The
Nikon F4
by J. Ramón Palacios
username jrp
Nikonian in Mexico
tell
a friend about this article
|
INTRODUCTION
My
Nikon journey started early. First I had a Nikomat FS (1965).
Then a Nikkormat FT2 (1975) with integrated meter. Upgrading
brought me into the FE2 (1983) and the fun of the MD-12 speed
winders. Later, the Nikon N4004s (1989), the N6006 (1990) and
then the great N8008s (introduced in 1991). So with my
own cameras and my father's 1959 Nikon F I lived the Nikon tradition
hands-on. However, even that did not prepare me for the F4.
-
|
The
magnificent Nikon F4
. |
I
have repeatedly seen and read that the rugged Nikon cameras
have long been a preferred tool of pros, for well over forty
five years now. The recording of events all over the world
and beyond has been done with Nikon bodies and through Nikkor
lenses.
Nikon,
omnipresent where something important happens. Hasselblad
was with the astronauts into outer space, but so was Nikon;
just as it was in the last frontiers of earth, helping to
make the everlasting images that probably serve as benchmarks
in our lives.
So
Nikon has helped to make the images1
that have stirred our hearts, our guts and our brains, profoundly
contributing to the way we see and feel our world and beyond;
long before there were special effects and Adobe Photoshop.
Such
tradition and my early on experiences made easy to expect
that Nikon's own accumulated experience, plus that of
the great photographers that they always seem to listen
to, would always produce a new darn good camera.
Nevertheless,
the appearing of the Nikon F4, and soon later, of the
F4s and the F4e really caught many of us by surprise.
A professional camera with auto focus and manual capabilities
like no other before, lending itself to adapt to any
photographic situation.
Another
true pro camera in the F tradition, the fourth, with
full line lenses compatibility. No wonder it received
the European Camera of the Year and the Camera Grand
Prix awards in 1989.
In
the words of wildlife research photographer B.
Moose Peterson: "Of
all the Nikon Pro bodies, the F4 is by far the most
magical"2,
and I was fortunate to finally have one !!!
What
follows may explain why, after all these years, it
remains a great camera to have and use.
|
|
 |
| |
|
1
From 1942 to 2001, out of 97 Pulitzer Prizes, counting
both Spot News and Feature photography, 57 were won with a
Nikon; 10 were for the next closest winning 35mm brand, Leica,
most of them with Nikkor lenses; 5 wins with a Canon.
Before 1962, the medium format Speed Graphic cameras dominated
the photojournalism scene.
2
Magic
Lantern Guide to Nikon F4 and F3, Pro Edition, by B. "Moose
"Peterson, Silver Pixel Press, a Tiffen Company, Rochester,
N. Y., Third Printing, 1998, page 45. Printed in Germany by
Kösel GmbH, Kempten
|
