Nikon F my newest acquisition

[Ray Morgenweck]

I love the “clunky” finder. It goes well with the overall “clunkiness” of the big Nikon body and 1.4 lens

 

[MontanaJay]

Great find, great condition, great camera.
Now all you have to do is learn to hold the back with your pinky finger while changing film.

 

[sruddy]

Can I play, too?

Nice Patina.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Nice Patina.

Thank ya very much.
Just got back from using it at a car show with some Kentmere 400.

 

[Tel]

What some people have hinted at but not said bluntly is that the metered finder is the weak point in the F system. The unmetered eyelevel finder like the one you've got is the one everyone wants, and you'll find they're expensive to buy. You can get a non-working Photomic finder for a fraction of the cost. A working metered one or a nice looking non-meterd version will set you back over $100.

The metered finder works around a "ring resistor" system that wears out over time and with heavy use and is expensive to repair. I had an F that I bought new and owned for 15 years. At the end, the meter had failed and I had solved the problem by metering off-camera.

 

[dynachrome]

I got my First F last year. It's one of the last ones made. I don't really care for it. The sharp angles make it uncomfortable to hold and the placement of the shutter button is not to my liking either. I respect the F for its place in camera history and for how it advanced the use of 35mm SLRs. The F2 has a more rounded shape and has the shutter button in the normal location. Both models suffer from meter prism problems, as has been mentioned by others. Today I used a Nikkormat FT2 with a 35mm f/2 Nikkor-O and a Sunpak 411 flash.

When it comes to 35mm system SLRs, I prefer the Canon F-1 cameras.