Nikon F6 - what is the going price?

Eric Rose · Oct 26, 2017

I have a friend who wants to sell his Minty - Nikon F6 body. I have no idea what they actually go for on the used market these days. ePray seems to have prices all over the place.

What is your experience?

Eric

mweintraub · Oct 26, 2017

I bought an early serial F6 for $700 from a friend. That's pretty low. I've seen it go for that or maybe a little more with a grip in forums. But it depends on how fast he wants to sell it.

rrusso · Oct 26, 2017

~900, could prob squeeze a little more if it has a late serial.

John Koehrer · Oct 26, 2017

Consider looking at SOLD F6's on the auction site. That'll give you a range to work with BIN and auctions.
Then apply Kentucky windage.

etn · Oct 29, 2017

mweintraub said:
I bought an early serial F6 for $700 from a friend. That's pretty low. I've seen it go for that or maybe a little more with a grip in forums. But it depends on how fast he wants to sell it.

I am currently in Tokyo on a business trip and saw a couple early serial # in good condition for about $600-700. This is a steal in my opinion In Europe they go for about €1000-1200 used, 1700 new.
Funny that the price of Nikon gear seems lower in Japan than Europe, whereas Leicas and Hasselblad cost a fortune on the used market compared to the old continent.

David Luttmann · Oct 29, 2017

I can echo the lower price in Japan comment. I had just bought another Nikon F5 body and 35D lens for a steal in Shinjuku. A few days later I saw an F6 that was immaculate for about $800USD equivalent. I prefer the F5....but that was still tempting.

GWalls · Oct 29, 2017

KEH is 1100.00 plus for high serial numbers. I just bought one from National Camera high number for 1100.00. Needed to replace my F5.

etn · Oct 29, 2017

Totally out of topic, I also saw the SP Millenium edition, Serial #0002, new in an unopened box. Price was about $15000, if anyone’s interested And no, I didn’t ask the staff to demo it to me Just opening that box would probably cut its value by at least 50% I guess.

GRHazelton · Oct 30, 2017

I have a Nikon S2, a little rough but works perfectly, along with its f1.4 50, a 135 and 105. Plus Voigtlander 21 and 35. I'd love to have a SP, but used examples in reasonable condition are more than I care to spend. $15K for something essentially unusable? Not hardly.

BMbikerider · Oct 30, 2017

It also may depend on the dealer. In London there is a Nikon only dealer called Grays of Westminster and allowing for the increased prices in the Capital his prices are about 10-15% higher than outside London. What you do get though is a very good example if you are prepared to pay the extra. I have a F6 which according to the serial number is about halfway in the run and I paid £595 for it 3 years ago. So allowing for the currency exchange rate at today's markets I would expect to pay around $900 or so for a very good example.

One thing I like about the F6 is the counter on the rear door which tells you how many cassettes of film you have had through. Mine currently stands at 361 and some of them were 24 Exp so it has not had a hard life. Not as accurate as a shutter count but I think a more realistic record.

etn · Oct 30, 2017

BMbikerider said:
One thing I like about the F6 is the counter on the rear door which tells you how many cassettes of film you have had through. Mine currently stands at 361 and some of them were 24 Exp so it has not had a hard life. Not as accurate as a shutter count but I think a more realistic record.

Could you please develop on this? I tried to research it but did not find much information... thanks!

MartinCrabtree · Oct 30, 2017

GWalls said:
KEH is 1100.00 plus for high serial numbers. I just bought one from National Camera high number for 1100.00. Needed to replace my F5.

Did you wear out an F5??????

GWalls · Oct 30, 2017

Not hardly, just wanted to try an F6. So now the F5 is a backup. I think I actually like the F5 better. But neither will work with the newer electronic lens.

mweintraub · Oct 30, 2017

etn said:
Could you please develop on this? I tried to research it but did not find much information... thanks!

It might be the "film Number" which I think can be reset.

P 112 https://www.nikonsupport.eu/europe/Manuals/dGtUxUnN9l/F6-En_02.pdf

BMbikerider · Oct 30, 2017

etn said:
Could you please develop on this? I tried to research it but did not find much information... thanks!

On the back of the F6 is a small window which displays the film speed. Below this window is a small lid that lifts up and there are 4 buttons 1=Menu, 2=ISO, 3=flash settings, and 4=INFO
The menu is for adjusting the camera set-up, shooting menu etc. The ISO is for overiding the DX setting. The flash is self explanatory, rear curtain sync et.c and the INFO button if pressed shows the number of films that have been through the camera and the ISO setting they were exposed at.

In fact I have just seen the number of films mine has had through is not 361 as I said before but is actually 224. I need to rear my glasses more!

MartinCrabtree · Oct 30, 2017

GWalls said:
Not hardly, just wanted to try an F6. So now the F5 is a backup. I think I actually like the F5 better. But neither will work with the newer electronic lens.

I just cannot see the F6 being better than the F5 other than size and weight. Neither of those two bother me about the F5 so we'll just see if I can wear one out. I have little desire for the newer magnetically operated lenses so it's no problem for me. I'm sure they're nice but not nice that much better for me to purchase a camera for them.

dmtnkl · Oct 30, 2017

GWalls said:
Not hardly, just wanted to try an F6. So now the F5 is a backup. I think I actually like the F5 better. But neither will work with the newer electronic lens.

btw, how well does the F5's focusing screen work for manual focusing? Is it too optimized for brightness and AF, or can you easily get focus-pop and see actual dof with fast lenses (f/1.8 and faster).

Eric Rose · Oct 30, 2017

I do manual focus with my F5 all the time and I have cataracts. No problems.

MartinCrabtree · Oct 30, 2017

Same here. I "chip" my AI/AIs lenses so I can use the focusing aid in the viewfinder. It is finicky and needs fairly high contrast to be accurate but the screen works well too. I stumbled across Dead Link Removed for using easy to find F3 screens in an F5. Haven't done it yet but it appears easy to accomplish.

GWalls · Oct 30, 2017

I did change out the screen on my F5 & F6. I think they are both A screens. Helped some. But I would not bother with it again. I have a number of Zeiss lens that I use and they are a lot brighter which helps me and my old eyes.. the only Nikon glass I use on these camers is a AF 180mm 2.8. Use the Zeiss on my F2as as well.

dmtnkl · Oct 30, 2017

On the F6 the default screen has a very fine surface and sometimes produces moire/interference artifacts, depending on where one focuses.

Something rougher would be ideal, alas there is nothing commercially available that fits exactly. I think i will try to use a B2 screen from an FE2 that is both bright and rough enough. I just have to be careful and glue precisely some plastic sheet around it so that it matches exactly the larger dimensions of the F6 screen.

mweintraub · Nov 1, 2017

MartinCrabtree said:
Same here. I "chip" my AI/AIs lenses so I can use the focusing aid in the viewfinder..

I don't think you need to chip the lenses to do this. At least I don't. Chiping lenses is helpful if you have a body that doesn't have the NonCPU capabilities.

MartinCrabtree · Nov 1, 2017

It allows the use of all modes not just aperture and full manual not to mention full matrix metering. Which I'm rather fond of.

Eric Rose · Nov 2, 2017

Hey guys seems this thread has wandered. How about starting a new thread to discuss all this other stuff. Thanks.

MartinCrabtree · Nov 2, 2017

Ah.....erm.....oh nevermind.

Nikon F6 - what is the going price?

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