Nikon F and F2

[Theo Sulphate]

Wow, do you use that occasionally.....the motor drive that is.?
I saw a lot of F2's in my day, but i do not recall the winders very often. Maybe guys at Sports Stadiums, that were down at field level, and kind of out of view.?

I do use it and I keep it permanently attached to that F2S. Not that I need a motor drive, but I've come to appreciate their convenience. I really like this one - it's a work of art.

 

[flavio81]

I have owned some Fs and some F2s, as well as the F3.

If using the plain prism, the F is the superior camera, IMO, because the shutter is much more quieter and beautiful sounding. If you lock the mirror it should sound exactly like the Nikon SP rangefinder, because the shutter is identical.

I don't really have too much use for the 1/2000 speed, intermediate speeds and ultra-low speeds of the Nikon F2. I never had any problem with loading film on the F; I kinda like the removable back. The winding lever is just fine, don't care for the "space age" advance lever tip.

However, if you are putting a metered head, the Nikon F2 is the superior camera by far. The F2 Photomic will show you the shutter speed and aperture at the same time and in an extremely clear way. Excellent viewfinder ergonomics.

The F3 could have been a great thing, but IMO it's a joke, unless you love shooting in automatic mode, in which case it's the ultimate camera for aperture-priority automation. Otherwise, in manual mode, as a manual camera, it has one of the worst viewfinder displays ever put on a PRO camera. Ergonomics aren't so good, the viewfinder illuminator button totally sucks. Meter is only compatible with AI lenses; pre-AI lenses need to be used on stop-down mode.

And if battery goes off, you are only left with one shutter speed, and you can't even use the regular shutter button! You need to use the separate shutter release.

I sold my F3 and bought a Canon New F1, the direct competitor and, in my view, a superior camera in every way (except for the lack of TTL flash.)

 

[benjiboy]

I understand that one of the reasons for Nikon introducing a hinged back on the F2 was the complaints of many photographers involved in the Vietnam war that when they were travelling on helicopters and changing films in their Fs the slipstream coming through the door blew the camera back out of their hands and out of the door.