Nikon F5: Known vulnerabilities and problems?

[Andreas Thaler]

I can't find anything on the web about the Nikon F5's weak points and problems. Except for the leatherette, which can come off in places.

Do you know more about this? Or is the F5 really the SLR that lasts forever?

 

[albireo]

View attachment 386167

I can't find anything on the web about the Nikon F5's weak points and problems. Except for the leatherette, which can come off in places.

Do you know more about this? Or is the F5 really the SLR that lasts forever?

I've never owned an F5, but I wonder if the metering selector on the pentaprism is as weak as the one fitted on the F5's plastic toy sibling, the F100 (which I owned, bought new).

If so, it's a pretty bothersome vulnerability. The one on my F100 broke after two years of light usage.

Although I guess even if that were to happen, on the F5 you could just throw away the entire pentaprism and fit a replacement one.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I've never owned an F5, but I wonder if the metering selector on the pentaprism is as weak as the one fitted on the F5's plasticky toy sibling, the F100 (which I owned, bought new).

If so, it's a pretty bothersome vulnerability. The one on my F100 broke after two years of light usage.

Although I guess even if that were to happen, on the F5 you could just throw away the entire pentaprism and fit a replacement one.

The housing of the DP-30 standard viewfinder is made of titanium and appears to be very durable.

Nikon F5's Interchangeable Viewfinders

 

[Chan Tran]

I bought the F5 new in 2002 and I don't have any problem with it but I am very careful to make sure not to store it in a hot or high humidity. I think the weak point of the F5 is the leatherette either come off or swells and can make the sub command dial hard to turn. I do not think the metering selector is weak. But sometimes the DP-30 alone cost more than the entire camera. Well the MS-30 battery holder alone can cost $100 while you can buy the whole camera for $300 sometimes. Well when Nikon was selling the F5 for $2000 they sell the MS-30 for $40.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

An opinion by Thom Hogan, who also published a book about the Nikon F5:

Build Quality. I've dragged my F5 up 16,000 foot passes, around Patagonia, through the backwoods of American, and deep into Alaskan wilderness. It's been rained on, attacked by killer dust storms, dropped, kicked, and shoved recklessly into my pack. It looks like and performs like new.

Nikon F5 Review | byThom Filmbodies | Thom Hogan

Review of the Nikon F5 by Thom Hogan

www.filmbodies.com

Complete Guide to the Nikon F5 | byThom Filmbodies | Thom Hogan

Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon F5 camera

www.filmbodies.com

 

[Andreas Thaler]

During his lifetime, my father gave me his F5, which he had used to photograph archaeological excavations in North Africa.

He cleaned the dustproof housing of desert sand residues, I found a few grains of sand which I removed and removed a rubber ring which my father had inserted under the safety switch in addition to blocking the portrait format shutter release.

Everything worked.

 

[Chan Tran]

During his lifetime, my father gave me his F5, which he had used to photograph archaeological excavations in North Africa.

He cleaned the dustproof housing of desert sand residues, I found a few grains of sand which I removed and removed a rubber ring which my father had inserted under the safety switch in addition to blocking the portrait format shutter release.

Everything worked.

Yours looks like mine.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Here are some pictures of the interior:

Reliability Issues with Nikon F5 - Index Page

I can't find any repair reports.

Problems with the power supply are reported here and there.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Yours looks like mine.
View attachment 386170

You are still missing some editions of the Time Life book edition

 

[albireo]

The housing of the DP-30 standard viewfinder is made of titanium and appears to be very durable.

Nikon F5's Interchangeable Viewfinders

I wasn't talking about viewfinder, I was talking about the metering selector (tiny switch to go from matrix to spot to centre weighted)

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I wasn't talking about viewfinder, I was talking about the metering selector (tiny switch to go from matrix to spot to centre weighted)

It's probably made of plastic as with its predecessor F4.

I assume it will look similar underneath to this:

Nikon DP-20 viewfinder (for Nikon F4): LCD examined, case disassembled and reassembled

After replacing the top LCD in the viewfinder of a Nikon F4, I wanted to know what the procedure is for the bottom LCD. To do this, I dismantled a functional DP-20, the standard viewfinder for the F4, whose display is badly bleeding. It has black and green spots that partially cover the...

www.photrio.com

I don't know how you could break the ring through normal use.

But if you're talking about the F-100, what happened to the ring?

 

[mshchem]

I've used my F5s for years zero problems. My complaint is the annoying little button that needs to be pushed in before you can rotate the power knob to on.

 

[albireo]

It's probably made of plastic as with its predecessor F4.

I assume it will look similar underneath to this:

View attachment 386175

Nikon DP-20 viewfinder (for Nikon F4): LCD examined, case disassembled and reassembled

After replacing the top LCD in the viewfinder of a Nikon F4, I wanted to know what the procedure is for the bottom LCD. To do this, I dismantled a functional DP-20, the standard viewfinder for the F4, whose display is badly bleeding. It has black and green spots that partially cover the...

www.photrio.com

I don't know how you could break the ring through normal use.

But if you're talking about the F-100, what happened to the ring?

No idea. I buy camera to use them, not to tinker with their bits. Many other plasticky things started breaking on that F100, so I sold it for parts and bought myself a F90X, a much better built camera IME.

But I'm sure the F5 was built to better standards than the F100

 

[Andreas Thaler]

My complaint is the annoying little button that needs to be pushed in before you can rotate the power knob to on.

753-WM Rotary Bit Assortment Kits | Dremel

High quality Rotary Bit Assortment Kits 753-WM for your project. ✓durable ✓highest safety standard ✓perfect results. Find out more!

www.dremel.com

 

[ic-racer]

I actually took my Time/Life book "The Camera" and had Lee Friedlander sign his pictures in the book. My copy is all beat up these days. It is my inspirational source. I got it in 1973 as a gift the first year I started photography. Sometimes I think everything I have done in photography stems from an image in that book.
I don't have any of the other books in the series, just the one.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

I up-graded from the F4 to the F5 when they first came out. I used it for years as a professional sports photographer. It's a wonderful camera and likely the best of the AF Nikon film cameras... well maybe the F6 is better but they came out too late for most of us, as the pro shooters had already switched to digital by the time the F6 came out. I only have a F3 now but if I was considering an AF model, I would likely get the F5 or F6. One advantage of the F6 is it's lighter and smaller since the motor drive comes off.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Other than size and weight compared to the Nikon F100, there is nothing to complain about the Nikon F5.

 

[MattKing]

I actually took my Time/Life book "The Camera" and had Lee Friedlander sign his pictures in the book. My copy is all beat up these days. It is my inspirational source. I got it in 1973 as a gift the first year I started photography. Sometimes I think everything I have done in photography stems from an image in that book.
I don't have any of the other books in the series, just the one.

@ic-racer ,
Is this post where you intended it to be? Would you like it deleted or moved - and where?

 

[Chan Tran]

Other than size and weight compared to the Nikon F100, there is nothing to complain about the Nikon F5. View attachment 386183

I like the size and weight makes me feel I get my money worth.

 

[Paul Howell]

I actually took my Time/Life book "The Camera" and had Lee Friedlander sign his pictures in the book. My copy is all beat up these days. It is my inspirational source. I got it in 1973 as a gift the first year I started photography. Sometimes I think everything I have done in photography stems from an image in that book.
I don't have any of the other books in the series, just the one.

Although I had graduated from college with a minor in photojournalism and working as an Air Force combat photographer my parents gave me a subscription to the series, I received one a month for a year or so well 8 books.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I actually took my Time/Life book "The Camera" and had Lee Friedlander sign his pictures in the book. My copy is all beat up these days. It is my inspirational source. I got it in 1973 as a gift the first year I started photography. Sometimes I think everything I have done in photography stems from an image in that book.
I don't have any of the other books in the series, just the one.

I grew up with „The Camera“ in the 70s.

It belonged to my father and it made a huge impression on me.

Much later I bought the remaining volumes of the series, which are practically given away here in Austria and Germany.

It is one of the best things you can read about photography on film.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

I actually took my Time/Life book "The Camera" and had Lee Friedlander sign his pictures in the book.

This is a treasure.

I am a great admirer of Friedlander.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

@ic-racer ,
Is this post where you intended it to be? Would you like it deleted or moved - and where?

I ask for Christmas amnesty for this thread, which is also interesting because it is currently running OT

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Although I had graduated from college with a minor in photojournalism and working as an Air Force combat photographer …

Where were you deployed?

 

[mshchem]

I up-graded from the F4 to the F5 when they first came out. I used it for years as a professional sports photographer. It's a wonderful camera and likely the best of the AF Nikon film cameras... well maybe the F6 is better but they came out too late for most of us, as the pro shooters had already switched to digital by the time the F6 came out. I only have a F3 now but if I was considering an AF model, I would likely get the F5 or F6. One advantage of the F6 is it's lighter and smaller since the motor drive comes off.

I'm trying to use my F6, so much easier to carry than a F5