Nikon F100 nowadays, still worthy?

[breogan_gomez]

Hi,

 

We are starting a project that involves using B&W film for street photography in my home town. My setup is a FM2

with a 50mm f/1.2 AIS and a 24mm f/2.8 AIS, which should be more than enough to get decent pictures.

 

But I also have access to a 35/2 AFD and a 50mm/1.8 AFD in my bag. I am starting to think that a AF body would be

a good support to this project to get fast sharp pictures when the action is fast.

 

So I think that a F100 could be a nice support for this project. This goes pretty cheap now and they were

supposed to be "top-of-the-line" bodies.

 

What do you think? Is this body worthy in 2008? Is it a good body to take pictures to people in the middle of the

street? Please, keep in mind that I will use it with a 35mm and a 50mm prime, so I don't know if this would

overkill. Finally, I admit that I am not sure if I really need this body and I am suffering from a light NAS. ;-P

[ShunCheung]

The F100 was never a top-of-the-line camera. During that era the F5 was the top body and the F100 was the prosumer model, the equivalent of the D300 and D700 today.

 

If you think having AF will help this probject, by all means get an F100. Worst comes to worst you are wasting probably $200 or so. Therefore your down side is quite limited.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

The F100 is an excellent body. It's weather sealed, solidly built, and has very good AF capabilities. I'd select it over an F5. The only 'better' AF body of similar size is the F6.

[nolan_ross]

The F100 is and always will be a worthy camera. It is a great camera to take pictures of people with in the middle of the street. Steve McCurry photographed the Afgan girl with the F100 and a prime lens. He preferred the 28,35,50 and 85mm prime lenses. I guess if he can take pictures of people in the street all over the world you could also for your project..

I suggest you take your pictures while the people realize you are doing so. I wouldn't try and be a sneaky peat. The F100 autofocus will help you take the shot faster most likely. Some people can manual focus with the speed of light but most people cannot.

Here is a you-tube of a street shooter, Bruce Gilden. He is kind of crazy. I think people pretty much realize they have had their picture taken.

[harvey_edelstein1]

Another vote for film and F100, I would look for a 45mm f2.8 P lens, its chipped and has a really great look to its pictures. Its also a pancake lens that makes the F100 look more like an amateur camera. The F100 may have been the 2nd string to the F5 but I never pulled it out of its bag without people asking me if I was a pro. Its one great camera and lots of pros used it hard. It takes all the latest lens tech like afs, vr and has a great viewfinder.

[dan_mcclain]

I would definitely pick up an F100 if you want the autofocus. I've owned an N90s, F100, and F4s, and the F100 is much quieter than the two older bodies. Although the F100 isn't tank-like as the F4 is, it is built quite well, focuses quickly and quietly (as far as Nikon AF bodies go) and is worth a lot more than the current market price. I'm currently using an F4s, and although is is big, heavy, and somewhat slow, it is quite a lot of fun. The F4s would also matrix meter with your Ais lenses.

[dan_brown4]

The F100 will be very fine, and my first choice for a street lens would be the 35/2D-AF, followed closely by the 50/1.4D-AF.

Many also like the look of a 28, but the Nikkor is only f2.8. I would also look for a clean used N90s, which would also be very fine

for your project. The large center AF detector in the N90s was never challenged to lock focus in my experience, and the N90s

AF motor is very torquey.

[richard_cochran]

<cite>Steve McCurry photographed the Afgan girl with the F100 and a prime lens.</cite>

<p>

The famous Afghan Girl photo was taken in 1984 and appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic. The F100 wasn't introduced until 1999, about 15 years later.

<p>

I don't know, he might have used an F100 for his re-shoot of his most famous portrait, when they rediscovered the girl, now a woman, in 2002. But he couldn't possibly have used an F100 for the original image that was so famous.

<p>

I've heard he used an FE or FM, and either of those would make perfect sense, but I can't find an authoritative source. I've also read claims it was an N90 or F90, but those weren't introduced until after the photo was published, either.

<p>

But really, does it matter?

[SCL]

The F100 is a great body plus it meters with AI & AIS manual lenses.

[nolan_ross]

Richard your correct. He could not have been using a F100. I had been watching a you-tube thing with him talking and he was holding a F100 so I just messed up a bit. He was also talking about the Afgan girl picture. I did a google search on it but I didn't find anything so I gave up. But at any rate he likes the F100 and has used it a lot in his work. It is still a good camera to use and own.

[User_276104]

Regarding the Steve McCurry/Afghan girl photos, I do remember seeing a story on Dateline NBC about it and he indeed used an F100 to take the photos when they found her again.

[lex_jenkins]

When introduced the F100 was hailed as a breakthrough SLR because it packed many of the best features of the F5 into a smaller, lighter package that was still very rugged. It arguably represents the pinnacle of Nikon's achievements during the film era because it packed so much performance into a camera that was reasonable in price and size.

 

It featured matrix metering, the now-familiar prism mounted switch for metering modes (tho' it appears the D700 has left that behind), very competent CAM-1300 AF that nobody had significant complaints about for that era (tho' no AF system ever seems to be good enough nowadays, oddly).

 

The F100 is not as rugged as the pro F-series tho'. It's been awhile since I handled one but if I'm recalling correctly it uses light baffles rather than seals for the film door. While simple and effective, baffles cannot resist the entry of fine dust as effectively as seals. But it's moot - the F100 has proven its worth over many years of hard use among the world's best - and worst - photographers.

 

If I was going to get one last film SLR it'd be the F100. I don't want to lug another camera the size of the D2H or my F3HP with MD-4 motor drive if I can avoid it.

[breogan_gomez]

I want to thank everybody for their inputs, it is pretty clear that F100 is a great body!!

 

I guess the most reasonable actitude will be to take a few shots with my FM2 and then try think if a AF body will help me in similar situations. My main concern is that I never used a AF body other than a D40x with a 18-70. The D40x only has one control wheel and doesn't have a top panel. That makes fast adjustments a nightmare: "press this button to show the menu, then select the feature, change the... blah, blah". Subject is gone!

 

When I look at a F100 I see a pro-featured body that has a fast interface, making easy to change settings fast.

 

What I am trying to say is that I don't know if I need that camera because I've never handle nothing similar. haha. So I see buying it as a learning experience.

 

Anyway, as Shun said, It isn't much money involved.

[wenhan_xue]

I do a lot of street photography. My primary camera is F100 and I use T-Max B&W and Velvia color slide. F100 is very quick in focus with many professional settings. It's also light. They are critical for street photography. I believe that you will like it for your project. In regarding to your 35 and 50 lenses, I thought they were relatively short if you take pictures to people in the middle of street,especially in detail. I would suggest adding 85 to 180 primes.

[breogan_gomez]

Thanks Wenhan! I really appreciate your recommendations. I was already thinking in buying a fast telephoto to complement my lens, which probably be the 85/1.8 because is the cheapest of all of them!

 

Wow, now I am really wanting the F100...

[ralph_schwarz]

I'm still shooting film with my F100/MB15 battery pack and really enjoy it. I'll be heading on another trip to Europe soon with my F100, 50/1.8, 28-105, 80-200/2.8 and SB80 speedlight and loads of Velvia. The build quality and performance is as good as others have mentioned -- very solid camera. Some have even asked me if it is medium format, given the size with the extra battery pack! I likely will evolve to digital sometime next year when the D700 drops in price. The build quality of that camera appears to be similar to the F100 and finally provides a full-frame (FX) 35mm equivalent sensor, which is something that has prevented me from going to digital format up to this point. I also have the 85/1.8 and highly recommend that lens as it is fast, sharp and inexpensive.

 

Ralph.

[steve_larese1]

I believe Steve McCurry used a FM2 and a Nikkor 105/2.5 for the original portrait. Go with the F100 and follow in his footsteps :)

[derek_stanton2]

The F100 is one of my favorite film SLRs. But, if you want to spend considerably less, take a look at the F80/N80. It's like a

mini-F100. It won't meter with the manual lenses, but with those two AF lenses, you'll have a very compact kit. The body itself is

very small, and light, without feeling cheap. Functionally, you won't be missing anything. I recently got a mint version for about

$100.

[breogan_gomez]

@Ralph - Thanks for the advice, the 85mm f/1.8 has always been on my wish list. The Non-D versions probably go cheaper second hand. Anyway, the F100 will be first, then, when I had got used to the AF, I try to decide whether should I buy an AF or a MF telephoto (the 105/2.5 is also in my wish list ;-P)

 

@Steve - "I believe Steve McCurry used a FM2 and a Nikkor 105/2.5 for the original portrait. Go with the F100 and follow in his footsteps :)"

 

I wish I only need to buy a F100 to take the same pictures!!! Ha ha

 

@Derek- Thanks for the advice about the F80, that body really looks great, but I have a few manual lens and I rather be able to meter with them.

[p_b_]

The F100 will NOT do matrix metering with AI and AIS lenses, but it will do center-weighted and spot metering with them. What I like about the F100 is the ability to set the shutter speed in half stop increments and then the exposure meter in the viewfinder will show you 3 stops of under or over exposure. This is very useful for spot metering on a white shirt and dialing in +2.5 stops in manual mode. I use manual mode a lot. In fact, the F6 does not even have a 1/2 stop increment in the shutter speed, only 1/3 stop increments.

[mjt]

Another vote for the F100. As a matter of fact, I just gave up<br />

my F100 to my son, who is taking photography in high school.<br />

(yes, they do it "old school" - film, dark room, etc).

[larrydressler]

<p>I just got one with a sb50 flash for under $200.00 and I could not be happier. I have been using Nikon N90s cameras but they are all back ups now.</p>

[k_michael]

<p>I just sent mine in for repair. I've had it since 1999. I wouldn't have done it if I thought that it wasn't a great camera.</p>

 

[andylynn]

It is a great camera. I have some older manual ones that are pretty special but for shooting 35mm film on a modern SLR

there's nothing I'd rather be using.