Build quality, all mechanical, Nikon lenses

For a left eyed photographer there is a tendency to push the wind lever in with your forehead shutting off the meter.

I have the F2A. I like the match needle metering. I find it easier to make small exposure adjustments with tne needle. I find that I take better pictures with this camera. I stop and think about what I am metering then after the exposure is set I concentrate on the compsistion.

Customer Service

Never used

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F,FM2N,FE,F3, Olympus OM2n,Yashicamat, Mamiya RB67,Canon Elan,Canon AT1

Lets a bad photographer like me feel what it's like to be good. Expansive viewfinder. Quality optics and resultant pictures. Bombproof construction.

Weight. Some controls are placed oddly for me (really being picky with this one)

I was lucky enough to get this camera (an F2S) from my dad, it was barely used, cased, and had 3 superb lenses. I immediately fell in love with it . . . it pushes me to learn more and be a better photographer. The overall quality and design is stunning, like a Jaguar E-type, a Barcelona chair, a Macintosh Tube Amp, or a Parker 51, this is a true classic of form and function.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it.

Similar Products Used:

Various Canon, Nikon, and Leica P&S's, and a Nikon EL2 that I didn't like nearly as much.

All mechanical opeation. Versatility. Build quality.

Weight

When I was a youngster in the 70's this was my dream camera. I finally bought one last year with a DP1 finder. I have a small collection of pre AI lenses for my Nikkormat. The quality of this camera is amazing (the way things used to be) I have an F80 that has had to be replaced for several faults. If I had to depend on a camera I would choose this one.

Customer Service

Nikon UK have around a 3 month turnaround for servicing and repair.

Similar Products Used:

F601 F80 Nikkormat FTN FG contax G

Build quality is Leicaesque. The DP12 finder works perfectly 25 years on. The shutters go on forever. They will never build another like it.

Absolutely none.

After years of using AF cameras it was ajoy to return to the camera I used and loved in the late 1970's-the Nikon F2. I picked up a nearly mint black F2AS on eBay and when I took it out on a shoot for the first time it was an unutterable experience akin to being taken up into the third heaven. The feel, the sound, the smell of a REAL camera that you do not have to override every function in order to get the shot you want. The first roll of Kodachrome 64 came back and the shots were all in focus and all perfectly exposed. Who needs five point AF with venticular apposite matrix compound metering when the good 'ol center-weighted system hardly misses a shot? Not all technology is good technology and the joy of photography is being eroded each day with more and more complex computers to do the thinking for you. Try an F2 and experience the joy once again! The Nikkor Ais lenses are fabulous and almost as good as the Contax G series Zeiss glass (which is untouchable for contrast, saturation and sheer mind boggling sharpness). My recommendation is go for the AS finder. It is much more stable than the Dp1 or Dp11 which can suffer from a twitchy needle. Get a nice 28mm 2.8 a 35mm 1.4 and a 105mm 1.8 and create some art!

Customer Service

There are plenty of good repair guys who love these old Nikons.

Similar Products Used:

F3HP, FE2, Contax G

1. Shutter speeds from 10-1/2000. 2. Mirror lockup. 3. Great Photomic finder. 4. Wide range of ISO settings. 5. Solid. 6. T and B! 7. Smooth shutter 8. no kick from the mirror

1. limited range of max aperatures 2. finder is great but too big 3. no hot shoe! 4. can't use self timer for shutter speeds from 2-10 seconds

Don,t ask me about reliability, I have had mine for only two days. But the mostly metal outer construction, weight, and solid fit of the parts make it feel like it will last forever. The Photomic meter is pretty accurate (I am using a lens with a pretty weird f5 max aperature though, so....). It is so easy to use, and the Photomic finder makes it a little easier to set shutter speeds. Just puts the dial for changing them a little to high. The flash sync is 1/80 of a second, weird but a little better than 1/60. And being able to shoot from 2-10 seconds programmed into the camera is good, even if the way for doing it is a lil' odd. And mirror lockup too!

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

none

excellent built very good ballance with the motordrive survives the end of the world

none

Go to the gym and enjoy this incredible machine, that will 100% give you the feeling of being a pro. Forget all the F5 and F4´s, no doubt they can do a lot fot you, but the real feeling is to work hard to enjoy your pictures and the best ever camera is the f2. The motor md2/mb1 will defenetly launch you among the top pro´s.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

nikon f3p

Solid feel, 99% success in your photography, the "clunky" shutter sound, adaptibility to a wide choice of lenses, non- dependibility on batteries but at the same time the easiest to buy cells (SR/LR 44) , no hassles with delicate electronics, the waist level finder that I use quite a bit, the timer for settings beyond 1 second.

Not easy to get accessories. Plus they are expensive. You cant trust your present day camera shop to do a decent job on it.The contacts on the Photomic head are not stable so at times you have to wriggle it a bit to get the meter going. And the worst.. the mount for the flash is non standard, so you cant use non- Nikon flash units . I am using a Vivitar 283 on a seperate handle. In our tropical climate the lens get attacked by fungus. So its stored in air-tight containers with silica gel.Never happens with my Leica.

I got my first F2 way back in 1978.Since than I''ve used only an F2, just cant seem to get good results with anything else.When my first F2 died a sudden death at the hands of a local camera repairer, I got another one (used) through my nephew in Atlanta. You know you have a "CAMERA" with an F2 in your hands and so does everyone else who sees you using it ! Wish I was back in the 70''s or early 80''s I should have picked up a couple more.

Customer Service

What''s that?

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Canon F1, AE1,Leica R3, CL, Bronica, Olympus OM2, OM10

allmost none ..it seems that this camera has so many options and durability even compared to the standard of today.they will never make anything like it anymore!(even they could do it),maybe business is more important =money?

weight ..only this...and lack of TTL flash,but nothing seriously.

this camera is the best you almost can get,this is simply a faboulous camera The Nikon F2 has a certain carisma you cant buy anymore,when i go with it people stops and ask details of this beauty,go and find one and use all the lenses Nikon has made.I will keep mine forever. last week i was at a small photoshop in the surbub of my town and the owners still used this camera for portraits ..wauw ! what a camera!

Customer Service

never needed it.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkormat FT 2,FT 3,Nikon EM,Nikon F5,Nikon Fe-2,Canon and Leica,Mamiya and others .

* very solid feel, hence dependable *''a'' legend in its field * very diverse in the photographic world

* DP-1 viewer life span is short, it''s not worth fixing, unless you can do it yourself (it''s very possible, & needs a lot of care) or you know a friend (knowledgeable in the art of camera repair), in which you can call in a favour. * Accessories (especially designed for the F2) are still pricey at good 2nd-hand conditions and sometimes often rare to find, but try looking on the net i.e. ebay - you often get good buys. * The weight is very heavy, when you have the body & accessories in your bag - you begin to notice it after a while, in comparison to other cameras i.e. the Nikon fg is just under half the F2''s weight, granting it a valuable advantage over the F2. * the view finder - due to it''s ability to be removed, traps a lot of dirt, cleaning is very easy but a bother. * The shutter is noticeably loud & sometimes distracting to the subject - a disadvantage in candid shooting. * Without the DP view-finders, The shutter speed dial is very close to the view-finder and the shutter release making it awkward to use, its not very ergonomically friendly to the act of changing shutter-speeds at a fast pace. * Often when buying one second hand or any SLR camera of thi

This a very nice piece, I personally like the feel you get when you grasp it - in comparison to the other newer cameras out there on today''s market. It has the true solid ''metal'' feel that a Nikon is meant to have. It has all the basic & vital features any photographer might need to do expert work. It possesses the true versatility that a professional manual camera should have + its functions are easy to learn for a beginner or an amateur. Having said all this, the F2 is not the MOST superior manual camera around, there are many other cameras that are superior in certain fields of photography, but that is not to say - that the F2 is one fine piece of equipment for a whole diverse range of photographic needs. It is my favourite camera to use, I have two one in good working condition with a motor drive (md-2) and a near mint condition one. It is truly a top grade camera

Customer Service

none so far

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Cannon AE-1 Nikon f3 Nikomatt ftn Nikon fg Nikon 60 Yashica TTL 1957 model w extra lens

Extremely rugged and dependable.

Dust intrusion, and that is being picky.

Being employed at a camera center when I was much younger I learned which camera was the very best. When the money allowed, I purchased an F2A, and have never ever been disappointed in it. It is hard to explain, but I take better pictures with it than with other cameras, almost as if it forces me THINK about each shot. Truly an example of fine craftmenship.

Customer Service

None needed.

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Spotmatic,OM1,OM2,EL,FM,FM2,FG,N2020,8008