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Let's talk Nikon F...


I bought a Nikon F Photomic T with a 50mm F/1.4 lens and leather case for $149.00 in Japan when I was stationed there in 1965 in the USAF. My recollection is I bought it down in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. I think it was around $489 in America at the time. Then I lost it on a NYC subway a few years later. My heart hadn't been broken like that since I broke up with my girlfriend.
 
For indoors. Aperture wide open, slowest shutter speed I can reliably hand hold, get the subject into the best possible light, take the picture, do the best I can in the darkroom with the result.
 

I use the Argus C3 to threaten the lighting. If it doesn't comply I start bashing things.

For indoors. Aperture wide open, slowest shutter speed I can reliably hand hold, get the subject into the best possible light, take the picture, do the best I can in the darkroom with the result.

This is where digital scanning shines. I can rescue just about anything with my scanning rig.
 
  • GregY
  • Deleted
  • Reason: analog vs. digital - in junior high!
I present every Nikon F series camera fielded by photojournalist throughout the film era...

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="" title="The Fs"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52232769585_af021aa43d_k.jpg" width="2048" height="1536" alt="The Fs"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Running a roll of Tri-X through the F2 now. I need to get a roll for the F.
 
  • Cholentpot
  • Deleted
  • Reason: analog vs. digital - in junior high!

OMG!! I don't think I would be able to get over leaving a Nikon behind. My wife knows her way around NYC she would beat me home.
 
  • Sirius Glass
  • Deleted
  • Reason: analog vs. digital - in junior high!
  • Cholentpot
  • Deleted
  • Reason: analog vs. digital - in junior high!
  • GregY
  • Deleted
  • Reason: analog vs. digital - in junior high!
  • Sirius Glass
  • Deleted
  • Reason: analog vs. digital - in junior high!
Don't get me wrong. I would love to have a Nikon F, preferably with standard prism but OK with Photomic. It would have pride of place with my Spotmatics. But really, in terms of shooting, what's the benefit over my Spotties or even my MX? Asking for a friend.
 

I'd say lens selection. 35mm 1.4, 85mm 1.4. 180 2.8mm. among many others. If you don't need the wide selection i can't think of benefits today, but if i was working as a photojournalist i'd take the Nikon F
 
Hhhhmmmmm.......... i do not look AT my camera, i look through it.
All SLRs more or less look "The Same". So i have no cares that a non-meter body looks "better" than a metered body.
I have used both in the Nikon F2. I do not find that the meter adds noticeable weight or inconvenience.

I find it a bit "funny" that some think a metered prism is clunky and slow, but using a handheld meter instead is somehow less so.?

Regards an F2, you can buy a body with a non-functioning DP-1 WAY cheaper than with a DE-1.
You can save a lot of money and then still use Sunny-16 or a hand held if you like. You never have to worry about a battery either.
And you can just screw the lens on with no Min-Max Dance................i think.
 
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I bulk load short, usually 12-exposure, rolls of film. The Nikon F cassette is a very nice way of doing that. I've been told that Pentax sold a bulk load cassette too but I've never seen one.
 
... I find it a bit "funny" that some think a metered prism is clunky and slow, but using a handheld meter instead is somehow less so.? ...
With a hand held meter I make one incident light reading to "calibrate" my estimation of the light and then rely on the Sunny 16 variations for the various lighting conditions, e.g., clear, clouds, open sky, shade, etc. Shooting can be even faster than with an auto exposure camera. I've been doing this for 55+ years with a very high success rate.

Two issues with a metered camera like the FT or FTN are that the equivalent of an incident reading is a PITA and even though I could do the same thing I do with my unmetered cameras the exposure indication in the viewfinder is always at least a little off and I feel compelled to fiddle with the controls. But that's just me.
 
The benefit of shooting with a TTL meter, a pro level viewfinder with full read out, is not having to take your eye off the subject while shooting, important when shooting action with a motor drive. In today world not many film shooters are engaged with action. I see some images of folks who shoot motor sports, I do shoot sports and wildlife with 35mm. If it a bright day, no cloud cover even lighting not as much as an issue as changing light.