Nikon F100 or F4

[FM2N]

Hello All,
I am interested in getting one of these cameras. I have read good things about both but would like this groups input. Just so you know I will be using Ai and AiS glass only no auto-focus. If possible I would also like to be able to use aperture priority with the camera and my lenses.
Thanks for the help.
Arthur

 

[PhotoJim]

If you're not going to use AF lenses, and you don't mind the higher weight, the F4 is a no-brainer. AI and AI-S lenses can be used with matrix metering on the F4, but not the F100. (AI-converted lenses don't work with matrix metering on either camera, although you can use the other two metering modes.)

If you're going to use AF, the F100 is leaps and bounds better.

 

[keithwms]

They are very different.

Let me suggest reading Dead Link Removed. The F100 is more comparable to the F5 than the F4.

You might also consider an fm3a or one of its predecessors, although judging by your userid I guess you are already familiar with those!

 

[Sirius Glass]

If you're not going to use AF lenses, and you don't mind the higher weight, the F4 is a no-brainer. AI and AI-S lenses can be used with matrix metering on the F4, but not the F100. (AI-converted lenses don't work with matrix metering on either camera, although you can use the other two metering modes.)

If you're going to use AF, the F100 is leaps and bounds better.

What he said.

I would direct you to the threads where this was recently covered here, but the website search does not have a stunning record.

Steve

 

[Sirius Glass]

They are very different.

Let me suggest reading Dead Link Removed. The F100 is more comparable to the F5 than the F4.

You might also consider an fm3a or one of its predecessors, although judging by your userid I guess you are already familiar with those!

Also a every good source.

Steve

 

[GJA]

With the glass you planning on using, the F4 without a doubt.

You will find much better compatibility in terms of metering!

 

[Pumal]

F4 all the way.

 

[Jesper]

Considering that you will be using Ai/Ai-s lenses I would say the F4 without a doubt.
The matrix metering works flawlessly with manual lenses (Ai/Ai-s).
I have been using that setup for 20 years and never regretted it.

 

[Pinholemaster]

I've owned and used the Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, and F5.

My camera bag has three F100 bodies, and one FM2.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Walter, Kieth, Steve et al. for what subjects and in which situations do you find your 35mm SLRs useful? I've recently started to get back into shooting 35mm but more as an experiment for portable macro photography.

Tom.

 

[keithwms]

OM1: walkaround, hiking, street etc. I go back and forth between the OM1 and an XA for these purposes. The XA is smaller and really very good but falls flat when it comes to any kind of shallow DOF portraiture so that is usually the deciding factor for which goes in my pocket. Actually I had an FM3a but couldn't justify it versus the oly after the prices spiked and they went out of production. I mean, the whole oly kit cost a tiny fraction of the price of the fm3a, body only.

F100: travel, sports, wildlife, always-in-the-bag backup. Not so good for macro because there is no MLU, and macro tends to put you right in the spot where it matters. The F100 is also very light, has no interchangeable screens nor waist-level option- these are all potential minuses for macro. But the big plus of the F100 is that you can slap on a vertical grip and voila, pretty formidable fast action camera. I used to have an F5 but the F100 almost totally displaced that so I sold it.

From time to time, I do something really nutty with my F100: I put a mamiya 645 format 80mm macro lens on there with an adapter. That works very well for portable macro i.e. roaming in the garden chasing bugs. If you aren't doing tabletop macro and have enough light then this mode works very well. The mamiya lens is excellent and has a mag ring and floating front element, and the mamiya extension tubes are almost free. Actually, that whole combination is very sexy looking, especially if I slap the ring flash on there!

Tom, for macro I think you might well want an F3 or F4 with waistlevel and bellows. Look here:

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/nikonfinder/f4.htm

I am doing pretty much all macro with a bellows-focusing camera (rb or rz 67 or view camera). Helicoidal focusing and normal eyepoint prism VFs are total pains in the arse for macro, in my opinion. And I think TTL metering is a must for doing macro with these smaller cameras.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I've tried doing macro with my 8x10 camera, a challenge in terms of depth-of-field and focus. My 35mm macro kit is a Olympus-OM2 with a Vivitar 55mm f/2.8.

Tom.

 

[André E.C.]

For that glass, F4 no question!


André

 

[Sirius Glass]

Besides landscapes, action photographs and sightseeing I use my Nikon F-100 as a spot meter for my Hasselblad.

Steve

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Steve,

Do you find one of the major advantages of the 35mm SLR system is the ability to carry a wide range of kit in a less weight compared to an equivalent medium format SLR system?

Tom

 

[Sirius Glass]

Steve,

Do you find one of the major advantages of the 35mm SLR system is the ability to carry a wide range of kit in a less weight compared to an equivalent medium format SLR system?

Tom

I have two Nikons, one with C-41 color and one with black & white. I carry several film backs for the Hasselblad with C-41 color and black & white.

1. If I am busy doing something else, like off-roading, I will use 35mm. I will shoot photographs from the driver's seat out the windows on the fly. Similarly for sightseeing.

2. If I am shooting at a more leasurely pace, I will use the 35mm with the 28mm to 200mm or the 28mm to 300mm zoom [also 20mm to 35] while I scout out the scene from several places. Then I will go back with the appropriate focal length lens [based on what I saw and what I took photographs of] with the Hasselblad. If necessary, I will go back with other focal length lenses. I will take very different photographs with each format.

3. When I find a scene with lighting conditions that require taking spot readings, then I will use the Hasselblad to compose the scene and take the light readings with the Nikon. For example, I took a photograph of Half Dome in Yosemite just after the snow storm cleared. The light range covered 12 f/stops.

4. I find that the Hasselblad with the PME finder is like a slightly larger and slightly heavier 35mm. So sometimes I take the pack with all the Hasselblad lenses and not 35mm cameras.

Steve

 

[glockman99]

As others have said, since you will be using MF lenses, get the F4s. Once you hold one of those beasts in your hands, with a Nikkor MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS lens on it, you'll "understand".

 

[Leighgion]

I like my F100 and I don't own an F4, but given your stipulation of only AI/S lenses, I'd have to nod for the F4 based on features.

 

[nicefor88]

I've used both cameras. The F4 for several years, heavy but reliable, solid, truly a F series. The F100 is excellent too although I found its rubber coating unpleasant to use in hot, humid weather, it becomes kind of sticky. The LCD screens of the F4 (in the viewfinder) not as good as the F100's clear reading. The F100's AF is faster but since you're going to use non-AF lenses... Manual rewind on F4 impossible on F100.
All these might sound like small details.
Finally, I would go for the F4, with MB-20 handgrip.

 

[FM2N]

Hello All,
Thanks for all the great info. Do you know if I lose any of the cameras features by using these Ai or AiS lenses? Will i be able to use the aperture priority control? I would love it if the camera would allow me to choose the aperture and the camera would pick the shutter speed.
Arthur

 

[PhotoJim]

Aperture priority works with any lens that has AI meter coupling (or is newer). G lenses however won't work in manual mode or aperture priority mode since they lack an aperture ring.

 

[mudman]

both cameras allow for Aperture mode, I don't believe either allow Program or shutter modes. I find this strange, since I have a Nikon N2000 that I gave to my mum that can use MF in program mode. They don't even have to be AIS.