Your Opinion: Nikon SLR with lowest camera shake?

[Rob-F]

What I really want to know is which Nikon has the least shake/vibration that adversely affects the image; whether from mirror slap, shutter movement, or anything else you know of. I know what I think, but I will leave that out in order to not bias the results.

Here are some choices:
Fe2; FA; FM; FM2; FM3; F; F2; F3; F100.

But you can comment on any model you like.

Bear in mind, the camera with the most clatter and bang vibration may or may not have the worse shake or image blurring.

 

[Vics]

It's a problem that doesn't exist. Photogs have been shooting sharp pictures with Nikon SLRs for two generations. I have used the F for twenty years, and have never had any unsharpness due to camera shake. Photog shake, yes.

 

[paulfish4570]

same here; it's the shooter, not the slr. for the shooter's sake, heavier might be better ...

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I think they're too close: focal length and shutter speed define how important is the way we handhold... With my 105 I feel worried below 1/500...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Calzone]

My vote was for the F3. I base my opinion when comparing to the two F2AS's I owned that the F3's had better dampening than any of my F2's. I sold the two F2AS's even though it had the best meter for low light and had LED's instead of the F3's LCD's. I could feel the difference in mirror slap.

Add a motor drive and you will find the added weight stabilizes the camera and further mitagates camera shake. Using a MD-4 also allows me mod my F3's to have the LCD illuminating light on whenever the meter is activated.

Cal

 

[nobbylon]

I would reason that the later the camera, the lighter the materials used in the mirror assembly. Seen as the shutter opens after the mirror goes up and closes before the mirror returns and as long as the camera is held steady it shouldn't really matter. It would only really affect an exposure on the upswing if it wasn't damped as it hit the end of it's upward travel by resonating.
Am I missing the point? I've regularly hand held my D700 at 1/4 of a sec leaning next to doors etc and had sharp images.
I think improved damping helps the quietness of later SLR's more than anything. Saying that, my F5 makes as much noise as my F and F2's albeit less of a metallic thunking!

 

[Moriturii]

Nikon F5, simple.

 

[_goodtimez]

In your selection the nikon F-36 is not present. I can say that the weight of that beast seriously reduces the mirror shake 😀

 

[besk]

Might be a good idea to do a test yourself. Modern Photography once published a short article about the lowest shutter speed certain Nikon SLR's could be handheld at before noticeable degradation was found. The best was the F2 as I recall and the EM the worst. I will try to find that article.

I have or have had a FM, F2, Nikkormat, EM, F100, and a N70. Frankly, I was surprised at the F2 and the N100 and N70's but have not actually tested them. I was disappointed with the shutter shake of the two Leica M6's I used to own - but again never really tested them

 

[nobbylon]

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/8945351_aVDzo#594124511_2CUHh-A-LB

just found this and it shows a secondary bounce on the upswing that is halted well before the curtains open. It's immaterial what the mirror does after the curtain's close.
If the camera is held steady I can't see how mirror movement will affect anything.

 

[Calzone]

Might be a good idea to do a test yourself. Modern Photography once published a short article about the lowest shutter speed certain Nikon SLR's could be handheld at before noticeable degradation was found. The best was the F2 as I recall and the EM the worst. I will try to find that article.

I have or have had a FM, F2, Nikkormat, EM, F100, and a N70. Frankly, I was surprised at the F2 and the N100 and N70's but have not actually tested them. I was disappointed with the shutter shake of the two Leica M6's I used to own - but again never really tested them

You make a good point about shutter shake. Perhaps it was the electronic shutter of the F3 that made it smoother and seem to have less mirror slap in my comparions between F2's and F3's.

Cal

 

[Robert Lai]

I've been able to reliably hold steady with my motor driven F3 to take pictures at 1/8 second. Below that, the images do show motion artifact. With an LTM Leica, I may be able to get to 1/4 second.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

The F4.
On a tripod.

Phil Forrest

 

[E.M]

I used an F2 for a long time as my single camera . Then added a MB1MD2 motordrive and could take pictures at very low speed due to weight and electronic shutter release I suppose ?!

http://www.etiennemichiels.com

 

[froyd]

same here; it's the shooter, not the slr. for the shooter's sake, heavier might be better ...

I that case...F4!

plus the marketing wizzamabang claims an super-dampened mirror return. ooh ahh.

 

[kdemas]

I went for the F100 based on your choices but from my personal experience I'd say the F6, hands down. Owned, and still own, many of these but the F6 is really smooth with no perceptible slap.

Just my two cents, all are fine cameras!

 

[Steve M.]

Probably an N80. The ones I owned were very, very quiet. And the shutter/mirror slap is spread out through the whole body, rather than just the mirror area. It's an exaggeration to call it mirror slap, because the N80 is as quiet as a Leica (and lots quieter than the little screwmount Leicas).

 

[FrankS]

You've got to think that the utmost care and engineering went into the pro models: F, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6; with the nod going to the latest advances in design.

 

[F6Roger]

IMHO It's got to be the F6

 

[f6andBthere]

You'd have to think the F6 because everything Nikon knows about SLRs went into that camera. It has serious mass and according to what I've read the shutter action was further refined from the F5. This from the designer:

The F5 successfully minimized shutter lag. We carried this superior characteristic over to the F6, and also tried to maximize the finesse of the shutter. Specifically, we succeeded in our efforts to reduce vibration and improve the quality of mechanical sounds, especially from the moment the shutter is pressed to the moment it is released. This was achieved by changing the way the shutter is fixed to the camera body. Normally, the shutter is fixed to the body using screws. But with the F6, we use a floating mechanism, in which the shutter is hung with rubber. This rubber absorbs vibration when the shutter is released.