OK, Chris, MY Nikon F!

[Katastrofo]

No where near as pretty as yours, but it has the plain prism, which is
what I was after:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120199294569&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=002

It's an old scarred-up, ex-military camera, and I'm an old scarred-up,
ex-military guy, should be a good match.

Bill

[Attila]

Congrats for your new toy! In film cams I say Nikon for ever !

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, Attila!

[Katastrofo]

Chris, yeah, the shipping sucked, but you should see what some of these
are going for with the standard prism! This guy had the auction end when
most people are still at work, so I figured I had a chance to grab it at a
good price.

I'll post some pics when I get it. Already planning to releather it, anyway.
These F's are keepers, built like tanks and have 975 parts as opposed to
more than 1500 parts in the F2.

Too bad about my Adaptall 2 Nikon mount Tammie zooms, no rabbit
ears.

Bill

[Jesito]

Congrats, Bill.
Nice classical camera, enjoy it!
Best regards.
Jes.

[Richard_D]

You two are in danger of hurting my finances. I think my EL2 and FE are going to have aquire an older brother soon...

[Katastrofo]

The cam was waiting in my mailbox when I got home from work. Pics,
tomorrow!

Bill

[Laurence]

[Katastrofo]

Larry, I've been looking at some leather here:

http://www.cameraleather.com/nikonslr/

I also bought some Italian kid skin off ebay that could be dyed whatever
color. It is 0.3 to 0.4mm thick which is what is needed. I was going to
use that for the Oly 35RCs I have.

Here are some links/discussions about releathering:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GiAX

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum52/10764-reglue-camera-leather-introducing-myself.html

[LucisPictor]

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, Carsten!

Here's some quick and dirty pics of the bad boy:







Both lens and cam need cleaning, but this cam is certainly built like a
brick compared to a Nikon EM! I don't know what I can do about the
ugly prism, but I will recover it in leather.

Bill

[bob955i]

If you take the prism apart Bill, you may be able to press the dents out of the top cover. Don't tap them out, push them out on a surface that won't mark the metal any more than it is already but is strong enough to take some pressure without giving.

[Katastrofo]

[Katastrofo]

I know it's been awhile since I posted anything, work has kept me busy,
and getting bronchitis hasn't helped much.

Have to say, seeing all the excellent work here certainly is initimidating
to post anything, but here goes, just some test pics to see if the old 'F'
is still working, this is using the lens pictured in the initial post and Fuji
Pro ISO 400 film, and sunny F16 for settings:



I call this one the "Arboreal Shrug" as this is the time of year where the
foremost tree looks like it is shrugging, and echoed by the tree to its
left:



These were scanned at 2400dpi on the 4490.

And this one is OT, but APF forum has kept me busy, too, and this is a
recent effort into flash photography, using the Tammie 35-80mm zoom
and two flashes:



That's all for now, and it's been a real treat seeing the posts in the
gallery!

Bill

[F16SUNSHINE]

WOW! The fish is fantastic Bill. I have no skill with flash. You talk about intimidating

[Richard_D]

Superb shots - I particularly like the first one and the flash control on the fish is superb.

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, Andy, Richard, and Chris! I hope to be able to spend more time
here in a couple of weeks as this is one of my favorite forums. All I've
had time to do is lurk and check out the posts, now and then.

Chris, the F is an absolute delight to use! The viewfinder, big and bright
and so easy to manual focus! I'm going to run a couple of rolls of ISO 200
Kodak through it and see if it likes that film as much as the Oly 35RC
does.

The old cam is definitely getting a new set of clothes, I've made up my
mind for the cobra skin covering!

Bill

[Juanma]

Gorgeous camera. Seems as it could last forever.

[Katastrofo]

Here's a pic of the cobra skin, I think it will look just as good on a
chrome F:

http://www.cameraleather.com/colors/b&wcobra_snake.htm

[Katastrofo]

[Katastrofo]

[Farside]

Did you repair the prism housing? I'm wondering about the history of that camera - it's old enough to have been in a war zone or two in the kind and caring hands of military photographers and the dents might have a story attached. Of course, it might just have fallen off a shelf, but you never know.
Nice pics, btw. Best tunes, old fiddle.

[Katastrofo]

Hi Dave, thanks for your comments but no, haven't repaired the prism
yet. I'll try to pop out some of those dents and then cover it in leather.

About the old fiddle, too true, but I hope to remember to rosin the bow
next time!

Bill