Do people really use the Photomic FTn?

I bought an F Photomic from a friend. The meter works but I've used a Gossen LunaPro for a while and have no reason to stop. The camera is original and I'm the second owner so I'm not going to change anything on it. Works great and is a joy to shoot.

nikon_f_photomic_by_dudewithad700-d4g4n0s.jpg
 
I've got one on the way from KEH (took advantage of their free shipping this weekend). The only F missing from my collection is an F2 (which I stupidly stupidly sold a few months ago).
 
I've had two or three Fs equipped with FTn prisms, and I disposed of the prisms as quickly as I could. I think there is still a very nice one in a drawer, but I never use it. Too big and bulky for my liking.
I now use a DE-1 eye level meter less prism on my street beater, and have an eye level F prism squirreled away as well.
And I much prefer to meter from memory or use my Minolta Flashmeter III in incident mode when I shoot.
 
Well, I own three broken FTn I always want to reassemble into at least one working one, but I always seem to have something more important to do.
 
Essex Camera will service and calibrate the FTn head for $60.00. My F is black and in 9++ condition so its worth it to me to get the work done. The thing will out live me for sure.
 
Thanks for getting the quote.

Yeah, $60 - that is more than the ebay price for the meter head.

But is half or less of the price of a plain prism head.


...Vick


ray*j*gun said:
Essex Camera will service and calibrate the FTn head for $60.00. My F is black and in 9++ condition so its worth it to me to get the work done. The thing will out live me for sure.
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HI Vick,

Your welcome......black ones are worth more and harder to find....mine is mint in black, but truth is I don't worry much about market value if I like a camera/lens etc. My view is more simplistic......if a camera is worth using its worth servicing.....however I have lost money at times when I was forced to sell for some reason.
 
I think they are worth servicing and calibrating regardless of the eBay prices. I own 2 that I use with the CHRIS adapters. One is dead on and gives beautiful exposures, and the other I have to compensate on the ASA dial about 2 stops. The only thing that bugs me is forgetting to switch the thing off with that little button!
 
Alas, parts issues are always a potential problem with these old beauties but as long as I can I'll use the original stuff....and Jim, one reason I hang onto and use my FTn is just because I also thing they are classic looking and beautiful. There was a time when that profile meant professional!
 
rbsinto said:
For me, the classiest cameras would be a black F . . . with an eyelevel, meterless prism.
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Or of course a Leica... I thought Photomic heads were ugly when they were new, and my opinion of their beauty has not improved in the intervening decades.

[F2 cut out 'cos I don't agree. The F2 may be a slightly more modern camera but I'm not convinced it's better, and I see it as a lot less 'classy'.For 'class' it's like a Series III Land Rover instead of a Series II or better still a Series I.]

Cheers,

R.
 
My original chrome Ftn had a jumpy meter needle so I took the top off and cleaned the ring resistor with zippo fluid and cotton buds. An amazing amount of crud came off and the meter needle ended up rock steady. I've done the same to my black Ftn and the meter matches my F2's and F5.
 
nobbylon said:
My original chrome Ftn had a jumpy meter needle so I took the top off and cleaned the ring resistor with zippo fluid and cotton buds. An amazing amount of crud came off and the meter needle ended up rock steady. I've done the same to my black Ftn and the meter matches my F2's and F5.
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This is consistent with what I've heard/read elsewhere. The resistor track is supposed to wear through, and no doubt, sometimes it does. But I'm sure that very often, it's exactly as you say, and CAREFUL cleaning will work wonders.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Or of course a Leica... I thought Photomic heads were ugly when they were new, and my opinion of their beauty has not improved in the intervening decades.
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I agree Roger... they are ugly, but classy in their ugliness (if that's possible)and they are the cameras I coveted as a kid but could never afford!

-Jim
 
jimrohrer said:
I agree Roger... they are ugly, but classy in their ugliness . . .

-Jim
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Dear Jim,

Indisputable!

The French have a wonderful phrase, 'jolie laide'. 'Jolie' = 'pretty'; 'laide' = ugly. I once knew a stunningly beautiful girl with a broken nose (she fell out of her high chair when she was two). The broken nose made her even more beautiful, hard though it is to believe. I can see how the same could be said to apply to a Photomic head, but I can't see the beauty myself.

Cheers,

R.
 
The first time I saw a Nikon F was back in high school and the Photo class teacher's aide had one...I thought it was big and ugly BUT I did see the negs and even got to print one or two of them and was truly impressed with them...
Because that memory has stuck with me I never looked or desired to own one...then earlier this year I was fortunate to come across one at a garage sale and bought it for $10 (chrome Nikon F w/flagged Photomic prism)...thought I would learn to love it even though I still thought it ugly...luckily a few weeks later I found a plain prism for it...
It's one of the prettier cameras I own now...
 
I like mine with either the prism head or the ugly FTn knob on top. The FTn is the one SLR that can be identified by its silhouette alone....one of the most iconic shapes of the industrial age. I can think of few other industrial designs that are as instantly identifiable. The Kalashnikov, Colt model 1911, Porsche 911, certainly. Many people think those are ugly-beautiful too, and all are quite functional.
 
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