This question goes out to all those who have used the Nikon F4s.

I have managed to locate a unit in near mint condition at about USD 580 and I was wondering is this a good buy? If I do decide to buy this unit, what must I check to ensure a good copy?

I'm actually a digital shooter but recently got bitten by the film bug

Thank you for taking your time in answering.

Hi, I have two F4s.
One of them I had bought new. I used it (hard) for 15 years. It was serviced only once for cleaning and check up at nikon service, not because it did not work well but because I had read somewhere that one should do that. As far as my experience is concerned, they are nearly unbreakable. I had bought a used one later as a back up (not mint, had nicks on the outside) and also took it to nikon service for cleaning and check up - just so, not because it did not work as it should. It was returned with adjustments which did cost a bit, but not too much.
Regardless, any older camera like that should be cleaned and checked for mirror alignment, the contacts for the lenses, AF and light meter. You don't want to waste your time and film. So figure an extra 50-100 $ for nikon service into your budget and you have a very reliable camera - one of nikons best.

See this link for additional information:

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardw...assics/nikonf4/
and
http://www.bythom.com/index.htm
or the long list:
http://www.nikonlinks.com/resources_forums.htm

Since I have the D2X now, I don't use the F4s much anymore - but I don't want to part with them yet...just in case digital fails, you know....: -))
Angela

Ha ha - ya, you never know when this digital fad will be over.

Nikon F4 might just be the best 35mm camera ever made. They'll be working and useful long after I'm dead and gone!

People often say the same thing about the F2. Except my F2 will still work without batteries and I can beat people with it.

Guess I must have bought a rogue F4s then.

The whole time I had it I couldn´t load it first time: the film simply wouldn´t catch. Trust me, if you work with people, you don´t need the embarrassment of having to try loading it at least twice each time you need new film in it!

This camera was bought brand new and went back to a Nikon dealer looking almost as new; I traded it in for a new (last of the line) F3 and that was very nice indeed. I still have it, but don´t use it much since getting a D200. The one very much better thing about it over the F3 was the meter system. Apart from that, if you know how to work your camera properly, there´s damn all that the F3 can´t do just as well. I never had cause to shoot over 1/1000sec anyway. Flash synch is possibly one thing where the F4 type is better - but that´s not really going to be where that sort of camera gets most use.

Somehow, the best Nikons were the first F and then the F2; even the F3 has lost the basic body look and the F4 is just the precursor to the melting Mars Bar designs that followed, both from Nikon and Canon. Praise be to Leica for knowing when to avoid change for change´s sake.

Rob C

thanks for the advice!

I know what you mean, but from my experience I think the digital fad is here to stay. Many said the same thing about CPUs when they first came out as nothing more then a fad but lo and behold!

But there were also those that proclaimed the end of paper with the creation of the paperless office as well but again we still have paper

I have a nikon fm2n and it feels soooo "right" while I had a chance to use the f4 it feels so......"powerful" for the lack of a better term

TDR

The Nikon FM2n feels so ´ríght´ you wrote.

Well, I had an FM and also an FM2n because of one thing: higher flash synch than the F or F2. These bodies were run alongside each other, the FM2 replacing the FM when it became available. Well, if ever one of them felt ´right´ it was one or the other of the two first runners - the F or F2. Beside them, the cheapo FM and FM2 felt like the amateur machines that they truly were/are.

But why be surprised? Nikon never presented them as anything else but budget bodies.

The F4s is but a memory now - not one I return to very much for the reasons given in the previous post!

Actually, if I have a beef with Nikon, it´s this: when the F4 came out, they stopped advertising the F3 totally. I bought the blessed F4 because I thought that the F3 had been discontinued. It was ages until I found out otherwise, and had I known, I´d never haver gone for the F4 in the first place. Strange marketing policy, that.

Rob C

I have to admit, the nikon fm2n are consider budget stuff but those things are built to last and I can understand why.

As for the f4s, I finally bought it and after reading manual a bit (it came with the manual and even the original box and packaging) I managed to load the film and off I went.

As for Nikon's poor marketing, I have to agree with you on that. They stink where I'm staying, Nikon gets their butts handed to them by Canon's marketing strategy. I've never seen such weak marketing before, they do make good stuff but I just can't understand for the love of god why they have such horrible marketing.

It's only because of the word of mouth do they ever get any publicity at all.