Attn: Nikon Sleuths! ...Last Of The Black F Apollo's?

[cyoungnashville]

first off, I know just enough about Nikon f's to be dangerous, and I'm hoping someone here can explain this camera to me. I recently acquired this Black Nikon F Apollo serial 7457576, and the serial number kinda baffles me. basic research shows It's 6,000+ units later than the "official production cutoff", but still in the 745xxxx normal production range before top plate replacements began at 746xxxx. Also it appears the first 5 digits of my serial were created on F tooling, and perhaps the last two digits on f2 tooling???. Any ideas on how this camera might have come to be? Thanks!

 

[RLangham]

The last two digits don’t look much different to me, could we see them from directly above?

 

[cyoungnashville]

The last two digits don’t look much different to me, could we see them from directly above?

sure thing.

 

[RLangham]

Perhaps you’re right. They do look a little smaller now that I see them from this angle.

 

[cyoungnashville]

Perhaps you’re right. They do look a little smaller now that I see them from this angle.

its way more apparent in person. I need to scan some film here in a little bit, I'll try to get a better shot w the macro lens on a proper camera. the iPhone camera keeps trying to average the scene out.

 

[reddesert]

https://cameraquest.com/nfapol.htm

There's nothing particularly "Apollo" about a Nikon F "Apollo." They are very late production Fs, have a plastic wind lever tip, and perhaps some internal differences. I don't think the "Apollo" name got attached to them until later. From the above link by Stephen Gandy: "Some collectors pay big premiums for the "Apollo," usually out of proportion to their abundance. The only ones worth premiums are the last five thousand or so, because they were the last F's. Officially the last F was number 7451052, but later cameras which appear to be original have been found."

At the time these were made, I doubt Nikon was devoting special attention to which tooling they were using to stamp the serial number, or whatever. They were just sending the last F cameras out the door and probably focusing on the new and improved model.

 

[cyoungnashville]

https://cameraquest.com/nfapol.htm

There's nothing particularly "Apollo" about a Nikon F "Apollo." They are very late production Fs, have a plastic wind lever tip, and perhaps some internal differences. I don't think the "Apollo" name got attached to them until later. From the above link by Stephen Gandy: "Some collectors pay big premiums for the "Apollo," usually out of proportion to their abundance. The only ones worth premiums are the last five thousand or so, because they were the last F's. Officially the last F was number 7451052, but later cameras which appear to be original have been found."

At the time these were made, I doubt Nikon was devoting special attention to which tooling they were using to stamp the serial number, or whatever. They were just sending the last F cameras out the door and probably focusing on the new and improved model.

thank you for posting that. It would seem that this one might be "one of the last 5000 or so". though, I don't know why the last 2 digits of the serial # would have been finished at a later date.

 

[ic-racer]

Nice camera, I have one too, though I can't say I know much about the serial numbers.

Mine starts with 73xxxxx. I recently repaired it and hope to use it more this summer.

 

[RLangham]

Nice camera, I have one too, though I can't say I know much about the serial numbers.

Mine starts with 73xxxxx. I recently repaired it and hope to use it more this summer. View attachment 426180

Did you repair a dirty rheostat ring in the metered finder by any chance? I have the same problem in the DP-1 that came on one of my F2 bodies. It’s a shame because I prefer it to the DP-3 for some reason.