I had a couple of these years ago and sold them. Just bought another one in great condition. Just because I love the feel of the camera. Nowadays, people look at you like you're from outer space when you shoot with a chunk of a camera like this. They scratch their heads and walk away, shooting wildly with their smartphones. I shoot it mainly with AIS lenses in manual focus and aperture priority mode which allows me to control the depth of field to my taste.
I'm moving up the rung. Started with the FG...fantastic cam....got the fm2...fantastic cam...I just need one of these...and then a casual point and shoot automatic...and i will have a full film lineup.
My grandfather is from the time when this was brand new. My cam had every bit of that technology for digital LCD that you spoke of since 1983 & tested the look & feel with the N501 & 6006 but the old timers weren’t ready for the future so that look you speak up was on purpose. To satisfy its aging pro journalist who weren’t ready for digital electronic changes. The serious ones fell in love. The F5 finally changed their minds in ‘95 and this would become the modem DSLR look we know. I personally love the F4. It was the first 35mm film camera I ever had to use a manual for including its multi back & flash. It truly was a flagship for action, sports photo journalistic professionals.
Great Video! I love my F4. It feels like you're holding a very well engineered, sturdy and precise piece of machinery. Also get a good workout lugging it around.
Absolutely love the F4, and that's from somebody who totally distrusted electronic film cameras for years, to the extent I by-passed an entire generation of cameras, sticking stubbornly to my OM-1 for decades until the digital revolution overtook me, and I finally succumbed to the lure of pixels and cheap shots. I wasn't all that wrong, as it turned out. More than one electronic camera from that era I've bought since has turned its toes up. Hope the F4 doesn't. ps. I was happy to find the AF-S 18-55 DX lens from a D3200 fits and works perfectly well on the F4, just ignore the portion between 18 - 24mm. Also, the F4 was criticised for having slow AF with the D lenses. The AF-S lens focuses just as fast as it does on its own camera generation.
Great video. The F4 was the last Nikon body without LCD+Menu wheels. I personally prefer the F4 usability over the F5. And the F5 is a beast regarding weight, it's much larger and heavier (8 batterie cells need space and come with a lot of weight) than the normal F4. Regarding lens compatibility you'll find more than enough great AF or AF-D (and AF-I) lenses for really low prices covering the complete range from 14mm to 800mm. I just bought two F4 bodies (F4 and F4E) both in superb condition for less than 200€ each, which I consider great value for money. The only downside is the repairability: my dad's F4 had issues with leaked batteries and Nikon was not able to repair the due to missing spare parts (will be an issue with every non-mechanical body).
Nice review but I disagree with your conclusion. The F4 is a joy to use, it just feels so solid and reliable. If you pair it with period correct lenses then any compatibility issues disappear, and there are a lot of superb AF and MF lenses to choose from from the 1970s - 1990s.
Bought a F4 just two years ago and felt in love with it. I knew it for years, it's such a beauty! It's just really special, the design, the ergonomics, the full experience. I shot maybe one of my best shots of old race cars but sold it because it was too heavy. Then I got the F100 and used it only twice, it was just too new for me. It doesn't felt right, something was missing. So after 4 months now without a F I'm looking at a F3. I think this is the best option... But I do miss my F4 :(
Just got one in post yesterday, it didn't start at first (battery test light was ok) but after careful cleaning contacts on the body it fired- works perfectly! So happy and eager to shoot it. Great channel you have there Greetings from Offaly
G Lenses work fine on my F5, I have a set of the second lastest version (maybe, its quite confusing even for me) of F2.8 zoom lenses (14-24, 24-70, 70-200), they all work fine!
One advantage is that they don't command the high prices of the Nikon F100, F3. Also you can buy bodies cheaply, which I did when my F4 body started playing up. The film advance and shutter sound are the best in the business, and the weight is a plus in my opinion. They have both auto rewind which puts the film wholly into the cassette, or you can rewind manually and leave the leader out. The manual rewind knob turns to confirm the film is advancing (unlike my F90X and F80 which have no rewind knob). They have shutter dampening and I have shot at night hand held at 1/15th and got good results. My only peeve is all the lock buttons making adjustments a two handed operation for my old arthritic hands.
The F4 just does something special for me, I shoot on a Z5 and the F4 has this feeling I get when I hold it and use that amazing shutter that just makes me want to shoot and to create.
there's hardly any options if you need some specific tools for photography, like 1/250 flash sync speed and more damped shutter that allows to substantially lower shutter shock, or/and if you want some in between manual-auto experience that have barely any compromises, and the lens compatibility is actually one of the widest (if not the widest) from the whole Nikon-F film camera lines
This is collectable item and one of the great example of the photo technology which was ahead of its time, mechanics and electrinich, ... it is a real industrial sculpture and genial design by giorgetto Giugiaro.
I had two F4s, they were a terrific cameras for all of us pros and I know nobody who switched to Canons except for a few sports shooters. The fact that Nikon retained the F mount was a huge plus, because many of us had a significant investment in glass (and Canon basically said "f*** you" to its pro users). It wasn't confusing at all (you have to remember that the cameras before the F4 were all manual). The autofocus wasn't a PITA, it was easy.
For G lenses I use my cheap F75 ($90 with 28-100 Nikkor, as new). Bought an F4 out of pure curiosity. And I agree; it's heavy, even without the extra battery packs. Have to use it more before I decide. Cameras can grow on you. Thx for your review.
So the F90 and F90x (N90 and N90s) actually have the same problem with G lenses and the like. The camera assumes you can manually change the aperture. So you have to actually use shutter priority or program mode to kind of back door adjust the aperture. On the other hand, my VR image stabilization does work on my N90s if I remember correctly last I checked.
Love my F4s I think the F4 will do matrix metering for Ai and Ais lenses whereas the F5 will not. Most of them have leaky LCD's in the viewfinder nowadays so looks like you got a good one. I agree about high frame rates with film prices these days! The F6 I think does do matrix metering for older Ai and Ais lenses but costs five times as much as the F4 Also and I am a complete ignoramus here but the shutter mechanism on the F4 has a `shutter balancer' which reduces reverberation from the shutter mechanism, `end quote.' Lol. Anyway later cameras apparently don't have this. So its a quirky camera. My back up film camera is no battery required FM3a The F6 would be lovely for compatibility with modern lenses though
Your perspective seems to be coming from a digital slr shooter. Some of your criticisms are about features that didn't exist anywhere in 1988... Like back button focus. As someone who first shot film slrs in the1960s...my concerns and perspective is very different. For example, I don't care what new lens features work or not. I tend to use lenses from the same era or earlier...as if I were shooting in 1988...yeah weird
Exactly. This was a top notch in its game , a milestone in the photo journalistic industry. It performed the better of the best for its day. Hands down. It’s still being used with reliability today. My grandfather used it new & loved it. Now I use it
The back button (function 4) was a Canon thing and was available at the time of the F4, just no on the F4. My go-to 35mm camera Iis the F4s+MF-23. I also have the Canon EOS 1 series cameras, and they are better, quicker to use (with the exception of the reduced number of focus points they operate in the same way as the EOS 1D series) and don't suffer from the F4 compatibility issues. All that said, I still prefer to use my F4s, it is just so much more fun.
@@baxtermarrison5361Hi Baxter, are you sure the back button existed when the F4 was delivered ? As far as I know this functionality arrived on a discrete way on the pro camera EOS 1 delivered one year later by a custom function of the AE lock button so even canon did not call it AF-ON at that time… What is true is that at the time of the F4, professionnalisme and mainly sport journalists began transfer to Canon not because the F4 was not a good camera but because the EF mount proves its superiority allowing the re adjust of manual focusing without touching any button to disengage autofocus… which is particularly useful is sport with long telephoto. On my side I don t like the F4 too much due to its very safe but also rather constraining lock buttons for near every functions. I don t find it quite elegant too ( the F5 or the F100 are far better looking according to me) a little plasticky just like the F90x but it stays a fantastic photo machine.
@@philmtx3fr I may be miss remembering, but I think the back button first made an appearance on the EOS 600 series, 650, 620 and 600. I grant you the fact that the F90, and the later beefed up F90X do feel rather fragile, but the F4 is a chunky beast, I have a couple of F5 bodies and they do not feel white as solid, and the F4 is certainly more substantial than the EOS 1 and 1n, both of which I have and use. For me, the F4 is the one I like pick up. For my sort of work the slowness of operation is not an issue, but the Canon bodies are just so much better.
I got my mind set on a "1966 Corvette", but wait it doesn't have GPS, Fuel Injection and Automatic Windows. Guess I'll have to get something else. DUH.
It was definitely a transition camera body. I’m guessing Nikon didn’t have balls to go full digital thinking many pros like the old dials rather than LCD buttons . My photography professor had one at back in 1991 and it was a beast. $2000 for a F4 body back then.
That's interesting. None of my Tamron G2 lenses will auto focus on my F4s. My Nikkor D series lens works fine. My next film camera will be an F100. Glad to hear that the F100 is fully functional (auto focus & VR) with the G series lenses.
This is a fantastic review, however I completely disagree with your conclusion on the use of the manual lenses. I had this beast back in the day and I loved it. To me it is the jack of all trades Nikon though even I will admit with caveats. Nice to see a thorough review from a fellow Irishman!
Thank you for explaining about the different Nikon lenses you can use with this camera. I wondering if that includes Sigma and Tamron ? Becuse of it's size you are certainly going to draw some ooh's and ahs, however with the SB-20 Battery pack it's no bigger than some of the Tp-of-the-line Canaon and Canon's.
I coveted an F4 back when they came out, but could never so much as dream of buying one. Fast forward more years than I care to remember, I finally got around to getting one several months ago and love it. For many reasons: love the look and feel of it, the lens compatibility for me is perfect as I can't get myself to embrace G lenses ("give me an aperture ring or give me death!" Well, OK that may be over-stating it a bit.) and have everything from non-AI '60s vintage to AFD lenses, all of which work perfectly on the F4, and absolutely love the buttons and knobs functionality. The latter is why I'm now coveting a ZF. One day... one day... :) Is it practical? Not really. Is it super advanced? Not at all by today's standards Would I advise someone to buy one? I might side with you on this one and point someone towards an F80 or F100 Am I glad I finally bought one? Absolutely!
I have been amazed for a few years now, I can't remember which brand it was but it was the titaium version of the camera, deemed a pro body, and the pro body had safety locks for various things much like this F4....which boggled my mind as I would have thought, that at the very least, a prosumer body needs a few more locks for accidental openings or changes....but I suppose, fast paced work with film, not being able to preview like with mirrorless, you needs some locks.
the vision 3 film stock looks awesome. i’m curious which film lab you used for the development and scanning. and also where you sourced the respooled film as i’m exploring the possibility of doing it myself at home. thanks in advance
I bought the film from frame24 in the UK but you can get 100ft rolls ebay. I developed and scanned the film myself using a Jobo CPE2 and a bellini ecn-2 kit I think.
I mostly just use my F4 with manual focus glass, usually my ZEISS Milvus 35mm f/2 ZF.2 Lens - I hate the sound of the screw drive auto focus system. If I want auto-focus I'll use my Canon EOS-1n or my Nikon F100. I think the F4 is really fun to use on occasion but it's not my most used camera by any means.
interesting review, I'd wanted an F4 for a while as I love my F3 but your review and summing up have made me think. Interesting piece of history and may be that was what I was looking at. Might just get a second F3 as I use Ai lenses and and feels like a lot of the features are wasted, Then I can wait until I have enough for an F6.
The F4 is and has long been my favourite 35mm SLR. It just looks the duck's guts - particularly the F4S - in perfect late-80s style and has a remarkably tactile and obvious interface where none of the functionality is hidden behind screens, buttons and little flappy doors like its contemporaries and successors. Agreed that if you're a Nikon DSLR shooter with a bunch of modern lenses already, an F100 or F5/F6 makes far more sense. But if you're coming into film fresh, the F4 is remarkably cheap still - more so than an F2/F3 or even the FM/FE series - and provides full access incl. matrix metering to all the old pre-Ai lenses which often can be had very cheap these days. FM2s won't even accept pre-Ai lenses (the original FMs do, incidentally). While the time after the F4's release did indeed mark the point at which a lot of sports, press and wildlife photographers left Nikon for Canon and never came back, I don't the F4 was entirely to blame... moreso was Nikon's slow pace at introducing pro-level AF lenses that actually took advantage of the F4's autofocus abilities. The F4's AF at the time was much better than that of the EOS620's, especially in low light. But Nikon never really banked on AF becoming a defining professional feature and mostly brought out slow zooms for the advanced amateur market. Whereas Canon went hard at the pro AF market with numerous fast primes, pro-zooms and telephotos by the time the EOS-1 came out. Of course Canon's motor-in-the-lens and control-dial philosophy was the right one in the end, but Nikon probably would have held their place in the pro market, for a bit longer anyway, had they taken AF more seriously right from the onset. By the time the F5 and AF-S lenses were out, it was too late.
If the F4 had as good an AF sensor/system as even that of the F70/N70/F90/N90 systems, from the beginning, it would have been more competitive with Canon. It was just a matter of the AF, the electronic part. Mechanically, the AF "screwdriver" motor was a brute, and the F4 can handle nearly all of Nikon's lenses up to AF-S which have their own motors.
I think those of you were were not around to go through the transition from the various film cameras just do not get it. You are reviewing through the eyes of the modern electronic era. I grew up with the Nikon FTn and then the F2 and F3. Cameras of this era were all metal, heavy and robust. Having grown up with them, I never complained about them being heavy. I liked the way they sat in my hand. They could take a tumble and no one worried they wouldn't work, they just did. Try that with a modern camera! I remember when the F3 came out and we were worried the electronics would fail when we needed it the most (and why it had a single manual shutter selection for those of us who weren't ready to trust our work with it). When the F4 came around it was an incredible leap in technology while keeping all the muscle memory items we still relied on, switches and dials. LED displays quickly became too complicated as you need to move multiple menus deep to make a simple change. With the F4, you just unconsciously moved a dial or lever. And it also came with a built-in motor drive (no add-on) and could use every Nikon lens available at the time, manual and AF (take that Canon!). It even had the TC-16a adapter that would make any manual lens a semi-AF. While I still have every Nikon film SLR from my 1968 F all through to the F6 and then again with the Digital D1, D2, D2X, etc., the F4s is still my very favorite camera to shoot. Yes, I have moved on to the digital displays and light weight camera bodies. I still don't like it, especially as the menus get deeper and my eyes get worse and I cannot rely on muscle memory to make immediate program changes anymore. The F4 is a beautiful camera designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (Maserati, Lotus, DeLorean, De Tomato, etc.) and was an incredibly versatile camera.
you are correct. I was -4 when this came out. Its interesting to me to see the transition from the more manual cameras to the automatic and to digital.
I totally disagree, the Nikon F4 is a fantastic camera and I do have the FE, FE2,FM, FM2, F3, FA, F5 F801s and my next favourite the F90X as well as a host of other Nikons and Nikkormats.
This review is a pile of dung by a novice film shooter. Here is a more detailed and better review of the F4, by a more experienced user: th-cam.com/video/zmrdnSrbCuI/w-d-xo.html You should watch his Nikon F3 review also. Very insightful!
Who on EARTH gets an F4 and uses AUTOFOCUS lenses? The best single thing about the F4 is the fact it offers MATRIX METERING ON Ai-S LENSES. It’s the only single-digit SLR in Nikon’s history to offer this, and this dude doesn’t even know! The F5 only allowed center-weighted metering with Ai-S lenses. Why not use the 105mm f/1.8 Ai-S or the 50mm f/1.2 for this review? What are you doing? This is the best body for manual-focus 35mm photography ever made.
Me? The F4 was the first nikon camera with decent (emphasis) autofocus; it was one of the main selling points for the F4. You aren't wrong though, absolute manual focus beast.
I think the FA rivals this in that sense, it can matrix any ai lens in all modes but manual 😍 mine broke though, I’m looking forward to shooting an F4 soon!
I love the F4 and all it knobs, dials, and locks. I personally pair mine with Ais glass so I don't have a lot of experience with the AF systems.
I had a couple of these years ago and sold them. Just bought another one in great condition. Just because I love the feel of the camera. Nowadays, people look at you like you're from outer space when you shoot with a chunk of a camera like this. They scratch their heads and walk away, shooting wildly with their smartphones. I shoot it mainly with AIS lenses in manual focus and aperture priority mode which allows me to control the depth of field to my taste.
I have an F4S and an F4E. Love them both. Great video too!
I'm moving up the rung. Started with the FG...fantastic cam....got the fm2...fantastic cam...I just need one of these...and then a casual point and shoot automatic...and i will have a full film lineup.
My grandfather is from the time when this was brand new. My cam had every bit of that technology for digital LCD that you spoke of since 1983 & tested the look & feel with the N501 & 6006 but the old timers weren’t ready for the future so that look you speak up was on purpose. To satisfy its aging pro journalist who weren’t ready for digital electronic changes. The serious ones fell in love. The F5 finally changed their minds in ‘95 and this would become the modem DSLR look we know.
I personally love the F4. It was the first 35mm film camera I ever had to use a manual for including its multi back & flash. It truly was a flagship for action, sports photo journalistic professionals.
Great Video! I love my F4. It feels like you're holding a very well engineered, sturdy and precise piece of machinery. Also get a good workout lugging it around.
Absolutely love the F4, and that's from somebody who totally distrusted electronic film cameras for years, to the extent I by-passed an entire generation of cameras, sticking stubbornly to my OM-1 for decades until the digital revolution overtook me, and I finally succumbed to the lure of pixels and cheap shots.
I wasn't all that wrong, as it turned out. More than one electronic camera from that era I've bought since has turned its toes up.
Hope the F4 doesn't.
ps. I was happy to find the AF-S 18-55 DX lens from a D3200 fits and works perfectly well on the F4, just ignore the portion between 18 - 24mm. Also, the F4 was criticised for having slow AF with the D lenses. The AF-S lens focuses just as fast as it does on its own camera generation.
great camera and it was definitely a crossover between the dials of the F3 and the buttons of the F5.
Great video.
The F4 was the last Nikon body without LCD+Menu wheels.
I personally prefer the F4 usability over the F5. And the F5 is a beast regarding weight, it's much larger and heavier (8 batterie cells need space and come with a lot of weight) than the normal F4. Regarding lens compatibility you'll find more than enough great AF or AF-D (and AF-I) lenses for really low prices covering the complete range from 14mm to 800mm. I just bought two F4 bodies (F4 and F4E) both in superb condition for less than 200€ each, which I consider great value for money.
The only downside is the repairability: my dad's F4 had issues with leaked batteries and Nikon was not able to repair the due to missing spare parts (will be an issue with every non-mechanical body).
Nice review but I disagree with your conclusion. The F4 is a joy to use, it just feels so solid and reliable. If you pair it with period correct lenses then any compatibility issues disappear, and there are a lot of superb AF and MF lenses to choose from from the 1970s - 1990s.
Thnx for sharing, one of the best detailed explanations of the F4 I've seen till now ... should you buy one: YES, of course ... !!! ;-)
Bought a F4 just two years ago and felt in love with it. I knew it for years, it's such a beauty! It's just really special, the design, the ergonomics, the full experience. I shot maybe one of my best shots of old race cars but sold it because it was too heavy. Then I got the F100 and used it only twice, it was just too new for me. It doesn't felt right, something was missing. So after 4 months now without a F I'm looking at a F3. I think this is the best option... But I do miss my F4 :(
Just got one in post yesterday, it didn't start at first (battery test light was ok) but after careful cleaning contacts on the body it fired- works perfectly! So happy and eager to shoot it. Great channel you have there
Greetings from Offaly
Great review. Listening to your closing comments persuaded me to purchase one today. Thanks so very much my friend.
G Lenses work fine on my F5, I have a set of the second lastest version (maybe, its quite confusing even for me) of F2.8 zoom lenses (14-24, 24-70, 70-200), they all work fine!
Loved my F4S. I also had the upper view finder (what you call the Chimney ?) which was great for macro.
AFS - D lenses such as the 17-35 and 80-200 work really well with the F4 - they have aperture rings and the AFS works well with the AFS.
One advantage is that they don't command the high prices of the Nikon F100, F3. Also you can buy bodies cheaply, which I did when my F4 body started playing up. The film advance and shutter sound are the best in the business, and the weight is a plus in my opinion. They have both auto rewind which puts the film wholly into the cassette, or you can rewind manually and leave the leader out. The manual rewind knob turns to confirm the film is advancing (unlike my F90X and F80 which have no rewind knob). They have shutter dampening and I have shot at night hand held at 1/15th and got good results. My only peeve is all the lock buttons making adjustments a two handed operation for my old arthritic hands.
i love my F4, and all my Nikon film cameras. I use the D lenses with the F4 so i get auto focus and matrix metering.
The F4 just does something special for me, I shoot on a Z5 and the F4 has this feeling I get when I hold it and use that amazing shutter that just makes me want to shoot and to create.
there's hardly any options if you need some specific tools for photography, like 1/250 flash sync speed and more damped shutter that allows to substantially lower shutter shock, or/and if you want some in between manual-auto experience that have barely any compromises, and the lens compatibility is actually one of the widest (if not the widest) from the whole Nikon-F film camera lines
So if you have a bunch of AF-D lenses this camera is a great auto focus option.
Outstanding explanation of lens compatibility for the F4. I put many rolls of Kodachrome through my original F4s back in the day.
This is collectable item and one of the great example of the photo technology which was ahead of its time, mechanics and electrinich, ... it is a real industrial sculpture and genial design by giorgetto Giugiaro.
I had two F4s, they were a terrific cameras for all of us pros and I know nobody who switched to Canons except for a few sports shooters. The fact that Nikon retained the F mount was a huge plus, because many of us had a significant investment in glass (and Canon basically said "f*** you" to its pro users). It wasn't confusing at all (you have to remember that the cameras before the F4 were all manual). The autofocus wasn't a PITA, it was easy.
Morons. 😅
For G lenses I use my cheap F75 ($90 with 28-100 Nikkor, as new).
Bought an F4 out of pure curiosity. And I agree; it's heavy, even without the extra battery packs.
Have to use it more before I decide. Cameras can grow on you.
Thx for your review.
So the F90 and F90x (N90 and N90s) actually have the same problem with G lenses and the like. The camera assumes you can manually change the aperture. So you have to actually use shutter priority or program mode to kind of back door adjust the aperture. On the other hand, my VR image stabilization does work on my N90s if I remember correctly last I checked.
Interesting. I thought they could use the G lens like the f5.
Love my F4s I think the F4 will do matrix metering for Ai and Ais lenses whereas the F5 will not. Most of them have leaky LCD's in the viewfinder nowadays so looks like you got a good one. I agree about high frame rates with film prices these days! The F6 I think does do matrix metering for older Ai and Ais lenses but costs five times as much as the F4
Also and I am a complete ignoramus here but the shutter mechanism on the F4 has a `shutter balancer' which reduces reverberation from the shutter mechanism, `end quote.' Lol. Anyway later cameras apparently don't have this. So its a quirky camera.
My back up film camera is no battery required FM3a
The F6 would be lovely for compatibility with modern lenses though
Your perspective seems to be coming from a digital slr shooter. Some of your criticisms are about features that didn't exist anywhere in 1988... Like back button focus. As someone who first shot film slrs in the1960s...my concerns and perspective is very different. For example, I don't care what new lens features work or not. I tend to use lenses from the same era or earlier...as if I were shooting in 1988...yeah weird
Exactly. This was a top notch in its game , a milestone in the photo journalistic industry. It performed the better of the best for its day. Hands down. It’s still being used with reliability today. My grandfather used it new & loved it. Now I use it
The back button (function 4) was a Canon thing and was available at the time of the F4, just no on the F4. My go-to 35mm camera Iis the F4s+MF-23. I also have the Canon EOS 1 series cameras, and they are better, quicker to use (with the exception of the reduced number of focus points they operate in the same way as the EOS 1D series) and don't suffer from the F4 compatibility issues. All that said, I still prefer to use my F4s, it is just so much more fun.
@@baxtermarrison5361Hi Baxter, are you sure the back button existed when the F4 was delivered ? As far as I know this functionality arrived on a discrete way on the pro camera EOS 1 delivered one year later by a custom function of the AE lock button so even canon did not call it AF-ON at that time… What is true is that at the time of the F4, professionnalisme and mainly sport journalists began transfer to Canon not because the F4 was not a good camera but because the EF mount proves its superiority allowing the re adjust of manual focusing without touching any button to disengage autofocus… which is particularly useful is sport with long telephoto. On my side I don t like the F4 too much due to its very safe but also rather constraining lock buttons for near every functions. I don t find it quite elegant too ( the F5 or the F100 are far better looking according to me) a little plasticky just like the F90x but it stays a fantastic photo machine.
@@philmtx3fr I may be miss remembering, but I think the back button first made an appearance on the EOS 600 series, 650, 620 and 600.
I grant you the fact that the F90, and the later beefed up F90X do feel rather fragile, but the F4 is a chunky beast, I have a couple of F5 bodies and they do not feel white as solid, and the F4 is certainly more substantial than the EOS 1 and 1n, both of which I have and use.
For me, the F4 is the one I like pick up. For my sort of work the slowness of operation is not an issue, but the Canon bodies are just so much better.
I love the F4 (and F5). I'm a big Nikon digital shooter, but have never used my Nikon film cameras- just thought I should have a couple....
I got my mind set on a "1966 Corvette", but wait it doesn't have GPS, Fuel Injection and Automatic Windows. Guess I'll have to get something else. DUH.
It was definitely a transition camera body. I’m guessing Nikon didn’t have balls to go full digital thinking many pros like the old dials rather than LCD buttons . My photography professor had one at back in 1991 and it was a beast. $2000 for a F4 body back then.
That's interesting. None of my Tamron G2 lenses will auto focus on my F4s. My Nikkor D series lens works fine. My next film camera will be an F100. Glad to hear that the F100 is fully functional (auto focus & VR) with the G series lenses.
I can confirm. My Tamron G2 doesnt work as well with F4. But I have couple Sigmas and they do autofocus.
This is a fantastic review, however I completely disagree with your conclusion on the use of the manual lenses. I had this beast back in the day and I loved it. To me it is the jack of all trades Nikon though even I will admit with caveats. Nice to see a thorough review from a fellow Irishman!
Love mine!
I skipped the F5 because of size, but got the F6.
Thank you for explaining about the different Nikon lenses you can use with this camera. I wondering if that includes Sigma and Tamron ? Becuse of it's size you are certainly going to draw some ooh's and ahs, however with the SB-20 Battery pack it's no bigger than some of the Tp-of-the-line Canaon and Canon's.
I coveted an F4 back when they came out, but could never so much as dream of buying one. Fast forward more years than I care to remember, I finally got around to getting one several months ago and love it. For many reasons: love the look and feel of it, the lens compatibility for me is perfect as I can't get myself to embrace G lenses ("give me an aperture ring or give me death!" Well, OK that may be over-stating it a bit.) and have everything from non-AI '60s vintage to AFD lenses, all of which work perfectly on the F4, and absolutely love the buttons and knobs functionality. The latter is why I'm now coveting a ZF. One day... one day... :)
Is it practical? Not really.
Is it super advanced? Not at all by today's standards
Would I advise someone to buy one? I might side with you on this one and point someone towards an F80 or F100
Am I glad I finally bought one? Absolutely!
You could have an F4 AND F100. 😊
no one believes it but LUCKILY i got one in exchange of a ilford pan 100 filmroll.
Big if true.
yeah no one really is into film cameras in my country so ive got some good deals@@SprocketHoles
An Ilford...
I have been amazed for a few years now, I can't remember which brand it was but it was the titaium version of the camera, deemed a pro body, and the pro body had safety locks for various things much like this F4....which boggled my mind as I would have thought, that at the very least, a prosumer body needs a few more locks for accidental openings or changes....but I suppose, fast paced work with film, not being able to preview like with mirrorless, you needs some locks.
I would love a lock for some dials on my mirrorless nikons. Exposure comp or mode dials for sure
the vision 3 film stock looks awesome. i’m curious which film lab you used for the development and scanning. and also where you sourced the respooled film as i’m exploring the possibility of doing it myself at home. thanks in advance
I bought the film from frame24 in the UK but you can get 100ft rolls ebay. I developed and scanned the film myself using a Jobo CPE2 and a bellini ecn-2 kit I think.
I mostly just use my F4 with manual focus glass, usually my ZEISS Milvus 35mm f/2 ZF.2 Lens - I hate the sound of the screw drive auto focus system. If I want auto-focus I'll use my Canon EOS-1n or my Nikon F100. I think the F4 is really fun to use on occasion but it's not my most used camera by any means.
interesting review, I'd wanted an F4 for a while as I love my F3 but your review and summing up have made me think. Interesting piece of history and may be that was what I was looking at. Might just get a second F3 as I use Ai lenses and and feels like a lot of the features are wasted, Then I can wait until I have enough for an F6.
The F4 is and has long been my favourite 35mm SLR. It just looks the duck's guts - particularly the F4S - in perfect late-80s style and has a remarkably tactile and obvious interface where none of the functionality is hidden behind screens, buttons and little flappy doors like its contemporaries and successors. Agreed that if you're a Nikon DSLR shooter with a bunch of modern lenses already, an F100 or F5/F6 makes far more sense. But if you're coming into film fresh, the F4 is remarkably cheap still - more so than an F2/F3 or even the FM/FE series - and provides full access incl. matrix metering to all the old pre-Ai lenses which often can be had very cheap these days. FM2s won't even accept pre-Ai lenses (the original FMs do, incidentally).
While the time after the F4's release did indeed mark the point at which a lot of sports, press and wildlife photographers left Nikon for Canon and never came back, I don't the F4 was entirely to blame... moreso was Nikon's slow pace at introducing pro-level AF lenses that actually took advantage of the F4's autofocus abilities. The F4's AF at the time was much better than that of the EOS620's, especially in low light. But Nikon never really banked on AF becoming a defining professional feature and mostly brought out slow zooms for the advanced amateur market. Whereas Canon went hard at the pro AF market with numerous fast primes, pro-zooms and telephotos by the time the EOS-1 came out. Of course Canon's motor-in-the-lens and control-dial philosophy was the right one in the end, but Nikon probably would have held their place in the pro market, for a bit longer anyway, had they taken AF more seriously right from the onset. By the time the F5 and AF-S lenses were out, it was too late.
Is it still available? HOW CAN I GET THIS CAMERA F4 IN LAHORE PAKISTAN
If the F4 had as good an AF sensor/system as even that of the F70/N70/F90/N90 systems, from the beginning, it would have been more competitive with Canon. It was just a matter of the AF, the electronic part. Mechanically, the AF "screwdriver" motor was a brute, and the F4 can handle nearly all of Nikon's lenses up to AF-S which have their own motors.
thanks for another cool video, i just saw your poster. Are you hyped for TF3?
What's TF3?
@@SprocketHoles I think he means TitanFall 3
I saw more of the poster in your Japan video
big if true@@northof-62
i so love my F4
I think those of you were were not around to go through the transition from the various film cameras just do not get it. You are reviewing through the eyes of the modern electronic era. I grew up with the Nikon FTn and then the F2 and F3. Cameras of this era were all metal, heavy and robust. Having grown up with them, I never complained about them being heavy. I liked the way they sat in my hand. They could take a tumble and no one worried they wouldn't work, they just did. Try that with a modern camera! I remember when the F3 came out and we were worried the electronics would fail when we needed it the most (and why it had a single manual shutter selection for those of us who weren't ready to trust our work with it). When the F4 came around it was an incredible leap in technology while keeping all the muscle memory items we still relied on, switches and dials. LED displays quickly became too complicated as you need to move multiple menus deep to make a simple change. With the F4, you just unconsciously moved a dial or lever. And it also came with a built-in motor drive (no add-on) and could use every Nikon lens available at the time, manual and AF (take that Canon!). It even had the TC-16a adapter that would make any manual lens a semi-AF. While I still have every Nikon film SLR from my 1968 F all through to the F6 and then again with the Digital D1, D2, D2X, etc., the F4s is still my very favorite camera to shoot. Yes, I have moved on to the digital displays and light weight camera bodies. I still don't like it, especially as the menus get deeper and my eyes get worse and I cannot rely on muscle memory to make immediate program changes anymore. The F4 is a beautiful camera designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (Maserati, Lotus, DeLorean, De Tomato, etc.) and was an incredibly versatile camera.
Dang autocorrect!
you are correct. I was -4 when this came out. Its interesting to me to see the transition from the more manual cameras to the automatic and to digital.
Hey Thanks for the great vid, I have a Nikon DX VR lens, will this work on the F4?
No DX lenses work correctly on film cameras. The lenses image circle wont cover the film area.
thanks heaps for the reply!@@SprocketHoles
I totally disagree, the Nikon F4 is a fantastic camera and I do have the FE, FE2,FM, FM2, F3, FA, F5 F801s and my next favourite the F90X as well as a host of other Nikons and Nikkormats.
This review is a pile of dung by a novice film shooter.
Here is a more detailed and better review of the F4, by a more experienced user: th-cam.com/video/zmrdnSrbCuI/w-d-xo.html
You should watch his Nikon F3 review also. Very insightful!
I had an F4S. I swapped it for a Conon EOS5 thinking it was an upgrade. Moron = me!
Who on EARTH gets an F4 and uses AUTOFOCUS lenses? The best single thing about the F4 is the fact it offers MATRIX METERING ON Ai-S LENSES. It’s the only single-digit SLR in Nikon’s history to offer this, and this dude doesn’t even know! The F5 only allowed center-weighted metering with Ai-S lenses. Why not use the 105mm f/1.8 Ai-S or the 50mm f/1.2 for this review? What are you doing? This is the best body for manual-focus 35mm photography ever made.
Me? The F4 was the first nikon camera with decent (emphasis) autofocus; it was one of the main selling points for the F4. You aren't wrong though, absolute manual focus beast.
I think the FA rivals this in that sense, it can matrix any ai lens in all modes but manual 😍 mine broke though, I’m looking forward to shooting an F4 soon!
The F4 was the beginning of modern ergonomics - a massive step forward.
The reason for people making the move to Canon was Nikons' AF tardiness ... 🦘