Nikon F6 updates

[Frank53]

The analog revival is based on cameras that are far more analog and mechanical.

That’s your personal interpretation I suppose

 

[BradS]

The F6 .... uses film.
The analog revival is based on cameras that are far more analog and mechanical.

I think the film revival is about using film.

The difference between an F6 and a DSLR is that the F6 uses film...and actually, you know, produces something tangible and lasting.

 

[Huss]

That’s your personal interpretation I suppose

An extreme example of that is Leica discontinued the M7 (electronic!) but the manual/mechanical MP and M-A are hard to keep in stock.

It's also why AF film Slrs are super cheap, while cameras like Canon Ae-1, K1000 etc are much more expensive. People want analog analog cameras.

 

[Arthurwg]

I have an F6 - what is wrong with the AF on the current model? Why change things just for the sake of it - and make it more expensive anyway

I agree. What more can be done? The F6 seems quite perfect as-is, or now, "as-was." It does amaze me to think how perfect film cameras came just before their demise. Now if only Hasselblad perfected the 200 series...

 

[mshchem]

I have an F6 - what is wrong with the AF on the current model? Why change things just for the sake of it - and make it more expensive anyway

I have a D6, you should check out the auto focus on that. You can point it at a moving object and it will follow it. Eye recognition etc. Pretty amazing.

 

[Bikerider]

I have a D6, you should check out the auto focus on that. You can point it at a moving object and it will follow it. Eye recognition etc. Pretty amazing.

That is as maybe but I don't have a D6 nor do I want one. I prefer film and I don't waste/use frames like a machine gunner uses bullets. My subjects don't tend to move very quickly which is why I have the F6 on single shot all the time. I wager I have a higher success rate with single exposures, than using it than you do on on motordrive. Think of my use being like a single shot sniper and can get what I want with one shutter action instead of point and shoot 10 or 20 times.

On top of that My F6 and for that matter my F100 are both several years old but both will be working far longer than your plastic machine gun. I make every shot count if I can, the skill with film is in my head and fingers working in a darkroom not some pre programmed software to make it work. Even my venerable D700 still has less than 8000 shutter activations since it was new it does all I want at very little cost to me.

 

[Bikerider]

An extreme example of that is Leica discontinued the M7 (electronic!) but the manual/mechanical MP and M-A are hard to keep in stock.

It's also why AF film Slrs are super cheap, while cameras like Canon Ae-1, K1000 etc are much more expensive. People want analog analog cameras.

Unfortunately, or fortunately because my eyes are not as good as they were 60 years ago when I started using a camera seriously, I prefer an AF so that I don't struggle. I still hanker after an F2a but I know that it will make things just that little bit harder.
The advantage is I can now afford a F4 to go alongside my F6 because the prices are still quite low.

 

[Вormental_old]

Haha, we're now arguing over whose camera is "more analog"!

 

[NB23]

It’s a matter of market.

I can’t think of a film photography market that requires fast paced shooting. Fashion, sports, reportage, parties, weddings... all are digital.

There is one niche left for film, and that is FINE ART. And the f6 will always be beat by a nice mechanical Baby for fine art photography. Fine art being film, from shooting all the way to printing. The whole craft.

The whole process is akin to a Pilgrimage. And I never take my F6 to pilgrim. Never. Blasphemy.

 

[Guantons]

Thanks for sharing this information.

 

[miha]

It’s a matter of market.

I can’t think of a film photography market that requires fast paced shooting. Fashion, sports, reportage, parties, weddings... all are digital.

There is one niche left for film, and that is FINE ART. And the f6 will always be beat by a nice mechanical Baby for fine art photography. Fine art being film, from shooting all the way to printing. The whole craft.

The whole process is akin to a Pilgrimage. And I never take my F6 to pilgrim. Never. Blasphemy.

Fine art doesn't call for film; most fine-art photos today are digital. Not a matter of market but a matter of choice.

 

[George Mann]

An extreme example of that is Leica discontinued the M7 (electronic!) but the manual/mechanical MP and M-A are hard to keep in stock.

It's also why AF film Slrs are super cheap, while cameras like Canon Ae-1, K1000 etc are much more expensive. People want analog analog cameras.

I prefer cameras with a stepless electronically controlled shutter do to being a slide film shooter.

 

[NB23]

Fine art doesn't call for film; most fine-art photos today are digital. Not a matter of market but a matter of choice.

Did I really have to specify “Film Fine Art”?

We are, after all, in a film forum discussing a film camera, and my post mentioned all of this, anyway.

 

[NB23]

I prefer cameras with a stepless electronically controlled shutter do to being a slide film shooter.

M7 is stepless... as well as all Ms.

 

[George Mann]

M7 is stepless... as well as all Ms.

Are you sure? Stepless means a camera can shoot at any speed variable outside of its normally mark steps.

An example would be a speed variation of 1/277 or 1/46 of a second, while the camera is limited to 1/250 and 1/30 in manual mode.

 

[miha]

Did I really have to specify “Film Fine Art”?

We are, after all, in a film forum discussing a film camera, and my post mentioned all of this, anyway.

No you didn't... I shoot film as a matter of choice, not because my photography fits a certain genre or because my cameras are totally manual (which they are not - I like the film to be advanced by a motor drive, etc.) I'm an amateur so I have choice. I don't understand why film photography suddenly belongs to some sort of art / zen / Übermensch concept. Film was, is and will always be utilitarian.

 

[Frank53]

An extreme example of that is Leica discontinued the M7 (electronic!) but the manual/mechanical MP and M-A are hard to keep in stock.

It's also why AF film Slrs are super cheap, while cameras like Canon Ae-1, K1000 etc are much more expensive. People want analog analog cameras.

Imo there is another reason. Manual/mechanical camera’s are much more reliable and often repairable.
My 1974 Olympus OM-1 is still going strong. The electronics in much newer camera’s stop after 20, 30 or if you’re lucky a few more years. I had this happen with a Minolta CLE en (much newer) a Mamiya 645afd.
Regards,
Frank

 

[Huss]

Imo there is another reason. Manual/mechanical camera’s are much more reliable and often repairable.
My 1974 Olympus OM-1 is still going strong. The electronics in much newer camera’s stop after 20, 30 or if you’re lucky a few more years. I had this happen with a Minolta CLE en (much newer) a Mamiya 645afd.
Regards,
Frank

Kids getting into film photography don't think like that on the whole. They want a cool vintage looking camera - metal and knobs - something that gives them a positive haptic experience.

But I agree with the CLE - I had two perfect condition ones that just failed. I'd never recommend that camera AND they are going for crazy prices now.

 

[NB23]

No you didn't... I shoot film as a matter of choice, not because my photography fits a certain genre or because my cameras are totally manual (which they are not - I like the film to be advanced by a motor drive, etc.) I'm an amateur so I have choice. I don't understand why film photography suddenly belongs to some sort of art / zen / Übermensch concept. Film was, is and will away be utilitarian.

You certainly read what you wanted to read out of my post. I’m not goig there with you as my post was clear enough.

 

[NB23]

Are you sure? Stepless means a camera can shoot at any speed variable outside of its normally mark steps.

An example would be a speed variation of 1/277 or 1/46 of a second, while the camera is limited to 1/250 and 1/30 in manual mode.

Of course I am sure. Why wouldn’t I be?

 

[Huss]

It’s a matter of market.

I can’t think of a film photography market that requires fast paced shooting. Fashion, sports, reportage, parties, weddings... all are digital.

There is one niche left for film, and that is FINE ART. And the f6 will always be beat by a nice mechanical Baby for fine art photography. Fine art being film, from shooting all the way to printing. The whole craft.

The whole process is akin to a Pilgrimage. And I never take my F6 to pilgrim. Never. Blasphemy.

Film is a big deal for many in wedding photography now.

And Graflexs are making a huge comeback in motorsports photography:
https://petapixel.com/2017/05/13/photographer-shoots-f1-1913-graflex-4x5-view-camera/

;p

 

[NB23]

Film is a big deal for many in wedding photography now.

And Graflexs are making a huge comeback in motorsports photography:
https://petapixel.com/2017/05/13/photographer-shoots-f1-1913-graflex-4x5-view-camera/

;p

I have been in the wedding business quite deep, quite long, so I know what I am talking about. 10 years before the first digital camera until last year. Glad to have stopped. Over 500 weddings, well over 2 million clicks.

Film in the wedding business means one roll of film. At most 5. One shot here, three shots there. A roll during the preparation, a roll or two during the couple session. All VERY SPORADIC, all shot between infinite digital bursts.

Long gone are the weddings where you would shoot 50,75 or 100 rolls where the assistant’s sole job was to manage the cameras (loading/unloading), marking the iso’s push/pull, handing the cameras one after another for the whole day.

Back then you needed at least Two F5’s, a few motorized F3’s and a few FM/FE’s. Add a few Blads for the group shots, cake cutting, family shots.

Are we talking that kind of weddings, the ones that demand for a F6 kinda camera? My expert/insider answer is a definite no. Any film camera will do as a fifth backup, sporadic shooter, filler.

Sure, there might be 10-12 pure film wedding old school photographers in the whole wide world, the ones that charge 15K and that will shoot 100 rolls. Will nikon create a F7 just for them? I doubt it, and that was my whole original premise.

 

[George Mann]

Of course I am sure. Why wouldn’t I be?

Well, when you said all M's, most of which have mechanical shutters, and only a few have meters.

Only electronic shutters can be truly stepless, and they require an accurate and reliable built-in meter to function as intended.

 

[NB23]

Well, when you said all M's, most of which have mechanical shutters, and only a few have meters.

Only electronic shutters can be truly stepless, and they require an accurate and reliable built-in meter to function as intended.

The M7 has a stepless shutter in AE and is incredibly accurate. As a matter of fact, I have NEVER had a badly exposed shot out of it. It's always right on.

All the other Ms have stepless shutters as well, but you can't quite know at what value you are at exactly. But the important thing is that when you set it between 1/60 and 1/125, you know it is exposing at 1/90 give or take some. It is indeed between those two speeds and not at either 1/60 or 1/125th.

 

[wyofilm]

Hollywood still shoots an important number of movies with film. Do still cameras (like the F6) figure into a daily work flow?

(I know little about the movie industry, except that I hope the big movie makers keep insisting on film.)