Completely unloved Nikon cameras

My first Nikon was an N4004s w/ AF 35-70 f/3.5-4.5. It was cool to have a big ol' camera but it really was a point & shoot SLR because there was no shooting information shown in P, S or A modes. Only the +/- needle for Manual mode.

I next got an N70 - still have it and a set of working batteries but I haven't put a roll through it in years.

Eric Sande

I'm NOT an F3 fan.

I prefer the F4 even with MF lenses as it has a better meter(matrix with everything but AI-converted lenses, a pattern more to my liking for CWA) and I MUCH prefer the viewfinder read-outs to those on the F3.

One thing the F4 had going for it, I think, aside from the ability to run on conventional batteries was that it had more metering mode possibilities. The ability to matrix and spot meter with AI lenses is pretty nice, as is the presence of the focus confirmation. On the very minor front I also like that it has a window to see the film canister, as I often bought film without boxes.

I went and took a look at my F4, and to my dismay I had left it on for some unknown number of months, and the batteries were dead. They only lasted five or six years. Shameful.

One of the things worth mentioning about the N4004 is that it is-AFAIK-Nikon's first double-control-dial camera.

Of course, it would drive most users of modern cameras crazy as the rear dial controls the aperture and the front dial the shutter speed.

"Your friend is not the first who considered the F4 as the best manual focus camera ever built."

 

- Not sure why that should be. The screen is no brighter or clearer than the F3 really. Plus the F4 was the first 'professional' Nikon to be totally battery dependent, have a plastic top-plate that (as I found out) could fairly easily be cracked, and have a quite bendy aperture actuator lever. Lots of dead weight, and nothing to show for it.

I'm not a proponent of the comment, just stating what I've read over the years about the F4. Yes, it's clunky, made more so by adding the "s" version. I'm more disappointed about the bleeding LCD as much as anything; a distraction in the viewfinder.

The plain F4(not F4s) isn't overly easy to find in the US, but IMO it's worth keeping your eyes open for one. I think I paid like $80 bucks for mine-admittedly with a bleed in the small LCD-from KEH. I've hardly touched my F4s since getting it, although I do miss the vertical release of the F4s.

I was looking at F4es not too long ago just to round out the set. Funny enough, most of the ones on Ebay seem to be from Japan.

The F4S, like the motor driven F2, fit my hand the instant I picked it up. I like everything about it. Can't speak to the ruggedness as I've never used it as a hammer but I also have one that was rode hard and put up wet. Clearly proffesionally used and it took a new shutter to get it working properly. My other is a low miles camera and I like them both quite a bit. The F2 on the other hand can be used as a defensive weapon and then used to photograph any perpetrators. Three guesses how I know that. Never warmed up to the EL series and the 4004 drove me nuts. Nikon has come out with more than a few I don't care for but the ones I like are ones I generally like a lot.

Rick H.

The Nikkormats mostly don't get much bids on auctions that I see.

I got an FT3, which wasn't specified in the auction title, but could see it in the pictures.

The FT3 is the AI version, and works pretty well. Solid build like the other Nikons of the time.

The EL also doesn't get a lot of bids, the EL2 does better.

The EL also doesn't get a lot of bids, the EL2 does better.

I think that the "Nikon" badge as opposed to "Nikkormat" on the EL2 may help it.

To me, the EL is an interesting camera and AFAIK it is the only camera that offers auto exposure with non-AI lenses.

One of my dislikes about Nikkormats, though, is in the lens mounting procedure. Unlike an F or F2 , where you have the aperture ring set anywhere, the non-AI Nikkormats require that the lens be set to f/5.6. You also have to make sure the pin is pushed full CW, but then that usually happens when dismounting the lens.

The f/5.6 thing is extra annoying because non-AI lenses usually come off the camera at their minimum aperture. Once again, with an F or F2, you just shove the lens on wherever it is and with a quick twiddle of the aperture ring it's coupled.

In any case, though, from my perspective there's a lot to like about EL2. It's effectively an FE in a more solid and sturdy body(although I understand the reliability isn't as good as the FE, and the FE isn't exactly flimsy). The EL2 also gives you a silicon photocell-I seem to recall that the FE is CdS(the FE2 is silicon) but don't hold me to that.

About the only thing I don't like about the EL and EL2 is the weird battery location. Also, the EL2 has the weird dual power switch arrangement(advance lever offset and ring around the shutter button) and forgetting about one of those can drain the battery in a hurry. PX-28s don't come as cheaply as LR44s, either.

My first Nikon, back in 1969 or thereabouts, was the EL.

You pick the Aperture and its meter showed the shutter speed. Had a vertical travel shutter, to travel the 24mm faster than those cameras that had to cover the 36mm.

Eventually moved up to an F2AS heavy beast. But my EL pictures were more numerous and still are my film favorites.

Back in film days, there were the Nikkorex models - some not even made by Nikon (LINK)

For a long time, these models were not even included on the Nikon web sites...

If given an opportunity to get one of these, DON'T - unless you are a completionist collector of shelf queens.

Back in film days, there were the Nikkorex models - some not even made by Nikon (LINK)

Weren't those made by Minolta?

Weren't those made by Minolta?

Mamiya, actually

As the Nikon Compendium puts it

"The Nikkorex cameras are an unknown part of Nikon history. … Still, the question remains why the Nikkorex series never [in 1993 JDM] appears on any official Nikon family tree. Apparently Nikon prefers not to be reminded of these models, the main reason perhaps being the fact that the [some JDM] Nikkorex models were the result of a cooperation with Mamiya and not of pure Nikon design and manufacture as in every other case. Also it probably does not fit into Nikon's present attitude as a professionally orientated company to once have included cameras of such relatively poor quality in its list."

and at their own site (finally acknowledging that it existed LINK)

The NIKKOREX F actually was created, from development to production, by another camera maker, which we'll refer to as "M". Whether Nippon Kogaku K. K. approached "M" about the arrangement, or vice-versa, it is not clear.

The same body (Nikkorex F) was used for a number of other companies in addition to Mamiya (Prismat) and Nikon. One model even had a Canon lens for it.