Which would you choose -- the Nikon F5 or the F100?

Toyo · Sep 30, 2018

cooltouch said:
Sirius, I haven't handled either one. I know the F5 is large. If it is ergonomic as the F4, then I will find it comfortable. One thing I've never cared for, really, has been compact cameras. About the smallest cameras I feel comfortable with are ones such as the Canon A-1, AE-1P, or the Nikon FE/FE2/FM/FM2/FM2n. Cameras like the Pentax MX are too small for me and my hand feels all scrunched up. Same was true with my first DSLR -- a Canon Rebel XS. I bought a battery grip for it that really helped in the comfort department. Anyway, I mention this because I've never handled an F100 and I'm concerned it might not be so comfortable if it is a compact camera. Addition of the MB-16 will help, for sure.

The way things work with me -- or have in the past -- is I'll get the camera that I feel is most important for my needs first, and then later I'll get the other one, just so I'll have all bases covered, so to speak. So I think what I'll do when I have the spare funds (I just blew my savings on another project, so it's gonna be a while, and I don't like doing credit), I'm gonna pick up an F5 and then later I'll get an F100.

For me, it isn't so much the F5's high shutter speed or motor drive throughput, as it is other features. Interchangeable finders, a wide array of focusing screens, true mirror lock up, blazing fast focusing speed -- all these are most important to me. So in these respects, the F5 edges out the F100.

Michael, I know that you have an F4s, but keep in mind that the F5 is a whole order of magnitude larger than it.
You may very well like it for sure, but it is large in a volumetric kind of way rather than in mass.
Like you I have big hands and was not ever prepared to accommodate the likes of a small Pentax ....... until a friend gave me a Pentax ME Super.
I really thought that it would be something to pass along to someone else - however it has grown on me to the point that if I travel light, it is the camera of choice.
T

Theo Sulphate · Sep 30, 2018

Michael,

Perhaps there could be an opportunity to handle the two cameras if there is a swap meet coming up in your area or maybe even a nearby APUG member. Are there any actual photo stores in your area that may carry high-end used film equipment? For example, in Portland there's Pro Photo Supply which is overwhelmingly digital in orientation, but they still sell the better old film cameras.

cooltouch · Oct 2, 2018

Pentaxuser, that's a good question and a valid point. I like the perspective all the viewpoints provide. Because, for sure, if I wouldn't have asked the question, I wouldn't have learned why people made the choices they did. But further, reading others' preferences has caused me to ponder on the two machines and think a bit harder as to what my uses would likely be. And one of the things I kept coming back to was its focusing speed and AF sensor array. From what I've been able to ascertain from here and other things I've read, the F100 focuses very fast, but the F5 focuses even faster. And it focuses accurately. All this gets back to one of my passions, which is motorsports. Back when I was very active in photography, I spent at least a couple weekends a month at the track, or at airshows. I developed a simple trick for getting fast race cars in focus -- trap focusing. I'd prefocus on a specific spot on the track and then snap the photo as the car entered that zone. That worked very well, but I was seldom prepared for spontaneous occurrences. This is when a fast focusing and accurate AF camera is worth its weight -- literally.

For all I know at this juncture, the F100 might be adequate in this type of scenario. But I don't know if it will or not. I do know that the F5 will, provided it lives up to its specifications. Up the road a piece from me (about a 3 hour drive) is Austin, Texas with its relatively new modern race marvel -- the Circuit of the Americas, where the US Formula 1 Grand Prix and Motorcycle Grand Prix races are now held. One of the best tracks in the world for motorsports. I haven't made it up there yet for any races, but it's definitely on my short list. And I'd like to have a proper camera to bring along with me for the races. I have a good digital but I don't have any suitable AF lenses for it, so when I use it, I'll be shooting with MF lenses -- trap focusing. But shooting film will be fun, especially if I've loaded myself up with a bunch of the new Ektachrome. It if's as good as Kodak's Elite Chrome, which was the last E-6 formulation they had before discontinuing it, it'll be worth it. Elite Chrome was some really good stuff. An F5 with the new Ektachrome at the races -- I start getting excited just thinking about it.

cooltouch · Oct 2, 2018

Toyo said:
Michael, I know that you have an F4s, but keep in mind that the F5 is a whole order of magnitude larger than it.
You may very well like it for sure, but it is large in a volumetric kind of way rather than in mass.
Like you I have big hands and was not ever prepared to accommodate the likes of a small Pentax ....... until a friend gave me a Pentax ME Super.
I really thought that it would be something to pass along to someone else - however it has grown on me to the point that if I travel light, it is the camera of choice.
T

I've never used an ME Super, although I did use an ME some. I didn't really care for it because it didn't have any manual capability, but I know that this is where the ME Sper excels. I have an MX, though, which has the capabilities that the ME lacked and the Super has, plus it's the same form factor as the ME/ME Super. I finally scored a winder recently for my MX, which helps a lot as far as comfort goes. Without that winder, it's just a bit too small for me. I've spent so many years with larger cameras, such as the Canon FTb and F-1 and later the Nikon F2 and F3 with motor drives that I still find these larger camera systems to be more comfortable -- despite their size and weight. Even today, a few decades beyond when I was really in the thick of things, I still prefer the larger form factors. I find it surprising that the F5 is even bigger than the F4, but I'm used to shooting with F2s and MD2/MB1 drives and the old Canon F-1s with their monster-sized Motor Drive MFs, so I'd be surprised if the F5 outweighs those systems. But even if it's bigger, as long as it's ergonomic, and I have no reason to suspect it isn't, just looking at photos of it, I'm sure I can handle it.

cooltouch · Oct 2, 2018

Theo Sulphate said:
Michael,

Perhaps there could be an opportunity to handle the two cameras if there is a swap meet coming up in your area or maybe even a nearby APUG member. Are there any actual photo stores in your area that may carry high-end used film equipment? For example, in Portland there's Pro Photo Supply which is overwhelmingly digital in orientation, but they still sell the better old film cameras.

Theo, unfortunately Houston is entirely bereft of camera shows. There used to be a big one held here once a year, but it died out years ago. We have one true camera shop left in this town and it does cater to the pro element. They have good assortments of used stuff, but it changes regularly. These days, most of their used gear is digital. But yours is a good suggestion. They probably do get F5s and F100s in there from time to time. It will just be a matter of me being there at the right time. Did Nikon produce a digital equivalent to the F5 and/or the F100? If so, I might have better luck finding one of those there -- I could at least handle one to get some idea of size and weight.

Theo Sulphate · Oct 2, 2018

Trap focus, or "focus priority" (for shutter release) can be done on the F5 automatically via the MF-28 back:

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/NikonF5/MF28Manual/index6.htm

The MF-23 does the same thing on the F4.

I've not been able to find such a multifunction back for the F100, nor does the F100 seem to have this feature as an inherent function.

I know you've been doing trap focus manually, but having it done automatically at electronic speeds is appealing.

faberryman · Oct 2, 2018

It sounds like you have a good handle on the differences, and the pluses and minuses of each. Only you can decide which is best suited for you. The fact that someone else prefers one or the other shouldn't enter into the equation.

Photoguy365 · Oct 14, 2018

F5 all day long. I own both the F5 and the F100. The F100 is my least favorite Nikon out of all the Nikons that I have owned. The F5 was designed to be a professional camera. There are no compromises with its design... ok, there is one major flaw- but its is a flaw for both the F5 and F100. The lack of metering support for older lenses. I personally prefer larger cameras, as I feel they offer a more stable platform for larger lenses. If you are working with fast moving subjects, the F5 is a joy to work with. The AF is fast and accurate. I can tell you that the F100 with the MB15 is not as solid feeling as the F5. For the price that the F5 is going for these days, there is little reason not to own the last true Nikon pro camera.

cooltouch · Oct 15, 2018

Well I bought a camera. It wasn't the one I wanted, it was the one I could afford. Yep, I bought an F100. I just couldn't find any good deals on F5s that weren't beat to death, so I just decided, reluctantly, that it would have to wait. Hey, I can always sell the F100 later when I get the F5, I tell myself.

Actually, I found a good deal on an F100. It was priced about in the middle of the pack -- about right for its condition, which is what I'd call Exc in the old Shutterbug parlance. But! This particular F100 comes with a 70-300/4-5.6 D ED lens. I already have one of these lenses, so what I plan to do is a comparison between the two to see if there's a noticeable difference, and put the weaker of the two up for sale on eBay. That will recoup a substantial portion of what I paid for the F100.

I hope I like this camera. It will fit nicely between my F4 and my N80, but hopefully will outperform both by a comfortable margin.

Photoguy365 · Oct 15, 2018

I wish you luck with the F100. Be very aware that coming from the F4, there will be lenses that you loved with that camera that will give you serious issues with the F100. I learned the hard way at a wedding that older lenses and third party lenses that aren't AF-D or newer will only work well in spot metering.

cooltouch · Oct 16, 2018

Interesting. Well, that's good to know. At least older lenses will work on the F100, which is more than I can say for the N80, perhaps its biggest drawback. I don't think this camera will come with a manual, so I d/l'd a pdf from Mike Butkus's site.

Ste_S · Oct 17, 2018

Photoguy365 said:
I wish you luck with the F100. Be very aware that coming from the F4, there will be lenses that you loved with that camera that will give you serious issues with the F100. I learned the hard way at a wedding that older lenses and third party lenses that aren't AF-D or newer will only work well in spot metering.

AI/AIS lenses should be fine in centre weighted metering, A/S/M and manual focus no ? I have a F801 and don't have issues with AI/AIS outside of not being able to use auto focus, programme mode or matrix metering.

film_man · Oct 17, 2018

F100 is a great camera. Enjoy.

cooltouch · Oct 18, 2018

It's supposed to be here on Saturday. I'm going to an airshow this weekend and I was thinking about bringing a film camera. I was originally planning on going Saturday. Maybe I'll wait for the Sunday show instead. It would be nice to put the F100 through its paces at an event where its capabilities can be really put to the test.

cooltouch · Oct 22, 2018

Well, as luck would have it, the F100 arrived on Friday afternoon. I decided to wait til Sunday to attend the airshow anyway, but it was because the weather forecast for Saturday was bad. I went on Sunday and the weather was much nicer. And I took the F100 along with an AF-D 70-300 ED. I shot only one roll with it -- a roll of Velvia 50 -- so it's gonna have to wait until I buy another set of E6 chemicals before I know how things turned out (I develop my own E6 these days).

I do have some impressions to report, though. First of all, I was surprised by the heft of the F100. It's definitely not a lightweight, is it? When I was just considering getting an F100, I was also considering that I'd get the MB-15 battery pack to go along with it. I read up on the MB-15 a bit more after I got the camera, and I think the only real advantage to the MB-15 is that it has a vertical shutter release. The increase in motor drive rate is insignificant. And the F100 is already big enough and heavy enough where the added size and mass isn't necessary.

The F100's AF system worked well as I tracked aircraft, but I found out only after I got home about its dynamic AF sensor selection capability. I knew it had to have this sort of function, but I didn't know how to activate it, so I shot with only one active sensor. I ended up setting the lens to manual focus mode because having the lens rack all the way from close focus to infinity if I missed placing the sensor on an aircraft had become way too annoying. I found it easy to focus in manual mode, at least.

So, overall, my impressions regarding the F100 are positive. I like the heft of the camera and I like that it has some size to it -- it fits comfortably in my large hands. The controls are laid out in a relatively intuitive manner -- as best as can be expected from a push-button interface, I suppose. I appreciate the dials and the rocker dial on the back. The shutter mechanism has a nice, solid sound to it and vibration appears to be minimal. I find the integral 4.5 fps motor to be plenty fast enough for my needs. I own an SB-24 so I'm looking forward to using the camera with that flash.

I wish the F100 had come with a switch to close the viewfinder, however. The little cap that is supposed to fit over the eyepiece wasn't included. Neither was an eyepiece, for that matter. A minor peeve of mine, that. Why is it that most Nikons I run across are missing their eyepieces? I mean, why does a user remove the eyepiece -- ever? This just puzzles me to no end.

Theo Sulphate · Oct 22, 2018

Looking forward to seeing your aircraft photos!

Russ - SVP · Oct 31, 2018

The black focus patches on the F5 suck! Red ones on the F100 are MUCH nicer.

mshchem · Oct 31, 2018

cooltouch said:
Well, as luck would have it, the F100 arrived on Friday afternoon. I decided to wait til Sunday to attend the airshow anyway, but it was because the weather forecast for Saturday was bad. I went on Sunday and the weather was much nicer. And I took the F100 along with an AF-D 70-300 ED. I shot only one roll with it -- a roll of Velvia 50 -- so it's gonna have to wait until I buy another set of E6 chemicals before I know how things turned out (I develop my own E6 these days).

I do have some impressions to report, though. First of all, I was surprised by the heft of the F100. It's definitely not a lightweight, is it? When I was just considering getting an F100, I was also considering that I'd get the MB-15 battery pack to go along with it. I read up on the MB-15 a bit more after I got the camera, and I think the only real advantage to the MB-15 is that it has a vertical shutter release. The increase in motor drive rate is insignificant. And the F100 is already big enough and heavy enough where the added size and mass isn't necessary.

The F100's AF system worked well as I tracked aircraft, but I found out only after I got home about its dynamic AF sensor selection capability. I knew it had to have this sort of function, but I didn't know how to activate it, so I shot with only one active sensor. I ended up setting the lens to manual focus mode because having the lens rack all the way from close focus to infinity if I missed placing the sensor on an aircraft had become way too annoying. I found it easy to focus in manual mode, at least.

So, overall, my impressions regarding the F100 are positive. I like the heft of the camera and I like that it has some size to it -- it fits comfortably in my large hands. The controls are laid out in a relatively intuitive manner -- as best as can be expected from a push-button interface, I suppose. I appreciate the dials and the rocker dial on the back. The shutter mechanism has a nice, solid sound to it and vibration appears to be minimal. I find the integral 4.5 fps motor to be plenty fast enough for my needs. I own an SB-24 so I'm looking forward to using the camera with that flash.

I wish the F100 had come with a switch to close the viewfinder, however. The little cap that is supposed to fit over the eyepiece wasn't included. Neither was an eyepiece, for that matter. A minor peeve of mine, that. Why is it that most Nikons I run across are missing their eyepieces? I mean, why does a user remove the eyepiece -- ever? This just puzzles me to no end.

I have had 2 F100s and 2 F5s. I sold the F100s, they are great cameras. The rubber coverings eventually get sticky. It's not from hand lotion or environmental, it's a degradation of the TP elastomer. I also had problems with the lithium battery. Having just enough voltage to seem fine, then stop part of the way through the roll. Regular replacement of the battery solved this problem. Do yourself a favor and change the battery every X number of rolls. The unsticky F100 is such a great camera, it and a 50 1.4 af-d was my go to vacation camera.
I love my F5s I have rebuilt battery packs, if it had the focusing sensors of the newest DSLRs, it would be as good as any digital (for 36 exposures ). I have gone in my friends camera store, with the F5 on continuous high, hammering away at the young clerks with Tri-X. I would then walk up, turn the back of the camera towards them, then watched , amused, as they tryed to find the LED screen to view the pictures. I have a D3, that I got for 750 bucks a couple years back,very low use. It feels just like the F5, it amazed me.

Bottom line both are amazing, and so inexpensive now. Remember to keep a fresh lithium battery with you. And enjoy a great camera.

darkroommike · Oct 31, 2018

I would take an F5 or even an F4 over the F100. The outer coating turns to goo and the back door latch is made from plastic.

Theo Sulphate · Oct 31, 2018

There was a thread recently about removing such stickiness with isopropyl alcohol. It worked on some bodies. Maybe it works for the F100 as well.

Russ - SVP · Oct 31, 2018

Rechargeable Eneloops work beautifully in the F100, F5 and N90s.

cooltouch · Nov 1, 2018

My F100 had a slight bit of stickiness around the grip area that disappeared once I handled it for a while. I own an N80, and I've owned several of them, and all of them had rather severe stickiness issues. I used talcum powder to cure the problem. I lightly dusted my hands then just handled the cameras all over. My current N80 I've owned for a couple of years now and the stickiness has never returned.

I'm puzzled about mshchem's comments about a lithium battery. My F100 takes four "AA" batteries only, and I loaded it up with four fresh alkalines after it arrived. I expect I should be able to get quite a few rolls from a set of four alkalines. I thought that perhaps there might be an accessory lithium battery, so I looked everywhere on the camera, but I couldn't find one. Or maybe there's a different battery holder that takes a lithium battery? If so, I'm glad my camera came with the "AA" battery holder.

Russ - SVP · Nov 1, 2018

I have three F100 bodies. None have gotten the sticky rubber syndrome yet.

Russ - SVP · Nov 1, 2018

cooltouch said:
My F100 had a slight bit of stickiness around the grip area that disappeared once I handled it for a while. I own an N80, and I've owned several of them, and all of them had rather severe stickiness issues. I used talcum powder to cure the problem. I lightly dusted my hands then just handled the cameras all over. My current N80 I've owned for a couple of years now and the stickiness has never returned.

I'm puzzled about mshchem's comments about a lithium battery. My F100 takes four "AA" batteries only, and I loaded it up with four fresh alkalines after it arrived. I expect I should be able to get quite a few rolls from a set of four alkalines. I thought that perhaps there might be an accessory lithium battery, so I looked everywhere on the camera, but I couldn't find one. Or maybe there's a different battery holder that takes a lithium battery? If so, I'm glad my camera came with the "AA" battery holder.

I found that my F100 worked beautifully with lithium’s or rechargeable batteries.

Charles Escott-New · Nov 1, 2018

A few years back ,I found two auctions on Ebay for an F5 and an F100, from the same seller. They were slightly hidden in the descriptions and ended at a strange time. I put in two low bids of £220 and £120 thinking I might have a chance of the F100 and then forgot it. 5 days later I learnt I had secured both. My initial reaction was panic that my wife would kill me and it took some really creative accounting to hide those buys from sight. The cameras arrived, boxed, in mint condition, they looked like they had never been used. So which one do I prefer? I love the 100 as a carry around, without the battery grip it is compact enough but the 5, boy oh boy I love that camera!. It is the motherload of pro Nikons. I love big cameras, I think I can hold them steadier, my digital is a D4, and I am no muscle man ,being ancient and disabled. If you forced me to keep one camera I would grab the 5.The best of wishes to all of you, Charles. P. S. a light dusting of talc and much fondling cured a slight stickiness on the 100, not returned in 2 years.

Which would you choose -- the Nikon F5 or the F100?

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