Short report about the current Nikon F6 production in Sendai

Henning Serger · Jan 24, 2016

film_man said:
Regarding the serial numbers, unless you have the info from the company you cannot really rely on them.

But we have the confirmation from Nikon. There is a straight, linear serial number used at the F6. No coding, no interruptions at all, just a continuous number. And this is well documented in the worldwide F6 community as well (see the information given in this thread as well, and the list on rff, and the international F6 social media groups).

Best regards,
Henning

chromacomaphoto · Jan 24, 2016

So you can STILL buy one of these brand new with warranty in 2016? Nikon in my country (Thailand) say no but I am happy to maybe order one for the next time I am in the U.K. to pick up and bring back. Then again, my FM3A really does almost everything I need. I miss my F5's but once they have an electronic fault, Nikon will no longer support them in many (all?) countries so I am reluctant to buy a second hand one (or two!).

I know of one F6 in a shop but it's NOS from quite a few years back and they don't want to sell it with a warranty, consumer rights are crap here.

Henning Serger · Jan 24, 2016

chromacomaphoto said:
So you can STILL buy one of these brand new with warranty in 2016?

As said above, I've just bought my second brand new F6 last autumn, of course with warranty (3 years).
No problem to get one in Germany and in Japan. I know you can get it in the UK, too.
And in the US as well, e.g. it is in the B&H shop.

Best regards,
Henning

davedm · Jan 24, 2016

chromacomaphoto said:
So you can STILL buy one of these brand new with warranty in 2016? Nikon in my country (Thailand) say no but I am happy to maybe order one for the next time I am in the U.K. to pick up and bring back. Then again, my FM3A really does almost everything I need. I miss my F5's but once they have an electronic fault, Nikon will no longer support them in many (all?) countries so I am reluctant to buy a second hand one (or two!).

I know of one F6 in a shop but it's NOS from quite a few years back and they don't want to sell it with a warranty, consumer rights are crap here.

If you want it from your local Nikon dealer, you will have to jump thru some hoops.

Contact Nikon Thialand. They will have a subsidiary there probably named Nikon Thailand Ltd. Find the top executive responsible for marketing. And persuade him to order one for you. All though the final order will be executed by one of the dealers. May be you already know a dealer whom you purchase from or even they might arrange for you. But you will have to convince them and use their listing of F6 on website as current product as one of the arguments

I got my MV-1 reader this way thru Nikon India.

Don't expect too much from warranty though not that you will need it. But they won't have parts or technician for that. At the most they will send it to Japan or USA for repairs.

So depending on conversation rate and other considerations, it might be better to buy one from B&H without spending more on shipping and customs. Or buy one used at third of the price. I am using one and have not seen many reports of problems except one recently here about faulty front command dial. It depends how easy it is for you to send it to USA/ Japan if need be.

Edit: Contact Details here http://goo.gl/PbSNQX. Contact the second one on the list. Nikon Sales (Thailand) Co., Ltd
Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

AgX · Jan 24, 2016

davedm said:
Find the top executive responsible for marketing. And persuade him to order one for you.

I case such really should be necessary, it would be a bad sign for Nikon. But then it would be in line with what we heard of Nikon Canada.

Maybe though I'm too oldfashioned to understand...

davedm · Jan 24, 2016

It's actually a demand and supply issue. There is not enough demand here in developing countries for new top of the line FSLR. Nikon itself does not sell to consumer. That means it has to be stocked by a dealer. How would you expect a dealer to stock it if he does not foresee a demand of at least a dozen a year (I am speaking the best case scenario worst would be less than one per year for most).

The reason I suggested him to find the top guy so that a genuine effort will be made and he will not have to go thru a lot of people or be turned down by someone who would not have the authority to make the decision. Interestingly that guy will most likely turn out to be a young guy in his early thirties. At least in my case both service and sales heads were that young.

chromacomaphoto · Jan 24, 2016

Yes, in Thailand it seems nobody has one in stock, yet they all say that maybe they could get one but interestingly nobody actually wants to do it if you try and set it up.. There's a huge second hand market for cameras here with just about everything available but second hand F6's are a rare bird indeed. Never seen one here in person. A search through one of the busiest Thai photo buy/sell forums shows one comes up every few years. My second hand dealer contacts never see one either. Import tax on such an item make a brand new foreign purchase and import from B+H sadly out of the question. I go to the UK every year, still might be the best bet and then bring it back with me. Alas, even Amazon UK list them as 'out of stock and discontinued by the manufacturer' and several other of the main UK places that were last hold outs for them say they can't get them. I bet there is a new one in a box somewhere in the UK with warranty. Grays has them 'nearly new' but at Grays prices! Still at least they are very reputable and it beats taking chances on Ebay.

I'll look into it some more this soon this year I think. Should have bought one a couple of years back.

RattyMouse · Jan 25, 2016

B&H only has import F6's in stock. None directly from Nikon and it now shows as back ordered.

AgX · Jan 25, 2016

What does this mean? Grey import without (local) Nikon warranty?

RattyMouse · Jan 25, 2016

AgX said:
What does this mean? Grey import without (local) Nikon warranty?

Correct. Nikon will not warrant any gray market products. Further, it is official Nikon policy to not even work on these cameras at all, even for paid work!

Xmas · Jan 25, 2016

For some years now, in the UK you needed to order one and wait a few months, for it to appear.
Manufacture on demand?

Chris Livsey · Jan 25, 2016

Nikon seem to think it counts as a Pro body:
https://www.nikon.co.uk/sites/NPSApplication/productlist.aspx

Note updated for D5/500 so current list.

chromacomaphoto · Jan 25, 2016

Chris Livsey said:
Nikon seem to think it counts as a Pro body:
https://www.nikon.co.uk/sites/NPSApplication/productlist.aspx

Note updated for D5/500 so current list.

Mmm, interesting that that is still showing on such a very recently updated page isn't it?

Xmas · Jan 26, 2016

chromacomaphoto said:
Mmm, interesting that that is still showing on such a very recently updated page isn't it?

It is still available new? If you want one you go to a Nikon dealer and ask how much and when can I have one...
If it is still being made you may need to wait a month or two.

If it were a Leica MP your dealer might sell you his demonstrator as shop soiled, otherwise you might need to wait.

chromacomaphoto · Jan 26, 2016

Xmas said:
It is still available new? If you want one you go to a Nikon dealer and ask how much and when can I have one...
If it is still being made you may need to wait a month or two.

If it were a Leica MP your dealer might sell you his demonstrator as shop soiled, otherwise you might need to wait.

F6 availability (brand new off the shelf within the U.K. and full Nikon warranty) seems to be a little open for debate at the moment, haven't found one yet. Amazon say no stock and discontinued, Calumet out of stock at every branch nationwide etc.I still think somebody might have one. Mint second hand from Gray's is closest I can find actually in Blighty right now. Somewhat annoyingly I was in London back in October and was close to Gray's at one point and didn't think of it. To be fair I did manage to go and see the Sebastio Salgado exhibition at The Photographer's Gallery that day so I shan't feel too bad about the photographic side of the holiday.

BMbikerider · Jan 26, 2016

Henning Serger said:
There have been indeed more than 34,000 F6 made so far.
I've have contacts to several F6 users, and we have compared our serial numbers.
So far we've seen / got reports of F6s with the following serial numbers:

0000099
0000153
0000794
0008926
0027401
0028548
0031467
0033800
0034102
0034130

If you look at both the first and the last number left and right (besides the zeros), they are all different, therefore no coding here. That are the real production numbers.
Most of the cameras have been produced in 2004 - 2007. We've seen brand new F6 in the 27 - 28 thousand serial number range in 2007.
That accorded with the report in "Chasseur d'Image", that in second half of 2007 the monthly production has been 200 units.
And the last serial numbers we've seen in the last two years accord very well with the latest report I've mentioned in my first post, reporting that the current production is 50 units every month.
After the introduction in 2004 and in 2005/06 quite a lot professionals have bought the F6. Mostly portrait / wedding and travel, nature / wildlife photographers (got that info independantly from two distributers and a Nikon rep.).

Best regards,
Henning

My F6 has a serial number midway between 8926 and 27401. I bought it about a year used but ago, fully boxed with all the bits and pieces, some still sealed. just how old would you recon the camera is? Needles to say it was still in mint condition On the LED screen at the back it shows that 225 cassettes have been used of which about 140 are down to me. Oh yes it is still in mint condition

RattyMouse · Jan 26, 2016

I'm not sure why anyone would buy a new Nikon F6. Used copies in mint condition sell for $800 or less. That's an enormous savings allowing for much film to be purchased.

Chris Livsey · Jan 26, 2016

Same reason some people buy new cars, mint condition used sell for much less, allows a lot of fuel to be bought.

chromacomaphoto · Jan 26, 2016

Now I'm just seriously thinking about buying the latest serial number mint F5 I can find and taking my chances until it dies to be honest.

Ai Print · Jan 26, 2016

chromacomaphoto said:
Now I'm just seriously thinking about buying the latest serial number mint F5 I can find and taking my chances until it dies to be honest.

The F series cameras were built to pound tons of film through day in day out, sometimes in high speed bursts, that's it, otherwise there is no real *need* for the build, especially how price conscious about film folks are these days. I had an F4s I bought new in 1990 and sold it 12 years later after putting nearly 6,000 rolls through it, great camera. Because you can go with a smaller grip and still use AA batteries in it, I would choose that over the F5 & F6.

The F6 would be the only Nikon F series body I have never owned or never wanted to.
Needing a pair of CR123A lithiums to operate in it's slimmer no vertical grip mode with rather poor battery life makes it somewhat expensive to run in regards to power supply.

Unless you need the speed and the vertical grip, I would pass on the F5 too and get an F100. It's inexpensive, built well, great feature set and works wonderfully with the very latest Nikon glass except for the new "E" types which are just starting to arrive.

HiHoSilver · Jan 26, 2016

What makes me covet the 6 is the VR function. 'Gives several stops more useable light. My experience on the digital side convinced me it would be worth the extra $$. When I'll have that extra is another & likely longer story.

Theo Sulphate · Jan 27, 2016

HiHoSilver said:
What makes me covet the 6 is the VR function. 'Gives several stops more useable light. My experience on the digital side convinced me it would be worth the extra $$. When I'll have that extra is another & likely longer story.

Nikon F5 allows full functionality of VR lenses also.

HiHoSilver · Jan 27, 2016

I didn't know that, Theo. Thank You! 'Wish the F4 did. 'Would be alot more gentle on the wallet.

skorpiius · Jan 27, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
Nikon F5 allows full functionality of VR lenses also.

HiHoSilver said:
I didn't know that, Theo. Thank You! 'Wish the F4 did. 'Would be alot more gentle on the wallet.

Nikon F100 does as well

Total VR compatibility list:

N/F65, N/F75, N/F80, F100, F5, f6

BMbikerider · Jan 27, 2016

I had to speak to a company in London - Grays of Westminster - who deal in nothing but Nikon and what they don't know is probably not worth concerning yourself about. They also have direct links to Nikon in Japan. Whilst I was talking about my F6, without being asked during the conversation they stated:- The manufacture of the F6 has stopped no more are being made.

If you haven't hear of them have a look at:-

http://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/index.php

Short report about the current Nikon F6 production in Sendai

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