Nikon USA Will No Longer Focus Calibrate the F6

Huss · Oct 14, 2021

Tom Kershaw said:
Have there been widespread issues with the F6 cameras?

When Nikon replaced the AF module on my F6, they said it was a common issue. This was done in their shop in Los Angeles. Camera looked perfect, never abused/dropped.
(It had suddenly started to severely front focus)

Tom Kershaw · Oct 14, 2021

Huss said:
When Nikon replaced the AF module on my F6, they said it was a common issue. This was done in their shop in Los Angeles. Camera looked perfect, never abused/dropped.
(It had suddenly started to severely front focus)

Do you know whether other Nikon AF bodies suffer from this? My experience of auto focus Nikon cameras is restricted to the F100.

Huss · Oct 14, 2021

Tom Kershaw said:
Do you know whether other Nikon AF bodies suffer from this? My experience of auto focus Nikon cameras is restricted to the F100.

I'm sorry I don't know. I just made a point of it when I dropped it off to mention that it had always been treated with kid gloves. They volunteered that info. Gotta say I was really disappointed to hear that seeing this was meant to be the greatest AF 35mm film slr ever... Note I say AF, cuz the greatest 35mm film slr is the Leica R9.

NortheastPhotographic · Oct 19, 2021

Huss said:
I'm sorry I don't know. I just made a point of it when I dropped it off to mention that it had always been treated with kid gloves. They volunteered that info. Gotta say I was really disappointed to hear that seeing this was meant to be the greatest AF 35mm film slr ever... Note I say AF, cuz the greatest 35mm film slr is the Leica R9.

R9? Bah. FM3a for me, if we're talking non-AF. All that Nikkor glass plus ZF.2 options... But if I want to manual focus I'd rather have an M4.

Huss · Oct 19, 2021

NortheastPhotographic said:
R9? Bah. FM3a for me, if we're talking non-AF. All that Nikkor glass plus ZF.2 options... But if I want to manual focus I'd rather have an M4.

FM3a? Bah! Just get an FE2 and stop kidding yourself.

The R9 has absolutely perfect ergos when you actually use it, not just look at it. With camera to eye you can intuitively switch between three meter patterns and exposure modes, has the 1/8000 shutter, insane flash metering as well as the Leica glass. Also has the instant load film system - like any P&S or AF slr. No fiddling with the leader..
The Fm3a? Just has the 'glory' of being the resurrection of the FM/FE, with nothing actually added that will help you take pics. Same exposure modes. Same metering. Just more expensive.
;p
I'd even pick a Leica RE over the FM3A. The RE offers spot and avg metering, which instantly is a huge advantage over any FM/FE series camera. As well as the better ergos.

Had the Nikon FM/FE series. Sold those. Kept the Leicas...

p.s agree w u about the M4. I'm feeling that too - if I'm shooting manual focus then I prefer a Leica M. SLR then an AF SLR makes things so much quicker and arguably better.

Back on topic - the F6. It's kinda shocking that Nikon so soon is giving up on servicing the camera. There will be some still under warranty - so they refuse that? It is a really sh-tty move, especially since they refuse to sell/provide parts to non Nikon USA authorized shops, AND refuse to service Nikon product not sold in the USA.

Moose22 · Oct 19, 2021

Huss said:
The Fm3a? Just has the 'glory' of being the resurrection of the FM/FE, with nothing actually added that will help you take pics. Same exposure modes. Same metering. Just more expensive.
.

Needle meter, the button to drop the flash a stop for quick fill flash, the EL button on the back. That, and FE2s are older and a touch finicky.

I mean, not worth the $1000 people are asking for them, but the FM3As do have some good things. Just locking exposure with the thumb is something I use all the time and it's the easiest of all my MF cameras. The ones on the front are less ergonomic to me.

That said, the FA has a way to go from matrix to spot while looking through the lens. That would have been a great addition to the FM3A -- instead of just 60/40 you could add a spot mode for better zone metering, and coupled with the needle matching it would be fantastic for B&W. Missed opportunity.

F6 has three modes, other nikons of the era had 3 modes, it was doable.

Anyway, having shot a couple of rolls with the M3 last week, I get more, better pictures with the Nikons off each roll. Including the FM3A. But especially the F6. Leica's just too slow to use, too slow to focus, and I'm not convinced the Summacron is sharper than Nikkor glass. Maybe I need a Type 4 5cm or something newer to get a noticeable improvement. Nikon FM3A + 50mm 1.8 makes some sharp, lovely images.

For NIkon -- I can't imagine Nikon not supporting the F6 at least to the length of the extended warranty period minus 10 months, being as they were available new until mid December 2020. The not providing parts and the cancellation of the Authorized Dealer network issues the last couple of years troubles me, which is why I'm following this thread.

I got a high serial number US model F6 specifically because of the no-support issues. If they won't even take care of that, even for a fee... ugh. That's a hell of a hit to their reputation.

Auer · Oct 19, 2021

Moose22 said:
Needle meter, the button to drop the flash a stop for quick fill flash, the EL button on the back. That, and FE2s are older and a touch finicky.

I mean, not worth the $1000 people are asking for them, but the FM3As do have some good things. Just locking exposure with the thumb is something I use all the time and it's the easiest of all my MF cameras. The ones on the front are less ergonomic to me.

That said, the FA has a way to go from matrix to spot while looking through the lens. That would have been a great addition to the FM3A -- instead of just 60/40 you could add a spot mode for better zone metering, and coupled with the needle matching it would be fantastic for B&W. Missed opportunity.

F6 has three modes, other nikons of the era had 3 modes, it was doable.

Anyway, having shot a couple of rolls with the M3 last week, I get more, better pictures with the Nikons off each roll. Including the FM3A. But especially the F6. Leica's just too slow to use, too slow to focus, and I'm not convinced the Summacron is sharper than Nikkor glass. Maybe I need a Type 4 5cm or something newer to get a noticeable improvement. Nikon FM3A + 50mm 1.8 makes some sharp, lovely images.

For NIkon -- I can't imagine Nikon not supporting the F6 at least to the length of the extended warranty period minus 10 months, being as they were available new until mid December 2020. The not providing parts and the cancellation of the Authorized Dealer network issues the last couple of years troubles me, which is why I'm following this thread.

I got a high serial number US model F6 specifically because of the no-support issues. If they won't even take care of that, even for a fee... ugh. That's a hell of a hit to their reputation.

Reputation amongst who?

NortheastPhotographic · Oct 19, 2021

They gave me a final refusal to cover the shutter. I paid them since they kind of have me by the balls. Real bummer, sours me on the camera a lot. Just praying I get a working camera back this time. The F6 can be an amazing machine...

Moose22 · Oct 19, 2021

Auer said:
Reputation amongst who?

Nikon community. It's not just film cameras affected by repair center hassles. These sorts of issues are affecting how they are seen amongst modern users, too. It's pretty common to read of Nikon as also-rans now with the issues they've had getting mirrorless adoption and the general company/money flow problems. When you are realigning as they are, and shrink your repair network you open yourself up to criticism that you are no longer for "professionals" or that your troubles are so bad they might be terminal, etc.

I'm not worried about Nikon going out of business. But they have been getting a lot of negative speculation in the various new-media camera press and forae these last couple of years.

NortheastPhotographic said:
They gave me a final refusal to cover the shutter. .

Dammit. Sorry to hear that. I sure hope this thing comes back better than new.

drmoss_ca · Oct 20, 2021

Different strokes and all that. I had a pair of FM3a cameras, and sold them, sadly before prices skyrocketed. They just weren't getting used when I had the F6. I also had an R9 with 28, 50 and 90 lenses, but I hated the ergonomics. It didn't feel right in my hands, and was consequently hard to use without some camera shake, and that wasn't helped by me finding it hard to focus. It had to go, and I took a loss doing it. No doubt all that was just me, and others would have different experiences.
But let's not be too down about the F6! I put mine on a pedestal, literally!:

Chamonix 10x8, Nikkor 300mm/f9, Galaxy Hyperspeed paper negative

Moose22 · Oct 20, 2021

drmoss_ca said:
But let's not be too down about the F6! I put mine on a pedestal, literally!:

Chamonix 10x8, Nikkor 300mm/f9, Galaxy Hyperspeed paper negative

I've done that too... when testing film I sometimes do camera still lifes.
Crap, I don't have a "Good" one online. But here's one:

But, just to show the love:

The thing with the camera you use is, you should use the one you like. The one you get good shots with, the one you enjoy, whatever works for you. I get great shots with the F6, and it's very comfortable to hold and use. I REALLY hope I don't run into the focus issues or anything that needs work anytime soon, but mine is a few years old and I've run a couple dozen rolls through it since I got it in December last year and, so far, zero issues.

If the F6 works for you, well, there ya go! None of the cameras we're talking about are incapable of great photography. Most of my bad shot issues are photographer related.

NortheastPhotographic · Oct 20, 2021

Moose22 said:
I've done that too... when testing film I sometimes do camera still lifes.
Crap, I don't have a "Good" one online. But here's one:

The thing with the camera you use is, you should use the one you like. The one you get good shots with, the one you enjoy, whatever works for you. I get great shots with the F6, and it's very comfortable to hold and use. I REALLY hope I don't run into the focus issues or anything that needs work anytime soon, but mine is a few years old and I've run a couple dozen rolls through it since I got it in December last year and, so far, zero issues.

If the F6 works for you, well, there ya go! None of the cameras we're talking about are incapable of great photography. Most of my bad shot issues are photographer related.

That FM3a is just so damn handsome! They really look great with a ZF.2 lens on them as well, or the newer CV lenses with the 'Nikkor' styling. These are as good or better than the ZF.2 designs IMHO. You can do a lot of nice work with the 40/2 or 58/1.4. But on your other point, yeah I don't seem to do as well with the manual SLRs. I miss focus more, and make more metering errors. That's why my LX and 43/1.9 went out the door. It just wasn't working for me.

Moose22 · Oct 20, 2021

NortheastPhotographic said:
But on your other point, yeah I don't seem to do as well with the manual SLRs. I miss focus more, and make more metering errors. .

I miss meter a lot on manual cameras. But it depends on the circumstances. If I'm working fast, I really do love Aperture priority at least, though even then if I'm excited I might screw up something else. F6 mitigates a lot of that as I can frame the shot and often nail a focus I would miss manually. I manually focus a lot of stuff, even on digital, so I'm usually OK with focus, it's remembering what speed I'm shooting at and not forgetting to check aperture or speed when something interesting is happening in front of me that messes me up.

That said, I was shooting the F3 a week back, taking pics of a dog in the park. It spotted me and ran over... the first shot sharp the next, when it looked at me, the focus point is about the dog's shoulder. The F6 would have been focused on it's face still. Autofocus sure is nice when subjects are moving around.

Give me time to think, though, and I get lovely exposures even from my medium formats and the Leica, and usually sharp. But I've shot maybe 40 rolls of 135 since December last year and 22 of them have been with the F6. Tells me it'll be the last to go if I ever decide to sell the other Nikon bodies.

Huss · Oct 20, 2021

I do it too when testing film - if I have one or two shots at the end of a roll:

Moose22 · Oct 20, 2021

Huss said:
I do it too when testing film - if I have one or two shots at the end of a roll:

They make good test targets. I literally just got this roll scanned -- Delta 400, which I am really growing to like in medium format! Of course it has a camera at #1 and #12, for artificial and natural light testing respectively.

NortheastPhotographic · Nov 4, 2021

Got the F6 back from Nikon this week. It refused to even load a single roll of film before ERR was on the display again.

What in the world is going on at Nikon USA?!?!

drmoss_ca · Nov 4, 2021

I have only seen that once, and that was on a new F6, with new batteries installed. They almost completely drained (they can't have been very good even if unused) charging the internal battery, and didn't have enough juice to load a film. Scared me silly having just bought the thing new! Put in another set of CR123 batteries and it's never happened since.

Moose22 · Nov 4, 2021

drmoss_ca said:
I have only seen that once, and that was on a new F6, with new batteries installed. They almost completely drained (they can't have been very good even if unused) charging the internal battery, and didn't have enough juice to load a film. Scared me silly having just bought the thing new! Put in another set of CR123 batteries and it's never happened since.

Interesting.

I think mine will need an internal battery soon. I got 20ish rolls on my last batteries but let it sit (with fresh batteries) for a while and it lost the date/time. I'll keep this in the back of my mind if I do get the new internal done.

NortheastPhotographic said:
Got the F6 back from Nikon this week. It refused to even load a single roll of film before ERR was on the display again.

What in the world is going on at Nikon USA?!?!

This deserves a Frownie faced emojicon, dude. This sucks, I'm sorry to hear it.

I'm hoping Dr Moss's post in the deal. You tried fresh batteries? But, geez this feels like a lemon to me. Something MUST be up at Nikon, this sort of thing should never make it past QA.

Sirius Glass · Nov 4, 2021

NortheastPhotographic said:
Got the F6 back from Nikon this week. It refused to even load a single roll of film before ERR was on the display again.

What in the world is going on at Nikon USA?!?!

Is the lens mounted right include f/stop setting?

NortheastPhotographic · Nov 4, 2021

Sirius Glass said:
Is the lens mounted right include f/stop setting?

Yes. fEE error is a different thing.

NortheastPhotographic · Nov 5, 2021

Today I called Nippon Photo Clinic, Authorized Camera Service, 2 shops in Baltimore, and Kews Camera....all said they don't service the F6.

MultiFormat Shooter · Nov 6, 2021

NortheastPhotographic said:
Got the F6 back from Nikon this week. It refused to even load a single roll of film before ERR was on the display again.

What in the world is going on at Nikon USA?!?!

That's a shame, that you've been having issues. The F6 is usually a great camera, maybe you got "lucky." Try Camera Camcorder Repair, they have done good work for me, in the past, and they work on the F6.

MattKing · Nov 6, 2021

NortheastPhotographic said:
What in the world is going on at Nikon USA?!?!

My guess is that they no longer have any in house service capabilities.
And they are clearly either incapable of performing quality control on the stuff they send out, or they don't care.
They are distributors and marketers, not a full service customer support resource - it is the way of the world.
Nikon Canada is similar, although I believe that after they shut down most of their local support resources, they may have left one in place at their head office.

Nikon USA Will No Longer Focus Calibrate the F6

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