Nikon F4

Albi

Albi

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Allan
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Hi
Anyone have opinions of the said camera Nikon F4
Thanks
 
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I still have an F4E.
A dream machine… 25 years old, used intensively
until conversion to digital five years ago. Still roaring!
 
Built like a Challenger tank, superb viewfinder, excellent controls. On the other hand, weighs a lot, especially in "S" or "E" configuration and the autofocus just isn't all that good (but fit it with a split image screen and use manual lenses - then it's better than good).

Basically a love it or loathe it job.
 
Anyone know why they are going cheap on the bay? I'm guessing that the F100 is more popular?
 
I thought that I would not want an F4,but, I bought one(F4s) that came with a 35-70mm f2.8,so just for the lens really,but,after using the camera it performs very well and now one of my favourite film camera,s and I have over 25 Nikon's.
 
The F4 is a really big, ugly and heavy Nikon camera. Like others here I own and use many Nikon cameras and have done since 1991 when I switched from OM cameras and lenses. The F4 is for me without doubt my favourite to use. Mine is an F4s. When supercar designer Georgetto Guigiaro conceived and designed the camera for Nikon he was thinking principally of function over form. For me my F4s is the most ergonomic of all my 35mm cameras, the controls are just great, particularly of those of us raised on dial control cameras. The viewfinder is quite superb and very bright and the camera works exceptionally well with MF lenses and AF ones. I have never changed the screen and have never had any issues with MF lenses and focus. The AF is basic and outclassed when compared to the F100, F5 and F6, but it works. The camera is very heavy and makes a genuine contribution to any fitness or weight loss regime. That said, I prefer it to all my other Nikon bodies, the only time mine doesn't come with me is when I am travelling very light or when I am walking or climbing in the mountains. There are a lot of battered ones out there, but good examples that have not been too abused are available for sensible money and in my humble opinion they are a truly great buy!

I am an unashamed fan of the F4, I guess you can tell.

And did I say they are big!

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I've never really liked the F4, but I wasn't keen on the F3 either. I just prefer the older, completely mechanical, F and F2. I don't have any particular reason for this, other than the fact that an F2 was my first 'proper' SLR, and I like their simplicity. :)
 
Very good with manual lenses, and a very damped shutter. However, it's heavy!
 
Much prefer the controls on the F4 to the F5. Single point AF isn't that fast but gets the job done. Lovely viewfinder. Had an LCD die in my F4. Luckily it was the one in the finder & not the body. Only place I could find another finder for sale at the time was on ebay in Japan.

Have seen the cheaper F4 prices & I guess it's cheap due to supply & demand. The MF-23 back still seems to go for a good price. The F5 is also coming down in price. Again supply & demand & maybe the older manual focus F to F3 are more sought after?

I much prefer to use an F2 or F3 to the F4.

Running a roll of Delta 400 through my F4 at the moment.
 
Albi said:
Anyone have opinions of the said camera Nikon F4
Click to expand...

For me, the F4 is far too big for what it offers. A medium format camera (e.g., Rolleiflex, Hasselblad, or Bronica) wouldn't be much different in size and heft, while offering vastly better image quality.

That said, like any camera, if it offers something specific that you require, then it could be perfect for you. Is there something in particular that you're looking for in the F4?
 
skysh4rk said:
For me, the F4 is far too big for what it offers. A medium format camera (e.g., Rolleiflex, Hasselblad, or Bronica) wouldn't be much different in size and heft, while offering vastly better image quality.

That said, like any camera, if it offers something specific that you require, then it could be perfect for you. Is there something in particular that you're looking for in the F4?
Click to expand...

Well it takes old F lenses if you don't want to pay silly prices for some AIs lenses.
 
I too am a fan of the F4. I had one, then sold it, then went and bought another which I still have and use(and I have a number of medium format cameras too).
And, as others have said, it is heavy...
 
Thank you all for replying,only reason I asked was I have just bought a F4 body to add to my camera collection and will give it a try with some pound shop film
Many thanks once again
 
Ergonomically à nice caméra to carry and use ....i had the F4S and married up with an old push pull 80/200mm nikkor f/2.8, it was quite à heavy monster although the weight of the lens balanced the body nicely.

When it came to using smaller lenses, i found that i prefered to shoot with them on much smaller bodies.....the FE(2) , or F3.

AF is something i very rarely use, much prefering to manually focus even with digi kit so to sell the F4 and concentrate on more simple bodies was the way forward for me.

All that said, they are imo à smart pièce of gear.
 
Jao said:
The F4 is a really big, ugly and heavy Nikon camera. Like others here I own and use many Nikon cameras and have done since 1991 when I switched from OM cameras and lenses. The F4 is for me without doubt my favourite to use. Mine is an F4s. When supercar designer Georgetto Guigiaro conceived and designed the camera for Nikon he was thinking principally of function over form. For me my F4s is the most ergonomic of all my 35mm cameras, the controls are just great, particularly of those of us raised on dial control cameras. The viewfinder is quite superb and very bright and the camera works exceptionally well with MF lenses and AF ones. I have never changed the screen and have never had any issues with MF lenses and focus. The AF is basic and outclassed when compared to the F100, F5 and F6, but it works. The camera is very heavy and makes a genuine contribution to any fitness or weight loss regime. That said, I prefer it to all my other Nikon bodies, the only time mine doesn't come with me is when I am travelling very light or when I am walking or climbing in the mountains. There are a lot of battered ones out there, but good examples that have not been too abused are available for sensible money and in my humble opinion they are a truly great buy!

I am an unashamed fan of the F4, I guess you can tell.

And did I say they are big!

13928589560_9dd3a705df_b.jpg


13928552839_ae83229de0_b.jpg


13928560349_9f80c90821_b.jpg
Click to expand...
Apart from the unecesary "ugly" tag, that belongs to the F3, I agree wholeheartedly with Jao, the F4 in all its guises is a wonderful camera and the best value bang for your buck Nikon F camera out there.
 
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RaglanSurf said:
Apart from the unecesary "ugly" tag, that belongs to the F3, I agree wholeheartedly with Jao, the F4 in all its guises is a wonderful camera and the best value bang for your buck Nikon F camera out there.
Click to expand...

...but for AF isn't the F100 faster? and if you are going to use the F4 just for manual focus lenses would have thought there are better models to use...
disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Nikon ;)
 
The F4 is one of only two bodies that will matrix meter with AI lenses. The other is the FA. The F4 adds a spot meter that the FA lacks. The F4 was also the last body that had as standard the AI tab that could be moved out of the way to mount Pre AI lenses. It was a factory modification on the F5.

The F100's AF will be quite a bit quicker than the F4's I imagine. From what I have read the F100 isn't far off the F5 in AF speed. Have never tried an F100 though. Never appealed to me.
 
Correct my last post. The F6 will also matrix meter with AI lenses.
 
Just to put all of the 'heavy camera' comments into perspective:

  • Nikon F4 (not F4S or F4E) with 50mm F/1.8 Ai lens - 1.45Kg
  • Bronica ETRSi with 75mm F/2.8 lens and AE-II prism finder: 1.94Kg
The weight is one of the main reasons for considering selling mine:runaway:
 
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wakarimasen said:
Just to put all of the 'heavy camera' comments into perspective:

  • Nikon F4 (not F4S or F4E) with 50mm F/1.8 Ai lens - 1.45Kg
  • Bronica ETRSi with 75mm F/2.8 lens and AE-II prism finder: 1.94Kg
The weight is one of the main reasons for considering selling mine:runaway:
Click to expand...

Save on gym fees, get out and shoot with your F4 ;-)
 
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OM1 with a 50mm F1.4 comes in even lighter at just over 0.8KG. Only have an F1.8 for mine but a bag with an OM1, 28mm F3.5, 50mm & 135mm F3.5 feels as light as a feather.

Have never found a problem with the F4' s weight. I have the smaller battery pack. Expect Nikon Bodies, especially the F series to be heavy. Bronica on the other hand can be a pain. Bag with a body, 2 lensea & 3 backs makes me think I need the photography equivalent of a golf trolley.
 
Contax RTS III with Zeiss 50 1.7 comes in at 1.34kg

RTS II a mere .925kg
 
I'll join in:- probably the best manual focus SLR camera in the world...the Canon T90
From the manual, the body only (nicknamed the tank by the Japanese for toughness) with built in motor drive (5 frames a sec) and no batteries is 800g...h'mm I must get a spring balance scale at the bootie for small weights.
Well I got some scales at Argos for £3.19 and the total weight inc 4 AA batteries and FDn 28mm f2.8 is 1.160 kg..h'mm I thought it was heavier than that.
 
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I have just got back to the Land of the Angles having been 'up that London' to see the Terence Donovan exhibition at the Photographers Gallery. A really excellent show and although Donovan is perhaps best known for his fashion photography this exhibition shows some of his outstanding portrait work.

One of the fascinating bits of the exhibition (to me anyway) are his studio notebooks where you can see his handwritten notes about the film, camera and lenses he used for each shoot . A feature of the later notes is the statement on the open pages against a number of the shoots saying:

3 x Nikon F4 bodies

He did have a Sherpa though I guess!

For those in or near London the show is worth a visit IMHO

http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/terence-donovan-speed-of-light
 
excalibur2 said:
I'll join in:- probably the best manual focus SLR camera in the world...the Canon T90
From the manual, the body only (nicknamed the tank by the Japanese for toughness) with built in motor drive (5 frames a sec) and no batteries is 800g...h'mm I must get a spring balance scale at the bootie for small weights.
Well I got some scales at Argos for £3.19 and the total weight inc 4 AA batteries and FDn 28mm f2.8 is 1.160 kg..h'mm I thought it was heavier than that.
Click to expand...

My kitchen scales just throw an error when I out the rb on...
 
A while back I did a list of weights of cameras (mainly Nikons) to help decide which to 'rationalise' (or potentially buy to replace what I had...I didn't own all of these though had had some previously). Not sure this is accurate (I think it includes batteries where relevant but can't say for sure), but gives you a decent idea of the range of weights of these Nikon bodies. It also shows just how relatively light a simple Rolleicord TLR is by comparison to some of these beasts, especially as you obviously don't have to add the weight of a lens to it.

As it happens I decided to keep only the F80, the Nikkormat, the Rolleicord and the Fuji GW. The camera I would be most likely to buy again out of the others is an FE2 or FM2n - near perfection for 35mm IMO, though I no longer shoot enough 35mm to justify keeping any other than the F80 (as a cheapie for AF when I want it and to use AF-S lenses), and the Nikkormat (which I had to keep for sentimental reasons, and which still works great for the odd time I want something like that).

FG 490g
FM2n 540g
FE2 550g
F80 560g
FE 590g
FA 625g
Nikkormat 750g
F3HP 760g
EL2 780g
F2AS 835g
F100 875g
F6 1020g
F4 1170g
F5 1370g

Rolleicord Va 875g
Fuji GW690III 1460g
Pentax 645N 1500g
 
Canon keep the weight of their cameras down by plastic fantastic FDn lenses..use the old ones and they are very heavy.
 
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