Everything is in the right place 100% viewfinder Nikon optics

none

I have a computer with a lens attached to catch the moment, but if I want to climb into my vintage sports car, I go with the Nikon F. Everything feels good, every control is where I want it to be. It's like the camera and I get together to take the picture. And it gives me some of the best pictures I have ever taken.

Customer Service

never used

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Nikon cameras, OM-1

BUILD quality

fitting lenses on. high price for regular prism

a tank. period. HUGE lens selection - great camera

Die-cast body that lasts forever. Unbreakeble titanium foil shutter. And different focusing screens for different moods ;-) Independant of batteries or weather conditions, a big plus. I''ve used it in pouring rain and freezing cold. And if someone tries to rob you, you can always hit them on their head with it so they really feel the strength of the F. Wide assortment of lenses from the last millennium. The 35/1,4 is wonderful for general work - and is big and heavy enough to balance the body in your hand.

Heavy to carry around, but that makes it easier to keep it steady at exposure. The metal body has some sharp angles, which looks nice but isn''t too comfortable on a cold winter day. On the other hand, remove the prism and feel history coming right at you; it looks almost like an old Contax rangefinder. The meters are supposed to go bad, but mine are working though.

It was the early nineties. I found the F with the FTn meter on sale in a pawnshop. Before I bought it I went to an old photo salesguy and asked about this incredibly cool looking camera. "Sure, it''s good," he said, "You''ll be able to hammer down nails with it." And then I really got into photography, thanks to this wonderfully clunky beast. Now I have two of them, still counting...

Customer Service

Well, once at a photo fair the Nikon guys replaced some screws that had fallen out of the prism. Free of charge too ;-) Other than that, a couple of jeweller''s screwdrivers and some Q-tips will prob

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Everything with wheels and cogs in them, Minox B, Leica screw mount and M, Hasselblad, Sinar. Oh, and a Nikon EM that luckily got stolen. That''s why I had to get the F in the first place, to fit my r

The perfect system is one that if you had too, you could carry with you while you travel. Having all the above lenes will give you the variation of lenes for all kinds of shooting.

none, unless you are a sissy.

"tito, drop by here next week and look at my digital camera for me please, it doesn''t seem to work anymore." I am getting more and more of that every week now; certain cameras from rock climbing friends that take their digital cameras to the ocean, sandy dunes, rock climbing. If it isn''t the battery, shock, small insignificant buttons and controls, non-responsive switches and plug in items, then it''s the computer unable to understand the twain drive to the scanner and uploading images becomes a quirky frustrating ordeal. Look... save yourself headaches, get yourself a nice black body Nikon F with or without a motordrive. Heck, the thing can be dented, worn, scratched, rubbed away.. but no matter what... the thing works. It is so similar to people who still seem to be driving around iNTERNATIONAL jeeps with our without parts scavenged from many other trucks. Ok.. back to the subject... Two Nikon with the following NIKKOR lenes (and don''t be fooled with Tamcon, Vivitor, Rosco, Muchcon, Vercon... blah blah blah do/alikes look alikes) is the perfect system. Nikon F black body w/ Motor Drive Nikon FE black body with MD 12 Nikon F chrome body with normal back Contax III Rangefinder Nikon Verifocal Finder Nikkor 18mm f3.5 Nikkor 20mm f2.8 Nikkor 24mm f2.8 Nikkor 28mm f2.8 Nikkor 35mm f2.5 Nikkor 50mm f1.2 Nikkor 50mm f1.8 Nikkor 105mm f2.5 Nikkor 80-200mm Series E f4.5 Nikkor 300mm f4.5 Nikkor 500mm Mirror f8.0 Close up Filters Slide Copiers Nikon or B/W Filters

Customer Service

Nikon service in LA... very good, but leave yourself time to get it properly repaired.

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nothing else like this kind of system

Conplete vintage camera repair facility including the ability to locate and repair hard to find Nikon F body w/Nikkor Lens parts.

Not especially timely, expensive. So if you intend to need having your equipment quickly, be sure to allow plenty of time to get it repaired. Also, always consider sending your equipment directly from your home, rather than a camera shop, who will undoubtably mark up repair.

Review''s Nikon Repair facility located in Los Angeles.

Customer Service

Very good, and there is an easy to use Nikon repair website that keeps track of your equipment so that you know what you might need to make the process more efficent.

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Nikon repair faciiity is generally better to use rather than local shops because parts for older styled Nikon F''s might be getting harder and harder to find. The Nikkor 50mm 1.2 AIS lens for instanc

everything

patience is a virtue it''s not a candid camera, but it''s good if ur fast enuf stick to digicams or compact cameras for candid shots use this baby for art

this is a great camera my uncle actually let me use it since he has kept it away in a box for a few yrs now from the dents and scratches that the body has on it, u can tell that this machine can take punishment. there was a story he once told me when he left it on the roof of his car by accident on a mnt road and drove off, after noticing that it fell, he stopped the car and ran after it as it rolled down the road. when it came to a stop, he picked it up and took some shots, it worked like a charm and here it is today with me. a wonderful camera for "art" shots

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None

-Very well built.
-Lasts forever.
-Takes hits like none other.

-A bit heavy and cumbersome.
-Photomic head with light meter is very useful but it is almost impossible to fix once broken...or replace batteries

This is an awesome camera that just keeps on going. I have one that is 20 years old and it still works better than allot of the newer fancier cameras. The only weakness that this camera has is that once the light meter(FT2 I believe) goes out in the photomic head it's not fixable. The batteries are illegal now in the USA so you will either have to get them specially or have the photomic head converted to an alkaline system. It may not be the easiest thing to carry around, but it will last a lot longer than most/all of the new digitalis. In twenty years the only work mine has needed is new insulation and the counter fixed. The counter broke after taking a very hard fall onto the floor of Amsterdam's Schipol Airport. It didn't even put a scratch in on the body but it did get the counter out of whack a bit. If someone knows where I can get the FT2 photomic head serviced please contact me. Four overall because of the FT2 head...

Customer Service

Not serviced by Nikon but there are a few places that will work on them...though it's very rarely needed.

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Nikkromat FT2
Nikon Nuvis S

I N D E S T R U C T I B L E
The original System Camera
In 1959 it has more gadgets than anyone, 4fps motordrive, 250 exp back, numerous focusing screens and prisms... and the beat goes on

If it ever dies (not likely) I can use it for a boat anchor. No hotshoe.... no shoe at all hot or cold.. Did I mention no built-in meter?

Great camera! It does everything you ask and it does it well each and every time... Other cameras are simply 'more convenient' you can't get better than this.

Customer Service

The F like most cameras should be cleaned and lubed every 3 years or so... but an F can go 6 easy.

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Pentax, Minolta, Canon, Olympus and my (sniff) defunct Nikkormat FTN

This is a bomb-proof all-mechanical camera. I bought 2 F's (FTN) 25 years ago and they still work fine to this day. I love the Nikon system.

The weight and size of this camera.

I recently added Nikkor 105mm, 200mm and a Nikkormat FTN to my Nikon collection.

Customer Service

No longer serviced by Nikon.

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My Leicaflex and Leicaflex SL with a Summicron 50mm/2 is a little bit sharper and contrastier, but the Nikon is more rel

Removable prism, all mechanical, takes all Nikon lenses

Not very ergonomic

I just got this camera a while ago, I wanted to augment my arsenal of one Nikon FM and my dad's FM2 with another fully mechanical body. My friends laugh at the 'F', but the more I use it, the happier I get.
Hey, I'm not a Nikon fanatic. I'm not saying that Nikons are better than Canons. If I had to buy a camera now, I might even opt for an Olympus system because they are so small. I used to own Minolta AF cameras and I was happy with them too. It doesn't really matter: I might get some better pictures with a quick Minolta AF camera, but with the mechanical Nikons I get more practice, and later I can upgrade to an AF body and use all my old lenses. The Nikon system is a good compromise in many ways.
Anyways, the NIKON F has style. And it's still gonna rock 20 years from now, when all the AF cameras are inside the landfill or being used as toys by 2-year olds. When the digital film rolls come to market, my F is gonna go digital.
The Nikon optics are wonderful. But then again, so were the Minolta optics that I owned, for example the 50mm macro. So it's just a matter of taste. Some Minolta models are incredibly ugly: at least the F looks like a real "Vietnam journalist" - type camera.

Customer Service

NA - I just got it

Similar Products Used:

Nikon FM, Minolta AF cameras