I bought a new F6
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View Range
Well-known
The F6 is long overdue for an update. Besides compatibility with electronic aperture, it needs the AF systems from the D5.
nobbylon
Veteran
Have you got one? Why would it need the af of a D5 when it's as good as it is?
View Range
Well-known
I bought mine the first day they came out last Spring. The D5 autofocus is just incredible. I use the D5 for autoracing photography with lenses up to 400mm and a 2x converter. It is in focus as fast as I can move the camera. Images are seldom out of focus. And at over 10 frames per second, I start on the drivers eyes and the eyes stay in focus throughout the sequence. It is unreal.
dave lackey
Veteran
I don't think anyone is going to be shooting 10 frames/second with a 36 exposure film camera. LOL...:angel:
The F6 is the best Nikon film SLR ever and is a perfect match for its intended use. Most likely the last of the film cameras from Nikon, so it makes no sense to say it should have the same specs as a digital camera at least a decade newer. I understand the enthusiasm for the newer gear though.
The fact remains it is good enough and if I can't get a good photograph with the F6... Then I will quit photography. 😀
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
I was just thinking how much I hate it when the driver's eyes go blurry at 10 fps...
Chris
Chris
View Range
Well-known
The Nikon F6's (and all the professional Nikons) intended use is ANY photographic situation. That is what the Nikon flagship cameras are supposed to be. I don't know what you think the intended use is limited to. Sports photography is not ruled out for the F6 by some arbitrary delineation. The fact is the F6 should be better and state-of-the-art, not just "good enough". Your good photograph does not define the parameters of any camera.
dave lackey
Veteran
Not to start an argument with you but please realize the F6 is no longer just another camera in the line of the next big thing. It was designed many years ago and there will not be an upgrade AFAIK, let alone an F7.
Having shot, professionally, sports even 10 years ago, the F6 was not my consideration for use because it was a film camera. Too many issues trying to make a living shooting sports without trying to do it with a film camera.
So, yeah, I prefer my F6 over my Leica cameras because it CAN do it all but I choose not to use it for sports and certainly not at 8fps. I much prefer the D5 as you do. 🙂
ChrisPlatt
Thread Killer
Maybe you're looking for a Nikon F7 instead. Don't hold your breath for that!
Nikon will have a reduced R&D budget, and it won't be spent on film cameras.
Incremental improvements and updates to the existing F6 will have to suffice.
Chris
Nikon will have a reduced R&D budget, and it won't be spent on film cameras.
Incremental improvements and updates to the existing F6 will have to suffice.
Chris
There used to be a great interview with one of the designers of the Nikon F6 on Nikon's website (which unfortunately looks like it has been removed) where he states that Nikon knew pros had mostly already moved to digital by the early 2000s so the Nikon F6 was designed from the ground up for a different market from the Nikon F5. Not a camera for pros who require all the bells and whistles for use in ANY photographic situation, but instead a more refined, smooth, and quiet camera more for advanced amateurs.
Edit: this looks like the interview!
http://www.nikonf6.net/resources/the-value-of-unique-pictures/
dave lackey
Veteran
Thank you, Jon! I have been looking for that article for the longest. I now have it bookmarked.
Skiff
Well-known
Thanks, I've send you a pm.
The AF-D 2/105 DC is an outstanding lens. One of the best lenses Nikon has ever made.
Perfect match on both all Nikon AF cameras as on all former Nikon MF cameras.
The performance of this lens is already very good at f2, and from f2,8 to f8 it is simply perfect!
Excellent contrast, excellent resolution, no significant vignetting at f2, no distortion at all, wonderful bokeh (with and without the DC feature), very solid construction.
I can highly recommend it.
Skiff
Well-known
Yes, that is the original interview.
But I think your interpretation is not quite right.
The designer said very clearly that they wanted to make the best professional film SLR ever, significantly surpassing the F5 (and EOS 1V):
"......And we want to make the F6 the best camera in every aspect.
Isn’t the ultimate goal to offer the best camera?
Definitely. We already had a high-speed, high-performance camera, the F5, in our lineup. In developing the F6, we intended to create a camera giving users even more of what they want than the F5 does. The development concept for the F5 was “high speed and high performance.” With the F6, we aimed to offer the functions of the F5, and also enhance the advantages of “finesse and practicality.”
"I must say that we reexamined all materials, although they had been used successfully in our existing cameras. Every single part was inspected from every aspect.
"We were not simply content with the current state of the art. Our attitude was to look for something better in order to create the best camera. I know that we achieved this because we were afforded a longer period than usual to develop the best camera that we could create."
Actually the English is a translation of the original interview. The original interview in Japanese is here and I think I'm interpreting it correctly. The quality of the English translation is ok, but it could be better and misses some of the nuances of the original Japanese.
For example, in the original Japanese the above sentence connects to what the designer said about designing the F6 first and foremost for photographers who want to shoot each frame with care and consideration i.e. make the F6 the best camera in every aspect for those shooters. In the English, the sentence is just out there flapping in the breeze not connected to anything.
nobbylon
Veteran
From your answer it appears you don't have an F6 so best you don't knock it before you heave actually used one. Having had an F5 whose AF was fast enough for film pros I can say that although not as torque brutal as the F5 the F6 can hold its own so no update required.
If you need 10 fps I'd suggest sticking with your D5 as you may be waiting a long time for an F7.
SaveKodak
Well-known
You seem determined to push the point that the F6 was designed for amateurs. Why even bother? Think about what all cameras are capable of and what they're used for, where the line blurs between amatuer and professional. I am a professional photographer, but my main camera is a D750. Kind of amatuer, used prfessionally. I also have a Rolleiflex and Pentax 6x7 kit. One debatably "made for amateurs," one certainly for professionals. Though countless professionals and amateurs have used both both professionally and for amatuer work.
Plus, the pro capabilities of Nikon's flagship line are really only useful these days to sports and certain photojournalist shooters. D810/D750s by and large will not let wedding/ad photographers down, and you can afford to have more of them which is more reliable than any 1 pro body.
The same arguments could be applied to every single Leica made too, though I have made money with my Leica cameras too. I don't consider them professional or amatuer, they're just cameras. In fact, that's basically how I think of all my cameras, right down to my Holga and iPhone.
So, with all due respect, I would encourage you to abandon this line of thought that leaves certain cameras in a "professional" box, and certain in "amatuer". It's just limited thinking, and it alienates people you're trying to talk to.
My final point would be...one of my most embarrassing moments in my career came early. I was sitting at a table with Sylvia Plachy and some other peers, this was just out of college. I was chatting with everyone and remarked that I still hadn't decided what "kind of photographer" I want to be. Sylvia pretty plainly put me in my place by saying something like, "I never thought I needed to decide."
The F6 doesn't need to be anyone's professional camera or amatuer camera. It's just the most technologically advanced film SLR they've ever made. Full stop.
yogithebear
Newbie
Well Put
Well Put
Wanted to say well put, nothing to add.
John B. Crane
Curator, the Nikon F6 Project.
Well Put
Wanted to say well put, nothing to add.
John B. Crane
Curator, the Nikon F6 Project.
The F6 is certainly a camera that can be, and is, used by professional photographers. I'm not denying that.
In my 2nd post in this thread, instead of advanced amateur, perhaps I should have written "Not a camera for pros who require all the bells and whistles for use in ANY photographic situation, but instead a more refined, smooth, and quiet camera more for photographers who want to shoot each frame with care and consideration.
I worked at Nikon for nine years before becoming a freelance translator three years ago. I didn't translate that interview, but am pretty sure I could have done a better job if I did 🙂
SaveKodak
Well-known
Now you're speaking diplomatically. 🙂
I think the blaze away shooting is decidedly the territory of digital photography. Even I as a film-evangelist might question anyone who wanted to shoot something like sports on film.
HHPhoto
Well-known
+1.
For me the content of this interview is very clear:
Nikon wanted to make the best 35mm SLR for both professional and enthusiast photographers. The best 35mm SLR in general.
And as someone who is using the F6 for years intensively (and has also used former Nikons like the F100 and F5, and Canon's EOS 1V) I can absolutely say - without any doubt - that Nikon was totally successful and reached their target!
The F6 is much much improved to all former Nikons including the F100 and F5. All of the design flaws of the F5 are gone in the F6. Nikon really listened to all the critic of professional photographers concerning the F5. They solved all problems excellently with the F6.
Cheers, Jan
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