The G lenses have full functionality on the F4 as long as you don't use Aperture-priority or Manual mode. The G lenses are fully functional (the proper aperture will be selected) in Ph, P, and S modes. No limitations on focusing.
That's awesome! I think I actually knew that at one time, but had forgotten it, thanks for straightening me out. Pretty amazing that the F4 is actually able to work with lenses having features (well, in the case of G lenses, features *removed*) that didn't even exist when it was designed.
As a matter of fact--were any AF-S lenses around when the F4 was released? I know that it first went on sale in 1988, and my 17-35 AF-S and my 80-200 AF-S weren't released until 1999. So it *appears* at least that Nikon gave the F4 the ability to use the lens contacts to autofocus lenses that weren't even released until over a decade after it went on sale!
For fun, I just now stuck my 24-70/2.8 G lens on the front of the F4. Even though I had the mode switch in manual, the camera automatically switched to program mode, and showed me the aperture and shutter speed in the viewfinder that it was going to use. And when I switched to shutter priority, it did indeed indicate it would work just fine there, too.
That's really crazy, how future-proof that camera is! Unbelievable, really.
And as you pointed out, having all dedicated external controls is, for me, a positive. One thing that hacks me off about DSLRs is that they're way too freaking complicated--who needs all that stuff, it's just marketing fluff most of it--and you have to *switch off* so much junk that just gets in the way of taking photos. And you have to go hunting through menus for it.
The F4 has a meter that, for film, is as good as anything today. It's got a far better viewfinder (and far more versatile choices of viewfinders) than any modern camera. It's compatible (works pretty much perfectly, really) with *all* but the newest Nikon lenses--a lot of which are freaking oversized beasts for what they are. And you can do auto-exposure, auto focus, all that fancy stuff with it--or you can go completely manual and get into that sort of zen mind frame with it. To me its *only* drawback is the weight--but with an MB-20, that's not even too bad, either.