I got one at last :-)

[philjay]

Some may know that I am a film camera fan and collect, restore and deal in them. Basically a camera nerd.

 

PLUS I use them as well.

 

I tend to be a bit Nikoncentric these days with my personal collection and have been searching for a usable Pro Nikon F4 for awhile now.

 

These were introduced in 1988 and were a ground breaking camera for several reasons, first professional auto focus camera, first vertical double bladed shutter, matrix metering, electric drive etc etc.

Plus the important thing for me is I can use my Nikon lenses (manual and auto) that I use with my other manual Nikons as well as my Nikon DSLR lenses, so it is a perfect partner for my Nikon Df.

 

Because they were professional cameras the examples one finds today fall into 3 condition categories

 

1-  well used and severely battered with issues

2 - In great condition cosmetically but not working for many reasons

3 - brought by folks with more money than skill and short enthusiasm spell so they used the cameras a few times, found them too complicated or heavy (this is a heavy camera) and put it away never to be used again.

 

In my quest for a usable example I have come across several condition 1's and a couple of 2's but the holy grail of collectors is to come across a condition 3. This isn't one of those though this is about 2.5

 

This one functioned perfectly when I got it apart from the viewfinder LCD display which had severe bleed and was usable but wasn't nice and once the LCDs start bleeding then it's only a matter of time before they fail completely. So I managed to get the seller to swap the viewfinder (these are removable on the F4) for a good one plus I bought a spare of fleabay for a song as a back up.

 

So I have finally got an F4 as my Chrissy Prezzie to me. Going to enjoy putting film through this baby 🙂

 

[+Bino-viewer]

Whats the current situation with film Phil ??

Is it still readily available ?

 

And whats you developing strategy ?  Do you have your own darkroom facility ?

I bet theres not many places left that develop film ? I'm thinking somewhere like WW.Winter on Midland Rd Derby,

one of Derby's oldest established shops / businesses.  They are expensive there though : i remember a few years ago

i had some old slides digitised and it cost me loads....

[+TasKiNG]

Great camera Phil.

I still use mine. Must be one of the heaviest SLR's but built like a tank.
My viewfinder has a slight bleed too on the LCD but is still readable and does not seem to be getting any worse. 🙂

I develop my own B&W film but nowadays I then scan the negatives rather that use the enlarger.  
Also dabble with medium format occasionally. Love to look of negatives.

[philjay]

10 hours ago, Bino-viewer said:

Whats the current situation with film Phil ??

Is it still readily available ?

 

And whats you developing strategy ?  Do you have your own darkroom facility ?

I bet theres not many places left that develop film ? I'm thinking somewhere like WW.Winter on Midland Rd Derby,

one of Derby's oldest established shops / businesses.  They are expensive there though : i remember a few years ago

i had some old slides digitised and it cost me loads....

Film is still there, standard colour can be got at larger Boots stores but most camera shops carry a range, London Camera etc etc. Processing, again larger Boots will do standard colour then most camera shops will send away your film. There are lots of processing labs on tinternet, I use one in Sheffield. I used to have a darkroom many years ago but cab,t be doing with the faff, plus we are on septic tank here so I cant put chemicals down the drain.

 

8 hours ago, TasKiNG said:

Great camera Phil.

I still use mine. Must be one of the heaviest SLR's but built like a tank.
My viewfinder has a slight bleed too on the LCD but is still readable and does not seem to be getting any worse. 🙂

I develop my own B&W film but nowadays I then scan the negatives rather that use the enlarger.  
Also dabble with medium format occasionally. Love to look of negatives.

The concensus of opinion is that digital has killed film, it hasn,t. Far from it. There are more people trying film again, especially youngsters. I,ve sold many a camera to the younger set and they use them, which is good to see.

 

Great stuff Dave, another f4 user 🙂

I used to do medium format, I had a Bronica slr and Mamiya TLR but got fed up lugging them around. I,ve had several Yashica Mats go through my hands and I do enjoy playing with those. 

I too scan my negatives, Epson V600, a really good scanner.

 

I never thought I would come across a 35mm camera heavier than the old Zenits or Practica,s but this one tips the scales quite a lot. There,s no fear of being mugged when you have one of these, just belt the assailant with it, they won,t get up for awhile 🙂

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by philjay

[philjay]

My first F4 I found was a battered f4s. If ya think the f4 is heavy well that was really heavy, what with the extra batteries. However it went back due to too many issues which werent mentioned in the listing including an unreadable Lcd.

 

The second one I got was mint. Put a film through it to find the shutter was seized It made all the right noises but didnt fire. That went back.

 

This one had lcd bleed but I got them to replace the finder. Plus I got a bargain one on fleabay in perfect condition.

 

Nikon apparently warned about lcd life in the early days but its taken about 30 years for them to start failing.

[+TasKiNG]

10 hours ago, philjay said:

My first F4 I found was a battered f4s. If ya think the f4 is heavy well that was really heavy, what with the extra batteries.

Mine's the F4S and yes it weighs a ton. I quite like heavy cameras though as I find them to be more stable.

 

11 hours ago, philjay said:

I too scan my negatives, Epson V600, a really good scanner.

I'm using a Nikon Coolscan III negative scanner for 35mm and have made a lightbox for digitizing my 6x6 or 6x4.5 negatives.

 

I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to cameras, especially Nikon 🙂

Edited December 21, 2021 by TasKiNG