Q: what should I pay for a Nikon F from Feb. 1967 – what is a fair price ??

[Richard S. (rich815)]

Q: what should I pay for a Nikon F from Feb. 1967 – what is a fair price ??

You don't need both and maybe not even just one, with the plain prism which is wicked expensive. Shipped from Hong Kong? Seriously?? How often will you really use it anyway? Don't you have more than enough cameras, even similar or identical ones, already? Buying because it's your birth year is fun but really kind of silly isn't it? Dates are just arbitrary numbers created by man and make no difference in the end at all. One from the late 60's or close to that is really close enough to that era, no? What's next? Finding one supposedly built the month and year of your birth?? Heck use the money to buy a load of great film instead and make some wonderful photos with the terrific cameras you already own.

Let it go. Move on. Stop thinking about it. Place an order for 20 rolls of film and think of what you'll go out and make photographs of using an existing awesome camera. You know, that one you were so excited about before you bought it?

There. Contrarian argument if you needed it.

 

[ColColt]

That one has the rectangular eye piece and you'd be up the creek(like me) if you needed to replace it with a diopter more fitting to your nearsightedness(if you had that problem). That was why I turned down an absolutely pristine DE-1, as they're called, about a year ago. Some of those come with the round kind you can unscrew and replace with another if necessary-that one doesn't.

 

[fotch]

Looks like a fair price to me, I would buy all.

 

[ColColt]

I've seen those prisms alone in excess of $300 in EX+ condition. I don't think an exorbitant price would be $350 for camera and prism.

 

[Kyle M.]

I no longer have my Nikon F but the one I had was darn near mint with an FTn finder and I paid $150 for it. When I wanted a regular prism I ended up having to pay $200 to get a nice one. I would say that's a fair price for an F in that condition with the plain prism.

 

[Les Sarile]

Getting both bodies is ridiculous, not?

I had a plain prism F and was on the lookout for a plain prism F2 when I came across another plain prism F. I bought it thinking I might be able to trade it for an F2. Wouldn't you know it, soon after I bought the second F, I found the F2 for such a great price and now I'm stuck with all three . . .

 

[ColColt]

Unless that was said with tongue in cheek you're not stuck...just sell me one of them F's

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Even though I have a mint condition perfectly functional plain-prism F, I'm overdosing on all these beautiful photos and will probably go into a coma soon...

 

[Les Sarile]

Even though I have a mint condition perfectly functional plain-prism F, I'm overdosing on all these beautiful photos and will probably go into a coma soon...

Now that I have the F2, I have my eye out for a Canonflex and a Minolta SR2. I would trade for either if you have them.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Now that I have the F2, I have my eye out for a Canonflex and a Minolta SR2. I would trade for either if you have them.

Alas, I have neither. Regarding Canon, I do have the EF "black beauty" which is a prize in my collection.

I see you already have the SR-1. The Canonflex would be very nice:

https://www.cameraquest.com/canonflx.htm

 

[John_Nikon_F]

That one has the rectangular eye piece and you'd be up the creek(like me) if you needed to replace it with a diopter more fitting to your nearsightedness(if you had that problem). That was why I turned down an absolutely pristine DE-1, as they're called, about a year ago. Some of those come with the round kind you can unscrew and replace with another if necessary-that one doesn't.

All DE-1 prisms have round eyepieces. They're F2 finders. The F finders never had DE or DP model numbers. The rectangular eyepiece F eyelevel finders have a hard to find, but available, eyecup adapter that allows usage of Nikkormat/Photomic T-FTn accessories with it. Looks like a blockier version of the DK-22 used on modern rectangular eyepiece cameras, like the EM, FG, FG-20, etc. Also, sometimes you can find the rectangular diopters, but they're even harder to find than the eyecup adapters. I'm probably going to get whatever round eyepiece F eyelevel finder I can find and pop it onto my F, since the one shown in my avatar seems to be MIA.

With respect to serial numbers, I'd be more inclined to go with a low 68 serial body. Likely to be closer to the holy grail 2/67 manufacturing date. Cosmetically, I'd be willing to take one that has some wear. Just not one that has been abused. So, some brassing, maybe small dings, but no major dents, chipped castings, etc. Most important would be mechanical condition.

One other thing, I once had an F2 Photomic that was within a month of my birthdate. It was a pretty nice camera. Sold it. Realized that my 7960xxx F2AS was a better camera, even though it showed more wear. It, unlike the 7556xxx F2, had all of the updates done to it, and, had already been Soverized. Therefore, it's a permanent member of my arsenal. F-wise, my current body is a very late 1972 build camera (7378xxx serial). It's not one of the last, but does have almost all the updates Nikon did to the F. The one in my avatar was a 1973 camera, and probably one of the last 1600 or so F bodies to come off the line. A little cleaner than the current one, but, the current one seems to be working properly, whereas, that body needed to be overhauled before I could use it.

-J

 

[resummerfield]

Mechanical problems can be repaired much easier than cosmetic problems. I would pay a little more and get the first one with the plain prism.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

^My main point is that there are better deals out there. A 679xxxx or 680xxxx body isn't that rare. I don't think a clean body in that range commands a premium, like the 640-641xxxx bodies, as well as some of the oddballs, like the red dot cameras in the 65xxxxx and 66xxxxx serial ranges. Had a real nice 680xxxx body in 2013. Think I paid $75-$100 for it. It eventually developed slow speed issues. Returned it to the shop.

My advice is to remain open to other options. There may be one in Europe or North America that's just as nice, if not better, and without the likelihood of fungus, which is a concern about cameras from Asia. I do remember Sover Wong talking about a customer who bought a minty F2AS that he had posted the link for on the Farcebook F2 group. Camera worked fine for a bit, then started developing issues with its DP-12. Got sent to him for servicing. Inside, the camera was a corroded and moldy mess. IIRC, it required his extended service to get it clean again. Ever since then, he hasn't posted many auctions from people in Japan, Hong Kong, etc...

Ever since I read his post, I now tend to avoid older Nikons that are being sold by someone in Asia. Newer bodies, like F4 and F5 bodies plus some of the later FM2 bodies, should be ok, provided they were stored in a dry cabinet when not in use to help keep the humidity down. Lenses, I haven't had problems with. But, then again, I think the ones I've purchased again have been stored in a dry environment, away from the humidity that affects equipment from that area.

-J

 

[ColColt]

I've seen some superb, pristine equipment showing up on ebay from Japan but, I don't know what lurked on the inside. I saw a super looking Pentax 67II with lens and all the goodies. It looked like new but, I decided against it after what I've read about mold and fungus from humid tropical areas. It's a crap shoot as you have no way of knowing how it was stored and for how long.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I've seen some superb, pristine equipment showing up on ebay from Japan but, I don't know what lurked on the inside. I saw a super looking Pentax 67II with lens and all the goodies. It looked like new but, I decided against it after what I've read about mold and fungus from humid tropical areas. It's a crap shoot as you have no way of knowing how it was stored and for how long.

I bought a gorgeous pristine dark-grey version of a Contax T2 off eBay from Japan. When it arrived it was immediately obvious the camera had been in premises where there had been a fire as the camera reeked terribly of smoke. Not just your typical and often-described as pleasant campfire smoke smell either. Anyone who's had the misfortune to have had personal items in a fire even if they were only smoke-exposed knows the rank and sour smoke smell I mean. That said the camera seemingly worked fine and had no indications of fire or smoke damage other than the obvious smell. Good news is a bit of Febreeze on a rag and a couple of wipe downs eventually removed pretty much all smell but I certainly would not have paid what i did if the description was accurate. Emails and messages to the seller all went unanswered.

 

[leicarfcam]

A few months ago I bought a 64xxxx Nikon F with eye level all in excellent condition except the buyer said the mirror was non-functional. Got it for $80 and when it arrived I turned the mirror lock-up back to the rest position and the mirror works fine..

 

[ColColt]

Maybe the owner was just a cigar smoker.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

That would've had to have been one dog rocket of a cigar.

 

[ColColt]

Could have been. I've smelled some pretty raunchy cigars.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Dog Rocket...........been awhile since I heard that one.

 

[leicarfcam]

I've seen some superb, pristine equipment showing up on ebay from Japan but, I don't know what lurked on the inside. I saw a super looking Pentax 67II with lens and all the goodies. It looked like new but, I decided against it after what I've read about mold and fungus from humid tropical areas. It's a crap shoot as you have no way of knowing how it was stored and for how long.

I remember back in the late 90's and early 2000's Japanese buyers were buying up every camera they could get their hands on. Now we see a lot coming back to eBay. I suspect many were bought as shelf decorations and since the Japanese economy has tanked, they are now unloading these cameras. A year ago I bought 2 from 2 different sellers and both looked good but didn't work.

Sellers would not respond to emails and eBay said they could do nothing so I eventually went inside them and had to spend a lot more time than usual cleaning them out so they would work again.. There was a lot of fungus and humidity related sludge inside.

This is why I now tick USA only when looking to buy off eBay..

 

[ColColt]

This is why I now tick USA only when looking to buy off eBay..

That's done little good for me. Japan, Germany, Netherlands, China, and the Russian Federation still show up.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

You might have to use the distance from zip code search and set it to the maximum that keeps it within the US and search that way. I pretty much ignore anything from Japan, unless it's fairly modern body-wise, and there are photos of the body's guts, or well-taken photos of a lens. As mentioned in my previous post, I'm a bit more lax when it comes to lenses. If the glass looks clean, I may still go for it. Both of the 50/2 Nikkor-H lenses I bought from Japan were in good condition glass-wise. Both, IIRC, have been rehomed with other APUGgers.

-J

 

[TheToadMen]

Well, I made a decent offer more than a week ago on both bodies and the two finders, but still no reply. And due to the other warnings about fungus in Asia made me decide not to get these two bodies. A pity though, for I liked both bodies.
But there will be others with serial # 680xxxx out there for me to buy in due time

Accidentally I found an almost mint eye level finder locally today and I bought it. It comes with its original leather case. Since I've got a nice finder now, I can concentrate on a nice body with or without a (Photomic TN) finder. Or I'll get me an almost mint body or a good user, technically sound with some nice user wear showing its age.

Here are some images from the seller.

 

[John_Nikon_F]

^You did the right thing by passing on them. If I wind up getting that F back from the shop (owner wants his excess F inventory gone), you're welcome to it. Probably won't be much more than the cost of shipping. It'll need to be overhauled, since the slow speeds don't work.

-J