Nikon F4 appreciation

Hi new here. I recently decided in order to restart my interest in photography I would go back to film. I put aside my D600 and looked for a suitable film camera. I have a large collection of cameras including many Nikon F and F2 bodies and lenses. But I found the F2 awkward to use after using digital. Ken Rockwell spoke glowingly about the F4 so I looked on eBay to see what was there. Well there are a lot on eBay. I bought one and to try it out. I found some of the controls a bit awkward such as requiring pressing a tiny release at the same time as turning the control. Anyway to make a long story short I eventually acquired 6 or 7 bodies. Some had problems, but now I have settled on two pretty reliable ones. I am using one for b&w and the other for color. Because I am color blind I actually see better in B&W. I probably will eventually use b&w only. I have lots of parts now! I found it cheaper to buy a complete body than a back or a finder or screen separately I probably spent too much money but I have a hard time resisting some more gear. Anyway I am glad I found this forum and will enjoy reading it.

Larryc001 said:

Hi new here. I recently decided in order to restart my interest in photography I would go back to film. I put aside my D600 and looked for a suitable film camera. I have a large collection of cameras including many Nikon F and F2 bodies and lenses. But I found the F2 awkward to use after using digital. Ken Rockwell spoke glowingly about the F4 so I looked on eBay to see what was there. Well there are a lot on eBay. I bought one and to try it out. I found some of the controls a bit awkward such as requiring pressing a tiny release at the same time as turning the control. Anyway to make a long story short I eventually acquired 6 or 7 bodies. Some had problems, but now I have settled on two pretty reliable ones. I am using one for b&w and the other for color. Because I am color blind I actually see better in B&W. I probably will eventually use b&w only. I have lots of parts now! I found it cheaper to buy a complete body than a back or a finder or screen separately I probably spent too much money but I have a hard time resisting some more gear. Anyway I am glad I found this forum and will enjoy reading it.

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Among other features, I really like its focus confirmation lamp.

More modern nikons use a small dot tucked away at the lower left corner of the viewfinder's lcd. Unfortunately, it is not very easy to see. F4 has a bright lamp located in the upper right part of the viewfinder. It literally lights up when you are in focus and is very easy to notice without taking your eye away from the subject. Very useful when manual focusing.

Theo Sulphate said:

For the longest time I avoided the F4, but Ken Rockwell's article convinced me of its importance. Also, I like the fact the F4 body is the photographic "Rosetta Stone" (Rockwell's words) of Nikon lens compatibility: it is the only Nikon film camera that can accept and use lenses from the 1959 pre-AI to the G. Only the digital Df does better.

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Upon request, F5 and F6 can also accept pre-Ai lenses with a special modification performed at Nikon service centers. The modification involves the installation of an aperture coupling ring that uses a folding tab. Similar to the one in FM, FE, F3, Df etc....

I bought a F4, had a few MF lens that I used my F3P and FG, it is in pretty good shape, just a little LED bleed. I also have a Minolta 9000, another first generation pro level AF. Between the 2, I still like the Minolta 9000 more. The F4 has a faster top shutter speed of 1/8000 while the Minolta tops out at 1/4000 of a second. In terms of weight the 9000 is the only pro level AF body with detachable motor drive and winder. The motor drive is a bit faster than the F4, but heavy takes 12 AA batteries, the winder takes 4, and in manual advance on the 2 AA batteries that run the camera body. The 9000 has a 100 foot bulk film back, I have never seen a bulk back for the F4. The 9000 has a 3 flash set up, again heavy, add another 14 or so AA batteries. I only used the bulk film back twice, was fun, a bitch to process. The AF on the Minolta while not as good as the Canon EOS1 is better than the F4.

Here you go. Just $1200 US dollars. This is pretty much the only 250 exposure camera I don’t have. But I just might buy it. Lol

Well, I guess I did not look hard enough. I paid $78 for the back for my 9000.

Paul Howell said:

I bought a F4, had a few MF lens that I used my F3P and FG, it is in pretty good shape, just a little LED bleed. I also have a Minolta 9000, another first generation pro level AF. Between the 2, I still like the Minolta 9000 more. The F4 has a faster top shutter speed of 1/8000 while the Minolta tops out at 1/4000 of a second. In terms of weight the 9000 is the only pro level AF body with detachable motor drive and winder. The motor drive is a bit faster than the F4, but heavy takes 12 AA batteries, the winder takes 4, and in manual advance on the 2 AA batteries that run the camera body. The 9000 has a 100 foot bulk film back, I have never seen a bulk back for the F4. The 9000 has a 3 flash set up, again heavy, add another 14 or so AA batteries. I only used the bulk film back twice, was fun, a bitch to process. The AF on the Minolta while not as good as the Canon EOS1 is better than the F4.

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This is The F4 appreciation thread, you should start a Minolta 9000 thread and see if you can find another enthusiast.....its just one hand clapping here.

Larry has made me feel slightly inadequate as I only have 3 F4's.
They are bullet proof, infract if you wear enough your neck they are as good as a Kevlar vest....allegedly.
If I actually want my pictures to be sharp with correct exposure even with super slow film that's the for the job......just dont drop it on your foot, wont hurt the camera, but is likely to break your tow.

An F4 with MB-20 grip is a nice combination and only needs four AA batteries.

As well, a set of Energizer Lithium AA's makes the F4 with MB-20 even lighter.

F4 with the waist level finder is very useful for street photograph, kind of turns it to a mini Rolleiflex.

Awty as you know it’s not how many you’ve got it’s what you do with them. The only reason I wound up with so many is buying on eBay. There are a lot of dogs on there, not to badmouth our canine brothers and sisters. So I just kept buying until I got 3 or 4 that worked properly. And yes I don’t need to carry any other weapon. A good swing with an F4 would take out any size bad guy. Lol.

When I used one 10 years ago the base model with just the basic battery grip was more expensive than the F4s.

I think I read somewhere that the MB-20 wasn’t imported into North America. Just the F4S and E. I don’t know if the F4 was brought in directly from Japan or what. But the MB-20 is quite expensive on eBay so there must be a demand to convert the other models.

The F4s is unnecessarily heavy bu it does look really cool. Wasn’t it the creation of some famous Italian designer? The MB20 just makes it usable for everyday carry.

The MD20 is good, MD21 has the nifty portrait trigger.
Not sure what the socket is for on the waist level.
Never used the mf-23.
To think people used just about give F4's away.

I recently sold both my near perfect F4s. With the small grip. Incredible cameras but I hardly ever used them. I hardly ever use my F6 either but at least the 6 works with all my G lenses as well as the other stuff.
So I figured pass them on to someone who would use them. If I was starting fresh w no AF cameras, then F4 for sure.

awty said:

The MD20 is good, MD21 has the nifty portrait trigger.
Not sure what the socket is for on the waist level.
Never used the mf-23.
To think people used just about give F4's away.
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View attachment 310592

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Nice.

For what is worth here is my F4 motley crew from eBay. Lots of parts, a few good buys.

Larryc001 said:

For what is worth here is my F4 motley crew from eBay. Lots of parts, a few good buys.

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We'll keep talking them up and soon we will be able to cash in $$$$.

awty said:

The MD20 is good, MD21 has the nifty portrait trigger.
Not sure what the socket is for on the waist level.
Never used the mf-23.
To think people used just about give F4's away.
View attachment 310591

View attachment 310592

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Hello. The socket on the back of your DW-20 Waist Level Finder is for a Nikon SC-24 TTL Remote Cord. It's a 1.5m cable to connect a flash. I use it on my F4s with DW-20 with a Nikon SB-800 Speedlight. The SC-24 can also be used on an F5 with a DW-30 or DW-31.

Here's the page out of the F4 manual with some more detail.

Cheers.

Tips for Buying an F4 on eBay.

Here are a few things I have learned buying a bunch of F4 cameras on eBay. This is mostly my opinions, and I do not pretend to be an expert. Just some things to watch out for.

1. F4, F4S or F4E
This designation seems to refer only to the battery pack the camera comes with. A plain F4 comes with the DP-20 4-cell battery pack. An F4S has the MB-21 pack. The F4E has the MB-23 pack. When buying an F4S or an MB-21 or the MB-23 MAKE SURE THE BATTERY INSERT IS INSIDE OR INCLUDED. Check the photos and contact the seller if you need to confirm this.

By buying separate battery packs you can have any or all models with only one body.

2. Body
Sometimes you see a body which the listing describes as “for parts or not working.” These can waste your money, or maybe not. First, it may be that the seller doesn’t know how to test the camera. It needs the DP-20 finder attached, along with a battery pack containing good batteries. It also shouled be tested with the back attached. There is a small switch in the light seal rail along the top of the film channel. This has to be pressed in in order to make anything work, either by closing the back or with a fingernail. In order to test without film, the ISO setting must be turned from “DX.” If all this isn’t followed then the camera appears to not work.

The other thing to watch out for is LCD bleed. The body has two LCD windows and the finder has two. Check the photos carefully and don’t be afraid to ask the seller before buying.

Even if the body doesnt work, it may be a source for the DP-20 finder, the back, the focusing screen, and/or the battery pack. Given that these items are pricey by themselves especially with shipping, I found it better to buy a parts camera if you want these parts for a different camera. And the “not working” camera may actually turn out to work after all!

3. Condition
I have purchased all of mine from Japan. Some of them actually looked like they were never used.
I have seen cautions about wear showing on the outside of the camera. While I agree that wear on the outside may require caution, it may not be indicative of problems within. A camera that has been professionally used and show some wear may have been maintained regularly, more than one that looks good. Plus it looks cool, like a pro’s camera . However, dents are for me a no-no for sure, and most likely indicate abuse.

I would avoid the very cheap strippers without any useable parts. At the price they are tempting but unless they have a screen, finder, battery grip, or back you want they are probably not even worth what the sellers are asking for them.

if you like the Nikon strap, try to get one with the camera. These work pretty well and are expensive to buy separately.

ok that’s enough for now. I I’ll do more later if there is interest. Thanks for reading. Larry

Hi. Following up on my previous post, here are a few items put on eBay to illustrate my point about buying items separately. All prices are US dollars, not including shipping.

Focussing screens. $20 to $100

DP-20 Finder $50 - $75
DW-20 waist level finder $75 - $120
DW-21 magnifying finder $80 - $120

Standard back $35 -$100
MF-22 back $15 - $50
MF-23 back $40 - $100

MB-20 battery pack $80 - $100
The little flip tab used to attach the MB-20 is flimsy cheap plastic and is prone to
breaking off. Once that happens the battery pack is all but useless. Make
sure the picture of the bottom shows the tab as being intact.

MB-21 battery pack $100
MS-21 battery insert $60 - $100

MB-23 battery pack $80 - $150
MS-23 battery inset $80 - $120

Nikon yellow strap $15 - $30
A really nice LEATHER F4 strap $100+

Nikon CF-44 or CF-43 “never ready” case $30 up to $80 with CF-41B baseplate
Nikon CS-26 soft case $85

Nikon F4 body with NONE of the above $30 - $70
Nikon F4 body COMPLETE starting at about $100 up to $300 or so in working condition.

The pictures should show the LCDs in the body so you can see if there is bleed.
It is harder to see if the DP-20 windows have bleed but sometimes there is a picture through the eyepiece.

Shipping for these items would depend on where they were being sent. Of course each item requires payment of it’s own shipping. As always price depends on the items condition.

All these come with the question do they work? Not being on a camera makes it difficult to find that out and even more difficult to return them. Usually a good camera description should say that everything works. If not, then you take your chances.

Hi! I just got here today...

I am 48 and live in Cuernavaca Mexico, my grandfather worked for Kodak many years and he was an avid hobbiest photographer, I learned from him the love of photography. He had a Kodak rettinete that was lost when he died many years ago, he only used Kodak cameras and equipment.

When I grow up my dad had a Yashica Electro 35 GSN, we had an extensive photo library of family trips taken with that camera... He wasnt a photo entusiast by any means but it wasnt a trip where we doesnt have a 35mm camera near.

When in school I need a camera for my photo class my dad bought an used FUJICA ST801 that I loved! I only had the 50mm lens but for the time it was I needed, I learned to develope and print my own pictures at the school lab, fantastic stuff!

But then digital photo came and I had to go to that side, I bought some Canon equipment, started with a Canon EOS 350D in 2005, camera that was traded for better equipment until I had a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon EOS 1D Mk II, a 24-105 F4L and a 70-200 2.8L glass. So I worked for Aeroshows for some years, I loved that time... in 2012 (ten years ago) all my photo equipment were stolen in a trip to Sweden. I was so sad that I left photo stuff for some years, until I decided to go back but with Nikon, anyway I was starting from zero.

I got a Nikon D600, and a 70-200 2.8 glass and go back to work as a ballet photographer, it was awesome to go back to the business... I got an used D300s as a backup too.

But the use of film was always with me, some years ago I took out the drawer my old FUJICA, put a color film cartridge and it was that lovely feeling again. I had an old Nikon LS1000 film scanner connected to an old Powermac G4 forgotten and took everything out again, cleaned everything and test it... It worked as a charm!

My last birthday my wife gave me as a gift an old PENTAX S3, and then everything happen... I started to look for used and old cameras all over ebay and "mercadolibre" in mexico, I found some cameras really cheap! now I have a growing collection of cameras that work well and could be used any time.

But the biggest fo them all are a Nikon F4s that I found that is in great condition, only the back cover lever lock doesnt work (you can open the back freely without use the lever lock so I have to be careful).

Bought some PAN100 roll films and I am ready to take it with me to my next trip to Dubai in september.

I still use digital cameras for my travel trips but I am really in joy thinking about shooting with film now too...

I really like the F4s, was love at first sight... want to see the pictures to complete the circle.

Thanks to everybody to read this long post, but I am really happy to share this stuff with you.



Eduardo Capdeville.
Mexico