Yes, I still have one with a MF-22 Data Back, a SB-23 Flash and a 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S always staying together and use them quite often. Sometimes it pairs with a D850 with another 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S for a film and digital look. one can definitely tell the difference between them and appreciate the film look without the high contrast and saturation.
Here is something to share with all F4/E/P/s users which I think will be of interest to users to know what one is really owning even though it is at least 30 years old.
Mine S/N: B2150861 is 33 years old bought in 1989 for S$3,650 (exchange rate was US$1 to S$1.14) on my birthday while shopping after work for something to be happy with.
My F4s has traveled the world with me from the hot and dry Atacama Desert to the cold and freezing base camp of Annapuna as well as along the wet and humid Yangtze River without having to be service by anyone all these time. Can you imagine how tough these cameras are compare to my present days DSLRs which have to be service almost every year with rubber peeling off, motors failing, moisture damage and so on.
Well, I'll let you do your own reading how impressive this old and useless camera considered by those present days newbies that cannot get a good picture without all those automation.
This was written by a Malaysian photographer or maybe a repair man because he knew so much about the inner organs of those cameras of that time.
And do go into all those little links that provide a lot more info for some of the rarest F4s.
Can you imagine how tough these cameras are compare to my present days DSLRs which have to be service almost every year with rubber peeling off, motors failing, moisture damage and so on.
mine do alright by me so far as did my F4s and F5. really think the stories have backstories untold. the only reason why the older film cameras "aged well" is that the newer digital versions constantly get "technology upgrades". and you know people and their money with new toys.
saph wrote:
F4 yes, but don't have one with the MF23 back. Excellent find!!
Its considerably heavier though, almost too much for me.
hans98ko wrote:
Yes, I still have one with a MF-22 Data Back, a SB-23 Flash and a 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S always staying together and use them quite often. Sometimes it pairs with a D850 with another 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S for a film and digital look. one can definitely tell the difference between them and appreciate the film look without the high contrast and saturation.
That's a nice set up. Sometimes I use it along with my old D700 and then dupe some slides with it as
well.
I also have a plain F4 and its the highest serial # I've found. There were no serial #'s starting with 27xxxxx so this is one may be one of the last ones that were made.
Even though I still owns one of these F4s at this moment I just can't stop admiring how beautiful and sexy this camera is from the pictures above comparing to any of the Zs at the moment that looks more like someone put them up in a garage like LEGO pieces. Plain urgly even for the latest Z9 with all those unnecessary protrusions for the PC Syn and Remote rubber covers that breaks off easily over time.
This brought me to recall that the F4/s was design by one of the most famous industrial designer at that time that also design the F3/HP/T not just for the look but also for its ergonomics and NASA space program.
If ever Nikon to produce a Z that looks and feel as good as the F4/E/P/s with a huge EVF that doesn't hurt our eyes inside that huge removable prism housing together with removable power packs and grips, I might have to rescind my words of crossing over to the White Knights. But I still doesnt like the look and feel of all Z lenses except one and only one true Z-mount with AF using optical glass and crystals rather than plastic elements.
Here is something to share about this camera and its designer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F4
By looking at the chart at the bottom of the above link, one will noticed why I didn't continue on with the F5 or F6 because the F3/HP/T was doing so well that if not for Nikon forcefully terminating its production, it would have continue to mach on together with the F4/E/P/s till the end of SLRs just like the 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S that was finally ended with all other MF lenses after almost 50 years of production.
I have a very well used and beat up F4s, which I must confess I have not used for the last few years, but I still have it, and it still fires up with the batteries that were in it when I bought it in 2012!
When I did use it, performance was consistent and good, and despite its being at the very earliest stage of AF, it did an acceptable job. Some people don't like a big heavy camera, but I found the F4 a good compromise between too heavy to hold easily and too light to hold steady.
I think if you're going to use film, this is one of the nicest cameras on which to do so. An F100 will handle G lenses and VR, which is an advantage, but an F4 will handle manual lenses better.
I find that old camera's should be appreciated for what they are and were in their day, specially iconic classics of any manufacturer. Comparing them to newer and more capable equipment defeats the purpose.
I own old rangefinder cameras that I love to use. They transport you to different era when you had auto nothing, No P, A, S, metering etc. I enjoy getting involved with the process and find myself using Manual settings on new equipment more often that not.
R_o_l_o wrote:
I find that old camera's should be appreciated for what they are and were in their day, specially iconic classics of any manufacturer. Comparing them to newer and more capable equipment defeats the purpose.
I own old rangefinder cameras that I love to use. They transport you to different era when you had auto nothing, No P, A, S, metering etc. I enjoy getting involved with the process and find myself using Manual settings on new equipment more often that not.
