the weight of the world

<p>i have for the past few years toted around my f4s and a few lenses, but it's slowly been growing... now i have a backpack filled mostly with the pro'ish glass and this weekend added an f5, an 80-200f2.8, and a 16mm fisheye --- it's the minor and small differences between an f4 and an f5 that throw me off -- my fingers are used to doing one thing, and it's slightly different on the f5.... for those of you with both systems, how do you adjust to the differences?</p>

<p>it's a great camera and picked it up for $175 --- less than most lenses --- both cameras have the original nylon / web strap -- am certainly going to have to change to crumpler straps or some such. ... but you feel the weight of both cameras pretty quickly</p>

<p>Other than the limitations of 35mm film, I'm pretty happy with my F5. The AF is obviously a bit antiquated, but I bought mine as a used bargain, and it's a lovely bit of kit. My other Nikons are a D700 and a D800e, so I don't have that much handling problem - less with the D700 than the D800e (for which the AF approach moved). I can't say much about sharing these with an F4, but I'll say that lithium batteries make a huge difference to the portability of an F5 (and flash guns, and my Pentax 645). Normal batteries are really heavy, and lithiums aren't - significant when you've put eight of them in the camera.<br />

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The dial interface of the F5 is pretty much a match for the D700. I'd buy a lighter Nikon SLR as well if anyone made one with the same (or better) level of compatibility - an F100 wasn't light enough to be worth it. I haven't had my aperture feeling ring adjusted, but I keep meaning to in case I encounter a pre-AI lens. I can cope with the dial interface of a Bessa R, and I'm looking with some interest at the Fuji X100/X100s, but I'm wary of something like this with a big lens on the front - adjusting the aperture on the lens really messes with the grip on something the size of an 80-200 or bigger, and moving the grip to dials on the top of the camera doesn't work all that well for me either (as I discovered when trying out a Df).<br />

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It's different, but give it time and you might like it. As a DSLR user, I can't imagine moving my grip around as much as I'd have to on the Df (hence the outcry in that thread), and I'd have the same issues with an F4 in serious use, however much I'd like one for fun. Nikon changed the handling for a reason. Good luck.</p>

<p>There was a major change in the position of controls between the F4 and F5/F6. The F4 was an electronic camera but still used the F to F4 layout by using a 'drive by wire' implementation. The F5/F6 are film cameras with DSLR controls (ie buttons, lcd screens and thumb wheels).</p>

<p>Many years ago I shot with a Nikon F2 and a Leica M4. Both were manual focus but the focusing helix rotated in OPPOSITE directions! By comparison the F4/F5 shouldn't be too hard to master.</p>

<p>I owned both the F4 and F5 simultaneously. I tended to grab whichever one was handy; for my hands the F4 with my homebuilt grip was ergonomically more comfortable, but that F5, beast that it was, just amazed me with its almost perfect everything...except the weight. You just get used to it as well as the minor changes from the F4.</p>

<p>it's not a light rig by the time i put all the heavy glass on each body --- but it's dang near bulletproof</p>

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<p>it's the minor and small differences between an f4 and an f5 that throw me off</p>

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<p>I don't understand - to me those two bodies are as different as they could come. Almost nothing works the same way or is in the same place.</p>

<p>I liked to use the F4 (the most with the smaller MB-20 battery grip) with manual focus lenses (and even manually focusing AF lenses; as I recall, I never actually used the AF of the F4 in earnest). If all your lenses are AF then I would not see any reason to carry an F4 and an F5 at the same time because they handle so differently; I would opt for the more modern F5 any time. With manual focus lenses, the opposite would apply - thanks to Nikon crippling their then-flagship F5 by disabling matrix metering with non-chipped lenses.</p>

<p>When I gradually sold off my film equipment I had to chose between the F4 and the F5 - the F5 only stayed because it was in pristine condition whereas all my F4 bodies looked like they had substituted for hammers on occasion. Should have agonized too much though - I sold the F5 eventually too.</p>

<p>The F4S was a revolutionary camera. It was the first Nikon with an integrated motor drive and offered, at the time, professional quality autofocus. The controls were basically traditional in layout. The F5 and F6 changed that, a change, for me at least, that not welcomed.</p>

<p>When I shoot 35mm, my F4S is my go-to camera. I like the heft and the position of the controls are right were I would expect them to be, using F2's since the mid 70's</p>

 

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<p ><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=4303235">Andrew Garrard</a><a href="/member-status-icons"><img title="Subscriber" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/sub6.gif" alt="" /><img title="Frequent poster" src="/v3graphics/member-status-icons/2rolls.gif" alt="" /></a>, Mar 04, 2014; 10:36 a.m.</p>

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<p>Other than the limitations of 35mm film.......</p>

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<p>Oh really? and what would those be?</p>

 

<p>I am a huge fan of the F4S and have been using it almost exclusively for about eight years. I much prefer a camera with physical controls instead of menus and think that the F4S is a beautiful design. All the info I need in the viewfinder, everything is manually controlled, and matrix metering for both auto-focus and manual lenses. A number of times I have considered other cameras, both in 35mm and medium format, and simply gave up after realizing that the F4S has all I wanted or needed in a film camera. Yes, it's not a lightweight camera, but is is a thing of beauty.</p>

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<p ><a name="00cQtB"></a><a href="/photodb/user?user_id=3731994">Paul Lewis</a>, Mar 06, 2014; 04:54 p.m.</p>

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<p>I am a huge fan of the F4S and have been using it almost exclusively for about eight years. I much prefer a camera with physical controls instead of menus and think that the F4S is a beautiful design. All the info I need in the viewfinder, everything is manually controlled, and matrix metering for both auto-focus and manual lenses. A number of times I have considered other cameras, both in 35mm and medium format, and simply gave up after realizing that the F4S has all I wanted or needed in a film camera. Yes, it's not a lightweight camera, but is is a thing of beauty.</p>

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<p>+1</p>

<p>The F4S is no doubt the "prettiest" of all the Nikon F series, at least in my opinion. It was also the greatest leap in technology over the previous version.</p>