This camera is the famous Nikon F, it was donated to me by a good friend of mine to keep it well maintained and to continue using it rather then have it kept in the closet collecting dust. I’ve only been able to put a single roll through this camera myself thus far and due to my lack of experience at the time with a light meter the images were dismal. As the saying goes, ‘better luck next time’ now that I have more experience with my light meter I’m hoping for far superior results.
The Nikon F, or as many people refer as the “F1” was Nikon’s first SLR 35mm film camera made between 1959 all the way to 1973, quite a long run as testament to how well it performed. The camera currently in my collection as seen above was made somewhere between April to July in 1970 according to the serial number. What is interesting about the F1 is how the future of Nikon has evolved around it’s first SLR, the F mount (named after it’s designer Mr. Fuketa) is still in use today in it’s film and digital cameras, meaning an F lens made in 1959 could be mounted on a current digital body
(WARNING: Do Not attach a non digital F mount lens to your digital camera without reading the manual to your camera or contacting Nikon to see if they are compatible, some lenses can damage your digital camera body because of current electronic connecting points. I Do Not recommend the use of a manual lens on a digital body with out consent from Nikon!)
Some notable features that the F1 has are as follows:
Has removable and replaceable focusing screens and prism viewfinders
Interchangeable film backs to motorized film advance for 36 frames and 250 frame bulk film. along with Polaroid instant film packs.
Introduced the bayonet style lens mount to Nikon
Used Titanium shutter blades as apposed to cloth curtain
Mirror lock up, when used in conjunction with a motorized film back could shoot 4 frames a second.
Modular system, viewfinders, focusing screens, and camera backs could all be interchangeable.
In it’s basic form the Nikon F is fully mechanical and so no batteries were required unless the use of a motor film back or a light metered viewfinder were attached.
The shutter speed of the Nikon F ranged from 1 second to 1/1000 of a second in full stop increments.
One down fall of the camera that I found was that the rear and bottom of the camera were made in one piece so that meant that the entire back had to be removed completely in-order to remove and replace the 135mm film cartridge making for a slow process.
All said and told the Nikon F is a spectacular camera that made waves in the photographic world, by the end of production approximately 784,000 were made (I’ve seen various reports as to how many were made and this is my best estimate, I will in the future request from Nikon as to how many were made).
The F1 was used by many amateur and professionals photographers to the likes of Larry Burrows and Don McCullin whom documented the Vietnam War where the Nikon F1 made it’s fame from the images it took to the life it saved in Don McCullin’s case where it stopped a bullet.
Even though Nikon was a very well known company for it’s rangefinder cameras the F1 really made it’s mark and stepped up the game for Nikon and the 35mm SLR.
The Specs:
Type of camera: 35mm single lens reflex (SLR)
Film/picture format: 135mm film producing a 36x24mm image 3:2 aspect ratio in landscape orientation
Lens Mount: Nikon F Bayonet
Lenses: Manual Focusing prime and zoom lenses
Shutter: Horizontal-travel, titanium foil focal plane shutter mechanically governed
Shutter speeds: 11 shutter speeds from 1 sec to 1/1000 in one stop increments, including X (1/60 sec) B and T.
Exposure metering: provided with metered prisms
Viewfinder: Nikon F eye-level finder as standard, interchangeable with 7 other types
Focussing screen: Split image Type A as standard, interchangeable with 16 others
Reflex mirror: Automatic instant-return with lock up capability
Depth-of-field preview: Yes, with use of lever
Frame counter: additive type frame numbers from 0 – 40, resets to S when back is removed.
Power source: body no, one or two PX-625 1.3V mercury batteries depending on metered viewfinder.
Camera Back: slip off type with interchangeable 250 exposure magazine back, powered motor drives F36 and F250, and Polaroid film back
Body Finish: Black or Chrome
Body weight: 1049g (2.31 lb) approximately, with standard viewfinder.