Trying to decide between F4 and F5

[joshloeser]

I'm getting into photography, and though I have a D40, I've long wanted my own film camera, and old F bodies are pretty cheap now. I love

both the look and the method of controlling the F4. I like how the controls are all done by hand, rather than electronically. But, the F5 is much

better at autofocusing, and does action better, plus it's newer.

 

Any recommendations?

[Jerry_]

The F4 with the 4-battery MB-20 is lighter than the F5. The speed of auto-focus depends on what subject you are shooting. One with good contrast will allow either camera to focus quickly. Go for white T-shirts with no numbers on them, and you may not like either camera for your image taking.

 

 

The F5 needs eight AAs to operate, and a full day of shooting is a load to carry for most F5 users.

 

 

Your money, your choice.

[joshloeser]

My apologies for botching the subject line. Obviously, the second F4 should read "F5."

 

Something else I like about the F4 is its tremendous lens compatibility. Between it and the D40, I'd have a camera compatible

with just about all Nikkors out there (if not all their features).

 

Still, the F5 must have some stuff going for it as well.

[michaelging]

I have a F4, and a F,F2,F3, and F5, (don't tell the film people but I have a D3 as well) . I like the F5 over the F4 for several reasons , faster auto-focus is just one of them. The ability to use one of the better strobes , the better meter, and if you really need to crank some film through it ,you can.

[ShunCheung]

The F4 is actually partially incompatible with all of today's G lenses. When you mount a G lens on the F4, you cannot use the very popular A and M metering modes.

[bgelfand]

Go with the F100 instead.

[samoksner]

Perfect compromise an F100. The F100 is very rugged and is largely based on the F5 and has more compatibility then the F4. The AF speed is very good with screw lens' and AF-S lens'. I love my F100 and at today's prices, it's a steal. Check out KEH.com to get some great prices.

[russ_konrad]

I have owned the F4 - but upgraded to the F5 for it's AWESOME focusing speed.

 

I really wanted to love the F4, but it tend to hunt when it was trying to focus. For landscapes it would have been fine, but working with people it was just way too slow.

 

The F5 on the other hand actually focuses all of Nikon's D lenses FASTER the the D3. Put the 50mm f/1.8 or the 85mm f/1.8 on the F5 and it is truly incredible!

[pankaj purohit]

Other good options for todays lenses : F90, F80, F75 (Light weight and cheap) and some are already suggested upeer.F75 is working at best for me right now and I am using 3 new G lenses 70-300, 28-80, and 50-1.8. Fast auofocus and so lightweight this is. Some times I shot 4-5 rolls in a day continuously withing 4-5 hours, never failed. F90 and F80 are metal bodies if that is big issue for you, those little bit heavier than F 75, 65 and 55.

[lilly_w]

It seems your subject-matter and areas of interest would dictate the preferred camera between two vastly different bodies. If not, a flip of the coin could settle the matter. Considering that you've just recently started photography and have been using a lightweight body (D40), you will find the F5 and F4 to feel like a gold brick hanging from your neck. Alternatively, the F100 is an absolutely wonderful camera with most of the features offered by the F5. Forecast your future needs (frame-rate, AF speed, etc.) and the choice will become apparent.

[joshloeser]

I'm planning to get more practice in photography by taking pictures that may involve sports and action stuff. So, the F4 may not be advanced

enough for me there. I've got two 50 mm lenses (pre-AI 1.4 and AF-D 1.8), so I'd like to be able to get autofocus going on the latter. I also

have an interest in portrait work, so that does dial down the need for fast autofocus, I imagine.

 

Still, I love the setup of the F4, and I also was pleasantly surprised by how solid the D700 was when I picked it up and took a few test shots at

a camera store recently. It had a pretty weighty lens on it, so I'd guess it was about the weight of an F5 all things considered, or at least an

F4.

[bgelfand]

It is simple and inexpensive to have your pre-AI lens AI'ed. I had four lenses converted by John White http://www.aiconversions.com/ . They continued to work well on my old FTn and work perfectly on my F100.

[steve_larese1]

I love my F5, actually just blew the dust off of it and have been shooting a lot with it, it's an amazing camera. I think for your purposes those that have recommended the F100 are spot on, it's like the current D3 or D700 agonizing. Have fun and check out the Film/Processing forum too if you haven't already :)

[robert_hooper1]

You seem to like the ascetics of the Nikon F4. The Nikon F4 is practically selling for give-away prices today. Why not get

an F4 and an F5?

 

My last professional Nikon body was an F4. I looked at the Nikon F5 and decided against upgrading, though I can't at the

moment remember why. I know the F5 focuses faster than the F4 because I tried one out for a couple of weeks before

deciding not to upgrade.

[michaelchristensen]

I have two F100s and an F5. The F5 is the better camera, the stronger camera and the faster camera. I like it better than my D200 in many respects.

[alvin_lim5]

The good thing about the F4 is that it allows you to shoot lighter by removing the grip. Even with the grip, it is much lighter than the F5. However, its auto focus may be something less than desired. Though it is an AF camera, a lot of people I know use it as a manual camera.

 

The F5 on the other hand has a much better AF and feels absolutely sturdy. The downside of the F5 (as mentioned by many already) is its weight; the F5 body alone without batteries is about 1.1kg. Add a lens and speedlight, the set up can easily weigh more than 2kg.

 

If weight is a concern, but you like what the F5 can offer, you should seriously consider the F100. The F100 is not known as a baby F5 for nothing.

[ShunCheung]

I would treat the F4 as effectively a manual-focus camera with the old-fashioned knobs to control the shutter speed.

 

I used an F4 for several years and still own it, but once I got used to the main and sub command dials on the F5, I didn't want to use the F4 any more. But whether you prefer knobs or dials is very personal.

 

If weight is an issue, I would say forget about both the F4 and F5. The F100 would be a much better choice and there are many other lighter cameras. When the F4 and F5 were new, their build quality used to be a major advantage, but today, pretty much all available F4 and F5 are well used and can't be that reliable any more.

[robert_moser1]

If you plan to use a lot of old AIS lenses, you're probably better off with the F4 than the F5. If you plan to use mostly AF lenses, you'll probably like the F5 better.

 

Rob

[joshloeser]

I've got that 50 mm 1.4 AF that's just sitting around, more or less, superseded by my old pre-AI 1.4 lens. If I have to use both

manually, as I do, I may as well use the better glass while I'm doing it.

 

The F5 is sure tempting. I'm just not sure if the weight would be reassuring (as it seems to be for some), or just plain

overbearing. The F100 is attractive as well.

[andrew_gale]

I liek the F4, its simple and classy. You dont wade through menus, you twist knobs and spin dials. I love mine because its fun to take photos with.

 

The F5 is heavier, more expensive and all that it adds is useless? for a beginner? Unless you are shooting sports or birds the AF speed doesnt matter that much, get fast focusing lenses if you want fast AF. Again, and you point out, the F5 is better for action, but do you do a lot of action? Its new, but who cares, these are disposable cameras now, if it breaks you throw it out, most repairs cost more than new bodies. The F5 lets you get lost in its LCD display while the F4 lets you take pictures.

 

Finally, if you get the F4, your setup will be capable of taking any and all Nikon lenses ever made. You can get nice old MF lenses so cheap these days that having an entire setup that will accept them will be perfect. The F5 with the flip up metering tab would be fine, but good luck finding one.

[steve_mareno]

The F4 and F5 are big, heavy cameras. As big as some medium format cameras. Consider that end of it. The F4 I had was built incredibly well, but the controls were not placed well for me. I found shooting an old 8008s a lot more fun, even if the AF wasn't as fast. Fast enough for me though. I went to horse races w/ it and got some great shots. It's funny, I started out w/ Nikon AF cameras, and now I shoot small, old, RF cameras because the lenses are much better and they are a lot smaller and lighter to carry around. The one SLR I have is an old beater Leica R3. I'll tell you something. When I look at my old photos from when I was starting out, and compare them to shots from the Leica glass (this is not to knock Nikon or Canon. It is my just my opinion only) it seems like a waste of film.

[albinonflickr]

For use with older lenses, the F4 is no better than the F5, in my opinion. The matrix metering offers so little over centre-metering (it is just not good enough), that the latter - available in both camera's - offers better control.

 

I own F3 and F4. The above comment somewhere that the F4 is a manual camera with in-build winder and some AF features is what it is. If you want a rugged manual camera in components (like being able to chose manual transport or MD), I'd chose the F3. For automatic functions, almost all successors to the F4 did better - and I subsequently would chose from them now, considering the current prices!! Preferably: F100, F5, F6...

 

Good luck.

[berg_na]

As someone mentioned earlier, the F4 and F5 can be too big and heavy for certain applications, like travel for example. One feature that I really like about the F4 is the ability to switch to the MB-20 battery holder which makes the F4 a relatively compact and light camera. This is not available with the F5.

[ellis_vener_photography]

if you can swing it, get an F6.

[joshloeser]

I wish I could. That would pretty much solve everything. Less weight, better features.

 

Any thoughts on the N80? For a beginner like me, it doesn't seem like a bad idea either.