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

Ken Ford

Ken Ford

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... something is fishy about it.

I ordered an EX condition chrome F Apollo with eyelevel from KEH during the feeding frenzy sale Wednesday, and it arrived today. Something just didn't feel right about it, and I realized - it's not original. The nameplate was removed and it wears an F2 DE-1 finder. It does have the other usual Apollo features - the plastic topped wind and ST levers, the threaded PC socket and reinforced strap eyelets.

Before I complain to KEH, I want to be sure since Apollos are new to me (my Fs were older ones) - this is not original, correct? This isn't one of the F2 cosmetic changes in the late Fs?

The SN is 74345xx if it matters.

Thanks!
 
I don't know whether there ever was a original (i.e. factory shipped) late Apollo with anything other than a FTN finder. In general, cameras with original plain prisms must be extremely rare among 1970's Fs - few were sold, and even most people that bought a plain F or F2 back in the day did so because they needed a body replacement and already had a working meter head from their deceased body, so the what original plain prisms there were ended in a drawer (and generally were recombined with wrong bodies ages later).

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.
 
The S/N is in the right range. But, does the back swing open or not - if it does swing open it's an F2. The F "Apollos" have the features you mention (plastic tipped film winder and ST lever, a threaded PC socket and reinforced strap eyelets), but not DE2 finders - that is an

I find this site useful http://www.destoutz.ch/nikon-f.html

F2 prism. Hope this helps
 
Hey Ken - mine arrived today , although I will not be home for a few hours to open it

The F should have an "F" on the finder and should fit with the original nameplate

the DE-1 finder has the nameplate on it, and no F on the front ?

correct?
 
This is what my two Nikon Fs look like w/ original finders:
Nikon%20F%20black_zpshbtotjyh.jpg


Nikon%20F%20chrome_zpsekpufpq2.jpg
 
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. I just wasn't sure if this was a feature of late Fs or not.

It's not a bad price for a DE-1, basically I got a free F body thrown in, but I really wanted a complete F! My one chrome F2 already wears a DA-1.
 

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I bought an Apollo F in 1975 , it was one of the two last ones that I bought directly from the importer , I already had an F2 but I wanted an F because they went out of production . It was stolen from the house of my then girlfriend together with a 28 mm and Lunasix , just after a few months . It looked exactly the same as the black one Huss shows and it still hurts ...
 
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. I just wasn't sure if this was a feature of late Fs or not.
Click to expand...

Not a feature, IIRC the FTN even holds on to the nameplate, so it would have to be replaced for metered use. But a DE-1 on a F is not all that uncommon either, I've seen it a few times - the F plain prisms tend to shatter internally if they receive a bump to the tip, and after the last spares were gone, putting on a DE-1 that way was the best option left...
 
I had an F eyelevel on one of my F2s for awhile back in the day, but I never tried it the other way around!

Oh, well - this one is going back unless they can swap out the finder. I know the DE-1 is probably superior to the original F finder, but this is more of a collector piece that will see very occasional use so I'd like it to be correct. I should hold out for a black one, anyways.

Thanks for the confirmation, peeps!
 
sevo said:
Not a feature, IIRC the FTN even holds on to the nameplate, so it would have to be replaced for metered use. But a DE-1 on a F is not all that uncommon either, I've seen it a few times - the F plain prisms tend to shatter internally if they receive a bump to the tip, and after the last spares were gone, putting on a DE-1 that way was the best option left...
Click to expand...

All of the F's that I've owned and used never needed to have nameplate removed to use any Photomic, Sports, Waist-Level, or Plain finder.

I've never owned the early plain prism metering attachment but from what I've seen in pictures, it stayed in place then too.

F finders worked fine on F2. Any F Photomic finder used it's own power rather than that provided to the regular F2 specific finders.

B2 (;->
 
I would keep it and just look for an F eyelevel, but they're not cheap! Plus, I'd have to restore the nameplate.

Although $200 for it doesn't sound like a bad deal... I might need to think about this over the weekend. It's kinda sexy, but totally wrong. Maybe use it as a shooter and keep looking for a proper black one?
 
sevo said:
It is the other way around. You must remove the nameplate to attach F2 finders. And most F meter finders lock onto the nameplate, so these even require it.
Click to expand...

You're both saying the same thing - the F needs a nameplate unless you're using F2 finders, in which case it needs to go.
 
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