Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Never had the original F but I do have an F2

MCHUGH Loc: Jacksonville, Texas

I had the Nikon F Photomic Tn. It was my first camera that I got in 1968. Still works great. I have the Nikormat and a Fm2 and they still work great as do all the lens. Took it to a camera repair tech for cleaning and checking the meter and he was amazed that the meter was still right on and had to do very little cleaning. I was surprised because I used it in some very adverse conditions and almost daily. Haven't used it in the last few years though. Got rid of my darkroom a long time ago and now use digital. Will never get rid of my old film cameras, too many memories.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I bought mine in 1963. It is still fully operational but almost retired.
I bought mine to use with a Sekonic hand held exposure meter. I was aware of those clip-on meters but I was more comfortable with the hand held meter.
Mine also has seen a good part of the world including Japan.

jsmangis Loc: Peoria, IL

Interesting, I did not know that. When I was a teenager, my father traded in his well worn Leica M3 for a Nikon F2 Photomic. He had it until his eyes started to go in his 50's, when he traded it for a N8008 which I inherited from him after he passed away in 2006, and I still shoot film with it. I am still a Nikonian, and use the 50mm f1.4 Ais on my D610.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

The Nikon F was a solid camera. I still have one that was a working press camera for the Washington Daily News. It took a lot of banging around in the streets of DC and around the White House, but all it ever needs is new batteries in the Photomic Head and it's ready to go all these years later.

rts2568

Hi Buckwheat,

My original F Body has now been sold off so that I could afford my first F2, it was a 1959 model bought S/H in 1960. Sold to a friend in the early 1980s so I know my original F is still going strong. I missed it so much I ended up buying another a couple of years later which I've still got and use even though I'm well into digital now. It had a selenium meter attached as you describe (still got one, with the booster) and a 50 mm F2 lens (sold on) & a strap. It cost me one hundred pounds Australian (before decimalisation) in Melbourne's Elizabeth St CBD Australia.

The selenium clip-on has a catch and contact on the right side of it in your photo where you could attach a booster for low light capture. Laugh if you like but that combination served me for over a decade and came with me half way around the world - sold off in the UK.

Incidentally, in your last photo I think, the prism is not attached correctly, press it down firmly to put it in it's place, before you go out with it again, or you might lose it. This doesn't suggest that the "NIKON" name plate is loose but it might be worth checking too, just in case as it might be more difficult to replace than the prism. If it is, just screw it on tightly.

Digital cameras have only a few years of life until the more rapidly advancing technologies makes them redundant. The Nikon F you have pictured will last you for many a year more, despite its age, especially now that Kodak is coming out with new film, B&W & Ektachrome (my fingers are crossed for a returning Kodachrome 25, or update of same).

Keep shooting with your favourite faithful, they certainly don't make them like they used to.

Yes, there are still a lot of F users who remember those selenium meters, maybe even a few who still use them.

There are some features on that old F that I wish would be carried over to the current digital, current but inferior versions.

Ron

bapsey

I bought my Nikon F June 1960 when leaving for a 2 year mapping job in what was then Netherlands New Guinea. While in New Guinea I wrote to Nikon, Japan asking if I could buy lens from Singapore. They told me that as they had no agent in New Guinea they could sell me direct at factory prices. Letters back and forth were slow but I did buy a 35mm f2.8 wide angle and a 135mm medium telephoto plus the clip on light meter illustrated.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Very nice and elegant! A great collector's item!
I got my F in 1972, pairing with a Nikkormat, After 40 something years they are still like new. Not for sale period!

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

It looks like the one I had back in 72' Bob, along with my Minolta SRT101, the Minolta took better pictures IMO.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Cut my teeth on a Minolta SRT 101 in the late 60's. Couldn't afford Nikon back then.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Yes, Nikon was King back then. I can still remember debates my father had when he came across photographers who owned those memorable Nikon F Cameras. He felt his Minolta SRT-101 could rival them. I am a Nikon Gear digital camera owner today, because of that past Nikon SLR reputation. My father sold his Minolta camera. And went Canon digital. Of all things.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

Check your lenses! I have three Nikon F cameras, made in 1959, 1961 & 1967. Modified them to accept the Photomic T light meter. I suggest you check your old Nikkor lenses to see if they at "Tick Mark" lenses, which are rare and worth considerably more than similar Nikkor lenses. See: http://www.cameraquest.com/nftick.htm . In the photo shows three of my old Nikkors. The left lens is not a Tick Mark lens. The middle (50mm) and right (135mm) lenses are Tick Marks. Notice the calibration marks by each aperture setting. These are the Tick Marks. Since the aperture settings had detents, Nikon quickly stopped including the tick marks since they were superfluous. Like rare stamps, the tick marks make them rare and thus more valuable. A 50mm Tick Mark lens, newer than the one above, is asking $699 on EBay compared with about $50 for a similar non-Tick Mark. Do NOT modify Tick Mark lenses so they'll work on newer Nikons.
Sidenote: I also have one of the earliest zoom lenses for the 35mm camera, a Nikkor 85-250mm, 2-ring, zoom made from 1959-1961. Nikkor then switched to a single ring to control both zoom and focus. I keep in a suitcase that sailed on the Andrea Doria! Ahhh, the good ol' days... but I'm stickin' with today's digitals.

bikerboy

I have that very Nikon F with the light meter. Bought it while in AF in 1962. Loved it until it developed a light leak that I couldn't get repaired.

Just Shoot Me Loc: Ithaca, NY

Reminds me of my first Konica back in the 70's.
Beat up but still ticking.

Paul J. Svetlik Loc: Colorado

Thank you guys for bringing up the years when Nikon was the king.
It makes me wonder now, which camera was on top before? Do you remember?
Perhaps Leica, Hasselblad, Exakta or Rollei?