F5 OR F100 when upgrading from an F80?

ted_smith · Nov 14, 2008

I am currently the owner of an F80 and a D70s. I shoot about 70% digital, 30% film, but my film work is generally my best.

I have just received £300 of Amazon vouchers and am thinking how to spend them and I have been thinking of upgrading my F80 for sometime - initially I thought I would upgrade to the F100, but I note that I can get a second hand F5 on Amazon for around £350. It strikes me that for £350, the F5 would be the best choice. It is, afterall, one of the best Nikon cameras, as I understand it.

In addition, I need a fast focusing, rugged and high performing camera because I photograph dogs a lot, in the outdoors and wet. My F80 just isn't up to it, and a small bump resulted in the popup flash head getting damaged already (not that I use it, but still...).

So my question is - Is there REALLY much of a different between the F100 and the F5, and is the £100 difference worth it? Based on the fact that the F5 was £2000 about 10 years ago, I am thinking yes, but thought I'd ask those that use one on a regular basis.

Thanks

Ted

SuzanneR · Nov 14, 2008

Sounds like a good deal on the F5. Those cameras were built with busy professionals using them A LOT in mind! So, it would be worth it. That said... it's a beast, and the F100 is an excellent workhorse, too, and, I think, far more sturdy than the F80 you've been using without the weight and bulk of the F5, and no pop up flash to break!!

Sounds like for your intentions, the F5 would be a good choice. If you can rent either one to see how you like it, that might be a good idea.

jd callow · Nov 14, 2008

FWIW I think the F100 is the most comfortable and easy to hold 35mm ever made. Renting each or at least holding them in your hand would be valuable.

keithwms · Nov 14, 2008

The F100 rules. Though I usually use it with a vertical grip, I find the option to "go light" (without the grip) extremely useful. The F100 is the F5-backup camera that people fell in love with.

JohnArs · Nov 14, 2008

Yeah I like the F5 and also the F 100 I still have booth of them. If I walk arount alot I take the F 100 its not thad heavy like the F5, if I want the best und fastest I take the F 5!

For large hands is the F5 better, for small ones the F 100 without ad. battery pack!

Chers Armin

loman · Nov 14, 2008

I once went to a camera store to get an f100. They had five different ones. And of the five, on three of them the autofocus didn't work, one had a loose meter selector button (or what ever it's called), and one seemed to work fine. On all of them, the back could be moved back and forth a little, which seemed odd for a supposedly high end camera. I ended up not buying an f100. I've tried several f5's and no matter how beat up they looked, they still worked perfect, and was incredibly solid, and very hefty. Too hefty for what i've ever needed. That said, since there seem to be many happy f100 users, I hope I was just unlucky with my f100 experience.
Regards
Mads

André E.C. · Nov 14, 2008

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

This one looks like a good catch for someone searching for a good camera, the F100 is a very capable machine and don't weight a bloody ton like the F5.

Cheers

André

snegron · Nov 14, 2008

The F100 is a tad bit larger than your D70. The advantge is that you can add the optional battery pack to the F100 and make it as large as the F5. Disadvantage of the F100 is that the first production models had a bit of a problem with the rewind spool mechanism; they were made of a rather flimsy plastic that broke quite oftenly. The newer F100's had this problem corrected. Also, the back of the F100 is plastic, not made of metal as is the the rest of the F100 body. And the lens mount of the F100 is of a softer aluminum alloy than that of an F5, so it will wear a bit quicker than the one on the F5.

The F5 was built to higher standards than the F5, but was much more expensive. Also, getting a good F100 or F5 is a matter of luck as both cameras were probably used extensively by professionals. The advantage of the F5 is that it was made to last longer than the F100.

I currently have a newer F100 and I love it! I wish I would have purchased an F5 when it was sold new, but it had been replaced by the F6 when I purchased a new F100.

fschifano · Nov 14, 2008

I'd go for the F5 every time and damn the extra weight. The machine is a tank and it is unlikely that you'll need to get it fixed unless you beat the pants off the thing.

PhotoJim · Nov 14, 2008

I own both cameras and I like different things about each. However, I tend to use my F5 a lot more than my F100.

Here is my quick summary of the advantages of each, relative to the other:

F5 - faster motor drive, better professional feel, more solid construction, removable pentaprism (useful for alternate viewfinders, or for shooting with the camera very high or low), slightly faster autofocus.

F100 - lighter and smaller (particularly with MB-15 removed), better display of the active AF sensors (they're lit up in red instead of in black).

Since you already have an F80, my advice would be to get the F5. When you need a smaller camera with lighter weight, use your F80. The two bodies complement each other perfectly.

johnnywalker · Nov 15, 2008

snegron said:
Disadvantage of the F100 is that the first production models had a bit of a problem with the rewind spool mechanism; they were made of a rather flimsy plastic that broke quite oftenly. The newer F100's had this problem corrected.

Does anyone know the approximate serial number or date when this problem was corrected?

John_Nikon_F · Nov 15, 2008

With lithiums, F5's don't feel much heavier than an FM2 with MD-12... It was the lightest motor driven F-series body before the F6, except for the basic F4, with the MB-21.

-J

pentaxuser · Nov 15, 2008

Ted. There was previous thread on the F5 v F100. In fact I think it was called that. Worth a look. Check out a fairly comprehensive article in photo.net by Edwin Leong on the F100 and finally Thom Hogan's site. He seems to have written just about all you'd need to know about Nikons.

pentaxuser

Sirius Glass · Nov 17, 2008

I have an N-75. I wanted to get a F-100 or an F-5. I chose the F-100 because it is lighter. Weight gets to be important because I carry a Hasselblad system too. Now I use the N-75 for color prints and the N-100 for black and white.

The F-100 also doubles as a spot meter when I need one for my Hasselblad.

Steve

declark · Nov 17, 2008

I started off with an N80 also and now have an F100. The weight difference is not that much between the two, but the F100 just feels so much better and the autofocus has got to be twice as fast. I've only hefted an F5 once and it felt like a small bowling ball, I think my Pentax 645 might actually be lighter.

Chris Nielsen · Nov 17, 2008

I adore my F5, although when you strap a 80-200 2.8 on it, you do start to feel the weight somewhat. My best suggestion would be to use an UpStrap on the F5 and that will be a lot nicer than hanging it around your neck. Sometimes I'll grab my F801 and 70-210 Series E if I want something a bit lighter and less conspicuous.

My further suggestion would be to get both F5 AND F100, then you can choose whichever floats your boat on a particular day

djacobox372 · Nov 20, 2008

I own both... the F100 is every bit as good as the F5 functionally, and the build quality is about the same IMO. The F5 wins on "cool factor" but that's about it, but it costs at least twice as much in the US... a MINT F100 sells for about $200 on ebay, a MINT F5 sells for $400+

ted_smith · Nov 25, 2008

I got one! An F5! I see what you all mean about the weight...it's like a tank!

You'd think that for £350 I'd have got a strap with it though. I'm now on a hunt for a suitable neck strap

Thanks for all the advice

Ted

Sirius Glass · Nov 25, 2008

ted_smith said:
I got one! An F5! I see what you all mean about the weight...it's like a tank!

You'd think that for £350 I'd have got a strap with it though. I'm now on a hunt for a suitable neck strap

Thanks for all the advice

Ted

Maybe you should also search for a truss.

Steve

Pupfish · Nov 25, 2008

I like my two F5's for their weather sealing, 100% viewfinder, and 8 FPS. The F5 also balanced much better when handholding my 200-400VR than any of the smaller-mass film bodies (The F6 with grip is actually larger, not to mention nearly $2K more expensive at that moment).

In the past year or so, it became possible to pick up most all the F5 system pieces (e.g. DA-30, MF-28) for about 15 cents on the dollar-- brand new. Only wish I'd picked up a couple of the NiMH rechargeable batteries before they all got snapped up. (F5 works decently on loose NiMH AA's, though).

At current prices it's the 35mm SLR bargain of the century.

Joe Grodis · Nov 29, 2008

Get the F5... The Nikon F100 is not built to the same rugged standard. The F100 also only has a dinky plastic rewind coupling fork that can fail and ruin your whole day.

-Joe

pentaxuser · Nov 29, 2008

Ted never mind a strap. What you need is to contact any Amercan Football Team coach. Apparently they have a device that fits on the head and has a large weight on the end. You raise and lower your head for a couple of hours each day until your neck is at least 20 inches and the muscles form a sloping triangle with your shoulders that ressembles the Great Wall of China.

No problems with carrying the F5 around your neck then. You will end up looking more scary than Martin Johnson but hey, no problem with getting paid for the wedding work either.

pentaxuser

Paul Jenkin · Nov 30, 2008

I've owned both cameras and it's a really difficult call, in my opinion. The F5 is, without doubt, the better built and has faster motor drive and an awesome metering system. The F100 has the advantage of lighter weight (but not much in it if you add the MB15) whilst retaining a much better build quality than the F65, 70 75 and 80 series.

That said, I currently have an F100 (with a seldom-used MB15) - primarily because I don't need the F5's build quality. All I need is a relatively lightweight unit for travel / holiday, landscape and street shots. I bought it mint / boxed for £200 and got a 24mm/f2.8 for another £100.

PhotoJim · Nov 30, 2008

The way that film camera prices are dropping, having one of each is a serious alternative. KEH often has nice-condition F100s for around $200 US. That's astounding value for a camera with the capabilities it has.

I confess that I bought the F5 to indulge my previously-buried need (want) for a professional-quality autofocus SLR and I have no regrets in buying it at all - it's the 35mm camera I use the most. However, I have the luxury of being able to take the lighter F100 (particularly if shed of the MB-15).

I'm heading to New York next week and while I'm tempted to take my F5, it's far more likely that I'll take the F100 and an F3HP because I'll be on foot and subway a lot, and I don't need 8 fps.

F5 OR F100 when upgrading from an F80?

ted_smith

SuzanneR

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jd callow

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keithwms

JohnArs

loman

André E.C.

snegron

fschifano

PhotoJim

johnnywalker

John_Nikon_F

pentaxuser

Sirius Glass

declark

Chris Nielsen

djacobox372

ted_smith

Sirius Glass

Pupfish

Joe Grodis

pentaxuser

Paul Jenkin

PhotoJim

F5 OR F100 when upgrading from an F80?

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