Nikon F4s tips

[Wander]

I bought a mint F4s and would love any tips or pointers any of you might have.

Is there one guide that is better than any other for this camera?

It will be fun shooting a pro film camera and I'm thrilled as I always wanted one of these but could never afford one when they where new.

It should arrive today!

 

[Rallyroo]

Tips? Hmmm....

Protect the viewfinder from hard knocks. The viewfinder housing can crack. The rest of the camera is a tank.

The F4s can matrix meter with manual focus lenses.

 

[Wander]

I'm looking forward to looking it over just to see how overbuilt it is.

 

[Rallyroo]

Will you use MF lenses or AF lenses with your F4s?

 

[Wander]

Will you use MF lenses or AF lenses with your F4s?

I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking a kit of primes would be fun but so would finding a deal on the standard pro kit if the era-28-80 f2.8 80-200 f2.8.

If I go with primes it would be a 28, 50, 105, maybe a 35 and a 20. I've got 70-300 f4 that will cover the long-ish zooms. The manual focus are less expensive used than the AF's and I might be about the find the legendary 50f1.2. I think the lowest AF is the 50f1.4.

For now it will be a 35-70 f3.5 kit lens and the 70-300f4 just to shoot some film again. Either a 24-80 or the older 28-80 is very tempting-except to my wallet.

 

[Lance4me]

I got a few lens for sale, let me know if you're interested.
24mm, 28mm, 50mm, 60mm, 85mm, 35-70 2.8 and a 80-200 2.8
F4s is a great camera, I had used 4 of them in the past.

 

[Rallyroo]

I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking a kit of primes would be fun but so would finding a deal on the standard pro kit if the era-28-80 f2.8 80-200 f2.8.

If I go with primes it would be a 28, 50, 105, maybe a 35 and a 20. I've got 70-300 f4 that will cover the long-ish zooms. The manual focus are less expensive used than the AF's and I might be about the find the legendary 50f1.2. I think the lowest AF is the 50f1.4.

I have that prime set up. I kept my MF 28, 50, 105 from when I was shooting film. I sold or traded off all my film cameras when I went digital. I traded for a FM3a which I still have. I still love the simplicity and size of the FM/FE series of cameras compared to modern day bulky, clunky digital SLRs.

I almost bought a Lumix GF1 though.

 

[Wander]

Here she is in her rugged glory. I forgot what an all metal solid camera felt like-feels good. Sorry for the bad BB photo-bad lighting here in the office.

 

[LeoLR]

Im glad you like the camera. That roll of Ektar you have with it is the best film you can get bar none.


If you need help with the controls give me a call and I will walk you through everything.


It does great night photos and the knobs are alot nicer than LCD controls.

 

[almac]

magic lantern makes a good guide on the F4s.
i recommend getting a spare viewfinder, strong strap, and dedicated ttl flash.
the lenses i use most are my old venerable 50/1.8, 35-70/3.3, and 70-300/f4.
as for film, i mostly shoot B&W. FP4, HP5 are 2 of my favorites. i have 2 bulk rollers, one for each.
when i shoot color i do slides, and ALWAYS Fuji. mostly velvia.

i still have my F4s, and refuse to sell it to this day.:wings:
there is nothing like the sound of the F4s shutter.

now that i have my D700 i actually miss the shutter sometimes. although it is nice to have a FX digital cam that can use all my "D" glass without issues.

:victory:

 

[Wander]

You're right about the shutter-when I fired it off the first time that sound put me right back to when I was got the photography bug. It is such a precise mechanical sound that is all business.


Leo, I'll give you a call today to go over some of the buttons and dials.

 

[Lost Canadian]

I was curious about the last two posts so I had a listen. F4s vs D700 shutter sound. I gotta admit, I really like the sound of the F4s.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zJI4mSCF54&feature=related"]YouTube - Nikon F4s 5.7 fps[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6Fiq9hs8U"]YouTube - Nikon D700 frame rate[/ame]

 

[Wander]

The new D3 sounds like a automatic weapon (well muted) it's so fast. I think the FPS on the D3 should be called a burst rate its so fast.

The one draw back to the mechanic tones of the F4s is the knowledge that it's eating through film quickly and a roll change will be soon.

 

[Rallyroo]

The one draw back to the mechanic tones of the F4s is the knowledge that it's eating through film quickly and a roll change will be soon.

Here's the solution to the problem. Get one of these for the F4s. It's a 250 exposure filmback.

 

[LeoLR]

Thats sexy