The Nikon F4: To keep or not to keep

I wrote at the beginning of this year that I was going to take stock of my camera collection and begin the process of selling the equipment that I do not use often enough. With film photography becoming more popular, these great cameras should be used for their intended purpose and not sit on a shelf or in a plastic storage container. And I have accumulated far too many cameras to use consistently. My goal was to edit my collection down to only those cameras that I really enjoy shooting and find loving homes for the others.

I also hoped to at least recoup my original investment plus any hard costs for servicing them. A real bonus would be to actually make a dollar or two. I am happy to report that I have broken even on every camera I have sold and made a profit on about 80% of them. A few have been gifts to close friends. Those don’t count.

The process of elimination has been fairly straightforward; grab a camera and think about the last time I shot with it. What did I like? What didn’t I like? I went through my archives of images and re-read some of the thing I had written here. I also considered where I am right now in my photographic journey and my life in general. In most cases, the decision to sell was pretty easy. There were a few that tugged at my heart strings as I packed them up to go off to their new homes, but it was nice thinking that someone new would get to experience, love and enjoy a well cared for old camera.

For a few, like the Nikon F4 I am writing about today, the decision was more difficult. I needed to load up some film and take a photo walk.

I’ve had my F4 for many years. I bought it from its original owner. He took good care of it and so have I. I also have a few period correct Nikkor AF-D lenses for it—a 50mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.8 and a 35-70 zoom. I fed the F4 some Kodak Pro Image 100 film, mounted the 50/1.8 and took a walk. These are some of the more interesting images I made that day.

When I returned home, my end of roll mirror selfie.

Shooting my F4 again reminded me of all the things I love about this camera and a few things I don’t. Like how heavy the F4 is and how slowly it auto focuses. Yes, the F4 is a heavy beast of a camera, but it’s also so well designed and balanced that it just feels really nice to shoot despite its weight. (I use my F4 with the MB-20 battery grip which is the smallest and lightest configuration. I also have the larger MB-21 grip.) And yes, Nikon’s first professional auto focus camera does hunt and peck a bit when trying to find its focus. But I am not shooting NASCAR races, so I don’t mind it.

What I do love about the F4 is that it will mount and meter with most any Nikon lens ever made. It has one of the best viewfinders of any camera I’ve ever shot. It uses AA batteries, not some hard to find type. And it has dials and levers for everything. No multi-function switches or confusing menus like the later F5 or F6. Nikon knew that they had a tough act to follow after the F3, so they made the F4 perfectly transitional while being revolutionary as well. The F4 set the stage for every Nikon SLR that followed.

I am keeping my F4 for all of these reasons and for one that is purely sentimental. Back in the early 1990s, when was I just getting seriously back into film photography, I wandered into a photo store in Tempe, Arizona. They had a brand new F4 in the case and I asked to try it out. It seemed a technological wonder at the time and was so very cool. It was also wildly expensive and far out of my reach. I never dreamed I would ever own one.

My F4 is thirty plus years old. It’s no longer cutting edge. It’s quaint. And it’s loads of fun to shoot. With any electronic camera of this era, I know that one day I will turn it on and it won’t wake up. And no one works on the F4 these days. Until then, the F4 is a keeper.