-Mirror lock up -exchangable view finders and heads -no battery ( except the cell but even...) -the INCREDIBLE sound of the shutter -the important weight ( feels real ) -compatibility with nikkor sys. -it''s a tough beggar

nope, none

I came here to give my F2 bodies a tribute. My dad stoped photography and gave me his good ol'' F2. Tried it and became a complete photo geek. I used every single option it could ofer and couldn''t live now without them. I m'' so happy with it that I bought my second F2 a month ago in a stunnig shape with an as stunning 50 mm f 1,4 . I wonder now what one could need else. I was once motivated to buy an AF body... looked at the N80 was dissapointed, the only other good one is the actual bro, the F5 ( I dont like the F100 cause of the weel diaphragm only... crazy. )

Customer Service

never needed it.

Similar Products Used:

none

Solid, Solid, Solid. Feels great in your hands. Simple to use.

Flash is simple/limited, but you can work with the limtation very easily and creatively.

I have a beat-up DP-1 Photomic chrome body. My primary lenses are the 85mm 1.4 and 20mm 3.5. Taking pictures with it is a joy, you can really feel the mechanics inside the body working. My subjects never get camera conscious because it such an old basic camera.

I used to be an assistant to a pro photographer who basically has everything; every Leicas and Nikons and Canons and Hasselblads and Mamiyas you can think of. I had to carry all of them, every day. I had the chance of lining them up side by side and try them out, and believe me it's such a different experience. High-tech features and reputations and collectiblity don't really mean as much as when you hold it and use it. I chose to get my own F2 because of it... sturdy, usable, mechanical, affordable, and unique.

Customer Service

None.

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Almost everything.

Its strenght is its strenght: A massive, all-metal, essentially handmade beast, classified as a deadly weapon in some states. Attach an MD2 and a 300mm lens, stand on the sideline and watch people eye you carefully...

Rugged and dependable, it will outlive me.

I have both an F2A and an F2AS. The DP12 required some repair work, which was expensive. To this day the middle LED does not work. Plus I miss the top-of-the-prism meter repeater on the DP11.

Plus, it weighs a ton.

You must own a fully manual camera. You don't have to use it every day -- I don't take the F2's on vacation much any more -- but you must go back to the basics every once in a while to call yourself a photographer. I've had the SRT102 for 23 years, the K1000 for 18. I will never give them up, even as my eyesight and (lack of) reflexes increasingly make me appreciate the miracle that is the F100... I still look at that F2A and smile. It will never let me down.

Customer Service

Lots of luck!

Similar Products Used:

owned: N2002, F100, SRT102, Minolta XD11, Pentax ME Super, K1000, some generic Minolta APS thing, a couple of digitals, Kodak KC135

When the next electromagnetic diaster strikes this planet, you know you the F2 is the only equipment to document the horror of it.

Best and most successful use of the modular system design in any era of modern product innovation.

In my opinion, the coolest looking F-series camera. The original F: Has too many idiosyncraciesto be a reliable user. F3: Good, but kind of standard issue right now. Kind of boring. F4: I like it but makes you look like a dork... but will be cool in about 10 years. F5: Makes you look like a dork even more. Unless your career is based on high performance.

Makes you look like a photographer.

F2's are currently smack in between the user status and collector status, making the camera and its parts expensive.

Makes you look like a "photographer."

Don't go to them. They'll either jack up the repair prices or force you to upgrade. My advice is to get the office service manuals and proper tools and repair them youselves, like a nice vintage cafe racer.

I do some commercial work but mostly I do persoanl work, and my photos are used as part of something else. For a while I've been using cheap cameras for that specific look, but the last year or two I've started using my old F2 again, because that amateur look is a little bit too trendy, and I'm looking for something else now. The F2 is very versitle and allows me to shoot in any style I want, due to its simplicity, its mechanical feel and connection the the core process of what photography is all about. And it's so well made that it very easily becomes an extension of your body.

I have both the DP-11 and DP-12 finders. Many belive the DP-12 is the best but I personally think the DP-11 finder is more elegant, and I'm used to the needle meter as a guesstimating tool, rathar than relying the absolute + / - reading of the Dp-12.

With the motordrive, it feels like a gun. Sounds like it too. Add an MF-3 back and a 135mm f2 lens I scare people with that setup but sometimes it's necessary.

Overall, the F2 is an investment for the rest of your life. I wish that more products today are designed that way.

Customer Service

Don't go to them. They'll either jack up the repair prices or force you to upgrade. My advice is to get the office service manuals and proper tools and repair them youselves, like a nice vintage cafe racer.

Similar Products Used:

Canon F-1, A-E, Nikon F3, F4

Durable,reliable,not battery independent.
Will last a life time.
DP-12 is very accurate.
Titanium version is lighter and more durable.

None

The most durable and reliable camera ever made. Better than the F. It has interchangable finders, backs and screens. Will outlast you!

Customer Service

It makes me laugh!

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Too much to list!

The F2 is the product of excellent engineering executed with superb craftsmanship. Incredibly durable -- suitable for driving tentpegs -- and lacks IC's, so you can keep on shooting after the big EMP comes along :-). The mechanical shutter is a marvel. The camera even looks cool. But perhaps the biggest strength of the F2 is its serviceability as a platform for Nikon glass -- some of the best lenses ever made.

DP-1 finder's meter tends to have a limited lifespan, and the flash shoe adapter tends to be a bit wobbly. An F2 and a medium length lens is a hefty combo, but worth the workout.

A few years ago I came to the realization that I was spending most of my photography time fiddling around with gadgets, and that most of my learning cncerned the use of electronic exposure modes and various other bells and whistles (especially on the super program). These things have their uses, but I made a conscious decision to unfreight all the gadgets and buy a manual, mechanical camera and couple of top-quality un-fancy prime lenses (I settled on the venerable Nikkor 105 f2.5, which I use 80% of the time, a 50mm f1.4, and a 28mm 2.8). For me, this as exactly the right thing to do. The photos I have taken with the F2 in the last couple of years are by far the best work I have ever done, and I think it is because of the combination of superb optics and the requirement for careful composition and attention to detail that is inherent in manual photography.

Customer Service

haven't needed any.

Similar Products Used:

several pentax SLR's (program plus, super program, ME super), a Konica, several rangefinders.

- Solid, feels well balanced, built like a tank.

- Controls are big, intuitive, and easily accessible.

- The most reliable shutter system ever built.

- MD2/MB1 Motor Drive battery lasts forever.

- A mechanical design achievement in its day, a standard that has never surpassed.

- That stub under the finder that attaches to your lens' f-stop bracket can be problematic if you're changing lenses too fast and not thinking about it.

- DP-1 meter sometimes mysteriously quits working. Probably needs repair.

- Intimidating to innocent bystanders/unwilling subjects

The F2 is the best mechanical SLR camera ever made, but it is not perfect -- not that anything really is, which is basically the point. I know what it can do and how much I can abuse it. Other cameras I've tried felt either too specialized, too distant, hard to control, or cheap. The F2 just simply feels good. Even though its technology is outdated, it's the precision craftmanship that you rely on. You can feel it. Like piloting an old-fasioned one-engine plane, you know exacty what you're getting into.

Like many Nikons made before the AF era, the F2 was designed to last a lifetime. Nikon had considered every possible element that a photographer might have to endure and responded, and that is rare these days.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon FA, Nikon F3, Nikon F4, Canon EOS-1, Minolta SRT 101

I have an F2AS & F2 that both proved very durable and reliable for more than 20 years of rough usage from the deserts of Saudi Arabia, Arizona and Texas to the snowstorms of Buffalo, N.Y. and Canada and the jungles of Southeast Asia. My F2s gave me consistently good to excellent results even up to the present. It functions even without batteries and backed by extensive lenses and accessories and I can even use my new AF Nikkor lenses with it in manual mode. Optics are excellent and I love the color saturation that the nikkor lenses produce than my canon lenses.

Flash synchrony at 1/80 ceiling is slow as compared to capabilities of its newer models. If gauged against newer AF cameras, the F2 is relatively inferior in action photography and photojournalism in my experience.

The F2s are very tough, all season and all weather camera as had proven from my past experience. I now own tough of the line autofocus cameras and yet I'm very confident to tackle my assignments and projects with one of them as my back-up camera. They will stay with me for a long time. I should say, the F2 is still outstanding for macrophotography, photomicrography and astrophotography. It can be used as a good entry level for photography students as I did.

Customer Service

The F2s have not failed me since I owned them for the past 21 years.

Similar Products Used:

Canon F1 (own), Nikon FM2, Nikon N2020 (own), Minolta XD11, Olympus OM1, Pentax MX, Contax RTS, Nikon FE(owned), Nikon F

I have the F2AS version. Solid and supremely reliable. Can use as wheel chock or hammer :-) Simple, straightforward to use. 100% viewfinder. Low light reading to EV-5. Great lenses, huge selection, uses anything with an F mount (although non-AI with DP-3 is stopped down metering). Mirror lock up. Mechanical shutter to 10 seconds. Infinitely variable shutter speeds over 1/80th to 1/2000. Lots of accessories. Controls fall naturally under fingers. DP-3 has eyepiece blind.

No auto-off meter. Needs special adapter for standard cable release (just buy a few)
Finder is bright but not as super bright as the newest cameras out there, but has good contrast for easy focusing. Not bad for a 20 year old system.

Ah, my first real camera in 1977. Had a Photomic DP-1 meter back then. Have had several over the years. Still have first body but upgraded to DP-3. Has never ever failed me in any weather or abuse. MD-2 motor is also super solid. With minor modification can be used to winch small cars out of ditches. Gets up to 4.5fps with nicads and mirror down, 5fps mirror up. Gets a bit heavy with those 10 AA's loaded. A classic camera which will keep your skills honed and keep you close to photography. And produce wonderful, technically excellent photos. Can't go wrong. Good supply on used market. Not too expensive.

Customer Service

Never needed except for normal CLA

Similar Products Used:

Canon new F-1, Leica R, Contax SLR

Tank like built classic, the hallmark against all Nikon are held

None, although I wish it were cheaper second hand.

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that for the last few years I haven't used my F2AS, bought in 1979, as much as I should, due to having switched over to AF, although that's easy with Nikon. Great plus is that I can use all my lenses on both my manual FE and F2AS and AF F90X's and F100.
In short a great classic camera I'm proud to own, never has let me down, and will think twice about before ever parting with.

Customer Service

Not really needed, only had them contact me and send me some PR gifts

Similar Products Used:

FE, F801, F801s, F90, F90X, F100, Canon FT-QL Canon TX