Show me some meterless Nikon F Love

blockend · Apr 18, 2016

guangong said:
Nikon f with plain prizm snd pancake lens makes a wonderfully pocketable slr.

Kudos to your tailor!

GarageBoy · Apr 18, 2016

I love the look of the f and plain prism, but the f2as is the one for me. The 24 2.8 is not great by modern standards, but was a photojournalist/newspaper fave

kivis · Apr 18, 2016

guangong said:
Nikon f with plain prizm snd pancake lens makes a wonderfully pocketable slr. However，photomic metered nikons are ugly and unwieldy. Why would snyone want to load up such a marvelous design with ungainly motors and other unnecessary stuff. Put an 85mm in the other pocket and you are set. If I want internal meter I use that other gorgeous slr，leicaflex sl or sl2. Of course suffering from my own GAS symptoms I have way too many nikon lenses but my excuse is my nikormats.

Different strokes for different folks.

flavio81 · Apr 18, 2016

Great thread. I have a black Nikon F with the plain prism and I love it, perhaps it's the best Nikon. Sadly i don't have pics here.

chip j said:
28mm 3.5 AI--easier to focus than AIS.

I have the 28/3.5 pre-AI and i don't find it easy to focus at all!! But on the other hand it has a unique look. I think it's easier to scale-focus with that lens.

flavio81 · Apr 18, 2016

blockend said:
The plain prism F has no competition for prettiest mechanical SLR.

I say my Canon F-1 (original model) is even prettier (!) But the Nikon makes a much prettier shutter sound.

chip j · Apr 18, 2016

The 28 3.5 AI, like all AIs, has a longer focus throw than AIS.

Theo Sulphate · Apr 18, 2016

On my FT2 I've currently attached a pre-AI 28/3.5 - focusing is very swift (essentially no damping - maybe that's just my lens). Depth of field is very wide, as you may be able to see from the scale.

Plain-prism F's and Nikkormats are indeed beautiful.

rwreich · Apr 18, 2016

My favorite unmetered Nikon:

Huss · Apr 18, 2016

flavio81 said:
I say my Canon F-1 (original model) is even prettier (!) But the Nikon makes a much prettier shutter sound.

And the Minolta SR1s is prettier still..

(I also have the Nikon F and F2 with plain prisms. The Minolta looks like some kind of Art Deco masterpiece)

chip j · Apr 18, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
On my FT2 I've currently attached a pre-AI 28/3.5 - focusing is very swift (essentially no damping - maybe that's just my lens). Depth of field is very wide, as you may be able to see from the scale.

Plain-prism F's and Nikkormats are indeed beautiful.

View attachment 154820

The 2 I've had are tight!

narsuitus · Apr 18, 2016

Les Sarile said:
How did you conduct the comparison and do you have any results that you can share?

28mm Lenses Tested:
Nikon f/2.8
Nikon f/4 perspective control
Nikon f/3.5 pre-AI
Pentax f/3.5
Vivitar f/2.5 screw mount
Vivitar f/2.5 TX mount
Zeiss f/2
Nikon 20-35mm auto focus at 28mm focal length

Tripod mounted Fuji X-Pro1 camera body with appropriate adapter
Lighting - 3 Yongnuo flash units with dome diffuser lighting subject and room
Sun white balance
ISO 400
1/60 sec shutter speed
f/8 aperture
2-meter subject to image plane distance

Les Sarile · Apr 18, 2016

narsuitus said:
Tripod mounted Fuji X-Pro1 camera body with appropriate adapter

IMO, many qualifiers on the results. In any case outside the boundaries of this site.

John_Nikon_F · Apr 19, 2016

Same F shown earlier. With a 28/3.5 Nikkor-H. The F, F2, and F3 variants shown are what I'd consider the most impressive examples of each generation. So, F eyelevel, F2AS, and F3P. Also shown is one of my previous Nikomat FT2 bodies, an old F4, and a previous F5. Only body that's still here is the F2AS. The F3P was too minty, so it went to BradleyK. I currently own one that's slightly less minty, but also much closer in serial to my first F3P.

-J

Steve Smith · Apr 19, 2016

Steve Smith said:
I have two Fs, one black, one white.

White?!! What was I on?

Obviously, I meant chrome.

Steve.

Theo Sulphate · Apr 19, 2016

Steve Smith said:
I have two Fs, one black, one white...

Steve Smith said:
White?!! What was I on?

Ilford FP4?

Theo Sulphate · Apr 19, 2016

John_Nikon_F said:

That lens in the corner... 180/2.8 ?

John_Nikon_F · Apr 19, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
That lens in the corner... 180/2.8 ?

300/4.5 EDIF AIS, IIRC. Details can be found by clicking on the pic. Got everything listed there.

Sold that lens to get a 180/2.8 ED at the 2014 swap meet when Jared Williams (the son of the eBay seller microbee who used to do AI conversions) was getting rid of his late father's Nikon collection. Should've bought the 300/4.5 ED non-IF pre-AI Nikkor that he had at the same price instead... Rare bird, and supposedly the best of the 300/4.5 Nikkors.

-J

mweintraub · Apr 19, 2016

Crappy cell phone shot here -> Cover shot for Return To Film
https://www.facebook.com/Return-to-Film-230256707305501

ColColt · Apr 19, 2016

The old Canon F-1 was a super nice looking camera, IMHO, and one I nearly bought even if it did have those mercury batteries. They were available then.

blockend · Apr 20, 2016

APUGuser19 said:
The Canon F-1 IS a tough looking camera. Though I'm not into Canons, but it's still a pretty nice machine.

The old F-1 is a good camera, but it's a beast and even makes Nikon's pro cameras look cute.

GarageBoy · Apr 20, 2016

The old f1 has a film advance mechanism to die for - and the shutter was so well braked

MontanaJay · Apr 20, 2016

I bought my first Nikon F almost new from a returning Vietnam vet in 1969. It had an FTN meter that died and I replaced with a straight prism. Picked up another F body in college before embarking on a 30-year newspaper career.
I usually kept a 35 on one and a 105 on the other and learned to eyeball ASA 400.
In the late 1980s I got an FM in anticipation one of the Fs would die, but they never did and I still have them all today.
I once dropped one and it tumbled down a dozen concrete steps and suffered only a few scratches. What camera today would survive such abuse?

ColColt · Apr 20, 2016

I have three of the old FTN Photomics...one is black and near pristine. Meters function as intended but one reads about 1/2-1 full stop stop underexposed. No problem, just set ASA dial accordingly or get the MR-9 setup. Robust cameras as it gets and a mite heavy but not as big/heavy as the old F-1.

cramej · Apr 20, 2016

blockend said:
Kudos to your tailor!

And R.I.P. to your belt...

Huss · Apr 22, 2016

MontanaJay said:
I once dropped one and it tumbled down a dozen concrete steps and suffered only a few scratches. What camera today would survive such abuse?

A GoPro. And those are waterproof too. Top that Nikon F!

Show me some meterless Nikon F Love

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