Nikon F6 ... time to move?

Keith

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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I'm now in the position of needing (and being able) to buy a couple of more lenses for my D700 for the paid work I do. One job in particular, which is photographing a large billboard, requires a zoom between 24mm and 120mm which I've been lucky enough to be able to borrow from a friend. (24-120 F4 ED VR) The other lens I'd quite like is the 24-70 f2.8G ED ... this could be put to good use in the gallery environment I work in a lot of the time. It's only a stop slower than the 35mm f2 Zeiss prime I currently use and offers a whole lot more versatility ... at the price of extra bulk obviously!

Along with the 35mm f2 ZF (Distagon) and 50mm f1.4 ZF (Planar) lenses I already have I think it may be time to start seriously thinking about a compatible film body to share all this expensive (to me) F mount glass. The price of the F6 doesn't seem to have changed much over the last couple of years and checking KEH I noticed there seems to be better deals around on eBay than what they're offering. I wish I'd bought Jonmanjiro's F6 when it came up in the classifieds a while ago but at the time I was somewhat skint!

There seems to be some pretty nice examples available on eBay for around $1500.00 from a couple of Hong Kong and Japanese sellers but eBay does scare me a little after getting some less than accurately described items over the years. What to do? :confused:
 
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Keith you've been thinking about this body for a while haven't you? I think if the idea has been in your head long enough you should go ahead. If for some reason you decided it was a mistake, you could always sell it for exactly the same price seeing as the f6's value isn't dropping anytime soon.

Personally, I'd love an eos 1V - the ultimate film camera for a canon EOS user. But, I managed to pick up a 1N for $100 on ebay, and it's about 92% of the camera for 1/10th of the price. I've been very happy with it, and I'm not afraid to get it dirty either. If it broke or I lost it, I'd but another one. Have you thought about maybe getting an F100 as a value-conscious alternative? As far as I know, it is to the f6 almost what the 1n is to the 1v. That would leave you with almost enough change to buy one of those superb 24-70mm f2.8G lenses that you want!
 
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A Nikon F100 will do almost everything (but i-TTL) an F6 will do, for 1/5-1/10 of the price. The flash metering isn't quite as fancy (but far better than anything Canon has ever made), and it doesn't have a gazillion focus or metering points, but it's the same form factor and a decent body.

I've seen used ones for as low as $150 at KEH.com with a 6-month warranty (nicer ones run upwards of a whopping $300). B&H Photo still has new gray market F100's in stock for $700.

Nikon sold scads and still works on them. I'd go that route if you don't want to get screwed over by some seller in China. I'd say that's your best bet. A $2,000 F6 will lose value far faster than a $150 F100, also.
 
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If it's a high value item, I always make sure it's coming from a highly rated seller. You can find many items in the same price range, but some folks I just won't deal with, based on their feedback reports, and eBay rating. And word of mouth around the forums will usually point out the nefarious ones.

PF
 
I love my F100 and used to think it was the only SLR I'd ever desire... but one day I stupidly held an F6! The VF alone is worth it IMO... and just holding that thing... geez... ergonomic perfection. One day it will be mine (insert scary evil laugh) ;-)
 
Keith, Have you seriously compared the F5 & the F6...you can get a real decent F5 for less than a third or even a fourth of an F6...
 
nikon_sam said:
Keith, Have you seriously compared the F5 & the F6...you can get a real decent F5 for less than a third or even a fourth of an F6...
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If you only intend to use AF-D lenses then F5 is a good deal if you can stand the weight. For manual lenses the F6 cannot be beat especially for that very accurate focus assist.
 
I would take an F100, unless an automated SLR is the ultimate thing for me and I had the cash.
The F5 is really too big and heavy for my taste, and the F100 does a lot for the money.
In fact, I'm perfectly happy with an F90x bought for 35$ at KEH...
 
Keith, I spotted an F6 in mint condition in Tokyo today. It was 89,000 yen. I damn near bought it :bang:

If you want me to grab it for you, LMK!
 
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jonmanjiro said:
Keith, I spotted an F6 today in mint condition in Tokyo today. It was 89,000 yen. I damn near bought it :bang:

If you want me to grab it for you, LMK!
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AAAAARRGGHH!

That's very cheap for an F6 ... what a dilemma. I won't have the funds for a couple of weeks yet! :bang:
 
Keith,
Nikon's are my main using cameras and I like you have the D700. I have the 24-70 and have also just added the 70-200 VRII and the problem with the 'small' bodies is exactly that, they are too small for these lenses. The 24-70 dwarfs my F100 and apart from price was my other reason for getting the F5 for film use. Try an F5 before the F6 as it may fit your purposes and also save you a lot of cash for lens purposes. It's the best film camera I've had in SLR's and fitted with the dk17M eyepiece it's viewfinder is amazing and matches the D700 with the same,
regards john
 
PKR said:
Hi Jon;

I found it interesting that the same guy lead the design group for my favorite Nikons - except the F3, though he did the F3H..

IKENO, Tomohisa, my favorite camera designer, along with Oskar Barnack and friends.

http://imaging.nikon.com/history/scenes/09/index.htm
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That's a great article! Does wonders for my F6 GAS though :bang:

It just amazes me that used F6's are so cheap now. They're almost the same price as used Zeiss Ikons. But the quality difference is immediately apparent when you hold them in hand. The F6 is soooooo much nicer.
 
jonmanjiro said:
That's a great article! Does wonders for my F6 GAS though :bang:

It just amazes me that used F6's are so cheap now. They're almost the same price as used Zeiss Ikons. But the quality difference is immediately apparent when you hold them in hand. The F6 is soooooo much nicer.
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And reading it definitely made my head spin ... I can't believe you sold the one you had!

What were you thinking? :p
 
a year ago a friend bought one as "used" model out of the dealers window,
but it was nearly new.
When he loaded his very first film in that camera and we took a look through the finder we were astonished about that clearness and that perfect designed function controls.
Well I think the F6 has the "best" prism-finder over all cameras I know, even the EOS 1V I own by my self.
Compared with F5 and F100 it's what I ever wanted to use,
so buy one, you won't regret it.
 

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PKR said:
It's crazy (I'm not saying you're crazy) that we are buying heavier camera bodies because the lenses are heavier. Camera gear is heavy enough. I buy the lightest weight gear i can find. I prefer primes (the Zeiss are really nice) to zooms. For me a single zoom (24-120) is all I'll use, and only when I have a real need for a zoom. I have to pack a lot of gear around when working and my back is still screwed up from 40 years of moving camera gear.

With the better sensors found in the newer cameras, slower - lighter weight lenses will do the job. And, many are sharper than the faster ones. I work to keep my gear to the necessary, as light weight as possible and simple. But that's me.
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I agree to a certain degree however personally I don't want to use slower lenses. Plenty here, myself included rave about the quality of images shot with fast rangefinder lenses and if I want to go light then i'll use my M's however if I want the same with SLR's then I use Nikon's and fast zooms as it means I'm not forever changing lenses. I don't want to get into a lens debate but the 'pro' Nikon lenses are every bit as good as Leica and so they should be. They were just made for different situations requiring their use.
Some of the 'R' system glass was big and heavy but it was necessary to do the job it was designed for.
Going light with SLR's means compromise for me ie primes, often manual focus and when this is not suitable the only alternative is to use fast zooms which are bigger but in most cases every bit as good as and even better than their prime alternatives.
The F6 is nice but for use with these lenses I'd want the hand grip attached. The F5 with it's extra portrait release is very comfy and probably smaller than an F6 with the grip attached.
 
I'll just leave this here...

88316994_606ec12397_o.jpg
 
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