Is F6 still in production?

Dear all,

As far as I know, F6 is not a good sell. Simply observe on ebay listing and

number of people bidding, they are not doing very well. My first impression of

F6: It is the most ugly model in F line! By holding it, i change my mind. It

feel solid in hand and do wish to own one.

 

At the price today, it might be a little high, but when you consider 7 yrs

ago, a brand new Canon 1VHS is 1600-1800 brand new. I would say F6 really

caught on a bad timing.

 

I wish to own one since i am still shooting film and own many MF AiS lenses.

The new meter with AiS sounds very attractive. But recently bought a 70-200mm,

really don't wish to buy a F6 on credit card.

 

So I am wondering, is the F6 still in "continue" production? Its been two

yrs. If they do not sell well, Nikon might just stop producing, which means,

what is on the market now is all on the market. I just wish to confirm this

information so I can consider taking my time to do some saving. If they did

stop the production, might be a good idea to put on credit card before it

become rare, and some seller will jack up the price.

William,

 

The F6 is still in production. It is the latest in a long line of fantastic Nikon professional

SLR cameras. Problem is... from a sales perspective... for the professional Photojournalist,

which is the "target market" for this camera, film is dead. Digital is king. There are a lot of

people still shooting film, but their numbers are shrinking... Fast, if you believe some

reports. Canon has been "rumored" to be getting out of the film SLR market, Pentax and

Olympus abandoned it a while ago, Minolta is absorbed into Sony and they have only

Digital now... and Nikon currently only markets two film SLR models, the F6 and the last

available in the FM line, the FM10, not actually made by them, by the way. Read about this

at this link:

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=130907&TICK=NIKON&STORY=/www/story/01-11-2006/0004247596&EDATE=Jan+11,+2006

 

What do you have now? Is it working for you? Why replace it? Do you need another camera

body, or do you just have GAS? Two thousand dollars will buy a handful of fantastic lenses

for your current setup, or perhaps a great trip somewhere where you can take some swell

photos.

 

I wouldn't, for myself, even consider investing one more dollar in new film gear unless it

was medium format or bigger at this point, but there are a lot of 35mm film fans out

there.

I have 1 F with FTN optional finder, 2 F3HP (one user the other perfect in box) a F5 with most of nice MF lens. 2 auto zoom 17-35 70-200.

 

F6 isn't replace anything cuz current model all work smooth. Just as a Nikon hardcore user, when they trying to mark an end to film, I wish to own the very last refine piece of their history!

 

Yet, not welling to pay for a crazy price for such reason.

 

You are not the first person tell me the film is dead, yet, shooting film for yrs I am some what attach to it. I am not pro, i don't need to see or boadcast my picture right the way. To me taking picture is enjoyable relaxing thinking process. Take my time to shoot, take my time to process myself, treat it like something precious. It is not the picture i am so excited about, it is the experience that i involve in with a hobby I love. As much I am impress by the technology, it just don't have the same connection. Digital makes people seems like only care about the result, move everything fast, faster. To me, photography is much inner process. I might not take a good photograph like others, but I love what I do and will continue until it reach the end. Doing all the process isn't it bring a lot of memory back? Times that I faught with my parents, the school darkroom was the only place that gave me peace. Of course, much more memory...

 

Seems like I am off the topic, start to sound like crazy person to a lot of people who are pro digital. Good to know that it is still in production. In two yrs of saving, i will hold that precious in hand. Perhaps the price then won't be as crazy as it is now.

BTW Peter, the link doesn't seems to work... I am interested in reading the article. Thanks

I'm still interested in buying one. I haven't held one because there are no camera shops in my city (population only 3 million) that stocks one. The official Nikon importers have an office near my home but they can't show me one either.

 

The metering with AiS lenses and the reputed quietness of the camera both interest me a lot.

I bought a used F6 from that auction site about three months ago, and I have completely fallen in love with it. Everything about it is superlative -- the viewfinder, the autofocus options, the handling, and most importantly, the pictures I've gotten with it. I had been using an F100, and on paper the differences between the F100 and the F6 are not very great. But in the hand, and in practice, the F6 simply exists in another universe. It is that well designed and that good.

I fixed the link Peter provided. It was the Nikon news release in January, 2006 that they were discontinuing all film SLRs except for the F6 and FM10.

William,

 

The FM10 is made by Cosina, Nikon just puts its name on it. It's ok if you need a cheap back-up camera with Nikkor F-mount, but for the price you'd be better buy a second hand FM2n.

 

Regarding the F6, you're right into thinking that it will most probably be the last Nikon film camera to be produced. Nikon stopped production of the FM3a some time ago, and that camera had only been in production since 2001. The Nikon F-series (F, F2, F3, F4 and F5) had been coming out at regular intervals, I think about every 8 years, if my memory doesn't betray me.

 

The F6 is aimed at the professional and serious amateur market. It's a great camera, with a price tag to match. As professionals now almost exclusively use digital SLRs, as clients expect immediate feedback and availablity of the pictures, that leaves only a small percentage of photographers interested in the F6. Sadly, I think there will never be an F7.

 

There are lots of people still shooting film, myself included. As long as I can buy film and get it processed at a reasonable cost, I will continue to use my Nikon, Bronica and Noblex cameras. You hear all these stories about film being almost dead. Only time will tell. I think film will remain available for quite some time, but will only be produced by a handful of manufacturers. It will become a niche market, if it isn't so already. I am lucky to have two very good camera shops near the town I live that stock all films currently produced and that work with excellent processing labs.

 

Save up for the F6 is that is the camera you want. Keep shooting film for as long as you can. Looking at your excellent portfolio, you are getting great results with the gear you have.

 

regards

 

Jan

The F6 is back up to $2000 at B&H - not sure when this happened.

The most likely target customer for the Nikon F6 is wedding

photographers as they sorely need the dynamic range of negative

film. Discriminating amateur photographers who shoot to

professional standards are probably the bulk of the customers now.

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Im going to agree with Jan Van Laethems complete post.

Please read it a second time as though it follows here... <br>

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Best,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.

The Nikon F came out in the March of 1959, the F2 in Sept 1971, more than 12 years later. The F body was made until 1974, a 15 year production run. The Nikon F3 came out roughly about 1980. Thus there was a 21 year period where we F/F2 users had new bodies that use the same set of screens. The F2 was made about 1971 to 1980; ie 9 years. The F3 was made about 1980 to 2001; ie 21 years. The F4 was made about 1988 to 1996; ie 8 years. The F5 was made about 1996 to 2005; ie about 9 years.<BR><BR>Some of us old timers consider the F2 to be really just an upgraded F, with no real sweeping radical changes. One could use the 6x astro finder on either body with a mod, and the sports finder too. Thus here I think of the F/F2 era as 21 years and the F3 eras as being 21 years; ie 1959 to 1980; to 2001. Then the later F4/F5/F6 series are the shorter lived models with 8,9, and Z years. <BR><BR>The modular makeup of the older F bodies allowed upgraded finders, with the same body, except the early ones required some mods for the TTL meter finders. <BR><BR> The first TTL meter for the Nikon F came out in 1965, SIX years after the Nikon F was introduced. this was the Photomic T. <BR><BR>Here my first Nikon F was Bought used in 1962, with a plain prism and used 5.8cm F1.4 .

A fair amount of people may still be using film, but that doesn't mean you must buy an F6. I just bought a pack of film yesterday for an up-coming trip, but it is 220 slide film for medium format.

 

The problem for the F6 is that its advantages over the F5 is not huge, mainly limited to (1) better AF with the Multi-CAM 2000 and (2) iTTL. Meanwhile, prices for used F5 and F100 have dropped so much that they only cost a fraction of that for the F6. Moreover, to configure an F6 to be similar to an F5, you need to pay another $320 for the MB-40 vertical grip. Of course, for those who can spend $2000 on a film SLR, another $320 is probably not a big deal.

 

IMO, Nikon discontinued the F100 last year partly because there are tons of used F100 available at $400 or so. If you want another F100, should you spend $400 on a used one in Ex condition or $800 on a brand new one? Nikon simply cannot compete against its own used market, so to speak.

Dear William Wu,

 

Thanks for your thoughts on your photography and what it means to you, both in the present and in the memories associated with it. It touched me deeply. Whatever you do and whatever equipment you use, keep on with your beloved avocation.

 

Best regards,

 

Darla

William,

 

I forgot to mention that the F6 has a fixed prism, no interchangeable prisms like the F cameras right up to and including the F5.

 

Shun's remark "Meanwhile, prices for used F5 and F100 have dropped so much that they only cost a fraction of that for the F6" made me look at the second hand market. Prices really have come down recently. At KEH you can get an F100 for 364 dollars in excellent condition. An F5 for 616 dollars, again in excellent condition. That suddenly puts the F6, even second hand, at a very high price. The F6 has an optional battery pack, which is included in the F5. If you need one, that will be extra.

 

If an interchangeable prism is an option you would like to use (and pay for seperately) is down to you. But the F5 certainly seems like an attractive option vs. the F6.

 

Jan