Nikon F came in the post.

Alex_Holland · Apr 23, 2011

This will keep me happy for a little while.

Derrel · Apr 23, 2011

Ah, I know that camera model well!!! It was always kind of fund to disassemble,and brush/blow out to keep it clean and free from dust. Your new FTN appears to be in decent cosmetic shape,from what we can see. That 50mm f/2 lens is not too shabby of a performer either; at f/5.6 it's quite nice.

Alex_Holland · Apr 23, 2011

Thanks for the kind words Derrel,

The finder gave me some trouble at first to get off, but reminder of the "nothing on a camera requires extreme force" rule eventually lead to its safe removal.

It's not in "Perfect" condition. There is one very very slight knock on the side of the finder, that I didn't even notice until my father found it while looking it over. Very small.

I like the f/2. The guy I bought it from had about ten of these bodies in black and chrome with assorted lenses. (One to go with each body). He had a real money-maker F. It was a black body with FTn finder and a 50mm 1.4 lens. But I couldn't afford it, so I settled for the 2 which seems good so far.

I also ordered some 1.3V Zinc-Air Wein Cell batterys that should be here in a few days. Hand meter for now.

Alex_Holland · Apr 23, 2011

And I got a 28mm f/2.8 on the watchlist on ebay right now (;

Derrel · Apr 23, 2011

I do not see the meter coupling prong on the lens...is it still on there? It looks like it might have been removed. Of course, you can push the coupler in the metering prism "up", and also meter stopped-down. And, should you desire, you can remove the Nikon nameplate on the body by removing the two small screws, and by removing that, the newer F2-series metering prisms will fit on, thus giving you access to a meter that will use regular batteries.

Alex_Holland · Apr 23, 2011

It's there, just hard to see in this photograph because of the weird light. I took the meter off and I see what you mean by removing the Nikon plate. I don't know if I can afford another viewfinder right now, but that is definitely something to think about... What type of batts do the F2 meters use...?

Derrel · Apr 23, 2011

Oops, brain fart on that!!! The F2's batteries go into the baseplate of the camera, two A-76 1.5 volt batteries....I've got an F floating around here with a DP-11 (i.e. F2-A finder) finder on it, but it doesn't meter! it was last used back when, lemme see, I think it was when President Bush the First was in office...I got that body for $59, without a prism or viewfinder screen, and later picked up the DP-11 at a good price and plopped it on there after removing the Nikon plate on the old F. The F-body that you have had some neat stuff made for it, like Nikon film cartridges, which were felt-less, permanently reusable "cartridges". There are also lots of fun viewfinder screen available. The old, plain, meterless "F" prism is also kinda' fun to shoot with. I hope you have a lot of fun with that camera. I always found that the original F was a good shooter for me...I could see through the viewfinder pretty well, and the shutter release seemed pretty smooth, so I could shoot mine down to the slow speed range without much problem. One odd trick: if you turn the mirror lock-up switch to Lock-up, the mirror will not go up until you press the shutter release button--but you don;t have to press it all the way...you can lightly 'tap" the shutter release button, and the mirror will swing up, but not release the shutter....kind of an off-list, oddball quirk. Oh, and always keep in mind--the F is a deadly weapon if you are attacked!!! Any one of its multiple sharp edged-corners will break bone when the camera is swung on its strap!!!

Alex_Holland · Apr 23, 2011

It definitely looks like the best camera to take on those "shady night-time street-photography bouts". Leave the pepper spray at home...

I was looking into getting a waist-level finder for it, just because I like the charm of that sort of thing, but for now I'm just waiting on my over-priced batteries.

compur · Apr 23, 2011

I used to use a Nikon F for eBay photos back in the 1990s when eBay first started. I had a table-top set up and I'd shoot with a waist-level "finder" and table top tripod. I'd use color neg film and bring it to a "one-hour" lab, then come home and scan the prints. Later I moved to an F2 which I liked better because of its better mirror lock-up mechanism and by then labs would scan the negs for me for a couple bucks more and give them to me on a "floppy."

But anyway, the F is a great camera and it's unusual to find one that doesn't work, even today (except for the meters anyway). I can't say the same about Leicas of the same period despite their "German precision" (though I still like them anyway too).