The Nikon F4 - Beauty or Beast? 

The F4S is, in my opinion, the best film camera ever made.

The Nikon F4 is undoubtedly the yardstick of the analogue film era. Even 34 years later it's still highly relevant. Film might be pricier now than way back, but a camera like the F4 deserves to be used in a digital world. If you're passionate about analogue photography don't hesitate to invest in a modern analogue classic camera like the indomitable Nikon F4. Nothing to regret.

Finally, this terrific camera is being appreciated. Everything was right here for me - starting with the wonderful viewfinder image. Every look through is an invitation to work with the light. The ergonomics fit me like they were tailor-made. Reliability like that of a faithful dog. Masterpiece!!!

Funny. I’ve seen this video over and over again listening to to you talk and drinking that cup of coffee enjoying every word you say. My dad is gone and you have that carefree position about you that that reminds me of good times with him at the table. Thank you for your input. I guess I miss my dad… Thats why I check this particular video above all the rest. God bless ❤

This made me break out my old F4. I loved that camera. Thanks for the reminder. I got one as soon as I could when it came out. That hand grip made selfies a piece of cake. Yes, it’s strong - its titanium chassis was, I believe, carved from a solid block. I remember the beautiful black booklet with color photos that came with it; it felt like the album art inside of the White Album. The little camera store that ordered it for me here in Humboldt County, California, told me I was the first one in Humboldt to have one. I was still a student, but I couldn’t not have this. My FM2 moved down to second body. I still have that sweet little gem, too.

Thank you to taking the time to share what you love about the F4, I'm so glad to pick mine up for a song and a little dance...

Thank you for your confession of love for this masterpiece of craftsmanship. I recently bought the second F4 body to be prepared for the future. I love the ergonomics, I love the design, I love the durability. You barely will find something in the near of that masterpiece nowadays. So, it was a pleasure and I enjoyed your hymn of praise to my favorite camera! Kind regards, Nikolas

I bought one recently and was pleased to find it was in very good condition - I had read the various tales of woe about the bleeding displays - but on the second day the spring came off the back door locking lever (the one that locks the pull-up shaft). It still locks the shaft, but it's slack, so a bit of blutak will hold it in place until I can lift the top off. Beware, I'm not the only one this has happened to, after it occurred I found mention of it in a few forums.

I bought a used one a few years ago when everyone was switching to digital and dumping their film cameras. I paid about $600US, in excellent condition. Mine came with the vertical grip and a data back. Man, was it ever heavy! I sourced a plain film back and the standard battery grip (4xAA) from Japan. So mine is now technically an F4J. I use it with a Sigma Art 24-105 DG in program mode. This lens has optical stabilization. Auto focus is snappy and silent. My weight savings from re-configuring the camera is somewhat offset by the weight of the lens, but the combination feel balanced. The photos are excellent.

21:42 The F3 motor drive had a vertical shutter release button on the motor drive. Nikon was just carrying the ergonomics of their former professional 35mm SLR body and accessories forward into the new model when the F4 was introduced to the market. The F3 viewfinder focusing mattes look pretty much identical to the F4 ones; although, those marked F4 on the box were markedly more expensive at the time.

This beast is a tool of beauty. My opinion unmatched in appearance. Stunning! Great video and great camera!

I stumbled across your video and loved it since prior to finding this video I just ordered a F4S from KEH along with the 28-105 AFD macro lens and I look forward to staring at this beauty with it's sculpted Italian design and more importantly, taking pics with it. In the 80's I could never have been able to afford such a camera being in my late 20's raising a family but now I can enjoy it as you do. I subscribed to your channel, great video. - Jeff

That was some nice rambling about this incredible camera!

The Nikon FA was the first matrix metered camera in 1984. It was manual focus but I think it could matrix meter using modern AF lenses. The Nikon F6 of course matrix meters with all but the most recent AF lenses starting with the AI lenses right up to the D&G lenses. I had the FA and loved it being light and the matrix metering was excellent right off the line in it's first iteration. It is still one of the most unrated Nikon cameras available. I also had the Nikon F5 and loved it also but the weight became such a hindrance I began leaving it behind in favor of the Nikon F3A. Anyway enough chatter... Merry Christmas...cheers

Very interesting points about the F4, fair interpretation without a bashing against others, good sense of humor (own gravity...) and a good length for the video. To be honest I use a F3 and I love her... So thumb up and you got a new follower...😊

I am writing to you from my "Spanish-English" translator, so I hope you can excuse any errors in grammatical construction. Having clarified this, I tell you that I happily have a Nikon F 4 camera. Along with the Hasselblad 500 C and a Leica IIIa, it is the best purchase I made in a few years. Sometimes I think that this Nikon model is superior in many aspects because both Hasselblad and Leica only have an iconic value that makes them unsurpassed in addition to their technical qualities and let's agree that it is very difficult for a father to decide which child he prefers more, since that the function of a father is not to choose among his children, the best. That guy wouldn't be a good father. But here, luckily it's not about "parents and children", but about cameras. The F4 is magnificent from the moment you load it and decide to go out into the world so that it trembles with its forceful presence. I will never be separated from her and she will accompany me to the afterlife like an Egyptian pharaoh.

Terrific Review! A truly gorgeous camera. Thank you.

Great information....Over the years I have had a few F-2's...still have a Nikkormat EL and will probably get a F-4 since they are such a deal, and like the fact I can use my older Nikon A-I lenses. I shoot mostly 6x9 on my Texas Leica.... Fuji GW690II which is a very underrated fantastic all manual 6x9 camera. One can never have to many cameras....

How good is it that it has no menus! Awesome! I love the weight of the F4 That's an upside! The AF is perfectly fine. Its a film camera. No-one will use it professionally if they require high fps because no one wants to burn film, Digital is for that. Great video man

I have two of these fab cameras. With the "bits" such as a waist level finder and backs, screens, etc, Love the comments re menus. All the F4 controls are visible. The camera is a work of art. Heavy but stable. Love it.

You are spot on about cameras being so overly complicated that they get in your way. It’s the reason I haven’t gone digital. I love my Nikkormats and FM cameras bodies. Even my K-1000 does away with all that electronic clutter. The F4 was the last professional camera which followed the old idea that more isn’t always better. I was lucky to purchase one from a fellow who went digital and sold his very good condition body for very little money.

Just wanted to say great video! Bought a used F4 from a good dealer with a lens (AF), two hundred pounds!! A day after I turned 60! Didn't hesitate, if you don't have one fellow photographers, get one!!

Love it thanks for the review. Liked and subbed. I couldn't afford the switch to Nikon from my Minolta kit back in the day so opted to upgrade to the Minolta 9 which I still own use and adore. As time went on I moved to digital starting with the Nikon D1h loved it to death, drown it, replaced with and still using and loving the D3s and tonight just won a local auction for an f4 with grip good working condition. Cant wait to shoot it and slip the experience on my chan thanks for the info and inspiration.

I have been taking my F5 out lately. Omg, yes, the big Nikon bodies of the film era were amazing!

Beautifully stated. Thank you!

Bella recensione , forse la miglior Nikon mai costruita , la uso con un 85 mm 1.8 ed 1 28 mm 2.8 è meravigliosa . Non sbaglia un colpo e non ha come le digitali menù in qui perderti facilmente , è l'essenza della fotografia allo stato puro. Se vi capita prendetela con mb 20 è molto più leggera e manovrabile da usare con fissi di qualità , per lo street numero 1 ! . Ancora complimenti per la recensione !

The F4 is awesome, having owned a EOS 1 aswell, personally I much prefer the F4 and still have it.

The view inside the finder is comprehensive and perhaps the best to look through of all the camera bodies I have tried .

Only center focusing...ok, work with that and know your subjects path of travel is going to be and you can never go wrong with the F4.

I recently bought a F4 myself, and it's a great camera. It is a camera that I will never get rid of.

love my F4, it's a machine; for b/w nothing beats old film, great video

I’ve got one order with a Nikkor 50/1.4 D. Will probably get a 24/2.8 D for it also for landscapes and general purpose stuff.

I was lucky to buy one of these brand new when they came out. It really was magnificent but it just didn't feel right and I can't think of a particular reason for it. I recall thinking that the viewfinder display was a bit odd but in the end I sold it. I should have given it more time I guess. If I was to use one today, I'd probably be comfortable with it because the F4 did introduce the form factor of the next generation cameras, including digitals that I guess everyone is used to (I did love the D700). That said, given a photographic assignment, the film camera I would feel most comfortable with is any flavour of the F2 variety.

Love the video! You are relaxed and clear on your descriptions on the F4. I have one as well and absolutely love it. No menus! Its my favorite 35mm camera and I have the entire F to F6 lineup. Also as a bonus for me it just looks so dam cool.

Great video about a great camera. I own the F, F2, F3 and F4 and like them all for different reasons, but I do feel the F4 is the smoothest to use. I agree completely about simplicity in operation and like you, use 35mm through to 5x4. To me, nothing beats a camera that is simple and reliable.

Don't let presenting get in the way of a cup of tea! Nice mate 👍

It's heavy, "it almost has it's own gravity", you caught me there, so funny. Camera looks great and no menus!!! Going to get one.

Thank you for the video! )))

yep its like driving a 1.4 litre Toyota and getting into an 18 wheeler to drive its a beast and has power compared but it also thinks a lot out for you like not having correct shutter speed with a flash it just knows and adjusts like Holden having auto lights you dont have to put them on it knows when i cant say ive ever had a failure with a film only a bad shot taken it is slow to focus depending on the lens but you also need to read Manuel once in a while to refresh ones mind like using camera on P program where does one set the aperture ring to 22 or 1.4 for the iris to adjust to going up or down in size the other thing is if i put a modern lens with no aperture ring where should i set the camera for results ie P S A i would use P myself and a flash but not cheap for film and developing now but so is fuel for the car

I own the F3, F4 and F5. I like all of these cameras for different reasons. I use the F3 with black and white film, it’s small a great for street photography. I use the F4 and F5 for shooting color slides and negative film for landscape and portraiture. These are built like tanks and will work a long time. The F4 is about the best for simplicity.

The FA also uses all the nikon lenses the F4 takes as well. Think they are the only 2.

Hadleigh Castle, one of my favourite photography locations, so you must be near me. Firmly invested in Nikon Z mirrorless now but the F4 was my dream camera back in the day. Such a beautiful machine, which pioneered much what we take for granted in the Nikons we use today.

The Nikon F4s was one of my favorite cameras.

Thank you for the video. I have a small collection of film cameras. Althoug I have sony a 7r ıı and nex 7. More then year ago I bought F4 attached lens 35/2. I bought it because it was cheaper then the market price. But the issue about the lens was it had oily diaphram, which I did not notice before I left the seller. Any way I could clean it, three time. I hope ir is still dry. Actually I bought it to earn some money by selling them seperately. But As I took it to my hands I was 'fell in love' with it. Then I bought some non pro lenses of AF nikon's. Then bought F801s, then again finding a cheap, yet mint F 80. I also have mamiya 645 super with lenses, mamiya RB sd and some lenses, mamiya press23 and twomlensen and two roll backs which of one has three formats. Besides some fixed lens yashica, zeiss ikon, Voigtländer cameras. And minox and likeones. Although all these are not logical, I don't waste money for a new car. So I give myself this opportunity. It makes me happy as a new car.

Great video on an amazing camera, thank you. Just my two cents, you may want to consider wearing a smoking jacket, cigar and a neat of whisky while making your videos. :)

Great video! But please, be careful with exposing this camera to any humidity. Weather sealing that old might be not that good 😅 I found an option of F4s with 35-70mm for $200 in my region, and you can't find it cheaper here, probably will buy it tomorrow, but there's a white opal plate fell down little bit inside of DP-20, and I'm a but torn apart, on top of having barely any money for living yet still wanting to buy this gorgeous beauty.

I owned an F4 and I would disagree with the idea that it is bullet proof. As tough as they are, they do have at least one Achilles' heel that I found. I had the "S" model and the little plastic strips on the section of the battery holder that slides in horizontally snapped off. That rendered the entire camera useless because it would no longer turn on. I tried to tape it in place, and glue it in place, all to no avail. The the bullet proof F4 was taken out of commission by a simple piece of plastic that kept the battery in place when it was functioning. For about a year, I did without the F4. After all I had the F5 and that camera is better than the F4 because it has a higher number in the name. It must be better. It is a fantastic camera; but I ultimately had to buy another F4. Enough said.

Had an F4s like the one you have there about 25 years ago and although I loved it, the huge weight became a deal-breaker for me eventually. I did a straight swap for a much newer Canon EOS5 and regretted it within a week. By comparison the Canon felt like a child's toy, so I swapped it for an Olympus 0m2n which I still have (and use) to this day. I'm undecided about a Nikon F2as (with a super-fast 55mm F1.2 lens) on eBay, but it's £500 and I'm not sure I can justify the expense.

Mine was sleeping for almost 10 years when I went to mft… As I just bought a Df one month ago with some Voigtlander lenses, I took it back from its dedicated bag and now I’m just looking after good price for TriX films. Beside the Df, find it totally coherent !

I just got mine! I’m waiting for a 35-70 lens that I bought on e bay

great video

I own several AI and pre-AI manual focus lenses, which I use on my Nikkormat FT-N. How easy is it to focus manually on an F4. For digital, I use a Canon EOS 5D classic, with a Nikon F adaptor, so that j can use my Nukkor primes on it. The lens adaptor has a chip, so that I can see when I've focused accurately. Mind you, with a wide angle lens it's not that critical anyway.

The photo community was much smaller and I think better when the F4 was the flagship around 1990. These days photography is easy and RU-vid is full of experts with a few years experience, how am I supposed to learn anything from those people, with my 35 years experience?

Hi, interesting video and I can tell you love your F4, however....... I hate mine! I have a large proportion of all the Nikon SLR film cameras that were made and the F4 would probably be one of the last I'd tend to use. I hate it's size and weight. I hate that everything is locked. (some things okay, but everything?) I hate that the battery compartments are two separate parts, and that it can't be used without the grip (F4s). And I hate that my one ( like lot of other copies) has the dreaded "LCD leakage" rendering most of the settings unreadable in the viewfinder. For me the F3 is the closest to perfection of any brand of camera ever made, a beautiful camera that has everything I need and nothing that I don't. And if I want AF I'll use my F100 which does similar to the F4 only much better (it doesn't take pre-Ai lenses, but I have my F3 for that anyway) and it can be used without the battery grip if required. If I were asked what is the best BARGAIN in Nikon film cameras I would say the F90x. Decent AF, electronic rangefinder for manual lenses, removable battery grip, AA batteries, all the usual program and exposure modes....for around £75? Of course it's all relative and we each have our own likes and dislikes. Not sure if you've ever used an F3, but if you haven't I'd recommend you give one a try at some stage.

I am currently trying to decide if I get a F3 or a F4 this is a good real life video about the F4. thanks for it

Accessories… I find the F4 has a vast selection of them. More importantly their useful. Different finders, grips, and focus screens.

The F4 is stupid cheap for what it is. In the states you can get a user grade F4s for $200-250 all day. I got a F4E that looks like it was used to frame houses then take pics after for $150. Slight LCD bleed but still usable. It blows my mind that a F4 is less than a FM2/FE2 etc when it was 3 times more new.

I recently got a F4s from ebay for the grand total of £119 ,yes you read that right, £119, but your right it is a beast, it's heavier than my D850 with grip and the D4 battery.

📸

It's a main battle tank, from the heyday - Nikons F4. I remember the F3 magazine ads, back into the day. I figured out, that i love simplicity. So i use cheaper, lighter (AF) 35mm SLRs. But my heart are always old, mech. film winder 35mm SLRs. AF is okay, to some degree, but i prefer manual focus lenses. I would love to see a digital FX Nikon FM3a, perhaps. But way more, a re-introduced, all black Nikon S2, with new designed calculated lenses. Seriously, i dislike LCD displays and menues. One fun fact is, the display on digital gear simply breaks the design language, the aesthetics of that, if you'd ask me... I'd love to own the Leica M-D, Leica M series 60, Leica M10-D, without LCD display...it does look so much better, totally.

When I made to jump from Olympus to Nikon for autofocus I purchased used F4. I found it to be heavy for all day carry and the AF sluggish and hunting. Then I learned that the F100 had the AF module of the F5. Traded the F4 for a F100 with MB-15 battery pack and fell in love. I kept a pair of F100 bodies for several years before jumping to digital with the original D1. A couple of years later, I bought a D2H which I kept for a decade as a newspaper shooter. I never made the jump to the D3 and beyond because I did not need full frame. I knew my D2H so well that it stayed out of my way and allowed me to just shoot.

I really enjoyed this video - i'm selling my Canon EOS 1V and replacing it with a Nikon F4.

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