My Nikon F2 Apollo with ELF arrived, but...

You know, this body is pretty nice as is the DE-1. I think I'll put the DE-1 on my F2/MD-2 that currently wears a DA-1 and restore the F. I found a clean late eyelevel for the F already, and will track down a nameplate - they're out there. Maybe the Innkeeper has one available...

The F body was basically a freebie with warranty after the value of the DE-1 is taken into account.
 
Ken Ford said:
Yep, this is definitely an F, not an F2 (I have several F2s and have owned Fs in the past) but someone removed the Nikon nameplate and put an F2 finder on it...
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Nasty way to do it.

The finder's nameplate should be removed, not the body's, when mating a DE-1 with an F. Reinstalling the DE-1's nameplate later is easy. Reinstalling the body's nameplate is difficult without the factory tools to properly align it. If it is misaligned then the FTn finders will not latch reliably and the ancient external non-Photomic meter may also fail to reliably connect with the shutter speed dial and lens.
 
sevo said:
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If there is a plain prism on, there is a 99% probability that that was an after-market accessory of sorts. So if it has a plain prism (regardless what type), it will be not the prism that it was originally boxed with - and a F2 prism does not seem much out of place on a F2 era F to me.
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I agree. I sold these models when they were new. The stores I worked in (chain of 3) didn't sell a single F body during that time (1974 thru end of F availability) that wasn't packaged with an FTn finder.
 
Dwig said:
Nasty way to do it.

The finder's nameplate should be removed, not the body's, when mating a DE-1 with an F. Reinstalling the DE-1's nameplate later is easy. Reinstalling the body's nameplate is difficult without the factory tools to properly align it. If it is misaligned then the FTn finders will not latch reliably and the ancient external non-Photomic meter may also fail to reliably connect with the shutter speed dial and lens.
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I'm not too worried about it since there's zero chance I'll be using a Photomic finder on this body - I pitched my last one around 1979 and never looked back. :p
 
F Action Finders aren't that common, though! Plus, I prefer F2s overall, this F is just scratching an itch to fill a hole in the collection. I'm more likely to find yet another chrome F2 body for my existing DA-1. :D

Wait - my DA-1 wil fit on this F as is... LOL.
 
This started out as a rant against KEH, but it's turning out nicely. If I am correct, don't all their descriptions say "representative photo"? I've only done a little business with them, since I usually find what I'm after elsewhere, but the items I have purchased are normally in decent shape. It may not be a place for collectors to hang around, but it's okay for most users. Adorama screwed me the first time I bought something from them, and I've never been back since.

PF
 
Representative refers to condition, not the actual item type,
If you order A and get B, you have an issue

Keh is good w returns though



farlymac said:
This started out as a rant against KEH, but it's turning out nicely. If I am correct, don't all their descriptions say "representative photo"? I've only done a little business with them, since I usually find what I'm after elsewhere, but the items I have purchased are normally in decent shape. It may not be a place for collectors to hang around, but it's okay for most users. Adorama screwed me the first time I bought something from them, and I've never been back since.

PF
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Bought an Apollo from KEH last year, rated as BGN, for $89, with an FTN. When it arrived it was pretty filthy, but after a couple hours of careful cleaning she looks almost like new and is working like a charm, even the meter in the FTN was accurate.

Funny though, I had an DE-1 at the time and it wouldn't fit on the Apollo, even when I removed the front plate, the DE-1 wouldn't lock onto the F body, can't remember if it was the front latches or the back latches, but one or the other of them wouldn't latch onto the DE-1. Always heard they were interchangeable, but I guess I had a weird copy.
 
Timmyjoe said:
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Funny though, I had an DE-1 at the time and it wouldn't fit on the Apollo, even when I removed the front plate, the DE-1 wouldn't lock onto the F body, can't remember if it was the front latches or the back latches, but one or the other of them wouldn't latch onto the DE-1. Always heard they were interchangeable, but I guess I had a weird copy.
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It will vary from body to body, or at least vintage to vintage, but it is quite common that you have to remove the screws and metal plate that holds the rubber dust seal along the bottom edge of the DE-1 to get it to seat completely on an F body. You can usually leave the rubber gasket in place.

The wall around the focusing screen chamber is higher on the F than it is on the F-2. It was extremely high on early F bodies and the rear portion was lowered when the first TTL Photomic finder was being developed. The front and sides remained high.
 
I'm thinking it's going to go back... I'd really prefer a black body. Of course, I alrady have a really clean ELF coming in for it that isn't returnable. Bleah.
 
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