What to look for in buying a used F6?

[chip j]

I'm going to buy one for less than $1000 from ebay, I think.

 

[fstop]

Ther big retailers have used depts. and warrenty their equipmwnt, check B&H ,Adorama ect.

 

[Huss]

Get one that has the Nikon USA gold sticker under the ISO program flap. That guarantees it is a USA model and can be serviced by Nikon USA.

Here's a pic of mine:

 

[mweintraub]

When taking out the batteries and putting them back in, does the date/time reset? Not a big issue, but my F6's internal battery is dead. Only an annoyance.

 

[carlostaiwan]

Why the F6 and not the F100? Just curious, I had both in my hands and I can't justify the price different, except if its to collect them

 

[chip j]

I HAD a F100--the piece-of-crap back broke, + I want Matrix w/my manual focus lenses.

 

[Harry Stevens]

I get spot and center metering with my manual lenses on my F90 only paid £12.00 for it.Funny thing is I get more enjoyment out of shooting a 70 year old folding 120 bellows camera and using just sunny 16.

 

[Chris Livsey]

Don't take any notice of the film count, it can be reset to any value by the user.

 

[Huss]

Why the F6 and not the F100? Just curious, I had both in my hands and I can't justify the price different, except if its to collect them

I have the F6 and the F100. The F100 is very nice, and very cheap. The F6 is nicer, and very expensive.

I bought my F100 for $125 (saw the ad on Fredmiranda.com and jumped on it) and the real range is $150- $175.

To me, ignoring build quality, AF performance, meter performance, the F6's main advantages over the F100 are I can program the AE lock so it remains on until I turn it off, or the camera is turned off. The F100 releases the AE lock after an exposure. The F6 also has a much nicer VF with the best manual focus screen out there if you need it. If I need to override AF, I just spin the focus ring on the lens and the electronic AF aids in the VF are still active. With the F100 you can't do that if you want the aids. You need to flip the little lever to MF on the side of the camera first. And I can program it to leave the film leader out after rewinding. (As well as rewind manually to save batteries). Both my F100 and F6 use CR2s (the F100 came with that insert for the battery chamber) and the rechargeable batteries last 30+ rolls per charge.

But those are all reasons why the F6 is so much more expensive. I love my F100 and still cannot believe that you can get a camera this good for this little money. I briefly had an F4 before the F100 and hated it. Mainly the ergos - felt like holding a really big heavy bar of soap.

 

[film_man]

Why the F6 and not the F100? Just curious, I had both in my hands and I can't justify the price different, except if its to collect them

Because if you don't have to justify the difference why not. Man asks what to look out when buying a F6, half the internets replies "why buy an F6"...

 

[carlostaiwan]

Because if you don't have to justify the difference why not. Man asks what to look out when buying a F6, half the internets replies "why buy an F6"...

I gues you are right haha, I'm always on a tight tight budget, ,my decission was in between the F801 and the F100. And even I love the F801 I went for the F100, because I wanted to try something new.
90% of the time I use the F100 with spot-metering and a 28mm f2.8 as a backup for the FM.

 

[Chris Livsey]

Because if you don't have to justify the difference why not. Man asks what to look out when buying a F6, half the internets replies "why buy an F6"...

Happens every time, few exact models attract quite so much attention. Leica generally, not specifically ( I may make an exception for the M5 but that was an exception anyway) but the two symbols F&6 together always seem to act as a magnet in any forum. There seems to be a feeling that the F6 has no right to have been made at all let alone bought by any photographer it's a very interesting phenomena.
Full disclosure : I have one of each ( not the M5 )

 

[LeftCoastKid]

Check the command and sub-command dials for proper function. Repair/replacement for either is $300+ (just replaced my command dial board). The camera saw nine years' of heavy use, so I'm not complaining...