What's so good about nikon F2?

[Ronald M]

A well serviced F2 is a pure gem. Get with the later led metered finders or the meterless prism.

All the foam seals are probably goo. I replaced mine with black yarn, plyobond glue.

The mirror stop is now felt as is the seal under eyepiece.

I have seen many F2 Nikons and most are rough and used up or need service. Mine is near mint and operates like a Swiss watch. $200

Got a early Nikormat in same shape, $60. Same heavy pro build as F without inchangeable screen and finder.

Fm and Fe are consumer grade cameras. Not in same league. I have those too.

[loneranger]

That is such a beauty!

Originally Posted by RichW

I have a Nikon F, my first and only SLR (not including DSLRs) and it is a beast but I love it.

I carry it with my Leica (M3 or IIIa) and it is the perfect compliment, the Leica for quick snaps with its quiet shutter and the Nikon for when I have time to compose, focus and check the depth of field preview - snik goes the Leica and CLAK goes the Nikon!

I have the waist level finder and the photomic head but I would love a plain prism (as I dont use the built in meter) but they are just too much to justify at the moment considering the photomic does the same job just with extra baggage



Cheers, Richard

[eurekaiv]

Originally Posted by Teuthida

anybody who buys an f2 when they can buy a mint f5 for the same price needs to have their head examined,

Just because you prefer a computerized, molded plastic, auto-focus camera covered in buttons and dials, doesn't mean someone else is mental if they don't.

[loneranger]

Originally Posted by eurekaiv

Just because you prefer a computerized, molded plastic, auto-focus camera covered in buttons and dials, doesn't mean someone else is mental if they don't.

Totally agree with you eurekaiv,

[biomed]

I purchased my F2 in 1974 and still have it. A few years back I sent it to our head bartender for an overhaul - as good as new now! I put it to use whenever the big SLR mood takes me. The F2 wasn't my first "good" SLR, but it is my favorite.

[mynikonf2]

I have owned alot of cameras over the past 35+/- years but I have always owned a F2. In fact it's always been a F2SB (F2+DP-3) & a F2A (F2+DP-11). With these 2 cameras I can do anything I want photographically, with film.
Take your time and look for a camera in EX+/Mint-, being sold by a reputable source (good return policy a must). It will cost you a little more up front but you will be happier in the long run. That's the beauty of the F2, it's a camera made for the long run, and it's not over yet for the F2.

[mynikonf2]

Here's a nice one that I have been thinking about.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330730739377...ht_5284wt_1185

I'm not related to this sale in anyway but I do know these people and they have been good to deal with.

[steveyork]

I prefer the Leicaflex series of cameras. Functionally, I feel they're better then Nikons (and yes, I have used Nikons), but what I hear about Fs and F2s is that they're very reliable. They're good cameras. You can't go wrong with either an F or F2.

[steveyork]

Originally Posted by Moriturii

Nothing, if you want a perfectly reliable mechanical Nikon SLR get a Nikon FM2n instead. It's built just as good (you can take it to war) and it has 1/4000 shutter.

The eye relief is poor on FM2s.

[steveyork]

Originally Posted by BobYIL

It's the BS created by the collectors.. I have three Nikon F's from the Jurassic era all with plain prisms because they were cheap! I did not want to pay some $60 difference then for the FTn prism while having a pocket lightmeter. Today that stupid plain prism makes more than the body.. Buy the one with Photomic prism if you want an F2, the rest is nonsense..

Nostalgia too. All the old farts dream about the camera they could never afford in their youth. And with a plain prism the Nikon looks pretty. I'm afraid there's a bit of the fondler in most photographers.

[steveyork]

Originally Posted by redisburning

but he already has an RF.

if he doesnt want an accurate finder or macro/long tele lenses then he could save some cash and just stick with what he has.

Creative people tend to get bored easily. They need new experiences. That's one of the reasons why some of us have a bunch of different lenses and camera systems.

[sevo]

Originally Posted by redisburning

but he already has an RF.

if he doesnt want an accurate finder or macro/long tele lenses then he could save some cash and just stick with what he has.

Well, SLRs are accurate beyond and apart from framing issues. Indeed, as I pointed out, a 100% frame is rather inaccurate for most professional applications apart from purely technical photography. That extra bit of margin visible in the finder is lost in projection or third party printing, and will cut into your subject unless you discipline yourself to avoid it...

It doubtlessly is a handy cheat if you subscribe to the "I see so well that I never need to crop" 70's/80's school of black border printing photographic artists. But for one, that stunt was supposed to involve a Leica or other rather inaccurately framing camera and doesn't demonstrate nearly as much talent if you use a finder that displays all of the future print. And for the other, "I never crop" can just as well be interpreted as "I shun every subject that has no 2:3 proportion", so that that fashion has rather lost its former glory.

That said, the bulk of my SLRs (indeed all except for the odd Exakta or two, a FM2n and a lone Canon F-1) are pro Nikons from F to F4. But the only application where I ever felt that 100% finder to be superior was when duplicating...

[dave lackey]

Rich,
I love that waist level finder...looks like I need to forego eating a couple of weeks to fund that next KEH purchase for my F2....

[Ronny]

2 Nikon F is better than one Nikon F2
B&W + C.


Nikon F by Ronny Persson, on Flickr

[raid]

I sold my Nikon F and FTN prism, but I kept my user condition chrome F2 with basic finder. I think of it like a Nikon ikon (it rhymes)

[Calzone]

Originally Posted by loneranger

So why are these priced so high, when almost all other film slr can be had for a lot less. What is a fair price for a silver one with the small prism? The lowest price I can find is around $700. It looks like the larger metered prism ones are much cheaper, so is the small prism so rare?

Recently I purchased a user chrome F2 with DE-1 eye-level prism from B&H for $350.00. Soon thereafter I bought a very clean black paint F2 with DE-1 for $599.00 at Adorama.

My chrome version is an early version that features slotted screws, and a different rewind knob.

My black F2 is a later one from 78, and I was told by a repairman that the later ones of this era have some small advances/improvements that make them a better camera. My later black F2 is both quieter and smoother BTW.

Anyways the F2 is a Nikon Pro camera. Don't allow others to sway you to lesser models with less than 100% VF'er coverage. The quality of Nikon's "Pro" cameras means extra quality and extra durability. Pro cameras are just that, and others are not.

One of the strongest reasons to own a Pro Nikon SLR camera is the 100% VF'er for composition. What you see is what you get on the negative, otherwise shooting a rangefinder is likely a better choice if framing accuracy is unimportant.

Another reason to use a Nikon Pro camera is for the durability.

Another reason to select a Nikon Pro SLR is for certain features like interchangable prisms and screens as well as the widest selection of accessories.

BTW I mounted a Nikon F3 "K" screen in my chrome F2 with DE-1 because its much brighter than the F/F2 screens. To mount a F3 screen it requires exchanging the screen frame which is easy to perform with a jewler's screwdriver. My black F2 features a mat Beattie Intensescreen that is amazingly bright.

Also know that F2 VF'ers offer 80% magnification, while F3HP and other Nikon F series Pro cameras that came later like the aforementioned F6 only offer 75% magnification, but they also offer increased eye relief. The added magnification on the F2 I find handy when doing Macro work and especially when shooting wide angles.

Also know that 90% of all the DE-1 prisms were chrome making black DE-1's rare.

Cal

[Teuthida]

Don't be a dummy. Get an F5: 8 frames per second with built in motor while autofocusing and a self-diagnostic shutter designed for at least 150.000 actuations all coming in a magnesium alloy housing with a detachable viewer in titanium.

All for chump change.

[Speedfreak]

Originally Posted by loneranger

I really like the black ones with the very tiny prisms, which seem to be higher priced.

Yes, everyone likes them. Note that the plain prism is meterless (!) though.

I find the metered F2 prisms ugly but ymmv...

[CorreCaminos]

Originally Posted by Teuthida

anybody who buys an f2 when they can buy a mint f5 for the same price needs to have their head examined,

Non-sense. The F2 is functional w/o batteries and has all analog controls.

[Phil_F_NM]

When I was at DINFOS for Navy photo school in 2003, one of my instructors told us a story about how he parachuted into Afghanistan with a Combat Camera team to do recon. The crew of the C-130 that did the drop came around to drop a sled of equipment via a drogue chute but the tie downs weren't on right and the sled dumped all the gear at a few hundred miles per hour onto the Afghan desert. All the photo gear was packed into pelican cases; Nikon D1s, F4s, F5s, laptops, pretty much everything was destroyed or damaged badly enough that it wasn't working properly. The one piece of gear that was working just fine was an F2 that augured itself into the desert floor a bit, was found, dug out, brushed off and worked fine.
That was our lesson on "always take a backup."

Phil Forrest

[Harry Lime]

The 100% viewfinder is a sword that cuts two ways.

The most obvious strength is that you get to see exactly what ends up on the negative.
So, it's great for repro and scientific work and in general if you are working off a tripod.

It's not so great for handheld work, because everyone drifts a little. The slack you get with something like a 96-98% viewfinder ensures that you really will get everything you wanted on the negative, even if you are breathing, had too much coffee or like most living creatures can't stand 100% still, because you're nervous system is constantly firing.

I actually marked the ground glass on my F2, so I am looking at something more akin to 96%.

Personally I am not a big fan of 100% viewfinders for this exact reason. I can't remember the last time I used a tripod and it leaves no margin for error. I much prefer a 96-98% finder. 92% is too cropped.

Slide frames will also crop your 100% negatives, as will many machine prints.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by RichW

snik goes the Leica and CLAK goes the Nikon!
Cheers, Richard

Ha, yeah the F2 has the loudest shutter I've ever heard on an SLR. my F2 has been fully overhauled and it still sounds like the shutter is going to fire the mirror through the prism block.

The F3 is much quieter than the F2, but neither is as quiet as the gentle "SWISH! of the original F (which has to be my all-time favorite SLR).

[victoriapio]

cant go wrong with an F, F2 or F3. I used all three with motors during my PJ days and each one, IMHO, was an improvement over the prior model. Of all my years of shooting them, I had one shutter fail on an F. Never had to do anything to any of them other than that.

[Keith]

I agree with the hocky puck description!

I've come very close to buying a classic Nikon F over the last couple of years and did actually get to handle one thanks to RFFer P Lynn Miller (who seems to have vanished) whom I had a coffee with one day and of course we had our favorite cameras with us. So he got to sample an OM and I had a play with an F.

I have to say, that got rid of the desire to own one ... it just didn't do it for me. It felt industrial!

[Shac]

Originally Posted by loneranger

So why are these priced so high, when almost all other film slr can be had for a lot less. What is a fair price for a silver one with the small prism? The lowest price I can find is around $700. It looks like the larger metered prism ones are much cheaper, so is the small prism so rare?

$700 ?? KEH has a chrome F2 with DE1 EX+ for $465

I like the F2 b/c of it's build quality, the short film wind stroke, great handling etc. I also like the F's. All later models (F3 on) that didn't fit my hands as well