Never shot film - buying a Nikon F5 just for fun. Good idea or not?

TimB

TimB

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Hi all,

For no apparent reason whatsoever, I suddenly want to have a go with film :)

Being 32 years old, I was a teenager when digital cameras took hold and by the time I was 18/19 the cheaper models had become affordable to the point that most people my age used only digital for their 'snaps', and film had become reserved for those times that we felt the camera may get destroyed/soaked in water, so we used rubbish 35mm disposables instead.

When I got into photography as a hobby more seriously a few years ago it was a no brainer, digital was the only way to go and I started off with a D40X.

So I have never really used film for anything other than taking some snaps with a disposable 12/13 years ago...

I now shoot with a D90 and a few decent lenses, but I just can't stop thinking about using film. I feel like I have missed out!

My dad had a Nikon FE and a mega collection of lenses and gear, but pretty much stopped using it and then sold it in about 2000 so I didn't get to play with that either! :(

So there you go, the film urge won't go away and I need to try it out.

Despite knowing next to nothing about 35mm cameras, I have narrowed my choice down to a Nikon F5 for the following reasons:

1)Shockingly, despite it apparently costing about £1800 when new, there are loads for sale in good working order for about £100 which is really my budget for this experiment, and at a £100 for a professional 35mm SLR, that seems almost legalised theft!

2)Because it is a relatively recent camera in the scheme of things, the controls, info display, layout and modes of the camera seem remarkably similar to my D90, so hopefully it won't be to too much of a struggle to get to grips with it.

3)It uses AA batteries which are freely available and not some obscure item.

4)from what I read, the F5 was an extremely durable camera so even after all these years a tidy £100 example off eBay may still provide me with trouble free service.

5)I can use my AF and AF-S lenses from my D90 which is great.

So there, I can't think of a reason not to get one for a bit of fun.. But I need your options as I know nothing as I mentioned above.

I shoot a mix of landscape, urban, night scenes, and a bit of fashion/models/arty type stuff.

Is an F5 going to be suitable for me? Should I consider something else?

Lastly... What sort of film should I buy? (ISO? Brand? Type?)

Many thanks in advance for your help with this... I need to get into film :)
 
The Nikon F5 certainly was a 'pro camera' and if you can get a good one cheap then why not, I think the F5 body went on to become the Nikon D1, D2 etc range.

I still use a Nikon F4 which is older than the F5 and love it.

As for your lens and the D90 so long as the lens are not DX only then you should be ok. Simple DX lens are designed for the crop sensors so using them on the 35mm full frame camera will cause some vignetting.

Check out the Mir website which will give you a whole host of info on the F5 http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/NikonF5/index.htm

AS for film everyone on here has the favourites but if your looking for black and white then IlfordXP2, Kodak CN400 or Fuji Neopan 400CN all of which are C41 proccessing so Jessop to your local Supermarket should be able to develop them.

As for colour film Kodak Ektar 100ISO is a very nice fine grain film, or any of the Kodak Colour print film cheap and cheerfull to use.

If you get one then enjoy it and post your images up here somewhere :)
 
Knikki said:
As for your lens and the D90 so long as the lens are not DX only then you should be ok. Simple DX lens are designed for the crop sensors so using them on the 35mm full frame camera will cause some vignetting.
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That's a good point... But fear not whilst I do have some DX lenses, I also have some standard AF-D lenses such as a 50mm F1.8 which I hope would hope would work a treat :)
 
Sounds like you've already done your hoemwork on the camera. I'll just add that the C41 B&W mentioned are incredibly forgiving films, you can really screw up the metering and never notice so may not be the best way of getting to learn the art of film. Ektar is much less forgiving and can be quite unpredicatble, it's like a slide film but with easy processing, you'll soon learn if you're going wrong with it!
 
Can I ask where you have seen an F5 for £100? On evil-bay you would need to double that at least. Even an F3 in reasonable nick can go for £120.

Andy
 
I watched one a few weeks ago sell for £115 on evil-bay. Auction ended at some daft time in the middle of the night which probably put off some non-auction sniper users.
Bad advert, poorly written. No box, no manual, no nothing.. Just the body complete with a few dings and scuffs.

Conversely, I agree, there are a few on there for £150-300 and more.

The way I look at it, it's never been more of a buyers market for 35mm gear. Stuff that was thousands years ago is now being offloaded for peanuts.

If I keep my eyes peeled for a body only complete with badly written advert I might be able to snipe one for £100-150.

They don't seem in short supply as there is usually 10 or more on the Bay at any one time.

Well... That's the plan anyway! I may well be proved wrong but I'm good at finding bargains if I keep looking. I'm in no rush :)

I will let you know how I get on!
 
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Good man, persistance that s the key. I agree about buying cameras, they are reasonably cheap at the moment but lenses are another story.

Cheers

Andy
 
I picked up a nearly mint condition F5 on eBay pretty cheap, for me it was an awesome start to film photography.
 
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Just two points that haven't really been touched on - whilst you mentioned about how it might be easy to go between the D90 and the F5, bear in mind that the F5 is nearly 50% taller and about twice the weight of the D90, and that means completely different handling.

Additionally, even the most durable of cameras can become problematic with misuse. The legendary F2 (admittedly a much older camera) has a superb reputation for reliability, but even the most diehard F2 fans acknowledge that there is only so much build quality that can mitigate mishandling and tough love.

Lots of film cameras, both Nikon and other, will fulfil your shooting requirements just fine. For compatibility with some of your Nikon glass, something like the F90 will be a lot of camera for very little money IMO.
 
I had an f90 for a while and it was a really good camera. Ffordes have load in at the moment at good prices.

Andy
 
IMO, if you need to worry about menus on your film camera it's a boring film camera - I leave the menus to my DX body! I've read multiple times that the F100 does pretty much everything that the F5, even the F6 does without the bulk.
 
To the OP, if you understand the bulk of the F5 and can get one reasonably priced, don't let anyone put you off buying it. It'll just feel awesome in your hands, I much prefer the feel of it over my tiny plastic D90.

The only thing that limits my use of it is the fact that it's film - I have to make time to shoot just film.
 
Andysnap said:
Can I ask where you have seen an F5 for £100? On evil-bay you would need to double that at least. Even an F3 in reasonable nick can go for £120..............Andy
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:plusone:

BTW.. that F5 looks massive

how about an F3.....''link''

admittedly - I'm biased...:lol:
 
Yeah, I have a EOS 1v which is probably a similar camera and quite massive. If you don't depend on the auto-focus and bells&whistles, I'd look for a older and smaller body.
 
I don't mind the size of the F5... I like them big ;)

My D90 has a battery grip fitted all the time as I like the feel and handling of a large camera.

Probably nothing in it size wise?

d90-grip.jpg


F5_resize.jpg
 
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but the F3 is so
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..
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.elegant................:D

fca62cc3.jpg
 
I do agree with you in some respects...

As I mentioned in my opening post, my dad had a black FE identical to the below and a really nice selection of lenses, lights, meters, filters.. you name it, and I must admit it was a nice camera. Shame I wasn't interested in photography before he sold it all! for what he got for it all he says he would have happily given it all to me instead of selling it :bonk:
You live and learn...

DSC_5205-1200.jpg
 
Yardbent said:
but the F3 is so
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..
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.elegant................:D
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This forum never ceases to amaze me with its diversity, the F3 is my least favourite of the F series, elegant is the last thought that comes to my mind, if I had to sell one of mine it would be the first one up for sale :lol:
 
TimB said:
I don't mind the size of the F5... I like them big ;)

My D90 has a battery grip fitted all the time as I like the feel and handling of a large camera.

Probably nothing in it size wise?

d90-grip.jpg


F5_resize.jpg
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I think you might be surprised. Aprt from size, the F5 will be considerably heavier. Like D3-plus-some heavy.

As has been suggested, the F100 is great, does everything the F5 or F6 does and is much smaller/lighter. With the exception of the rewind for it's a stunning camera, like a D700 for film.

The F75 was the last of Nikon's consumer film slrs and as such has an amazing meter and is packed full of features (again almost as much as the F5/F6) but it weighs about the same as a fart.
 
RaglanSurf said:
This forum never ceases to amaze me with its diversity, the F3 is my least favourite of the F series, elegant is the last thought that comes to my mind, if I had to sell one of mine it would be the first one up for sale :lol:
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To be honest both the F4 and F5 don't do much for me, the F5 & F6 are functionally brilliant but when it comes to elegance, the F and F2 have it wrapped up, signed sealed delivered really.

The other reason why I mentioned the size issue is that I often think, for the body size and weight, the final image format can be quite disappointing.

35mm frame (Nikon F5, without lens!): 1,445.4g
6x6 frame (Rolleiflex): 1,220g
 
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I still use my F2, the last of the fully mechanical Nikon bodies, and prefer it to any of the other 'F' cameras. I have used an F5, F6 and F100 though, and they're superb. I just prefer the older camera for my own use.

"The way I look at it, it's never been more of a buyers market for 35mm gear. Stuff that was thousands years ago is now being offloaded for peanuts". Not sure I agree with this. You can still find very good deals, but there was a glut of wonderful 35mm bodies and lenses when digital really took off, and people stared selling their film stuff. Those days have largely gone, and unfortunately I wasn't in a position to take advantage of them at the time!
 
Also, one thing to consider if you develop your own film. Some cameras (i.e. my 1v) can rewind film so that a bit is sticking out of the canister. This is very nice if you are loading the film in a changing bag as you don't need to either try to get the leader out or open the canister and have long strip of film that you can scratch by accident.
 
We had them when they came out, a massive step up from the F4 and a catch up with Canon at the time.
You won't regret the purchase, not as good as the EOS1 but if you don't like it you should be able to sell it near the price you paid, only thing to watch out for is the weight, it really was a brick.

Just make sure it lasts longer than mine, I dropped mine the day after I was given it, was that a long walk to the pic eds desk....
 
Edtog said:
Just make sure it lasts longer than mine, I dropped mine the day after I was given it, was that a long walk to the pic eds desk....
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:lol::lol::lol:

Did that completely kill it?
 
I'm borrowing an F3HP at the moment and I have to say I prefer it over my FE & FM. It's a bit heavier that them which helps with longer speeds and truly feels like I could kick it about a bit & it'd be fine, whereas last time I dropped the FE the back door popped open & film advance lever got jammed halfway through winding. Never tried an F5 so I can't comment on that, but why not get something cheaper & lighter? No point spending a load of money of you're not sure you're going to like using film!
 
I prefer the F2, as I said, but I'm very fond of my FM too. If I wanted a more modern, electronic, body with AF capability - at a reasonable price - I'd be tempted by an F100 but I doubt if I'll ever buy one. I'm not a real film aficionado, I just enjoy using the old mechanical bodies occaisonally, and they bring back a lot of memories. I don't have the funds for a sophisticated film body that doesn't have the same appeal, and I doubt if I would use it enough to justify the purchase. Pity, in a way, because I came very close to buying one years ago when they first came out, and I might have developed the same sort of relationship with it!
 
Joenail said:
why not get something cheaper & lighter? No point spending a load of money of you're not sure you're going to like using film!
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I'm looking to get an F5 because they really aren't expensive anyway :)

Buying one now is the price of a decent night out, so I'm thinking "why not?"

It's a decent lesser model will set me back £50-100 and an F5 £150-200.

If I'm going to have a foray into film, I might as well get one that I like the look of...

Worst case scenario, I use it for a few rolls of film then decide it isn't for me, stick it on evil bay and get my money back hopefully :)
 
TimB said:
I'm looking to get an F5 because they really aren't expensive anyway :)

Buying one now is the price of a decent night out, so I'm thinking "why not?"

It's a decent lesser model will set me back £50-100 and an F5 £150-200.

If I'm going to have a foray into film, I might as well get one that I like the look of...

Worst case scenario, I use it for a few rolls of film then decide it isn't for me, stick it on evil bay and get my money back hopefully :)
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Get one. I love mine. I've just broken the bank and bought a D700 so my F5 (along with my DX stuff) might have to go to help fund it.
 
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