Nikon F Circa 1969

Photography, Black And White Photography, Joseph

Image was taken with a Fujifilm X-E5 and XF 50mm f/2.0 lens

This is a vintage Nikon F camera equipped with a Photomic FTN viewfinder. Base model Nikon F cameras were usually equipped with an eye level pentaprism viewfinder without a light meter. The Photomic FTN viewfinder incorporated a light meter and a shutter speed readout. The approximate manufacture date of this particular camera is May – July 1969. The F was Nikons first SLR camera and it had a very long production run (1959 – 1973). It was well regarded for its extreme reliability and many Vietnam war photojournalists used them in the field. Hasselblad cameras along with modified Nikon F’s also accompanied NASA astronauts to the moon starting with Apollo 15 in 1971 and SkyLab missions in 1973. A total of 862,000 Nikon F cameras were manufactured during its long 14 year production.

10 thoughts on “Nikon F Circa 1969”

    1. Joe's avatar

      Thanks Laurie 😊 The fact that most of these old mechanical only early Nikons are still working is a testament to their over engineered and over built philosophy. The only electronics in this particular camera is the light meter. This one is still working but most 1960’s electronics didn’t fare as well as the camera bodies. The internals of these early Nikons are made up of mostly gears levers and springs. The only thing that wasn’t working on this camera was the 1 second shutter speed so I had to disassemble the camera to reach the low speed governor assembly, soak it in 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove the old gummed up lubrication and re-lubricate it before reassembling the camera. All most of these cameras need is a CLA (clean, lubricate, adjust) to get them back up and running smoothly.

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    1. Joe's avatar

      When I was shooting with older Nikon film cameras I never had one break down and need a repair Charly. Before switching to Nikon I had a Canon F-1 which had to be repaired twice. Luckily Canon USA at the time was located in Lake Success which is on Long Island so I was able to drive to the repair facility instead of shipping the camera.

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    1. Joe's avatar

      Thanks Cheryl 😊 This Nikon is just a “catch and release” for me. I bought it with a bulk lot of other vintage cameras. As much as I would love to start shooting film again I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it 😊 I also don’t have the space to keep all of these vintage beauties.

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