In 1959 Nikon released the Nikon F and it was Nikon’s first Single Lens Reflex camera. This is the camera that launched Nikon’s F-Mount which is still in use in modern digital Nikon DSLR cameras like the D850, the D500 and the top of the line professional D6. The Nikon F was succeeded by the F2, F3, F4, F5 and finally the best film SLR camera I have ever used, the F6.
Before SLR cameras, Nikon produced rangefinder cameras like the Nikon S line of cameras. Rangefinder cameras were great but had limitations. When framing an image with a rangefinder, the photographer looks through a separate window like you would with an old disposable film camera. This works well when you have a shorter fixed focal length lens but makes it difficult when using longer focal length lenses.
With a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera, you are looking through the lens to capture the image. So when you put a different focal length lens on the camera, it is easy to compose your image. Nikon wasn’t the first to make SLR cameras but the Nikon F was the first SLR camera to have 100% viewfinder coverage meaning that everything you saw in the frame would appear on the film.
Features
Looking at the Nikon F today, you would be forgiven for thinking that it was a revolutionary camera for its time. It was completely mechanical and didn’t have a battery.
The top of the camera has a shutter release button which has a dial around it. You can set the dial to A to advance the film or R when you want to rewind the film. There is also a lever to wind the film which connects to a film frame counter and a switch which you can manually set to 20 or 36. Why 20 or 36? When the Nikon F was created a roll of 35mm film was either 20 frames or 35 frames.
There is a dial where you can set the shutter speed from 1 second to 1/1000 of a second. You can also select B which stands for bulb and the shutter stays open as long as you hold the button down. The other option is T which stands for time and the shutter stay open until you wind the film advance lever to the next frame. The other dial on the top of the camera is the film rewind knob.
On the bottom of the camera there is a circular grid which you can manually set the ISO of the film that you loaded into the camera. There is also a switch which allows you to take the back off of the camera to load and unload the film.
There are three buttons and a self timer switch on the front of the camera. When looking at the camera, the button on the right releases the lens so you can change lenses. The button on the left is the depth of field preview button. This allows you to see the depth of field of your image if you have selected an aperture that is smaller than the largest aperture of the camera. The button lower down on the left is the mirror lock up button.
When you look through the viewfinder of the Nikon F, there are no numbers or scales or anything to distract you from the image. You simply point and focus your lens.
The Nikon System
One of the best things about the Nikon F was the number of accessories that you could get for the camera. These ranged from a motor drive that allowed the photographer to shoot at 3 frames a second (4 with the mirror locked up) to a bulk loaded film magazine that could hold enough film for 250 photos. Of course there was also a huge range of Nikon lenses that ranged from 21mm to 1000mm.
Metering & Exposure
The original Nikon F didn’t have a light meter so you had to determine the shutter speed for your chosen aperture yourself. *In 1962 Nikon released an interchangeable viewfinder that you could switch out with the regular viewfinder and it had a light meter inside it. To determine the shutter speed, you could use an external light meter or make your own determination of the correct exposure. Then you would need to dial the shutter speed into the camera and set the aperture on the lens.
Unique Film Loading
If you have used a film camera before, the Nikon F system for loading the camera will look very unique. There isn’t a back with a hinge that swings open. The whole back of the camera comes off in order for you to load and unload film.
Focusing
The Nikon F is a manual focus camera as autofocus didn’t arrive in Nikon cameras until 1986 with the introduction of the Nikon F501 (called the N2020 in North America). Being a manual focus camera, it came with a split level viewfinder which allowed the photographer to focus by lining up the centre part of the frame. Nikon also had various other viewfinders that one could swap out.
My First Roll of Film
Using the Nikon F is a dream. It brings me back to the simplicity of photography. I enjoyed using a hand held meter to determine the correct exposure. I also loved the fact that I really had to slow down with each image. Check out how it went with my first roll of film in this amazing, iconic 60+ year old camera: the legendary Nikon F.
