AF & long lenses, macro, low light, or you mostly live with manual focus ... ?
 
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