Nikon F series film cameras.

MindofMel

MindofMel

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Hi all,

Been shooting 35mm BW with a 2x Nikon F301s for a year now. Love them. But obviously the itch to buy something has become unbearable - what would be a good film body in the same series i.e Nikon FM, FE, F3P, FM2n etc etc to experiment with..

Things I like in the F301 - the electronic meter, although not essential to keep this functionality - most of all size.. anything approaching dlsr size is too big. Love the form factor of the film SLRs..

Budget of circa £250.00
 
Hi,

Nikon FM FE F3 nice small form factor and built like a brick outhouse. The Nikon Fs eg F, F2 F2a F2as are getting a bit long in the tooth and you need to make sure you get a good.
 
Supose it depends on how much Automation you want.

FM/FM2n cameras are fully mechanical so the batteries only power the meter in them. Smaller and lighter than the F301 and the FM2n uses LED in the viewfinder with, I think, + - to tell you how near or far you are away from the correct metering.

FE/FE2 is the semi auto version of the above, this time you get Aperture Priorty as well as manual over ride. Can't remeber what the viewfinder is like but think it has a full range of metering speeds down one side of it.

F3/F3HP is Nikon's pro camera and the first one, I think, to offer semi auto to the professinal. Again similar to the FE2 but this time it is a full system camera so you can change the metering heads and backs. Heavier thant the other two and with better weather proofing.

NOTE: The F3P is a limited edition press camera that had a motor drive with it plus some other things cut down form the original ones. Needless to say they are not common and fetch a fair price.

All the above are very good and all have their pro's and con's but all of them will work great.

Other things to maybe think of

Nikon FA mutli functional camera in the similar body to the FE/FM series and has the first outing for Nikon AMP/Materix metering system. Great little camera works really well, in fact muct blow the dust off mine sometime :)

For the price your looking you may get a Nikon F100, F90 both AF cameras. The F100 is the better of the two but still cracking machines.

All bar the AF cameras will be slightly smaller in size than the F301 and all bar the AF cameras will use LR44 button cell batteries.
 
Knikki said:
Supose it depends on how much Automation you want.

FM/FM2n cameras are fully mechanical so the batteries only power the meter in them. Smaller and lighter than the F301 and the FM2n uses LED in the viewfinder with, I think, + - to tell you how near or far you are away from the correct metering.

FE/FE2 is the semi auto version of the above, this time you get Aperture Priorty as well as manual over ride. Can't remeber what the viewfinder is like but think it has a full range of metering speeds down one side of it.

F3/F3HP is Nikon's pro camera and the first one, I think, to offer semi auto to the professinal. Again similar to the FE2 but this time it is a full system camera so you can change the metering heads and backs. Heavier thant the other two and with better weather proofing.

NOTE: The F3P is a limited edition press camera that had a motor drive with it plus some other things cut down form the original ones. Needless to say they are not common and fetch a fair price.

All the above are very good and all have their pro's and con's but all of them will work great.

Other things to maybe think of

Nikon FA mutli functional camera in the similar body to the FE/FM series and has the first outing for Nikon AMP/Materix metering system. Great little camera works really well, in fact muct blow the dust off mine sometime :)

For the price your looking you may get a Nikon F100, F90 both AF cameras. The F100 is the better of the two but still cracking machines.

All bar the AF cameras will be slightly smaller in size than the F301 and all bar the AF cameras will use LR44 button cell batteries.
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Wow, thanks Nick.

Aperture have some decent standard copies of all the above so will hopefully get down there this week!
 
I think Nick has covered all the bases there. On a personal note I have a Nikon F3 which I have changed the finder to an HP as I wear glasses and it is an absolutely beautiful camera to use plus it is robust and weatherproof, I love it. I also have an F100 which is a great camera but it does feel like a modern DSLR, I suppose its equivalent would be a D700, takes fantastic pictures though. I had an F90 and an F401 both of which were very nice cameras but felt a bit plasticky.

Andy
 
You can get pretty much any of the Nikon range that you want with that price. Depends whether you want a more old school camera (F/F2/F3/FM/FE etc.) or one that is more like a film equivalent of your D700 (F100, F5).
 
Just to fill in a couple gaps in Mel's answer.

FM/FM2 is full mechanical but has a digital light meter (- o +).

FE/FE2 has a battery powered shutter and a needle light meter (easier to use imho)

FM3 is the best of both worlds imho (but costly).

FE2 and FM2 have slightly brighter viewfinders.

F3 is a little larger and unless you actually plan to swap viewfinders etc. the FE/FM series should be more than camera enough.
 
JCoquillon said:
Just to fill in a couple gaps in Mel's answer.

FM/FM2 is full mechanical but has a digital light meter (- o +).

.
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not quite
.anyway my choice would be an fm2n should get a good one for that price
 
I have the FE, FA, and F3 from lets say the better end of the Nikon F series( have all the other from 50 to 100) and all three are just wonderful to use of all the three the Fa with it,s matrix metering is just a wonderful camera, robust and almost bullet proof and would be a natural progression for you and you can obtain a really good clean one for around the £100 mark.

What I would suggest only because you do not say what lens you use is that look out for an FA with a 35mm Nikkor AI attached and you may find that you can grab a bargain of both for around £150ish, then you will have a great camera body and a wonderful quality lens.

If you only want a body and you want to spend to your budget then look for a F2A or FM3A both classics, will increase in price and you would love them, looking on the USA e-bay site would be your best bet at the money and just factor in £45.00 for a good CLA when you buy.

Good luck.
 
I would go with the FM-2 here as i have got one,would lov it if Nikon brought out an digtal FM-2 :)
 
I made this choice recently and went for the Nikon FE as i wanted some automation but still the feel of manual film advance and controls. The FE2 is better on paper and i might still go for one in the future but i'm happy with the FE for now.

I've tried many 35mm SLR's and the FE has to be one of the nicest and well thought out i've touched so far, all the controls are right where you want them to be and are light to the touch but solid at the same time, the needle meter system makes manual mode a breeze, easier than even any DSLR i've used if you know your zone system a bit.

Unless you shoot in the rain or need removable prisms (F3) then get a FE or FM series model which do the same as the F3 but smaller and lighter. If you want something that can do AF but meter with all old lenses as well then you might even want to look at the F4.
 
I've got my venerable FE up for sale soon, once it is back from Miles Whitehead, if you are interested? Wonderful for manual focus, buttery smooth film advance, aperture priority for those times when you want a bit of freedom from purely manual exposure.
 
MindofMel said:
Is it a Chrome FE?
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Yeah, I have a black FE2 and not sure which colour I like more - I think the chrome is more classic, but the black goes nicely with the industrial design and look of the lenses.

Or whatever the fashion magazines would say... ;)
 
taped mine up to stop it falling to bits....:lol:

that's cos I bounced it off car park concrete, not cos they fall to bits mind..:shake:
 
Put up a wanted ad Mel, it'll circumnavigate any trading outside the classifieds finger pointing..:)
 
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