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Nikon F5 and Nikon F6 Compare and Contrast Link

jbcrane

New member
Greetings Fellow Camera Buffs,

About 5 years ago I put up a web site specific to the Nikon F6, Nikon F6 35mm film camera. The site is a spare time project, not revenue generating but informational. Last week I received an encouraging e-mail from a gentleman in Australia who shoots and loves the F5 - thus, established his own site for it: Nikon F5. It's a wonderful site full of great images and history any F5 devotee would love to visit.

Here's the favor I'm asking. On my nikonf6.net site I have a page contrasting the F5 and F6 in what attempts to be an unbiased, informative way for those seeking to acquire one of these beauties. The goal is to inform them of the "major" differences and allow them to make up their own mind based on facts. Hard as I tried to stick to the facts I'm afraid there is a bit of Op/Ed. That's where you all come in. I'm seeking the informed opinions to make sure I: a) got my facts straight, and b) didn't omit anything important.

If you're willing to invest a few minutes of time reading through the comparison, and either reply to this thread or send me an e-mail directly, I'm much obliged. There's no advertising, and no revenue is generated by the site. It's purely informational/educational. I was quite pleased to learn of the F5 site - I'd been hoping someone would take that step and he did an excellent job.

Here's the link:
Nikon F5 vs. Nikon F6 comparison

Many thanks in advance,
JBCrane from Fort Collins, Colorado
John B. Crane, Photographer
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Interesting and informative comparison, John. I've never owned an F5 and never used one under "real" circumstances. I considered it seriously around 1997, and had some long talks with the Norwegian distributor at the time, but I always ended up thinking "My OM-1 weighs less than those batteries and the camera is bigger than the Olympus body plus all my lenses", or something along those lines. Actually, the OM body weighs twice as much as 8 AA NiMH cells, but still...

Then came 2004 and the F6, and apart from being the most beautiful camera ever, the size and ergonomics of the camera turned the tables completely. Ergonomics aren't universal, but for me, those of the F6 match perfectly. It still took another 6 years before I bought one, since I chose to go digital in 2005, but I still see it as the most harmonic camera body ever.

So what does that say? When it comes to features, I actually think the F5 is the better body. I would have loved a WLF for the F6 and it would have been great to have a version with integrated vertical grip as well. However, the operation of the F6 is so fluent and really without competition (with the possible exception of the Contax N1), that as a day-to-day camera, there's no competition whatsoever. It's the most advanced 35mm film camera ever, but at the same time, it's the best point-and-shoot. And compared to the current digital monsters, it's such a nimble machine.

Sometimes, when monies are scarce, I consider selling it, but more often, I consider buying another one. Sooner or later, I'll buy an F5 as well, just for the different kicks, but I come back to that word "nimble". That's what really sets them apart.
 

ohnri

New member
I loved my Nikon F.

And my F3HP.

And my F4.

The F6 is still on my dream list.

Thanks for the web site and links !!

Now that every digital camera is amazing, maybe I can stop upgrading long enough to get one.

Maybe ...

-Bill
 

segedi

Member
What I wanted: F6
What I got: F100 - with grip for $150. Very hard to beat!

F6 is still on the list though, and even more so seeing the comparison.
 

BlinkingEye

New member
Greetings Fellow Camera Buffs,

About 5 years ago I put up a web site specific to the Nikon F6, Nikon F6 35mm film camera. The site is a spare time project, not revenue generating but informational. Last week I received an encouraging e-mail from a gentleman in Australia who shoots and loves the F5 - thus, established his own site for it: Nikon F5. It's a wonderful site full of great images and history any F5 devotee would love to visit.

Here's the favor I'm asking. On my nikonf6.net site I have a page contrasting the F5 and F6 in what attempts to be an unbiased, informative way for those seeking to acquire one of these beauties. The goal is to inform them of the "major" differences and allow them to make up their own mind based on facts. Hard as I tried to stick to the facts I'm afraid there is a bit of Op/Ed. That's where you all come in. I'm seeking the informed opinions to make sure I: a) got my facts straight, and b) didn't omit anything important.

If you're willing to invest a few minutes of time reading through the comparison, and either reply to this thread or send me an e-mail directly, I'm much obliged. There's no advertising, and no revenue is generated by the site. It's purely informational/educational. I was quite pleased to learn of the F5 site - I'd been hoping someone would take that step and he did an excellent job.

Here's the link:
Nikon F5 vs. Nikon F6 comparison

Many thanks in advance,
JBCrane from Fort Collins, Colorado
John B. Crane, Photographer
Interesting website, John. An thanks for the info. I lived in Fort Fun! for 18 years during and after college. I have been to about all the places in you galleries. Thank you for the memories. Nice photos. Surprised we never met. Fort Fun isn't that big.
 

jbcrane

New member
Greetings Fellow Camera Buffs,

About 5 years ago I put up a web site specific to the Nikon F6, Nikon F6 35mm film camera. The site is a spare time project, not revenue generating but informational. Last week I received an encouraging e-mail from a gentleman in Australia who shoots and loves the F5 - thus, established his own site for it: Nikon F5. It's a wonderful site full of great images and history any F5 devotee would love to visit.

Here's the favor I'm asking. On my nikonf6.net site I have a page contrasting the F5 and F6 in what attempts to be an unbiased, informative way for those seeking to acquire one of these beauties. The goal is to inform them of the "major" differences and allow them to make up their own mind based on facts. Hard as I tried to stick to the facts I'm afraid there is a bit of Op/Ed. That's where you all come in. I'm seeking the informed opinions to make sure I: a) got my facts straight, and b) didn't omit anything important.

If you're willing to invest a few minutes of time reading through the comparison, and either reply to this thread or send me an e-mail directly, I'm much obliged. There's no advertising, and no revenue is generated by the site. It's purely informational/educational. I was quite pleased to learn of the F5 site - I'd been hoping someone would take that step and he did an excellent job.

Here's the link:
Nikon F5 vs. Nikon F6 comparison

Many thanks in advance,
JBCrane from Fort Collins, Colorado
John B. Crane, Photographer
So its been a while since this original post and I've done a bit of shuffling around on the web site. I just noticed this morning the original link posted is broken. Sorry. Here is the new link to the article: http://www.nikonf6.net/should-i-buy-a-nikon-f6/nikon-f5-vs-nikon-f6/

Pleasant shooting to you all.
JBC
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
So its been a while since this original post and I've done a bit of shuffling around on the web site. I just noticed this morning the original link posted is broken. Sorry. Here is the new link to the article: http://www.nikonf6.net/should-i-buy-a-nikon-f6/nikon-f5-vs-nikon-f6/

Pleasant shooting to you all.
JBC
Hi John,

Thanks for the excellent F6 website. I managed to acquire a near-mint F6 at a bargain price a few months ago and find myself delighted with it, it's great to find so much information about it available.

I never had an F5—the size and weight of it didn't appeal to me back when I was carrying an SLR most of the time. The F6 sits right up at at my "large" carry boundary, but I don't carry an SLR so much of the time any more and can deal with it occasionally for all the good things it offers.

best, G
 

jbcrane

New member
Hi John,

Thanks for the excellent F6 website. I managed to acquire a near-mint F6 at a bargain price a few months ago and find myself delighted with it, it's great to find so much information about it available.

I never had an F5—the size and weight of it didn't appeal to me back when I was carrying an SLR most of the time. The F6 sits right up at at my "large" carry boundary, but I don't carry an SLR so much of the time any more and can deal with it occasionally for all the good things it offers.

best, G
Hi Godfrey,
First-congratulations on your recent acquisition. It's a fabulous camera and I know you'll be pleased. One of the great things about it is its size options. I usually have the MB-40 mounted, but when ever I remove it I think, "I should shoot more with the smaller camera!" Alas - I use my F6 on the tripod a lot and the only L-bracket I have is for the grip-mounted configuration and I've gotten used to it. Enjoy your new camera and please do post images.

Best regards, JBC
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
I can't really play in this thread fully, though I used to own an F100 and F5 (and F4, F3, FE, FM, F...) LOL!

A bit of history: For me, the F4 and good AF glass transformed my photography -- at the time, I was mostly a wildlife and landscape photographer. As the kids got older, I became a sports photographer. I tried the F100 and for whatever reason never settled with it; it didn't focus my long glass as well as the F4, but I liked its more modern features. That's when I went to the F5 -- it was in short, a phenomenal camera and worked great with all my glass. But it was large, and I wanted something smaller and lighter for travel. Enter the Leica M's, another love affair that lasted until the early digital age where I went with Canon because of the then very impressive 1D ( :ROTFL: ). Anyway, to enter that system fully meant me transitioning away from film totally, so I sold all Nikon and Leica equipment and fully outfitted myself with 2 1D's, a bunch of batteries, new computer, and a slew of high-end C glass. (It makes for another story, but yes I had to re-buy into Leica when they finally entered the digital market with the M8.) Anyway, the point is, I am now back to shooting Nikon digitally for basically everything except IR, which I've modified an A7r specifically for.

Which brings me to my point finally -- IF I were to go back to 35mm film even for nostalgic reasons, I would get an F6 without hesitation and done. But reality is if I were going back to film, I'd likely go for a lighter-weight Medium format RF solution, and possibly add a 4x5 or 5x7 view camera as I miss that interface for my landscape photography.

Regardless, I applaud all of you for your adherence to the good old days of film!
 

Bryan Stephens

Workshop Member
I started as a sports photographer when I was in my teens and continue to this day (shooting for the local paper when I was in college as well as the school paper), although now it is more of a passionate hobby than a paying job.

My first real sports camera was the F3HP, which I enjoyed, but when the F4 came out, I upgraded as soon as I had the funds (which was not until the F4s version came about), and I thought that it was a monumental improvement as far as almost everything from the F3, especially with my long glass. Autofocus tends to do that I guess. :D

I used the F4s for roughly 6 or 7 years until the F5 became available and then purchased that, and used the F4 as my backup body. The F5 seemed better in my hands and the focus was faster and I thought a bit more accurate as well. I continued to use that combination for the next few years as I could in now way afford the jump to the digital bodies that were available. I was about to get an F6 to replace my F5, and sell my F4 but I held off, and eventually ended up going the digital route. I was able to use an F6 once on a shoot and it was very similar to my F5 in feel but I know that the electronics inside were an upgrade, but since I knew I was going digital, I wanted to save my funds and ended up buying a used D3s as my first digital sports camera and really never looked back. I would have loved to do a side by side comparison of the F5 and F6 especially since I know a great deal more about photography today.
 

Lars

Active member
I got my F5 in 1998, travelled with it for a year or so. Still as good as new. Haven't run a roll of film through it since I went digital on the small format side with a D2X in 2005. I still like to hold it :) The Italian ergonomic design is stellar even compared to today's Nikons, Pininfarina did a fantastic job on the design side.

Of course, had the F6 been available in 1998 I might have gone with that one. Design, features and quality seems "just right". And judging from what people say, it seems to be one of the best cameras ever made.

BTW the reason I stopped shooting 35 mm film... primarily resolving power. I went to 6x9 cm 120 film, and then to 8x10" film.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
So its been a while since this original post and I've done a bit of shuffling around on the web site. I just noticed this morning the original link posted is broken. Sorry. Here is the new link to the article: Nikon F6 Project

Pleasant shooting to you all.
JBC
Thanks for your re-post John. I guess I had missed the original post. I look forward to exploring your website now.

After years of looking, I finally added a Nikon F6 to my Canon EOS 1V last year and a few months later a Leica R9...the Titans of 35mm film. :)

Gary
Nikon F2 (chrome and black, my first 35mm SLRs), F3HP, F100, F5 and F6
Leica SL2, R3 Safari, R6.2, R8 and R9
Canon EOS 1V
 
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