Official Nikon statement: F6 remains in production

[Angarian]

very good news indeed but I will keep using my FMs until they or I die.

I also still have a FM (and lots of other of the former manual Nikons ). A nice camera. I will not sell it (mostly for emotional reasons).
But all my older Nikons get only a rare use. Because I use the F6 instead. The F6 give me so much more options, so much more flexibility and creative choices, so that I get so much more keepers with the F6.
The F6 is not limiting me as other, older cameras do. That is the main reason I like it so much.

 

[Angarian]

I have a Canon EOS 3, which I use extensively and which I like a lot, and I sure hope it lasts forever, but realistically it is 20 years old by now and will not last forever. If that event happens, if it finally breaks down, all other analog Canon cameras will be of similar age, which means I may turn into a nikonite after all those years. In that case it will be important to know that there were F6 production batches from 2015 and later, and this translated page suggests just that. In 10+ years 2015 vs. 2018 does not make much of a difference for me, but 1998 vs. 2018 sure does.

A very rational and well thought reason to go for the F6. Completely understandable.
If you need information about the F6, feel free to contact me.

 

[Angarian]

Why are you happy? You already have an F6 and it's not likely to break down for many many years. Why do you need Nikon to continue making it?

Several reasons:
1. I am not an egoistic person: If further (younger) photographers have the possibility to buy a F6 new and enjoy it, I feel glad for them. Because I know from my own experience how enjoyable this unique and wonderful camera is.
2. I think it is very good in general for the film photographer community if this oustanding camera will be available for some further years to come.
3. I am so satiesfied with my F6 that I am thinking about another new one: I am often shooting negative and transparency film simultanously in lots of shooting situations, or color and BW in parallel. Having two identical bodies would be the perfect solution in all these situations.

 

[Angarian]

Well, I hate to be a party pooper, but you guys jump to conclusions at even the slightest hint. What usually happens is that a camera (like this) is made in batches at distant intervals.

That the F6 is made in batches is just speculation by you. You don't have any evidence for that.
But there are indeed some known facts indicating that the F6 production is an ongoing, continuous one: There have been other factory visits in the past at the Sendai factory. All reports from them said there is continous production of the F6. Small scale, but not interrupted. And if we look at the reported serial numbers (there are some reports about that topic in other forums and social media groups) the numbers indicate also an ongoing, continous production.

 

[Angarian]

I challenge anyone who can distinguish between a photo taken with an F with plain prism and a multipoint metered F6 ( excluding certain kinds of scientific applications.).

Challenge accepted .
Well, you don't have ever used a F6, right? As someone who have used (and still seldem use) all the old legendary Nikons for years I can ensure you that there is a huge difference between these and the F6. Just to list some (and not all):
The mirror and shutter dampening of the F6 is so much better than that of all former Nikons, that it is indeed a league of its own (it is even better compared to the Nikon D3 and D4 introduced years later). The older mechanical Nikons have a very harsh and inferior dampening compared to the F6, resulting in more vibration. I can use my F6 with lower shutter speeds compared to the Nikon F, F2, FM and so on. Result: More keepers in critical situations.
The F6 has by far the smoothest and most refined, well designed mechanics of all Nikons ever made (and also surpassing the high-end models from Canon, Minolta, Leica, Contax, Pentax, Olympus). It is also by far the most silent operating Nikon. I have used it even in a church at a wedding. Not recommended doing that with a Nikon F, F2, FM, F3....;-).

I do a lot of portrait photography: In the summer, outdoor often with non-ideal lighting conditions, the F6 offers all I need for perfect shots: Extremely short shutter speeds (1/8000s) for perfect object isolation (best bokeh at wide apertures) and high-speed sync. for combining object isolation with perfect lighting and perfect contrast control (fill-in light by power-reduced flash). All that works perfectly with the F6 with its i-TTL and CLS system and SB-800 flash.
It doesn't work at all with the Nikon F. It is simply impossible with it (and all the other former Nikons).

From time to time I shoot weddings. Always with the F6. Perfect for that, no problems at all. Doing a wedding with a Nikon F? The keeper rate would be a fraction of that. The couples trust on me, they don't accept excuses like "oh, my old Nikon F is not capable of doing that". I need a system with a perfect keeper rate. The F6 is that system.

I also enjoy shooting wildlife: With the F6 I have a keeper rate of 80-95% (depending on the animals I shoot). In the past I've done wildlife with older cameras (when I started that some decades ago). I can tell you, the keeper rate was tiny compared to that I get now with the F6. There are lots of very good reasons why wildlife photographers have moved on to the more modern and more capable cameras with every new camera released. All those who prefer film in wildlife are using cameras like the Canon EOS 1V, Nikon F5 and F6.

The F6 has a 3D color matrix metering. The 3D function is very important (and works excellently) when using flash, and the color matrix works very well in "white-in-white" or "black-in-black" scenes. The difference in metering between the F6 metering and the metering in a F, F2 etc. is huge. Also in situations with strong contrasts.
I've shot more than 1.000 rolls so far with my F6. And I have never (!) had a completely ruined shot because of metering and exposure. In 99% of the situations I get perfect results. In the remaining situations the results are in the range of 1/3 to 2/3 off. That means even with transparancy film they remain very good (1/3 stop difference) to good (2/3 stop) difference.

That are just some examples why it makes a huge difference concerning keeper rate in using a F6 compared to the old Nikons. Professional photographers and experienced amateurs aren't idiots . There are lots of reasons whay they have updated from the F to F2, than F3, F4, than moved to the F5 and finally F6.

 

[Vincent Peri]

Of course the F6 is better than a Nikon F or F2. That's like saying today's latest car is better than a 1959 Chevy. Just saying...

 

[Helios 1984]

Several reasons:
1. I am not an egoistic person: If further (younger) photographers have the possibility to buy a F6 new and enjoy it, I feel glad for them. Because I know from my own experience how enjoyable this unique and wonderful camera is.
2. I think it is very good in general for the film photographer community if this oustanding camera will be available for some further years to come.
3. I am so satiesfied with my F6 that I am thinking about another new one: I am often shooting negative and transparency film simultanously in lots of shooting situations, or color and BW in parallel. Having two identical bodies would be the perfect solution in all these situations.

I’m not a Nikon user and this camera is out of my reach, however, I’m just glad that such fine film camera is still manufactured and that Nikon didn’t gave up on film. Film is alive! Let’s drink to that.

 

[AgX]

1. That the F6 line is operating in the Sendai factory even in this time when there is a lot of pressure there to keep up with production of the new Z series (and other cameras) - demand is higher than the current production capacity - is clear evidence that the F6 line is there to stay for the foreseeable future. Otherwise it would not make any economic sense. Keeping such a line create opportunity costs (= you could produce Z cams instead). So that it is still operating despite that fact showas it has a future. Otherwise it would have stopped and converted to Z 6 / 7 camera production.

see post #10

The latest number in production of the F6 was 50 per month, in 2012. So there were no robotics assembly lines.

 

[Chan Tran]

Of course the F6 is better than a Nikon F or F2. That's like saying today's latest car is better than a 1959 Chevy. Just saying...

And I wish to have a Nikon F2AS and not the F6. I really don't care for the F6.

 

[Cholentpot]

I have read many books about photography, and especially the older ones desperately try to convince their readers that manual exposure measurement is the only way to get correctly exposed negatives - yet I get consistently well exposed color slides from my EOS 3 in full auto mode in most practical situations. Evidently a range of improvements have been made to autofocus, exposure measurement and other important issues, and the Nikon F6 is likely the pinnacle of engineering in our analog world.

If you have cooperating subject matter, then the choice of camera most likely won't matter, a Nikon F will deliver the same results as an F6 or EOS3. If you chase a bunch of kids in our courtyard, then the fastest AF and the best exposure (flash plus ambient) metering technique barely keep up with the challenge.

I spent the morning chasing after a 3 year old for a paid photoshoot. After a quarter hour I gave up, popped my Canon into Av mode and finished up the rest of the hour. Any issues with the photos were mine and not the camera. Sometimes you gotta be brave and trust the camera.

 

[Agulliver]

I spent the morning chasing after a 3 year old for a paid photoshoot. After a quarter hour I gave up, popped my Canon into Av mode and finished up the rest of the hour. Any issues with the photos were mine and not the camera. Sometimes you gotta be brave and trust the camera.

I sometimes wonder how it was possible for photographers to capture images of small children, animals and sports events before the advent of automatic cameras. I suspect magic.

 

[Rudeofus]

I sometimes wonder how it was possible for photographers to capture images of small children, animals and sports events before the advent of automatic cameras. I suspect magic.

Typical family photos from back then look very posed, or are scenes which developed slowly and predictably. I would suspect that it took years of experience and quite a bit of luck to get "perfect moment snapshots", and as a parent you don't have years of practice time to prepare and practice for a 3rd birthday photo shot.

PS: I did try to recreate this "old style" photography with a Mamiya RZ67 and a long tele lens on a horse track (my two girls taking practice lessons), and it was extremely difficult to get a decent shot. Many nice situations were too short/transient to get the gear in place and focused, and among the shots I did get there were only few keepers. And I had today's film with ISO 400 sensitivity and a long straight curve!

 

[guangong]

Challenge accepted .
Well, you don't have ever used a F6, right? As someone who have used (and still seldem use) all the old legendary Nikons for years I can ensure you that there is a huge difference between these and the F6. Just to list some (and not all):
The mirror and shutter dampening of the F6 is so much better than that of all former Nikons, that it is indeed a league of its own (it is even better compared to the Nikon D3 and D4 introduced years later). The older mechanical Nikons have a very harsh and inferior dampening compared to the F6, resulting in more vibration. I can use my F6 with lower shutter speeds compared to the Nikon F, F2, FM and so on. Result: More keepers in critical situations.
The F6 has by far the smoothest and most refined, well designed mechanics of all Nikons ever made (and also surpassing the high-end models from Canon, Minolta, Leica, Contax, Pentax, Olympus). It is also by far the most silent operating Nikon. I have used it even in a church at a wedding. Not recommended doing that with a Nikon F, F2, FM, F3....;-).

I do a lot of portrait photography: In the summer, outdoor often with non-ideal lighting conditions, the F6 offers all I need for perfect shots: Extremely short shutter speeds (1/8000s) for perfect object isolation (best bokeh at wide apertures) and high-speed sync. for combining object isolation with perfect lighting and perfect contrast control (fill-in light by power-reduced flash). All that works perfectly with the F6 with its i-TTL and CLS system and SB-800 flash.
It doesn't work at all with the Nikon F. It is simply impossible with it (and all the other former Nikons).

From time to time I shoot weddings. Always with the F6. Perfect for that, no problems at all. Doing a wedding with a Nikon F? The keeper rate would be a fraction of that. The couples trust on me, they don't accept excuses like "oh, my old Nikon F is not capable of doing that". I need a system with a perfect keeper rate. The F6 is that system.

I also enjoy shooting wildlife: With the F6 I have a keeper rate of 80-95% (depending on the animals I shoot). In the past I've done wildlife with older cameras (when I started that some decades ago). I can tell you, the keeper rate was tiny compared to that I get now with the F6. There are lots of very good reasons why wildlife photographers have moved on to the more modern and more capable cameras with every new camera released. All those who prefer film in wildlife are using cameras like the Canon EOS 1V, Nikon F5 and F6.

The F6 has a 3D color matrix metering. The 3D function is very important (and works excellently) when using flash, and the color matrix works very well in "white-in-white" or "black-in-black" scenes. The difference in metering between the F6 metering and the metering in a F, F2 etc. is huge. Also in situations with strong contrasts.
I've shot more than 1.000 rolls so far with my F6. And I have never (!) had a completely ruined shot because of metering and exposure. In 99% of the situations I get perfect results. In the remaining situations the results are in the range of 1/3 to 2/3 off. That means even with transparancy film they remain very good (1/3 stop difference) to good (2/3 stop) difference.

That are just some examples why it makes a huge difference concerning keeper rate in using a F6 compared to the old Nikons. Professional photographers and experienced amateurs aren't idiots . There are lots of reasons whay they have updated from the F to F2, than F3, F4, than moved to the F5 and finally F6.

I agree with you with regard to your specific applications with F6. Birds especially.
I also want to extend my admiration to you photographic capabilities. I have been friends with many well known and some truly great photographers but I never met any with an 80-95% keeper rate. Fantastic!

 

[Cholentpot]

I sometimes wonder how it was possible for photographers to capture images of small children, animals and sports events before the advent of automatic cameras. I suspect magic.

Flashbulbs and zone focus. Wide lens, f/8 and lots of light.

 

[Agulliver]

Flashbulbs and zone focus. Wide lens, f/8 and lots of light.

I know....40 years ago aged five I was taught about apertures, DoF and zone focussing with a small aperture and sunlight....and managed to get great unposed candid photos of my school friends....also ducks, a cat and a rabbit...none of which are exactly willing subjects especially when the "photographer" is five years old himself.

Sometimes I think that camera automation has dulled the skills....so I take something 100% manual to a wholly inappropriate situation and practise.

Today, is there not a loon photographing US sports (baseball possibly) on a Graflex fitted with a 2 metre military lens?

 

[Billy Axeman]

Official Nikon web site where you can see which cameras, lenses, and other items are out of production:
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/discontinue/

 

[Arthurwg]

F6? I know I want one, but I want most cameras.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

The capabilities of the F6 probably reflect the best ever achieved by Nikon in a film camera. For people who can use those features or need those features, there's probably no substitute.

Still, it's subjective: whether an F6 is "better" than an older Nikon for someone depends on what and how they photograph. My interest is landscape and architecture, so a plain-prism F is more than adequate and a plain-prism F2 is sheer luxury. I don't need high speed autofocus, a high frame rate, matrix metering, or automatic rewind. Still, I have cameras like the F4s, the Maxxum 7, the Elan 7NE, and Leica R8.

Regardless, I'm rejoicing over the fact that an F6 can be bought new today and I admire Nikon for making it.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

...Professional photographers and experienced amateurs aren't idiots . There are lots of reasons whay they have updated from the F to F2, than F3, F4, than moved to the F5 and finally F6.

Not to discount the good points you made, but professional photographers always had to have several of the most recent bodies and lenses in order to qualify for the Nikon Professional Services program. As for advanced amateurs, or not-so-advanced amateurs, upgrading: there's always the desire for the latest shiny thing.

For how and what you photograph, clearly the F6 is a great choice. For my subjects, I have lots of time to determine the composition, the focus, aperture, and shutter speed - the basic features of a simple adequate camera like a Nikkormat FT2.

 

[Berkeley Mike]

I made my nickel with an FM, a 105, Tri-X, and an f8 @ 1/125.

 

[fdonadio]

F6? I know I want one, but I want most cameras.

A friend of mine said he would give me, in his own words: “an old camera I have laying around my house”. I didn’t even ask what brand.

I keep waiting for the day someone gives me a Leica or, at least, a Nikon S. Even a FED 2 would do. Damn, free cameras are great, no matter what make and model!

 

[Cholentpot]

I know....40 years ago aged five I was taught about apertures, DoF and zone focussing with a small aperture and sunlight....and managed to get great unposed candid photos of my school friends....also ducks, a cat and a rabbit...none of which are exactly willing subjects especially when the "photographer" is five years old himself.

Sometimes I think that camera automation has dulled the skills....so I take something 100% manual to a wholly inappropriate situation and practise.

Today, is there not a loon photographing US sports (baseball possibly) on a Graflex fitted with a 2 metre military lens?

Someone was doing this with auto racing.

On the subject of zone focusing, you do get great shots of kids and rabbits because you're focusing on the composition and not the focusing. I find myself using zone focus with a DSLR at times. It's quick and dirty and it works.

 

[abruzzi]

Someone was doing this with auto racing.

On the subject of zone focusing, you do get great shots of kids and rabbits because you're focusing on the composition and not the focusing. I find myself using zone focus with a DSLR at times. It's quick and dirty and it works.

The other trick is to focus on the spot where they are going to be, then take the shot when they get there. This is very easy with auto racing and similar, since you know they’re going to pass a spot. Kids might be a bit trickier.

 

[Cholentpot]

The other trick is to focus on the spot where they are going to be, then take the shot when they get there. This is very easy with auto racing and similar, since you know they’re going to pass a spot. Kids might be a bit trickier.

Kids try to grab the lens.

 

[Rudeofus]

Kids try to grab the lens.

+1

You really do have kids