Nikon Film Cameras

melekalikimaka

need a film nikon asap. browsing ebay and i've come to the conclusion i have no idea how to spot a dud. all this prism and batteries and mirror foam(?). my budget is round fm2 or fm10, i know these are good,and i like them more than the newer models but the newer slrs i dont know much about, any light shed would be lovely.Also looking at el2 and F.

Dodgykeeper

I have no idea what all those numbers mean but i have a nikon f80 if thats any good!

pete4130

I shot a Nikon F100 for years. Still the nicest camera I've ever held in my hands. They go for pretty cheap if you look around and are built to last. They are semi-pro/heavy enthusiast standard (more leaning towards pro though) so you know the build quality is good. At the time it was almost as good as an F5 but nowhere near as expensive. IT takes 4 AA's and you get tons of rills though the body before they give up.
AFAIR F80's are like a smaller, less robust F100, lower FPS, plastic body, smaller viewfinder but still a good camera.

4sb

Hi melekalikimaka,

Mirror foam if on an F2 sounds familiar. Have one, vintage 1976, and hadn't used it for a long long time. There's a strip of foam at the top of the reflex housing that cushions the mirror as the top of its swing. Touched it by accident a couple of years ago - and it seemed to crumble. Now I have half a strip - but it seems to work ok. Not that I use it much, if at all. Photomic head not working either.

DaireQuinlan

melekalikimaka wrote: »

need a film nikon asap. browsing ebay and i've come to the conclusion i have no idea how to spot a dud. all this prism and batteries and mirror foam(?). my budget is round fm2 or fm10, i know these are good,and i like them more than the newer models but the newer slrs i dont know much about, any light shed would be lovely.Also looking at el2 and F.

If you want a reasonably priced new body then get the F100, no contest. Its most of the functionality of the F5 packed into a consumer sized body.

The F90x is pretty close though, I just checked Conns and they have a bunch 2nd hand for about 199. If you really need it ASAP then thats probably your best bet. You can look them over aswell, and they supply a guarentee so peace of mind is yours. Thats where I got my F4.

If you're talking old manuals don't bother with the Fm10. Its a re-badged Cosina that they made under contract to Nikon. Nowhere near the build quality of the older nikon models. I have an FE-2 and Its a fantastic little camera. Needs batteries but they (2 watch batteries) last for about 2 years. If it has batteries then you can shoot completely manually if you like or there's AE for convenience sakes.

thefizz

Try www.ffordes.com. They have lots of used gear and are a good company to deal with.