Who shoots everyday with a Nikon F?

Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
You've mentioned this before once or twice as I recall. Perhaps I'm being unusually dense but, apart from quietness, I can't see the benefit. Pre-firing a mirror can in some situations help sharpness by minimising vibration. But if the mirror still lifts immediately before the shutter opens, how can keeping it raised afterwards, make any difference whatsoever to sharpness? It can't. The exposure has already happened. Anything that occurs, for any reason, after the second curtain has capped the exposure will have zero effect on image quality. What am I missing here? :)
Cheers
Brett
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Key benefit is being able to shoot quietly and at slower speeds. Of course I often just press hard and it acts just like a normal F SLR.
 
I use mine as a doorstop in my bathroom.

DoorstopS-1_zpssky6tdhh.jpg
 
kshapero said:
Key benefit is being able to shoot quietly and at slower speeds. Of course I often just press hard and it acts just like a normal F SLR.
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OK. I get the noise aspect of it. But, again, if the mirror must, first, retract prior to the first curtain commencing the exposure, surely, whether it stays up once the second curtain has capped the exposure or not won't have any impact on whatever speed you can hand hold, will it? Whether the mirror descends as normal, or not, after the curtain has closed, how can it matter, if the exposure has already ended? I must be missing something, because I don't get it. Does the mirror mechanism begin to actuate, normally, just before the second curtain ends its run?
Cheers,
Brett
 
One of mine does the mirror lift with first press, I'm never convinced its been modified rather its just a bit sticky!
I would be nice to try an F that had never been used and had an age related service as all mine look and feel like the have been very well used!
 
I had 3 Fs and an F2, plus a few lenses; but I've just packed them up for a trade in. Much as I like them I don't use them adequately enough to justify keeping them in the cupboard. Time for someone else to enjoy them.
I intend using my 2 Canon RFs , an 1VSB2 and a 11S2 as film cameras. Of course film cameras. Duh. But I have now added a 11D2 to the pile and think that'll be it.
All these old cameras are in all their essentials, hand-made and that alone makes them special and of course, you can't chimp with a film camera which obliges an attempt at concentration when taking the shot.
 
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kshapero said:
Key benefit is being able to shoot quietly and at slower speeds. Of course I often just press hard and it acts just like a normal F SLR.
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I've taken photos in churches, synagogues, on the streets, and in special settings where noise control was a factor, with regular, garden variety Fs, F2s, F3s, FMs, FEs, FE2s, FM2s, FAs, FGs and never missed any shots because the cameras were too noisy.
And for those rare occasions where r-e-a-l-l-y slow shutter speeds were necessary, I dug out and used my T-r-i-p-o-d.
As I said, a solution to a non-existent problem.
Robert
 
Was using these two exclusively for all my film work for six months, until my S2 arrived.

Sisters.jpg


Having a hard time putting down the S2, but the infatuation will eventually wear off and I'll go back to the F's. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, I really am an SLR shooter at heart.
 
I use my plain prism F from time to time, I've got the 2.8cm f/3.5 and 50 f/2 pre-ai lenses for it. It's a little rough to use but it just keeps on working. Super tough camera.
 
Sorry, being based in the U.K. I can only recommend Sover. International shipping is no big deal, just send it to him... ;)
 
KoNickon said:
Anyone in the U.S.? I know he's great, but avoiding international shipping would be nice.
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I've shipped to him from Los Angeles, because he is the best , reasonable and quick.
My local camera repair place takes longer than me shipping to Sover! And they are more expensive.
 
I haven't a Nikon F.
I would love a black Nikon F.
This past Friday, I found a restored one hiding behind several other beaten up F's.
It was in a locked cabinet.
It called to me and asked to live at my place.
But I hadn't the key to the cabinet.
That key is cash.
It stayed there.
I haven't a Nikon F.
 
Sover is the man to repair Nikon F and F2. I've sent my F and two F2 cameras to him, as well as several finders.

First of all, Nikon SLRs have an indecent amount of foam seals inside, which will be decayed by now. Not only decayed, but often growing a mushroom farm of fungus. There is also foam around the pentaprism under the housing, which WILL REMOVE the silvering with time, as the foam decays and pulls away.

Sover is the ONLY repairman who will meticulously disassemble everything, remove and replace all the foam seals (except the ones over the pentaprism). I had my cameras worked on by "Nikon service experts" (not Pete Smith) here in the US, and when Sover opened them up, its as if nothing had been done.
Sover will not only clean everything and relube, he will send you photographs to document what he is doing. He will also adjust ALL shutter speeds to within 1/4 f/stop of the specified speed, and he will send you an EXCEL file with those speeds as tested. He also has custom made replacement parts, such as CdS cells for meters, ceramic resistors to replace the worn out carbon track resistors on a lot of meter heads. He overhauled a mint but non-functioning MD-3 for me by replacing the always cracked nylon gear with a brass replacement which he had custom made for him.

If you want your gear to survive another 50 years in fine working condition, you need to send it to Sover. Anyone in the USA will not do the same quality job, and you will be wasting your money.

BTW I do have Pete Smith's Nikkor Q 135mm f/3.5 (now AI'd). It too looks new.
 
Robert Lai said:
BTW I do have Pete Smith's Nikkor Q 135mm f/3.5 (now AI'd). It too looks new.
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Pete Smith was a real decent guy. I once brought a Leica R lens into his shop because something was loose on it. He took it into the back and in a few minutes came back with it fixed. When I asked how much, he replied -- "I don't charge anything for something so easy to fix."

In chatting with him he said everything in the shop was for sale except -- he disappeared into the back again -- and came back with two Nikon Fs, one black and one silver. Said these were the cameras he used when he worked for the newspapers.

Within a year or so he closed up his shop. My understanding was that he closed the shop because of illness.
 
I bought an F2 just to get the plain prism for use on my existing F2 metered head.

These are wonderful cameras. Wish I never owned Pentax Spotomatics in the 60`s.
Live and learn.
 
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