Nikon F2 tribute

[Wulfthari]

Will there ever be a Canon 5D or Nikon D800 appreciation thread?

I see nothing to appreciate in these DSLRs, and I douct that in 37 years they will still be in condition to take pics.

 

[yek]

F2 and Nikkor-S 50/1.4

 

[Wulfthari]

Ilford FP4 shots with Nikon F2A:

Nikkor 35-200 wide open, at 200 mm wide open

at 35 mm

Nikkor 85mm f1.8, swirly bokeh

Swans' nest with eggs, 35-300mm

Swan chick harassing a canadian goose, 300mm f4 IF

Panorama with 85mm f1.8

 

[wakarimasen]

Hello folks,

I'm thinking of getting an F (Photomic FTN) or an F2 (AS). Any tips on differences between the models?

 

[Wulfthari]

Hello folks,

I'm thinking of getting an F (Photomic FTN) or an F2 (AS). Any tips on differences between the models?

Completely different beasts, the F has a monster head, with the batteries inside it so it's quite top heavy, it doesn't have the 1/2000s top speed, it doesn't have a back door to load the camera etc...

The F2, especially A and AS are more modern cameras.

 

[wakarimasen]

Will Ai lenses operate only in stop-down mode on the F? Do they work 'normally' of the F2?

 

[Robert Lai]

Nikon AI and AIS lenses all have the metering prong at f/5.6 to mate with the pin on the meter head. So, they will work with the F meter heads, as well as the earlier non-AI F2 meter heads.

You do have to run through the aperture range from minimum aperture to maximum aperture to properly "index" the meter to the lens. This lets the meter know what the wide open aperture of the lens is.

The AI lenses don't require you to do this - hence "Automatic Indexing", which is what AI stands for.

 

[Shac]

As the others have said but I'd add that Ai/AiS lenses will not automatically index on the FTn meter (it indexes using the "prong") but will auto-index on the F2AS. The F2AS meter is one of the most sensitive around as well. FTn uses a needle to show setting, while F2AS uses diodes (more robust)

FTn EV2 - EV17 at ASA 100
F2AS EV -2 to EV 17 at ASA 100

Last comment - one of the internal parts (resistor?) of the FTn wears out and very difficult to replace. The latter F2AS's had gold contacts I believe, which besides their younger age, would be less resistant to failure

 

[Robert Lai]

I highly recommend Robert Decker for Nikon FTN meter service

I highly recommend Robert Decker for Nikon FTN meter service

The FTN meter has a couple of key flaws.
One is the carbon ring resistor which can wear out.
The second is foam which was placed around the prism, to isolate it from the housing. With time this foam deteriorates and eats away the silvering on the prism. This desilvering becomes visible as irregularities on either side of the eyepiece, or as a line down the middle.

Robert Decker lives in Utah, and he has replacement ring resistors as well as replacement prisms. He can also adjust the battery voltage to 3V, so you can use alkaline or silver oxide cells. He will remove the foam on the prisms so that they will not desilver in the future.

I just sent him a couple of FTN prisms.
General overhaul is $85, and add $35 if you need a new prism.
Turnaround time is 1 week.

I finally bought a "like new" prism from Japan just because it didn't have desilvering. Then, a good soul from photo.net sent me his Excellent + condition FTN prism that suffered from desilvering.

Both now work like champs!

For the F2 prisms, the F2A (DP-11) has wirewound resistors (like a rheostat), that Sover Wong tells me will last a lifetime and then some. The others will eventually give out - even the resistor in the AS prism (DP-12). However, he has custom made ceramic resistor replacements for the AS prism that have been proven to last over 1 million revolutions without any decay. The cost of the ceramic resistor is $40 on top of your service fee. He also has new CdS cells (again custom made), which he can replace any dying cells in your original meter.

 

[Wulfthari]

These are my two F2s:

I'm satisfied of both prisms, the DP-12 as far as I understand has silicon cells, not CdS, but I might be wrong.

So far no issues with any of them.

 

[Montag006]

Thanks for the info, Robert

Thanks for the info, Robert

The FTN meter has a couple of key flaws.
One is the carbon ring resistor which can wear out.
The second is foam which was placed around the prism, to isolate it from the housing. With time this foam deteriorates and eats away the silvering on the prism. This desilvering becomes visible as irregularities on either side of the eyepiece, or as a line down the middle.

Robert Decker lives in Utah, and he has replacement ring resistors as well as replacement prisms. He can also adjust the battery voltage to 3V, so you can use alkaline or silver oxide cells. He will remove the foam on the prisms so that they will not desilver in the future.

I just sent him a couple of FTN prisms.
General overhaul is $85, and add $35 if you need a new prism.
Turnaround time is 1 week.

I finally bought a "like new" prism from Japan just because it didn't have desilvering. Then, a good soul from photo.net sent me his Excellent + condition FTN prism that suffered from desilvering.

Both now work like champs!

For the F2 prisms, the F2A (DP-11) has wirewound resistors (like a rheostat), that Sover Wong tells me will last a lifetime and then some. The others will eventually give out - even the resistor in the AS prism (DP-12). However, he has custom made ceramic resistor replacements for the AS prism that have been proven to last over 1 million revolutions without any decay. The cost of the ceramic resistor is $40 on top of your service fee. He also has new CdS cells (again custom made), which he can replace any dying cells in your original meter.

🙂 Robert, thanks for mentioning Robert Decker.
I love FTn's . I have 2 prisms that I thought were destined to be
paperweights or conversation pieces
Now there might be hope!

David

 

[Greyscale]

Nikon F2s with Nikkor P Auto 105/2.5 by Mike Novak, on Flickr


f2s010 by Mike Novak, on Flickr


f2s002 by Mike Novak, on Flickr

 

[Greyscale]

This just came in the mail.


Nikon F2A Photomic with Vivitar 35/2.5 (TX mount) by Mike Novak, on Flickr

 

[Timmyjoe]

This just came in the mail.

That should be fun.

 

[Jerevan]

A gentle reminder to myself to use the F2 more:

Walls by Jerevan, on Flickr

 

[Wulfthari]

Few shots with Agfa 100, my F2A and a Nikkor 1.8:

 

[Wulfthari]

Few shots with the F2AS, fuji Pro 400 and various lenses.

Panoramic shots with the Nikkor 300mm f4 AIs IF, they are not perfectly vertical but this setup is very heavy:

Micro Nikkor 55mm f2.8:

24 mm f2.8:

50mm f1.4 S-C:

 

[Alpsman]

Hello folks,

I'm thinking of getting an F (Photomic FTN) or an F2 (AS). Any tips on differences between the models?

The F2 shutter is noisier than the F shutter.

 

[Greyscale]

Nikon F2S, Kodak Tri-X, Micro-Nikkor 50/3.5, Ilfotec DD-X by Mike Novak, on Flickr


Nikon F2S, Kodak Tri-X, Micro-Nikkor 50/3.5, Ilfotec DD-X by Mike Novak, on Flickr


Nikon F2S, Kodak Tri-X, Micro-Nikkor 50/3.5, Ilfotec DD-X by Mike Novak, on Flickr


Nikon F2S, Kodak Tri-X, Micro-Nikkor 50/3.5, Ilfotec DD-X by Mike Novak, on Flickr

 

[wakarimasen]

Have decided against an F and am on the lookout for an F2. After reading about the various models, their functionality seem pretty amazing - considering the mechanical construction