Nikon F4s tips

Wander

Hello all, newbie here. I'm a Nikon guy and just bought a mint F4s. I'm excited to get it as I could never afford one new and I miss shooting film.

I'm guessing it has some quirks like all camera's so is there a certain guide I should search for or any insider tips you could pass along?

It will live alongside my D70s that will get upgraded to a FX format Nikon body so lens swapping will be easier.

Wander

Ok I know this is a Digi based forum but surely some of you shoot with this tank of a camera and know some insiders tips.

anyone?? anyone?? Bueller??

InsuredDisaster

I'm really wanting to get an F4. I haven't really been able to find a good manual for it online. Have you found one? I'm not sure what half the levers and buttons do. Could you tell me which lever does Custom setting C6 on the 700?

I think the camera is beautiful and bad ass.

InsuredDisaster

Seymore wrote: »

You can DL a PDF for the F4 at any of these links:

http://www.devicemanuals.com/guide/C...mpNek5qYz.html
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography...onf4/index.htm
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/j/j...nersmanual.pdf

Your links do not seem to be working. I'll try to do some searching though. Thanks

Wander

If you go to the marketplace/nikon land sub thread, Seymor posted the links on my WTB for a F4 manual-they work there.

No I haven't found a hard copy manual yet but I'm sure I can find a used copy of a magic lantern and/or the factory manual before too long.

I loaded her up with AA's last night and tried moving some dials,etc. The shutter, AF and motor drive have that precise mechanical sound and feel that just can't be found on a DSLR-the shutter is especially nice. I'm not a retro grouch and this will be a secondary camera but it sure is nice.

ian408

One thing you'll want to think about having the shutter checked out. At the very least, exercise it a bit before shooting.

Time can have an impact on the mechanics of the shutter.

InsuredDisaster

Thanks! I might have to run out and pick one up today haha.

Wander

InsuredDisaster wrote: »

Thanks! I might have to run out and pick one up today haha.

Do it-just hearing the shutter and motor drive again is worth it.

InsuredDisaster

I've got an N80, and an FM2(which is unfortunately, not here) but one of the fun things about film is being able to shoot something that has super weird control layouts. Look up the Rollei 35 for example. THe flash shoe is on the bottom and the controls are mostly on the front of the camera! I want one of those too.

The N80 is a bit boring having a control layout very similar to the D70 and ever other modern Nikon. Hence, I want an F4 since it still uses knobs and switches for everything.

Later, I'll at a TLR, something Russian, a Bessa R. . . . etc

InsuredDisaster

Just got a mint F4 today. Went to a shop that had about 5 F4 cameras. Mostly F4e with a battered F4s, which I wanted. Then the guy brought out some shrinkwrapped F4 (no grip). Not a scratch, serial number starting 257 and gauranteed to work or my money back. Unfortunately, it was an hour before I could get any AA batteries, but the sound of the shutter is pretty cool, though the winding motor is really loud. I've decided that the Cs advance mode is probably the quietest. Thing is a tank and feels great. Still pretty automated but I'm trying to figure out how to set up the AF system (which is surprisingly good, at least compared to my N80) to my liking. Trying to get my fingers trained so that I use AF-C and then use the AF-L button to interupt the AF when I want to focus and recompose. How are you setting up your F4s, Wander?

My only problem is that I find the upper data bar in the viewfinder (film counter, aperture setting) is easily readable, but the way I put the camera to my eye, I often have to move the camera a bit so that I can see the bottom bar (with shutter and exposure setting.) Its also a bit weird having to flip on a big light switch at night to see the information, and then there are green lights all over the front of the camera as a result.

Currently shooting mainly in Aperture priority with a 35 f2D but may switch to P mode with a 24-70. The AF-S lenses work pretty well on this camera it seems. Nothing has been developed yet but I'll probably run a roll or two of color through it quick to do a quick check.

I'm thinking to do something a bit crazy this month, and basically shoot nothing but black and white film. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to have to find a source for bulk film though or I'm going to go broke after a couple of weeks!

Got anything developed yet Wander?

Wander

Mine was $240 shipped which I was very happy with. I haven't had anything processed yet but should soon. I've found the "P" setting easy to use, maybe too easy so I'll have to switch about to try more manual settings. I've also found the AF to be pretty darn quick and I like how it doesn't hunt like sometimes happens with my D70s.

I shot a 5 shot sequence of my dog running across the back yard yesterday. I was above the yard on the deck and set it the PH and CH-I didn't have to hold the AF lock as it tracked her perfectly-I guess the prints will tell the truth. I'm shopping for a better walk around lens and have a line on a 80-200 f2.8. I'd love to pair that with a 28-70f2.8 for the classic pro kit.

Does B&H still sell the film bricks? 20 rolls of grey market Fuji that was pretty cheap if I recall.

Funny you mention the bottom info bar in the finder-I'm guessing yours is also the DP20? I've also noticed that the bottom bar isn't as easy to see but it's also larger than anything I've used before so I figure I need to get used to it.

I have to admit it took me a few tries to turn it on-which is done by moving the shutter control off L or lock. I had to remember that the F4 was designed before Nikon put the on/off switch on the shutter release surround.

FM-2 eh? I shot thousands of pics with FM-2n's when I did party/event photography, those were some challenging shoots but those cameras never let me down.

InsuredDisaster

Mine was somewhat more expensive, a bit above the 300 mark. Unfortunately, in China, I think there is a smaller supply of used photography equipment. I guess the photo market for high end Nikon stuff way back in the 80's wasn't very big.

I do have the DP-20, with what I'm guessing was the standard Type B screen. However, someone had dialed in -1 stop exposure within the DP-20. I shot the first rolls using +1 on the body EC control until I could adjust the DP-20 control. Not sure what the deal is. I suppose I should run a comparison with my 700 to double check to see that the meter is functioning properly. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those guys with a built in exposure meter.

Wander

I got a "buddy" deal which helped a lot. I have the same problem with me internal meter-mine always seems to be out of batteries

Let me know what you figure out with the finder, I'd like to try it with mine and compare/contrast the results. Mine was in use until I bought it so the PO has it dialed in pretty well. You ever get over to Japan? I would think the market would be much larger there but maybe so are prices?

InsuredDisaster

I did some comparisons with my D700 and the F4 seems to be underexposing, at least just what the meters say. So I might take the meter off and set the meter's EC a bit. We'll see.

InsuredDisaster

I just spent a few hours developing the 9 rolls of BW film, about 5 or 6 of them from the F4. Looks promising so far. Should have them scanned tomorrow.

Also figured out why my 700 meter is showing about half a stop brighter than my F4, and that's because I set the 700 to shoot half a stop over the default. So I'm definately feeling good about the meter. I just know that I can probably dial in +.3 or +2/3 in some situations and do just fine.

I still can't get over the fact that this camera works with lenses that are 30 years 20+ years newer than the F4 was originally supposed to use.

Wander

That is one of the things I like about Nikon the most-they have stayed with the F mount from the 60's onward. Not everything works with every camera but most of the time you might loose a function that can be worked around. Our F4 even meters through the old, totally manual lenses. That has got to take a lot of difficult engineering to figure out.

InsuredDisaster

Got the film back. Its bad ass. I'll post it later. Gotta run.

InsuredDisaster

First photos came back and I'm pretty happy with them overall. Here are a few.

All were shot using ILFORD Pan 400 (note: this IS the name of the film, and it does exist. Apparently, it doesn't exist in all markets though. Its some sort of budget grade HP5 or something.)

All straight out of camera and I've just been developing another 5 rolls, so didn't bother to do any other post with these shots.





Pushed 1 stop, hand held, about 1/15th second with what I think was a 50 mm or 35 mm, Can't remember.

Wander

Nice photos (and scans) Ben! I really like the moodiness of the B&W -especially the last one. The reflection off your daughters eyes is really cool. Did you use a fill flash on the last shot? My first roll came out bright but I suspect the processor rather than the camera. I am going to take the second roll to a place that does a pro level job. I wanted to check for light leaks and setting with the first roll.

InsuredDisaster

Wander wrote: »

Nice photos (and scans) Ben! I really like the moodiness of the B&W -especially the last one. The reflection off your daughters eyes is really cool. Did you use a fill flash on the last shot? My first roll came out bright but I suspect the processor rather than the camera. I am going to take the second roll to a place that does a pro level job. I wanted to check for light leaks and setting with the first roll.

No fill flash. I'm sure I could do something stunning with flash but the thing is, I am not quite good enough with flash to charge off into the dark firing away blindly with film and flash. I need to review nearly every shot I take with flash. I guess that's what really seperated the pro's back in the old days. They just somehow knew everything. Digital has somewhat lessened the divide I think. Not saying it makes people more creative, but it allows us to see what went wrong and maybe correct if we have the desire to do so.

(I still see boatloads of badly exposed, out of focus shots so I figure for many people, they just don't care.)

I have some local photoshop do the scanning. A), they can do it faster than I can I guess, and , in China, a $250 scanner will cost you $720, so I will just pay to have the 100 or so rolls of film I expect to shoot this year done by the shop across the street. These are good enough for proofing, emailing and posting, and I'll just have them do a print straight from the negatives should I so desire.

The matrix metering on the F4 seems to be pretty decent, even in the dark. That being said, on the bottom shot I did sort of do a "zone" system. Mine's the two zone system. Meter off of a brighter area, then the darker area, average that a bit in my head, think back to when I took a spot metering off some pavement earlier in the night, figure I was in a much darker area, average that result with the previous, then say, ah hell, my subject is really far away now, and take the shot.

Wish you better luck with your next roll of film. . . if you make it back.

Wander

Well...I've got the gold level AAA membership as a back up so I should make it home at least. That is one of the fun things about an old Land Rover, every trip is an adventure.

I love the final part of your zone- I don't know if it will work with the F4s but when I was shooting events I had a large side mount Metz that I set at f8 and used as a fill flash and it worked great. I was shooting a FM2n with a 50 also set at f8 and about 5 feet. It was usually so dark in the halls and the people where so busy/drunk that you couldn't get a good meter/focus so leaving it at 5ft worked very well. It was fun when that Metz would fire and it was like a solar flare to the well dialated pupals of the party people.