In article
>Badris
>>which camera, in your opinion is the most legendary (in terms of
>>durability, design, favorabillity, etc.) of all the F series Nikon
>>cameras?
>>having used and tested the all of them from the original F right up to
>>the F5, i'm personally in favor of the AI series F2's (F2A, F2AS). any
>>other opinions?
>Personally, I agree with the F2. I think it was the tool that won the
>hearts of so many. I want to eventually get one. I grew up with an FM.
>Being a poor college student, I could not afford an F2 or an used F at
>the time.
>
>However, historically, it takes at least one new F model to come out
>for people to appreciate the last F model.
>
>I remember when the F3 came out and no one liked it. It had problems.
>Things didn't work right blah blah blah. Then the F4 came out and it
>was buggy, but that F3 was a classic to be used for all eternity. The
>F5 made the F4s become a legendary camera.
>
>There is no doubt that the F5 will be a legendary camera some day, which
>is a title that can go to all the Nikon F's.
Hmmm, I agree with everybody! (Well, almost...;-)
My favorite: a chrome standard-prism F with an "E" screen.
But, then, that meter in the F2 was nice, and being easily
able to recalibrate the meter, and also being able to set
1/6th-stop ASA's was mighty nice - and so were the AI and
improved meter cells in the F2AS. It took me a while to
like the F3 (hated the plastic details and printed-on
shutter speed numbers...), but it was (is!!) a joy to
handle and it has the best viewfinder I have yet seen.
I never liked the F4 much, though I appreciated its very
soft shutter release (no shake) - the VF wasn't as good
as the F3's, and the camera was too big for me to handle
comfortably. I liked the F5 immediately - only its absurdly
high price dampens my enthusiasm (and it is therefore
unlikely that I will own one anytime soon). I guess like
all legends, its legendariness is all the greater for being
unownable.....;-) But, I guess my two favorites are still
the meterless F, and the F3...
David Ruether
http://www.fcinet.com/ruether