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

[Ste_S]

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!

Funnily enough I have the exact same feeling re my F801 and F4

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have had no stickiness problems with the F100. By the way it takes four AA batteries, not lithium batteries.

 

[BMbikerider]

Apart from my F100, I have a F6 as well. I have had a couple of F4 's in the past and they were terrific, but again just too heavy for every day use. Even the F6 when carrying three of the Nikon lenses (20/35mm F2.8 and the 35/70mm plus a not so good, but workable 70/300AFD) I know you I am carrying a weight which I can do without. The F6 may go because I yearn after a good F2a and they can use all the AF lenses I have. Plus the Lithium CR123 batteries are not available around where I live, so have to send away for them. LR44's for an F2a are available everywhere

 

[M. Axel Wikstrom]

F100 for me. Love it.

For the size and weight of an F5 I might as well use a medium format camera and get nice big negatives.

 

[vlasta]

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.

Talcum powder is white coloured.
Does exterior of cameras also become white?

 

[Sirius Glass]

F100 for me. Love it.

For the size and weight of an F5 I might as well use a medium format camera and get nice big negatives.

+1

 

[Pieter12]

F100 for me. Love it.

For the size and weight of an F5 I might as well use a medium format camera and get nice big negatives.

Depends on what you intend to shoot. Long, fast telephotos are generally not available for medium format cameras, nor are high-rate motors.

 

[cooltouch]

Talcum powder is white coloured.
Does exterior of cameras also become white?

No, it becomes translucent once it adheres to the stickiness.

 

[M. Axel Wikstrom]

Depends on what you intend to shoot. Long, fast telephotos are generally not available for medium format cameras, nor are high-rate motors.

I can put those same long fast telephotos on the F100, and the motor rate is almost as fast. And I have no use for a fast motor drive anyway.

 

[Pieter12]

I can put those same long fast telephotos on the F100, and the motor rate is almost as fast. And I have no use for a fast motor drive anyway.

I was referencing the comment about for the weight, you might as well be using a medium format camera.

 

[MultiFormat Shooter]

The F6 may go...the Lithium CR123 batteries are not available around where I live, so have to send away for them.

Slap an MB-40 on it and use AA's...problem solved!

 

[BMbikerider]

Slap an MB-40 on it and use AA's...problem solved!

I may as well have bought a F5!!! More bulk and more weight with a power pack, that's why I went for the F6 anyway. CR123's have a very long shelf life, so for the time being I will buy them in bulk and I will only have to send away once a year .

 

[MultiFormat Shooter]

I may as well have bought a F5!!! More bulk and more weight with a power pack, that's why I went for the F6 anyway. CR123's have a very long shelf life, so for the time being I will buy them in bulk and I will only have to send away once a year .

I love my F6 with the MB-40; I also have an F5. The F6 has better autofocus, an easier-to-access menu, and updated meter algorithms.

 

[BMbikerider]

Since my last post I have discovered that a nation wide tool and building suppliers (in UK called Screwfix) also sell CR123 batteries in packs of 10 and they are about half price the photographic dealers sell them for. Apparently they are used quite widely in alarms and electrical triggers used to operate electrical doors etc.

 

[Russ - SVP]

I have had no stickiness problems with the F100. By the way it takes four AA batteries, not lithium batteries.

Lithium batteries are MUCH lighter and impervious to cold weather.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

There are battery sizes, such as AA, and battery technology. AA lithium batteries can be bought almost anywhere now and have advantages in photo use.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

F-100 because it is lighter, does not need the heavy battery pack, easier to handle and oh yes the F-100 is the best AF film camera Nikon made.

This interested me.... Why is it the best AF? I would think the AF was improved in the F6, was it not?

 

[Sirius Glass]

This interested me.... Why is it the best AF? I would think the AF was improved in the F6, was it not?

Well for starters I would not need a wheel barrow because of the battery weight. F-100 was the best 35mm AF that Nikon built, while the F6 was built to satisfy machine gunning photographers, even to the F100 had automatic film advance and the ability to take a burst of photographs. Why have batteries to handle machine gun spraying when a roll of film maxed out at 36 photographs?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Well for starters I would not need a wheel barrow because of the battery weight. F-100 was the best 35mm AF that Nikon built, while the F6 was built to satisfy machine gunning photographers, even to the F100 had automatic film advance and the ability to take a burst of photographs. Why have batteries to handle machine gun spraying when a roll of film maxed out at 36 photographs?

Ah so you're talking about the camera as a whole. I thought you were referring to the AF system.

 

[Joseph Bell]

I adore the F100 and recommend it highly. The lithium AAs did not fail me, not even when I was out for hours last winter in -15 Celsius + windchill. My only complaint is the low number of AF points (compared to the F6, for example) but I suppose I feel like a churlish ingrate, complaining over such a thing. The camera has a terrific meter, a lovely viewfinder, reliable autofocus, useful customizable options, etc. Quite often they can be had for reasonable prices.

 

[pentaxuser]

Ah so you're talking about the camera as a whole. I thought you were referring to the AF system.

Yes, me too Christopher and like you I was curious about why the F100 was the best AF as opposed to the best camera that also has AF. Still all cleared up now

pentaxuser

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Yes, me too Christopher and like you I was curious about why the F100 was the best AF as opposed to the best camera that also has AF. Still all cleared up now

pentaxuser

I have both now, and want to sell one. I’m leaning towards keeping the F100 because of the removable grip. It’s just an easier camera to carry around. But I also like the lightening fast speed of the F5. My only complaint with the F5 is its size. I’ve got to figure out what’s more important.

 

[pentaxuser]

I have both now, and want to sell one. I’m leaning towards keeping the F100 because of the removable grip. It’s just an easier camera to carry around. But I also like the lightening fast speed of the F5. My only complaint with the F5 is its size. I’ve got to figure out what’s more important.

Well if it helps I have been researching the speeds of the cameras used at the Robinson v LaMotta fights and they seemed to be Speed Graphics with flash bulbs that were fired within a few feet of the fighters at the critical moments and had slower speeds than either of the Nikons and yet caught some famous moments in the "fight game". If fired even a split second early it must have blinded them temporarily and it might explain how LaMotta was able to knock Robinson out of the ring in one of the fights. What remains a mystery is how the Speed Graphics were able to pick up Jake saying" Can't knock me down Ray" What is even more surprising is how, having been battered by Ray Robinson, Jake remained on Christian Name terms with him or was that Robert talking to another actor. I do get confused at times

However I digress a little. What it does show is that maybe, except in the most extreme of circumstances the speed and AF of the F100 is more than enough for action shots and lighter to boot than the F5. Of course on the other hand the F100 doesn't quite have the "heft" of the F5 which in turn doesn't have the "heft" of a Speed Graphic with those 200W bulbs in their chrome dishes which when they flashed were second only to prison searchlights looking for Cody Jarrett

Goodnight and Good Luck America wherever you are

pentaxuser

pentaxuser

 

[Huss]

I adore the F100 and recommend it highly. .. The camera has a terrific meter,....

I did prefer the meter in my F100 to my F6. The F100 was biased to colour neg film, while the F6 is biases to colour reversal film. As I mainly shoot neg film, I set my exp comp to +1/2 on the F6

 

[90s Photog]

Own both. Have shot both professionally. The F5 hands down. It is simply a better camera. It will run your lenses faster in auto focus mode and give you more flexibility in the long run.