NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Camera Talk => Topic started by: ArthurJS on February 05, 2019, 21:48:16
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One of my doctors gave me a beautiful condition F4S, which I plan on using with a 50 f/1.8, and 28-105 macro. I may even use the 70-200 in shutter priority.
Does anyone else shoot with this beast? How do you like it? What don't you like about it? This is my 4th F body- I also have the original F, an F2, and the F3. As well as an FM, and FE2.
Thanks for letting me sign up here! A
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What is it with doctors? I got an F4S from a doctor, many moons ago, almost unused, perfect condition, in the end I gave it to a photography student and he made very good use of it.
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They have good taste in cameras, and money to burn. This thing was $2500 Us when it came out in 1988.
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I used the F4/F4S from '89 to around '95. They were my main cameras at the time.
Apart from the exterior tending to be slippery over time with wear, and battery consumption in cold weather needed the bigger'S' model, I had nothing against this model. Replaced with the F5 for the remainder of the '90s until the first leap into the digital era with the D1 in late '99.
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My all-time favorite film body... I have a pair of them. In my opinion, also the best-looking Nikon body. I lusted after one when they were first released but it was WAY out of my hobby budget. I bought mine (well) used at a much later date.
Enjoy it!
Bob
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This camera was the last one of my F’s. It took me almost 10 years (2008) to make the step to a DSLR.
Yes, the exterior tends to become slippery, notwithstanding great care. I stopped using non DSLR cameras, but make a dry run every 3-6 months of the two left: F2AS, F4S.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4888/47004370561_56018d2ce1_b.jpg)
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I still have my F4(s), with the action finder, the 6X magnifier finder and a state of the art Subal Procase underwater housing for it. It spent most of its time in the underwater housing the first 6 years. Then it was my main body in use here in Alaska all the way until the D200 took over in 2006. Technically I am still "using" it, as I have not got any digital solution for underwater photography yet except the AW1 for snorkeling. Rebuilding the housing for a DSLR has long been on my list. I have both the S-grip and the small battery grip. It worked well at very low temperatures using single use lithium batteries even in the small grip. However the latest test showed trouble with the mirror movement after long time at -40°C (with warm batteries), but then it had not been maintained for >15 years.
(https://otoien.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-3/p3283689969.jpg)
Mertensia ovum, Kings Bay, Svalbard, Nikon F4 with AF 60mm f/2.8 in Subal Procase housing, home made strobe.
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I got an F4 in a bundle purchase with other gear - knobs and controls and build quality were such a pleasure for a gear junkie like me. It pained me to sell it because I had no practical use for it
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I still have one though I haven't used it in a while. Not long after I got it I found myself needing something more convenient for travel, and my local processor stopped doing slides, so I went to digital. I should probably ditch the old film cameras but they're not worth much, as I always got well worn beaters, and the F4, which cost about 80 bucks 8 or 10 years ago, though in good operating order, is ugly, corroded and scuffed, with LCD bleed. Still if I ever do feel like shooting some film again, that's probably the one I'll reach for, as it seemed to do everything well. I always found it fit nicely for handheld shooting, and the controls seem to be in the right place.
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I loved my F4S for manual shooting, great Optical View Finder. I bought mine in 1996, a dream come true. My wife loved the canera too, so easy to gain precise focus manually. Also the self calibrating shutter and the wonderful ergonomics for the era, esp the timeknob. Wow. I replaced it with a F100 later featuring reliable AF...
... the leathering or better rubbering went off after a while...
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I have read a lot that people recommend a "newer" serial number, that Nikon instituted many tweaks over the production run. What is the cutoff number?
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According to the "Nikon Compendium" the F4 starts at 2000201, and most if not all hundreds of improvements were done by 2450001. I don't know how reliable that information is, relying on unspecified "well-informed sources."
I don't know what all the improvements were. My sad sack is 2199424, and works just fine. One very visible improvement that it lacks an improved prism release. The later ones apparently have a two-click release to prevent accidental dropping of the prism.
I do know that the local camera repairman who sold me the camera considers the F4 to be an unholy pain in the butt to work on, and warned me that if it did break in any substantial way it would almost certainly cost more than it was worth to fix. Not an issue at the price I paid, but something to consider if you're laying out serious coin.
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Yes, I read it has over 1800 parts. I have an F, F2, f3, FE2, and FM. So I would not be heartbroken if this one needed work. They are made to be used.
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I have one: S/no2263108 with both the MB-20 & 21 battery packs along with the MF-23 Multi-Control Data back. A present from my wife, many years ago.
Still use it, even used the Nikon 35mm f/1.4 G AF-s in Program or Shutter-priority modes.
It has been in desert heat of 50C and -5C at 10,000 feet, still works perfectly.
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I use an F4 with the MB-20 and a type J focusing screen. I had an F4s with the MF-23 and the type P focusing screen, it was stolen a few years ago.
Really enjoy using it with manual focus lenses to street, landscape, and family events.
Enjoy yours!
Mauricio
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I have one SN 2404064 - bought a few years ago in mint condition with MB20 and 21 and J screen for A$200.
The screen is so big, bright and clear that despite no split prism, just micro-prisms, manual focusing is easy. I use it with DK17M. I just wish they had similar with new DSLR.
AFS is fast and accurate and metering is fine albeit in P mode as aperture is not changeable manually. Sadly new E lenses will only shoot wide open with no connection to camera.
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I find my F4s a most exotic and sensual camera. I'm comparing it with the F501 and my D1h. I got it after I was well into digital with the powerful and fast D1h, so I never used it much, but I wanted to make sure I got a foot in the manual pro class, having never been to afford even a beat up F3.
Now, almost twenty years later, as my interest in photography gets reborn, my D1h is out of action, but the F4 (I prefer it lighter with the M20) is raring to go.
The poor thing came out of storage only to find it was going to take second place to my recently acquired Df, but I'm determined to give it a good run this time around.
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I am probably, (definitely) frozen in a time warp- at least my wife and our son think so, but for me, Nikon produced the ultimate camera body when it created the F2, and I could never see the necessity for any further development by Nikon, other than the "removables" on top: F2S, F2SB, F2AS. . . Nikon could add as many finder developments as it liked, but the work was done when the F2 body was released, I thought, though I did buy a superseded Nikonos Calypso. I think I almost refused to acknowledge the appearance of all F models after the F/F2.With more money than sense, I returned to rangefinders, A Contax G1 and then a Bessa. . . .Photography finally became digital P&S for some years, and then, mercifully, along came the Df, to rekindle my interest in photography, and with it all my Nikkor lenses. Sadly, the F4 and subsequent Nikon Film models never registered in my pipe visioned mind.