Nikon F Video Manual, Video 3 of 3 

Thank you! For your ISO setting, unless you have a working metered prism the setting is just a reminder. For your first roll or two, to check that the camera is giving you accurate info, it may be a good idea to pick up a (free) light meter app for your phone and use the settings that it gives you for your shutter speed and aperture and checking those against what the camera says. That will tell you if the camera's light meter works and help ensure your images turn out well if not.

Thank you and that's fantastic to hear! These are a lot of fun to shoot with and use. I really enjoy using my F.

Thank you!

Thank you!

+karl sosa Thank you! The F is a remarkable camera and a lot of fun to shoot with.

Thank you! For the shutter speed, it depends on your prism. If you have a metered prism, I think the mark is on the prism. If you have a non-metered prism, it's on the body.

Interesting. I wonder where that fits into the line.

@@DavidHancock here is another list that has 680xxxx series apart from others. www.nicovandijk.net/serialF.htm

Nice! It sounds like you may have a different prism?

@@DavidHancock I got it, mines has two prongs that you have to turn.

Go with the camera that matches the lenses you have. And personally, I kept my Canon F-1 old and sold my Nikon F. The Canon is pretty easy to modify with a diode so that it can accept modern batteries, too.

Thank you! As for polishing, it might be but I don't know how. If it's black ,it probably is not possible as the black paint covers a brass (I think) base. The silver finish may also cover a brass base so it may also be susceptible to removal during refinish. One think that COULD be done is stripping it to bare metal and having it powder coated at a specialty shop like an automotive body shop that does powder coating. Anodizing is a possibility to if you decide to strip it. You'd also have to disassemble the camera for that, though. I know a guy who does that to create some amazing lens refurbishments, but it's not a cheap process.

Chris C Thank you. I wish I knew how to clean a prism. They're not easy to take apart and require a lot of precision to re-assemble correctly. There's a channel called Fix Old Cameras and they're the guys to talk to about this kind of repair. Mike would know how to do that for sure.

Thanks for your information.

+Mark Dymek I would like to do that, but I don' have the viewfinders for it. Some of the F viewfinders are really hard to find.

Thank you! For the adapter, look for the simple brass MR-9 adapters and then use a 675-type hearing aid battery and NOT an LR44/A76/AG13/257 battery. The 675 has the correct voltage.

@@DavidHancock Awesome - thank you so much!

I picked it up on eBay. They sell them individually now and I don't know that I've seen the two-cell adapter there recently. But if you search for an A76 to PX adapter, you'll see lots of options.

Th voltage-altering adapters run about $40 each, so $80 for this camera. The A76 batteries seem to have weaker amperage than the modern PX batteries, so with my F the light meter is pretty close to accurate with A-76 batteries and the adapters.

I do know about the adapters, I'll try your solution and see how it works. I don't trust alkaline batteries though. When they die, they leak! I'm not sure mercury batteries are banned. I think that they can still be manufactured and sold with the requirement that the manufacturer must provide recycling for them. Such a small market for them makes that infeasible. Considering all of the mercury in fluorescent lights, it seems kind of crazy. Mercury is still around but recycling fluorescent lights is practical since there are billions of them sold every year.

Use type 675 zinc-air hearing aid batteries in this adapter instead of LR44/SR44. They are the same size but have the correct voltage.

Good question and I'm not sure. I don't know enough about the photomic finders. My best guess is that mine is newer and that the feature was added.

+Jan Glenna If the dirt is inside the prism, I don't know how to get to it. If it's on the outside of the glass, I clean the prisms like I would a camera lens. The guys at the Fix Old Cameras channel can help if the dirt is inside the prism.

Unfortunately not. I sold this camera some time ago.

David Hancock ohhhh nooooooo :(

I know which prism you're talking about but I've never used one. I would run that question past the people on the Photrio forum and post a couple photos of it. Someone there will know.

@@DavidHancock Perfect! Thanks

Hi, Julia. So you're seeing complete blackness when you look into the viewfinder?

@@DavidHancock I can see the meter, but that's it!

Got it. So take the lens off the camera. With the lens off, can you see the mirror or is the mirror stuck in the up position?

@@DavidHancock it is stuck in the up position

Okay. So that's the issue. Let's try this first: Check that the mirror lock up dial is set to have the mirror down. Try adjusting it to see if that fixes the issue. If so, you're set and good to go. If not, fire the shutter at 1/1,00th and see if it drops. If it does then, try firing it at a slow speed like 1/8 or 1/4 and see if that causes it to stick up again. If it does, that means that it needs a calibration. If neither of those work, let me know.

+Bruce Haskell I cannot find the right now. The B&H price seems excessive, though. It may be possible to fit an A76 with a small gasket and have that work suitably well (there used to be adapters that were just metal rings.) Check eBay periodically, though.

You would need two adapters like this: www.ebay.com/itm/A76-LR44-AG13-357-Battery-Adapter-to-PX625-LI560-for-Old-Cameras-Free-Shipping-/152170365558?hash=item236e0f8276:g:5pEAAOSwnH1WWk6R Full disclosure, I'm the seller for that listing.

Never mind - I figured it out. It seems that the spring mechanism that’s suppose to push it “down” is gummed up so much, it’s staying stuck in the up position. Now it’s time to open it up oil it up. Any suggestions for what type of oil?

first try removing the old and gummy oil with rubbing alcohol or, if needed, Ronsonol (or similar) lighter fluid. If it does need oil (hopefully not) then use a single tiny drop of light sewing machine oil.

@@DavidHancock Thanks, David! I appreciate the help. I will give the rubbing alcohol a go.

That's just a sign that you don't have enough light for both prisms. It happens in dim lighting or with lenses that have an aperture opening of around f/5.6 and smaller. Totally normal and just a function of physics.

David Hancock Does that also mean the pics will end up under exposed? AFTER that photo shoot, I watched your video on how to use the light meter, so I was guessing because I didn't know how to use the light meter. Thanks to you, I do now!

Not at all. The exposure isn't based on split prism blackout. So the meter won't have a different reading either way.

Thank you. You've been really helpful.

www.ebay.com/itm/152170365558 The F needs two of these. Full disclosure: I'm the seller.

thanks!

There are Wein Cell batteries you can use but those die relatively quickly. You can also use A76 (LR44, S76, 357, etc...) With two MR9 voltage-adapting adapters. Also you can use the modern wrong-voltage batteries and adjust the ISO seeing to compensate. In that case, simply set the shutter speed to your film speed (or the nearest number, like 1/500 for 400 ISO) and then on a sunny day with the sun to your back take a meter reading at f/16 (on the lens) and adjust the ISO dial until the meter reading is correct.

@@DavidHancock thank you

+Hooray for Pentax! Not exactly. The SV doesn't offer TTL metering like the F does.

David Hancock Oops! Duuuh. *facepalm*

Thank you!

Well, there are a lot of possible reasons. What is your camera doing? Maybe I can help.

Thank you. If the meter doesn't work, it won't affect your pictures. Pictures are the result of shutter speed, film, and aperture. The meter only helps you determine what aperture and shutter speed to use. If you don't have a meter, then the best thing to do is use the sunny 16 rule. If your subject is in full sun, then at f16 the shutter speed is the reciprocal of the film's speed (100 ISO film would be 1/125th, etc.) There are compensations for shade, dawn and dusk, and indoor shooting. Alternately, since the metered prism on these is huge, you could pick up a standard, non-metered prism and sell the non-working metered prism to off-set the cost (non-working metered prisms are worth about $10-12 on eBay, usually.) Then using a hand-held light meter you can obtain the readings you need. (The F also, I think, looks a lot better with the standard prism.)

Coo, very helpful. Thank you:)

David Hancock I have another question. Can I use a lens adapter on this camera? I currently have old Canon Fd lens and I saw a nikon to canon Fd adapter for nikon bodies. Can I use that adapter for this camera?

JayR Dy So the Nikon-to-FD adapter will allow you to use Nikon lenses on a Canon, not the other way around. Canon FD lenses have a shorter flange focal distance, so if you mount one on a Nikon you cannot obtain infinity focus. There are adapters that allow the use of medium-format lenses on Nikons, but they don't communicate with the camera and exposures are more difficult.

David Hancock opps i ment Fd lens to nikon body adapter.

+Mark Dymek Here's a source that lists all of the different prisms: www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/michaeliu/cameras/nikonf/ffinders/fmeterprism.htm

David's comment is good, but for a simple answer it's in the model name, if it is an F, basic prism; Ftn, etc. is the name of the prism attached to the camera, with one exception: a 'T' in the name identifies Titanium parts [metal top and bottom]. this is as I myself understand it, only an opinion, just from what I have read in books, etc.

+Mark Dymek Yes you can and I've done that. That's the easiest way to use the camera as a waist-level camera. That said, the focusing screen could, in theory, shift out of alignment without a prism in place and that would throw your focus off significantly. The metering prisms take the old PX625 batteries. They can use A76 batteries if you have two adapters and two A76 batteries. These are the A76 adapters I use in my Nikon F: www.ebay.com/itm/A76-LR44-AG13-357-Battery-Adapter-to-PX625-for-Vintage-Cameras-Free-Shipping-/151898589762?hash=item235ddc8a42:g:5pEAAOSwnH1WWk6R

+David Hancock i plan on using my iPhone as a light meter. there is a good iPhone app light meter. my camera had a px13 battery in it.

+Mark Dymek In trying cell phone light meter apps, I've found them to be way off. I use BeeCam in a pinch, but it's often off by up to two stops. PX13 is another type of PX625 battery.

+David Hancock i figured that out after i posted that. the one i plan to use is one Chris Marquardt recommended. i can always buy an external light meter.

Someday if I can get my hands on one.

Thank you! :D

Just because CFLs have more mercury than the old batteries does not mean that the mercury batteries are not hazardous. The mercury in the batteries is harmless to the environment and people as long as the batteries remain sealed, but over time they will fail and leak. Mercy batteries contain a mix of mercury oxide and zinc. The mercury oxide is the hazardous material. It does not turn to vapor, like elemental mercury does, but it does remain a fine powder that aerosolizes easily when disturbed (for instance, if some falls into a carpet and someone steps on that part of the carpet or a nearby part of the carpet.) Mercury oxide has three ways in which its acutely toxic at relatively small concentrations -- inhaled, ingested, and dermally. So basically, it's acutely toxic if it's disturbed and breathed in or if it contacts skin. (Also if it's ingested, but that's the least likely scenario unless someone keeps their mercury oxide shaker next to the paprika shaker.) Anyway, will the amount from one battery kill someone? No. But the amount from one battery can kill a bunch of wildlife if it gets into the ecosystem through improper battery disposal, as an example. It's fair to say that the batteries themselves are not hazardous, but their contents definitely are. Fortunately, humans evolved in the presence of mercury and it takes our systems about one month to remove a mercury dose from our bodies, but that also means that if the level of mercury we're exposed to accumulates over the span of a month to an acutely toxic level, that the mercury can, and likely will, cause significant organ damage.