New to me Nikon F4

[John Bragg]

Nikon F4 by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

It has been along time coming, but finally I got my hands on a pristine example of this camera. I sold two Stylus Epic/Mju ii cameras (which I had no attachment to and had not enjoyed despite the hype) and with the proceeds, imported this late example from Japan, Serial# 26******. It has no marks on it whatsoever and none of the dreaded LCD bleeding. It is in my opinion lacking only one feature, that being back button focussing, but I will forgive that minor oversight, as I am thinking of having larger fingers fitted so I can reach the af lock. It is indeed a real chunk of macho camera design and is the last F pro model to be easily usable without recourse to a manual that rivals War and Peace for lack of brevity. I think I still have some change from the sale of those two "Cult Classics" to buy a couple of rolls of HP5+ and some Dev. All in all a good result.

 

[Horatio]

Congrats on finding a good copy! Mine is loaded with film and ready for testing a new-to-me AF lens.

 

[John Bragg]

Congrats on finding a good copy! Mine is loaded with film and ready for testing a new-to-me AF lens.

Thankyou. I hope your lens works well. I am just about to develop the first roll from mine. (HP5+ @ei200). The lens I have mounted in the pic came with my F90x back when you couldn't give them away !

 

[John Bragg]

Well the negatives are drying and look very good to me. I will post some pics soon when I have edited them. All well exposed and in focus. That's more than I could have expected from the Olympii (correct plural?)
that I sold to fund this project. All good so far.

 

[Horatio]

My biggest gripe is the on-off switch. It's very awkward (for me) to press the release button and move the switch with one hand.

 

[Alan9940]

My F4 is experiencing just a tiny bit of LCD bleed in the viewfinder, but no real effect on using the camera. It's a beast of a camera, but seems more like your Olympus next to my P67! I really appreciate the fact that I can use ALL my lenses on it--pre-AI up to AF-D. Have fun with your new baby and post some pics.

 

[Huss]

Congrats! I love mine!

 

[John Bragg]

Congrats! I love mine!

Many thanks. Do you use the autofocus lock or prefer to hold focus with the shutter release ? I find mine refocuses too readily on single servo after one shot and it is more reliable to use af lock when the subject is off centre.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Enjoy!

 

[Huss]

Many thanks. Do you use the autofocus lock or prefer to hold focus with the shutter release ? I find mine refocuses too readily on single servo after one shot and it is more reliable to use af lock when the subject is off centre.

I hardly ever use the focus lock. Make sure your camera is in single focus mode, not continuous. With both mine, in single focus mode it is very easy to focus and recompose just using the shutter button.

edit - I just re-read what you wrote. Once I take a pic, then yes it can easily re-focus. I'd use the focus hold button of I wanted to run a bunch off w/o it refocusing.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Excellent score go give it a run with a few rolls. Always a pleasure to shoot with the F4.

This reminds me I need to try a newly acquired F4 screen, the standard B is so clean but I found a G screen for a tele on action.

 

[John Bragg]

I hardly ever use the focus lock. Make sure your camera is in single focus mode, not continuous. With both mine, in single focus mode it is very easy to focus and recompose just using the shutter button.

edit - I just re-read what you wrote. Once I take a pic, then yes it can easily re-focus. I'd use the focus hold button of I wanted to run a bunch off w/o it refocusing.

Thanks so much. That was the reply I was hoping for. The af works fine if you know how to work with it.

 

[narsuitus]

Congratulations on your Nikon F4.

It is my personal favorite auto focus film camera.

 

[John Bragg]

Finally, here are some shots from the Beast we call F4.

Peekaboo ! by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Green Goddess fire engines by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Celtic Cross Gravestone, Charlestown Cornwall. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[cjbecker]

Your really making me want to get an f4 to compliment my f3 md4. It would actually be a smaller lighter camera then my combo. Just last night I was needing a spot meter taking moon pictures. The spot meter and the ev comp would be the 2 selling points for me.

 

[jwd722]

Very nice"Beast", great photos!

I don't use my F4 nearly enough, I use my 2 F3's a lot more.

I think I hear the F4 calling me...

 

[Huss]

Finally, here are some shots from the Beast we call F4.

Peekaboo ! by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Green Goddess fire engines by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Celtic Cross Gravestone, Charlestown Cornwall. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Lovely pics!

 

[John Bragg]

Lovely pics!

Thankyou Sir.
.

 

[John Bragg]

Very nice"Beast", great photos!

I don't use my F4 nearly enough, I use my 2 F3's a lot more.


I think I hear the F4 calling me...

Thankyou for the kind words. It is certainly growing on me. I can see how it might be a polarising camera. You either love or hate it depending where you stand in the evolution of camera controls. It and my FM2n make a good pairing whilst my F5 is more akin to the F100.

 

[John Bragg]

Just a few more from the same roll.

Green Goddess headlight detail. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Charlestown War Memorial. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Charlestown, Cornwall. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Charlestown, Cornwall. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Charlestown, Cornwall. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[Huss]

Thankyou for the kind words. It is certainly growing on me. I can see how it might be a polarising camera. You either love or hate it depending where you stand in the evolution of camera controls. It and my FM2n make a good pairing whilst my F5 is more akin to the F100.

I like using it much more than my F6 as everything makes sense at a glance because it has dials that show how everything is set. It is everything I want from an AF SLR - good AF, excellent metering patterns and choices, a great shutter that goes up to 1/8000 sec (like my Rollei QZ p&s cameras!) and lovely easy to use dials.

 

[RAY WILSON]

Years ago, Bought four F4 at a US Military auction, all one lot. Documents in their hard cases led me to believe they were shipboard “snoopy team” cameras, US Navy. Tons of lenses and accessories, too. Quickly sold off three, and ran one for quite awhile. Excellent camera. For whatever reason, sold number 4, too. Regrets.

So, if you have one of my USN marked F4s, cheers!

Ray

 

[gone]

That's a beauty of a camera. I've owned several, but never one w/o the additional battery pack on the bottom (F4s?), and never one in that condition. I'd gone from an N80 to the F4s, and the torque of the F4s' auto focus motor was a real surprise the first time I tried it.

Unfortunately, the viewfinder was impossible to see full-frame w/ glasses on. It was sold to fund an N8008s, a Nikon model I use to this day, and always w/ MF lenses. The N8008s does everything the F4 would and it's high-point viewfinder is wonderful, but it's a plastic camera. The F4 feels like it's sculpted to fit your hand, and is just a lot more fun to shoot, even if it was also slower to shoot. The controls on the F4 always seemed laid out oddly for my hands. Maybe I also needed longer fingers.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I used to dream of this camera back in the 90's. I just never had enough money back in this days though...

 

[Huss]

I love the matrix meter in the F4: