The best AF film SLRs

[HHPhoto]

F100 - The worst thing I can say about it is that it eats through batteries like there is no tomorrow, but luckily it will take AA and you just bring lots spares.

Harry, just use the vertical grip and Sanyo Eneloops. Problem solved. High capacity, very reliable, very low costs.

F6 - Only played with one of these briefly. Nice. Really, really nice, but far more expensive than a F100.

Of course the F6 is more expensive than the F100. It is a completely different camera, completely different construction, and has nothing to do with the F100:
The F6 is the successor of the F5. And the F6 is significantly improved in lots of aspects compared to the F5.

Cheers, Jan

 

[OddE]

Hi,

Count one more up for the F4. I mostly use mine bare, but if I need a vertical grip, I attach the MB-23 battery pack.

Tough as nails, compatible with just about any lens Nikon ever made, excellent selection of focusing screens and viewfinders, actual knobs and buttons for everything - and, it also uses regular AA batteries which can be had anywhere. What's not to like?

(In addition to Nikons, I've used a Pentax Z-1, EOS 5 and a Minolta 7000AF for some time - I really liked the Z-1, but never quite warmed to the ergonomics of the EOS 5 (in particular) and the Minolta.)

It was definitely the photographer, not the camera which was the limiting factor in all cases, though - I've basically stuck with Nikon because of the longevity of the F-mount, the resulting abundance of lenses available and - simply - because most Nikon bodies just... ...feel right when I pick them up. (I guess this comes down to habit more than any inherent Nikon superiority...)

 

[HHPhoto]

As much as I liked playing with the F6 I just don't see the justification... The electronics are just going corrode, short out, and become as unrepairable as a F100. It's not a "forever" camera unless your life expectancy is 5-7 years.

Sorry Frank, that is of course complete nonsense.
1.The F6 was introduced 2004, the first examples are already 9 years old and are working perfectly.
2. The F100 is repairable as all other Nikons are.
3. The first electronic cameras are now even almost 40 years old (like Canon AE-1, Nikon Fe....). And they are still working.
4. Nikon fully electronic professional camera F3 is over 30 years old and still working.
5. They are reports of Nikon F3, F4 and F5 cameras with more than 1 million shutter releases, and these cameras are still working.
6. The F6 is even more robust build than the former cameras.

My F6 is working perfectly after many years of very intensive use.
Same is valid for the F6s my friends are using.

So my vote is for the nikon N80, lighter, more compact, responsive, built-in flash, next to peak late film AF technology... And only $50. The cockroach of cameras....

I use a F80 also. I agree it is a very good camera.
But not at all comparable to the F6.
Two completely different animals.

Cheers, Jan

 

[Texsport]

Own and appreciate:

Canon EOS3

Nikon F4
Nikon F5
Nikon F6

Texsport

 

[crsantin]

My Nikon F100 has wonderful focusing, very fast and reliable. I paid a little over $100 for mine in great shape, put my 50mm 1.8 afd on it and haven't taken it off since. I will own an F6 one day.

 

[Keith]

I agree with F Petronio on this. I switched to digital from a pair of F4s bodies and didn't look back - except for the N90 which, while not being able to drive the VR lenses, is ALMOST as good as the N80. Mind you, it's been a doorstop for three years.

Oh, and who forces anyone to upgrade their digicam every few years? I switched to Nikon D bodies in 2008 and haven't upgraded since. I've added an X100 but I'm still producing the bulk of the work with a D3. I think the poster with an F6 and no GAS might feel differently if there was an F7 to be had.

An F7? 😀

What could they do to improve the F6 ... seriously? The whole slippery slope that the digicams are built on generally revolves around sensor development and that's not an issue in 'any' film camera!

 

[x-ray]

F5, F100 and F4 in that order. Probably the F6 but have never used one.

 

[Keith]

Well we are talking about AF. Better distribution of AF sensors, for one thing. Another would be look-down-shoot-down technology as implemented in some of the Canon SLRs where the focus pipper is directed by eye movement. Very slick. Less weight without compromising strength... You know.....
I agree that the F6's feature set rocks. Never needed it, though, so I stayed with the F4s until I went digital.
Your point about sensor development is right on. I went digital when it became apparent that Kodachrome's fate was sealed.
iThe point I'm making is that in the top-line digital gear they've hit the dinger a few years ago, particularly with the D3/D700. A lot of camera manufacturers are still trying to catch up with those sensors. GAS is a...er... personal problem and requires gear to fixate upon. Doesn't exist=no opportunity to lust. For me. Forgive me if I was presumptuous.

Ahhh ... AF!

I guess some improvements could be made there but I'd seldom use them as I tend to use Zeiss primes on the F6. The F6 is a great camera for manual focusing ... fantastic finder which I didn't find with the brief fling I had with an FM3A. Should have gone straight for the F6 and bypassed the FM3A in hindsight.

 

[M Currie]

Late to the party here, but as a film and Nikon user, whose wife is also a film and Nikon user, my answer has two parts.

If you're not using a lot of legacy lenses, then it's hard to beat the F100. It will at least allow AI and later lenses, and it's great with AF lenses. My wife loves hers, and when they got cheap enough, she got a second one so she could put different film in them. She usually manually focuses and gets very long battery life with Lithium AA's as a result.

If you're using a lot of legacy lenses, as I tend to, the F4 seems pretty hard to beat. Anything that has an aperture ring on it, it can use, and it matrix meters with any of them. It's big and solid. Given its age, its autofocusing performance is surprisingly good. I thought I'd dislike the bulk of it after the svelte F3, but it's not hard to get used to.

Of course I may be biased, because I got a perfectly working nasty looking one with some non-disabling LCD bleed and lots of wear and tear for under a hundred bucks from a dealer I trust. I was quite happy with the F3 and a handful of F's, but could not resist this one, especially when I found it has an eyepiece diopter, something I increasingly need. I also usually manually focus, since I have only one AF lens in my arsenal, and the alkaline batteries that were in the MB-21 when I got it over a year ago are still going. Oh, and the placement of the second shutter button for vertical shooting is super.

 

[HHPhoto]

An F7? 😀

What could they do to improve the F6 ... seriously? The whole slippery slope that the digicams are built on generally revolves around sensor development and that's not an issue in 'any' film camera!

+1.
You're spot on, Keith.

Cheers, Jan

 

[HHPhoto]

Well we are talking about AF. Better distribution of AF sensors, for one thing.

Well, as someone who is using an F6 for years now, both with AF and MF lenses, and as someone who has used also the current Nikon DSLRs, my experience is:

The distribution of the AF Sensors in the F6 is perfect.
If you increase the sensor number, your AF sensors have less CCDs (less space because of smaller sensors), and that is resulting in lower autofocus accuracy.
The autofocus of the F6 is more precise than the AF of the latest Nikon DSLRs. I've tested that several times. Friends of mine have done that, too, with the same result.

"The more AF sensors, the better" is not true in all cases, and often has more to do with marketing than anything else.

Cheers, Jan

 

[CliveC]

Best I own is the Maxxum 7, but I'm trying to track down an EOS 3. I also own the EOS 1, but it really feels quite antiquated.
I don't own enough Nikon glass to warrant exploring the F series beyond my FE2.

 

[nobbylon]

The F5. Feels more robust than the F6. Balances better with the Nikon zooms. Focus's faster with AF/d lenses. Meter is as good as you'll ever need. AA battery instead of unobtaniums for the F6.
Way over priced when compired to the F5. 4x the price. When they hit £250 I'll get one for use with a 35 and 50.

 

[redisburning]

my vote would be Contax 645AF

 

[cosmonaut]

I can't speak for all Nikons but my F4s does a bang up job. They are cheap too.

 

[shadowfox]

I now use a Maxxum 9.
It's a good camera... *very* good.

 

[jmilkins]

I'm fond of the Minolta Dynax/Maxxum 9 too for AF. Great minolta colours in the AF primes and select zooms.

The Maxxum 7 is also a top performer with a smaller less rugged form and an couple of extras the 9 didn't have. One I enjoy is the dynamic range histograms shown as a sort of hexagon pattern on the rear LCD if you want to obsess about different light levels in a scene....

 

[NaChase]

I love my EOS 3, and the eye control focus actually works amazingly well.

 

[frank-grumman]

Yep

Yep

Well, used prices: It depends on whether you buy a mint one or not.
Here in my country Nikon F100 price range is in the 200 - 300€ range (with or without the vertival grip).
Used F6s are mostly in the 800 - 1200€ price range.

Nevertheless:
I've bought my Nikon F6 brand new, with the MB-40 grip and the MV-1 data reader (both highly recommended).
Price 2300€ in total.
That has been by far the cheapest camera with the best price-performance ratio I've ever bought in my lifetime!

Why that?
It is simple:
The Nikon F6 is a "once in a lifetime camera". You buy one and use it for the rest of your life.
2300€ for a whole lifespan is next to nothing!!
As soon as you have the F6 your GAS is over. You just don't need more in a 35mm film camera.
The F6 offers all you need.

I've quit the digital ratrace: Paying 2000€ - 3000€ every three or four years for a DSLR (or even much more for a digital Leica) add to a real fortune.
I can't afford this anymore.
My lifetime companion Nikon F6 is ridiculous cheap compared to that.

Skiff, you reflect in your post my sentiments completely. I'm kicking myself in the arse right now for having dumped $2800 on a 5DIII when I could've gotten some doggone good Nikon lenses to use with my F6. Talk about dumb :bang: I haven't used the 5dIII since I've begun using the F6 and having a developing outfit in Philly that does a helluva good job.

 

[wakarimasen]

The best thing about most of these SLRs is they are relatively cheap enough (compared to the Leica world) to try something new!