HTML File size: 40k Loading now ..cont..

To many Nikon professionals, the first five years after its debut, Nikon F4 was liked an ideal system camera to serve them in their profession. It has an analog style of interface, something like a traditionalist's camera with its conventional placed knobs and dials for various elements in exposure control. All the essential controls are positioned separately like any of the MF camera, and this is very useful for anyone who were so used to operating manual focus cameras, despite the fact, it is an AF SLR inside out. The basic layout and its controls are extremely friendly to use while others (in particularly those who favours Canon's innovative data input system first developed in the Canon T90 and thumbwheel method of control with the EOS system that followed) may find it to be an ergonomic nightmare, whatever it is, all these are just a matter of personal preference. The F4's uncharacteristic interface provides a linkage between MF and AF Nikons. The operational controls are clearly defined with their respective functions very easy to understand and there is no confusing LCD panels and push buttons. You can easily adjust various controls without even require to take your eye away from the eyepiece. Well, it also comes to a point that you don't have to take along a thick user's just to figure out how to operate it (cursing when you are stucked at somewhere that why the maker does not provide a factory reset button, ha !). Once you have mastered its various controls, it became second nature and it makes you stop thinking about the camera and concentrate more on picture elements.

<<< ---- Various prisms designed for the five generations of single digit Nikon F. The modular design concept has remained as one of the most important feature of these superbly crafted Nikon bodies. Image from my copyright-free image collection. Malaysian Internet Resources

Frankly, the F4 will almost certainly be a last of its kind with such kind of user interface in a modern AF SLR. The features and functions make it reaching a state close to an ideal way in how an AF camera should look. It requires little adaptation for anyone to pick up and use it immediately. Although some may claims such design is an outdated design but its main advantage as compared to electronic interface (LCD display) is you can easily memorized the whereabouts of the controls. As compared to many of the current AF bodies which are heavily engaged in LCD and thumb wheel control,you don't need to always spending time checking for confirmation atop the panel or press combinations of keys to set certain desired camera function (with the exception of the Multi-Control Function Film Back such as MF-23 or MF-24, try to set its damn bloody confusing custom function menus and you will know what I meant). Further, F4' simple, positive operation can sometime be even more convenient to use than many Nikon own versions of other AF SLR bodies. Naturally, people like to make comparisons and usually, the differing thoughts and preferences will polarize two distinctive opinions in two major approaches adopted by major competing brands. Well, I am not a young Harry Potter and I don't belongs to any schools of Canon and Nikon but I do agreed Canon has developed a very functional way of camera input/output control system where it was also a clear representative of the direction modern cameras are heading. Doubting me ? The Nikon F5 with other Nikons that followed, which eventually reverted to this method first pioneered by Canon.. .

Anyway, as each camera system has its strengths and weaknesses and it is not secret that many Japanese camera makers often sharing each other's technologies after a span of time to preserve their leading edge in the highly competitive market place (For an example, Matrix metering and balance filled flash that first pioneered by Nikon are now shared and used by virtually every other major SLR manufacturers now, see the logic ?) So, that is not an embarrassment because eventually, consumers like us do benefit too from all these technological , huh ? <<< ---- Credit: Image courtesy of Mr. Jon M. Stine <jcsebay@jackscamera.com> Jack's Camera Shop® 300 E. Main Street Muncie, IN 47305 tel. 765-282-0204 fax. 765-284-6405 http://www.jackscamera.com . Image copyright© 2003. All rights reserved.

Whatever it is, sometimes, I do feel there is too much of debates over such kind of issues (felt bored at times). Why would anyone think a Canon, Olympus or a Nikon photographers have a sense of superiority or interfority over the others ? Photography is simply makes up of creativity + aperture with shutter speeds. Others are just either automation and manuverity. So, just be calm, forget about these kind of "amateuristic" thinking, okay ? As far as the F4 is concerned, it represents a generation where its creator has tried to introduce a method of camera control best suit photographers in need of such kind of technologies at its time of its product cycle. I do think Nikon has spent many years to evaluate other competing manufacturers' methods and eventually acknowledged / concluded Canon's way of data input was far superior than its own analog control which resulting with the subsequent generation of Nikon F5 replicating a similar operational process. Well, those Nikon photographers who may begin using a F5 onwards may have to learnt a new form of camera control from scratch with the finger controlled input system to adjust apertures and shutter speeds now. For those who may be still feeling comfortable with traditional ways of camera control just has to either learn the new trick or fall back to use a camera such as the discontinued Nikon F4, FE2 etc. or investing into a hybrid mechanical/electronic Nikon FM3A now.

The preference may simply be just a matter a personal preference but if you intend to upgrade yourself with any new Nikon SLR such as the digital model, you also have to learn the newly implemented ways in camera operation. Whatever it is, that sounds like the Company is indirectly forcing photographers to buy their products (indirectly, you can referred it as a marketing gimmicks - such as when using an AI-S MF Nikkor with a F80 or D100, you can still take the pictures but the camera will not show you any related exposure guide, come on ... Nikon (that is worst than introducing a new series of Nikkor lenses with no aperture control for MF Nikon bodies...@%$&T$&@* !

Credit: Image courtesy of Mr. Seth Schmidt ® <shutterblade@comcast.net>. Seth operates an online used equipment purchasing website at www.UsedCameraBuyer.com. The Company also has an active Store at Ebay. Image copyright © 2003. All rights reserved. Please respect the visual property of the contributing photographer.

| Previous | NEXT | 4/7 Autofocusing with Nikon F4

Part I - VII: Page 1| Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 |

The Camera Body - Features | Reliability | Focusing | Metering | Exposure Control | Lense Compatibility | Interchangeable Prisms | Data Film Backs | Various Power Sources | Focusing Screens | Flash Photography | Other system accessories | Cases for Nikon F4 Series | Remote Control |

| Specification | Main Reference Map | Nikon F4 Variants
Instruction Manual: PDF (4.5M) - External Link

| BACK | to Main Index Page Nikon F4 Series Models

| Message Board | for Nikon F4 Series SLR model(s)
| Message Board | for your Nikon Optics in a shared environment
| Message Board | Specifically for Dispose or Looking for Nikon/Nikkor Photographic Equipment

| Back | to Pictorial History of Nikon SLR / rangefinders / Nikonos / digital cameras.

Nikon F | Nikon F2 | Nikon F3 | Nikon F4 | Nikon F5 | Nikon F6 | Nikkormat / Nikomat | Nikon FM | Nikon FE/ FA | Nikon EM/FG/FG20 | Nikon Digital SLRs | Nikon - Other models

Nikon Auto Focus Nikkor lenses:- Main Index Page
Nikon Manual Focus Nikkor lenses:- Fisheye-Nikkor Lenses - Circular | Full Frame | Ultrawides Lenses - 13mm15mm18mm20mm | Wideangle Lenses - 24mm28mm35mm | Standard Lenses - 45mm 50mm 58mm | Telephoto Lenses - 85mm105mm135mm180mm & 200mm | Super-Telephoto Lenses - 300mm 400mm 500mm 600mm 800mm 1200mm |

Index Page

Special Application lenses: Micro-Nikkor Lenses - 50mm~55mm -60mm 85mm -105mm 200mm Micro-Zoom 70-180mm Perspective Control (PC) - 28mm 35mm PC-Micro 85mm Dedicated Lenses for Nikon F3AF: AF 80mm f/2.8 | AF 200mm f/3.5 EDIF Depth of Field Control (DC): 105mm 135mm Medical Nikkor: 120mm 200mm Reflex-Nikkor Lenses - 500mm 1000mm 2000mm Others: Noct Nikkor | OP-Nikkor | UV Nikkor 55mm 105mm | Focusing Units | Bellows-Nikkor 105mm 135mm Nikon Series E Lenses: 28mm35mm50mm100mm135mm | E-Series Zoom lenses: 36~72mm75~150mm70~210mm

MF Zoom-Nikkor Lenses: 25~50mm | 28~45mm | 28~50mm | 28~85mm | 35~70mm | 36~72mm E | 35~85mm | 35~105mm | 35~135mm | 35~200mm | 43~86mm | 50~135mm | 50~300mm | 70~210mm E | 75~150mm E | 80~200mm | 85~250mm | 100~300mm | 180~600mm | 200~400mm | 200~600mm | 360~1200mm | 1200~1700mm

Tele-Converters: TC-1 | TC-2 | TC-200 | TC-201 | TC-300 | TC-301 | TC-14 | TC-14A | TC-14B | TC-14C | TC-14E | TC-16 | TC-16A | TC-20E

Recommended links to understand more technical details related to the Nikkor F-mount and production Serial Number:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-153.html by: my friend, Rick Oleson
http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/lhhansen/photo/fmount.htm by: Hansen, Lars Holst
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/nikonfmount/lens2.htm
http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html

W A R N I N G: The New G-SERIES Nikkor lenses have no aperture ring on the lense, they cannot adjust aperture(s) when operating in manual exposure control even with certain earlier AF Nikon SLR camera models. Similarly, not ALL features provide in a modern AF-S series AF-Nikkor lenses can be utilized fully with a Nikon F4. Please refer to your local distributor for compatibility issue(s).

PLEASE NOTE: Complimentary links are appreciative but it is not necessary, I have limited bandwidth here in this server... So, PLEASE don't distribute this URL to any bulk mailing list or unrelated user-groups, just be a little considerate, thank you. (The more you distribute, the slower this server will response to your requests...). I am NOT a Nikon nor Nikkor expert, so don't send me any mails, use the Message Board Instead. While the content prepared herein should be adequate for anyone to understand and evaluate whether you should invest into a used Nikon F4 pro-camera system for your kind of photography. Well, IF you like what you have seen so far, please help to perfect this site by reporting any broken links or any errors made.

About this photographic site.

HOME - Photography in Malaysia

Credit: Chuck Hester, US for his patience, encouragement and help to setup the various content in this site; Robert Johnson for some of his original images on the F2H-MD appeared in this site; my ex-staff, KiaSu for his superb 3-D logo appeared in this Nikon F2 site; Marc Vorgers from Holland who generously provide me with some of his images of F2AS; MCLau®, who has so much time with me to re-edit the content in this site and not to mention buying a Nikon Coolpix 990 just for this site; Paul Armstrong (pkared@ameritech.net) for his explantion of the FF2 Slidemagic and Nikon F2 Pin Camera Keat Photo, Kuala Lumpur for providing their Nikon F2A to take some images for this site; Mr Edward Ngoh the great camera collector who provides us his collection of F2AS with MD-2; hawkeye.photographic.com for their images on the Speed Magny film backs; Sean Cranor for his image on Nikon F2 25th Anniversary Model; Ted Wengelaar®, Holland for his continuous flow of input on some of the early Nikon bodies; Genesis-Camera for granting permission to use an image of the SS-F2 camera; Mr Sover Wong, Australia for those great images of his rare F2 Gold;CYLeow ®, photo editor of the Star newspaper, Malaysia for some of his images used in this site. Ms Rissa Chan, Sales manager from Shriro Malaysia who has helped to provide some of the very useful input. HiuraShinsaku®, Nikomat ML, Japan for some of his images on various F2 models; my staff, Wati, Maisa, Mai and my nephew, EEWyn®, who volunteered and helping me did so many of the film scanning works; Hong-sien Kwee of Singapore for all the Nikon F2 Pin camera images appeared in this site; Luigi Crescenzi for many of his images on the Nikon F2 Titan; John for two of his images of the Nikon F2/T used in this site; Contributing photographers or resellers: Jen Siow, Foo KokKin, Arthur Teng, Mark Fallander, John Ishii, Ed Hassel, YoonKi Kim, Jean-Louis, M.Dugentas (Dell Corner.com.), Mr "Arsenall", Yang Zi Xiong and a few images mailed in from surfers with no appropriate reference to their origin. Note:certain content and images appeared in this site were either scanned from official marketing leaflets, brochures published by Nikon and/or contribution from surfers who claimed originality of their own work to publish in this site based on educational merits. The creator of this site will not be responsible for any discrepancies that may arise from such possible dispute except rectifying them after verification."Nikon", "Nikkormat", "Nippon Kokagu KK" & "Nikkor" are registered tradename of Nikon Corporation Inc., Japan. Dedicated to KU Yeo, just to express our mutual regrets over the outcome of a recent corporate event. Made with an Apple IMac.