Nikon F4 or F6

[dmtnkl]

The elephant in the room is the propensity for the F3's, F4's & F5's LCD's to bleed. Why has no one addressed that? It's a show stopper.

Marc

The top left lcd in my F4 started to bleed a little bit the last few months. Luckily, the issue is pretty mild at the moment and does not obstruct any of the displayed information.

 

[CMoore]

The top left lcd in my F4 has started to bleed a little bit the last few months. Luckily, the issue is pretty mild at the moment and does not obstruct any of the displayed information.

View attachment 294826

Just from a quick search about these LCD Screens.......it seems like the time it takes to happen is all over the map and can vary by MANY Years.
I guess they WILL All fail at some point.?

 

[Henning Serger]

Just from a quick search about these LCD Screens.......it seems like the time it takes to happen is all over the map and can vary by MANY Years.
I guess they WILL All fail at some point.?

And until then we perhaps have new spare parts. Perhaps they are already existing: In Shenzen there is an "electronic market" which is as big as a whole city: Thousands of electronic manufacturers / suppliers are there offering everything in electronics.
Probably you can find there a company which either has already an existing part, or one that could make it for you. For cameras like the F3, of which about almost 800,000 units were built, or the F4 with about 600,000 units, that could be economically possible.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[pkr1979]

Op was probably innocently thinking - just get a 35mm slr to complement my baller rangefinder and medium format cameras. Just a nice nikon slr.. that won't be like the the hellish vortex of going leica shopping... just a nice nikon slr to take restful photos of animals and the occasional game of handball..

I was. Very naive. I cant get any work done now - to busy reading lens reviews.

 

[pkr1979]

And thanks again to all for loads of useful feedback.

 

[Craig75]

I was. Very naive. I cant get any work done now - to busy reading lens reviews.

I just use mine with shift lenses because I'm a heathen but 105mm dc seems very highly thought of and I'd imagine it would be ideal for portraits of your kids and family.

That lens is a gift from you to everyone else in your household.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Well, please don't take it personal, but as my industry sources have been reliable so far over years, I trust them more than statements from anonymous people on the internet. That does not mean that my sources generally can't be wrong, but so far they have not given me any reason to doubt them.
Back to the original topic now........

Best regards,
Henning

I bet my money on Nikon and what Henning Serger posts, not on other random internet people that I do not know.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

"Probably you can find there a company which either has already an existing part, or one that could make it for you. For cameras like the F3, of which about almost 800,000 units were built, or the F4 with about 600,000 units, that could be economically possible."

At some point, someone will do this. Anyone who doubts this should do a search for Nixie tubes. I would think the challenge would be to figure out the specs of what to make so it can be integrated into the Nikon cameras without issues. Probably not an issue if you dabble in that. A run of 20-30K would be probably be a good target.

Cameras are quite durable precision devices, and if you think of relatively simple construction of a Leica M, I think many models of our favorite camera should be operational and repairable for decades to come. Unless #disaster etc. Recall that all manufacturers especially Japanese had many sub contractors that did specialized manufacture and those still exist. So you could surmise that with enough cash and connections, yeah, Seiko or others might make you a brand new Copal shutter.

 

[pkr1979]

Is the SC-17 ttl sync cord the sync cord for ttl flash with the sb-24 on the F4?

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

Yes;

 

[pkr1979]

Yes;

Thanks - do you know if its the only option?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Thanks - do you know if its the only option?

Check the manual, there are usually more than one on many modern strobes.

https://www.cameramanuals.org/flashes_meters/nikon_sb-24.pdf

See Pages 88 to 90

 

[pkr1979]

Thanks

 

[Craig]

I have both the F4 and F6, and they are different tools for different things. The matrix metering on the F6 is slightly better, but it's an incremental improvement. I shot plenty of slides with the F4 and they came out correctly exposed, so I wouldn't choose the F6 on the basis of metering alone. For me the F4 is very intuitive to use and handle. It's very capable, and each control is obvious and easy to use. The F6 is less intuitive to use and trying to navigate the menus while wearing gloves in the cold is not really possible. In cold weather the F4 is easier to use with gloves on

The F6 really shines for the newer AF system and working with the newer silent wave lenses. If you're not photographing things that are fast moving or with low contrast, then the F4's AF is very good. When it's limits really show is with the big heavy first generation screw drive AF lenses, such as the 80-200 f/2.8. AF with that lens was very slow. If you are using smaller lenses such as a 50mm, the the AF is much faster.

If you always dreamed of an F4, get one, you won't be disappointed.

 

[drmoss_ca]

I'll show my age here and say that once I have the menu items set up, I almost never re-visit them. That makes the camera be like one that just has buttons and dials, but with the vanishingly rare option of changing the buttons and dials by software, which is something I might do when using an elaborate set of flashes indoors, but never when wearing gloves in the cold!
I'll confess to owning an Olympus OM-D, which I bought for reasons of nostalgia about ten years ago (since far better satisfied with actual film Olympus cameras). Its menu system is a wretched nightmare, and the manual comes on a CD that won't work with a modern Mac. I never touch it, save to format the SD card. I like buttons, switches, dials (even Verniers when needed) but God save us from menus!

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'll show my age here and say that once I have the menu items set up, I almost never re-visit them. That makes the camera be like one that just has buttons and dials, but with the vanishingly rare option of changing the buttons and dials by software, which is something I might do when using an elaborate set of flashes indoors, but never when wearing gloves in the cold!
I'll confess to owning an Olympus OM-D, which I bought for reasons of nostalgia about ten years ago (since far better satisfied with actual film Olympus cameras). Its menu system is a wretched nightmare, and the manual comes on a CD that won't work with a modern Mac. I never touch it, save to format the SD card. I like buttons, switches, dials (even Verniers when needed) but God save us from menus!

Unmentioned with menus comes the dependence on batteries which starts the discussion of battery problems on cold weather.

 

[MattKing]

Its menu system is a wretched nightmare, and the manual comes on a CD that won't work with a modern Mac.

Most likely you can download the manual in pdf format from the Olympus site. I've got a copy of the manual for mine in the "Manuals" folder on my computer.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Most likely you can download the manual in pdf format from the Olympus site. I've got a copy of the manual for mine in the "Manuals" folder on my computer.

Also https://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon.htm Since that site does not have sponsors, if you find a download useful please donate $3US.

 

[MattKing]

I expect Sirius missed the fact that drmoss_ca was referring to his Olympus M4/3 digital camera's manual.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Also https://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon.htm Since that site does not have sponsors, if you find a download useful please donate $3US.

I expect Sirius missed the fact that drmoss_ca was referring to his Olympus M4/3 digital camera's manual.

Also https://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon.htm https://www.butkus.org/chinon/olympus.htm Since that site does not have sponsors, if you find a download useful please donate $3US.[/QUOTE]

Thank you Matt, I revised it.

 

[MattKing]

In this case, I'd recommend the Olympus (or any other manufacturer's) site, if they are still supporting the model with a downloadable manual plus things like firmware updates.
Otherwise, I totally agree with a recommendation for Mike Butkus' site, and the requested donations.

 

[Huss]

Unmentioned with menus comes the dependence on batteries which starts the discussion of battery problems on cold weather.

Of course you know all the AF Nikons are 100% dependent on batteries. Menus or no menus.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Of course you know all the AF Nikons are 100% dependent on batteries. Menus or no menus.

Of course which is why most of my work is with all mechanical cameras and the less serious work is done with the Nikons.

 

[Huss]

Of course which is why most of my work is with all mechanical cameras and the less serious work is done with the Nikons.

Something like 99.9999% of professional aka serious photography nowadays is done with 100% battery reliant cameras.
I may need to check my math, it could be closer to 99.9999999%, but you get the idea.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Of course you know all the AF Nikons are 100% dependent on batteries. Menus or no menus.

Of course which is why most of my work is with all mechanical cameras and the less serious work is done with the Nikons.

Something like 99.9999% of professional aka serious photography nowadays is done with 100% battery reliant cameras.
I may need to check my math, it could be closer to 99.9999999%, but you get the idea.

First of all I enjoy using my Nikon AF cameras but as I posted most of the photographs that I will print in the darkroom are taken by the Hasselblads. Now as you posted some large percentage of serious photography use battery reliant cameras [to use your choice of words] so I pose to you a question using your mama's words, "If everyone jumped off a ten story roof with battery reliant cameras, would you jump off the same roof with battery reliant cameras?" [ ]

I do not have a PC lens for the Hasselblad but I do have one for the Nikons. Conversely I do not have a Fisheye or SWC equivalents for the Nikons. So obviously each of those situations will dictate the choice of battery reliance.

What if I am out with a Nikon and a great opportunity comes up, will I not take the photograph because I do not have the Hasselblad. Heck no.