F4 or F100?

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>Confess your sin. No one is believing that for a second.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Ann, in this case, I can't care less about what other people belive in.</p>

[ann_overland]

<p>It is not good for your soul if you don't confess :-)</p>

[rob_caswell1]

<p>Since I've been dabbling with the mamiya RB67, one function that I find myself using more than 80+% of the time is the mirror lock up. No matter whether it be portraits or landscape.</p>

<p>The F100 doesn't offer MLU, so that might be a deal breaker for some. </p>

[ann_overland]

<p>I have never used MLU. Would the VR be of any help instead?</p>

[Christopher Sperry Photogr]

<p>Mirror Lock Up is a tripod-based technique. VR is a hand-held strategy. If you shoot long exposures on a tripod, say 1/30 second to 1 second, particularly with long telephoto lenses, the F4 wins, with MLU -- macro, distant waterfalls, low-light w/ long lens, slow film.</p>

<p>For shooting hand-held with VR, the F100 wins, (no VR with F4). If mounted on a solid tripod, with shorter telephotos, and good technique ... the F100 sounds great. I have an F4.</p>

<p>Have you considered Speedlights and their cross-functionality -- digital to flim -- in your analysis?</p>

<p>http://speedlights.net/nikon-speedlight-sb-800-flash/</p>

[ann_overland]

<blockquote>

<p>Have you considered Speedlights and their cross-functionality -- digital to flim -- in your analysis?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No, I haven't. But it is definately another plus that I can use the SB-800 or the SB-600 and get TTL flash exposure with the F100. Thank you, Christopher.</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>I never used MLU either although all my cameras have the feature. Not only the Nikon top of the line F2,F3 and F5 have it. My Pentax KX has it too. I guess on newer cameras only the top end has this feature.</p>

[noah]

<p>Sorry I don't have the patience to read through all of these replies. But as a former newspaper photojournalist, before my paper went digital my film kit was two F5 bodies and two F100 bodies. I had, of course, also used F4s bodies before the F5 came out (they were actually stolen, I didn't upgrade just to upgrade).</p>

<p>I almost always shot with the F100, even for intense breaking news situations. I mostly only shot the F5 bodies for sports when I needed the speed. The F100 was my favorite film SLR and it's a great camera. I would recommend it unless you need very high speed motordrive. While I guess it is part of the prosumer line, it's built very tough.</p>

<p>If you need super high speed shooting or if you just prefer a larger camera, then if you can stretch the budget, I'd go for an F5. The F4s has a plastic prism which was always a weak spot, I've seen countless bodies including mine with cracks, though the body is tough as nails.</p>

<p>Can't really go wrong either way, especially at today's prices.</p>

[ann_overland]

<blockquote>

<p>I almost always shot with the F100, even for intense breaking news situations.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That's not bad for a prosumer camera, Noah!</p>

<blockquote>

<p>If you need super high speed shooting or if you just prefer a larger camera...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I don't think I'll dare use a film camera in super high speed shooting. In case there were almost no keepers :-)</p>

<p>I just found <a href="http://www.bythom.com/F100.htm">this</a> review of the F100. I didn't know it was newer than the F5! And it seems to be holding up fine compared to the F5. How about that.</p>

<p>I noticed a detail that I haven't heard of before:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The F100 only requires four AA batteries; the F5 uses eight. The F100 also has an optional holder (MS-13) that takes two CR123A lithium batteries (a wise option if you plan to use the camera in cold weather); the F5 does not have this option.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>How cool is that! <br /><br /> I was trying to find out about it's weather sealing, and that seems to be good as well. <br /><br /> There is one thing I think I will be missing, and that is a built-in flash. My D300 has a good built-in flash, and I use it quite often for fill. Does any of the autofocus film cameras have a built-in flash? Or is that a 'digital feature'?</p>

[Richard Williams]

<blockquote>

<p>There is one thing I think I will be missing, and that is a built-in flash. My D300 has a good built-in flash, and I use it quite often for fill. Does any of the autofocus film cameras have a built-in flash? Or is that a 'digital feature'?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No, the contemporary lower end film bodies had flash. You might look at the F80 (N80 in the US). If the F100 is a baby F5, this is the baby F100. Smaller, lighter and quieter than the F100, and super cheap nowadays. The AF isn't nearly as good as the F100's, though it still beats the F4's.</p>

<p>http://www.bythom.com/n80.htm</p>

 

[borgis_karl_johan1]

<p>The F100 is still a modern camera with reliable, reasonably fast autofocus- the F4 is slow. This is the era when Nikon was firmly behind brand C where autofocus was concerned.<br>

The only two issues with my F100 sample were a tendency in matrix mode to underexpose back-lit scenes by a stop or two (My F4 was much more dependable in that respect) and the absolute need for lithium AA cells- alkaline batteries will only give you between 3-8 rolls of film depending if you have the accessory battery part or not.<br>

Unless you have many old manual lenses or do dedicated macro work I would not consider the F4- the oldest bodies are nearly 25 years by now and there are reports that the circuits are prone to failure by now.</p>