This particular F2 model was one that I purchased many years ago. It was an older model even back then. While I certainly did not test it in every extreme, it did see its share of mountain cold and desert heat. Now, nearly fifty years after it was made, it sits on a shelf in my office. It still looks great and still functions perfectly. I do know the shutter still works as I fire it periodically to keep things lubricated. There is definitely something confidence inspiring about that crisp and positive shutter sound.
The light meter still works fine and is the only reason the camera needs batteries. The shutter is completely mechanical and thus can be fired without battery power. As I have not run a roll of film through it in a while, about the only thing that I am uncertain of is the condition of the light seals. Visually they seem fine though.
The F2 is a big and heavy camera made almost entirely of metal. The top plate is real brushed metal, not painted plastic like today’s modern retro-inspired cameras. Any plastic on the F2 is used sparingly. When it is, it is more for accents than as part of its construction. Controls are all positive and solid. They are not overly stiff but moving them requires a certain amount of deliberation. While there are a number of other great classic cameras that were built during its time, I feel the Nikon F2 stands out like no other.
The lens mounted on this F2 is a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4. This particular lens, like virtually all of Nikon’s manual focus lenses, included a meter-coupling prong to engage the pin in the F2 Photomic finder. This indexed the lens to the camera’s meter. Later versions of the F2 and lenses were upgraded to Nikon’s automatic-indexing system (AI or AI-S), so the metering prong was no longer needed. Nikon, however, retained it on their manual focus lenses long after so they would continue to work with the older F2 cameras. Remarkably, all of these manual focus lenses still work even with Nikon’s latest Z-system cameras via an FTZ adapter. Focus must, of course, be done manually. With focus peaking turned on, accurate focus is actually easy to attain. Since the Z cameras meter off the sensor, exposure can easily be set in aperture priority or manual mode. Below in figures 1 and 2 are respective images of the Nikon F2 and a Nikon Z6 II with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 attached.
The images below were shot with the Nikon Z6 II and the adapted Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens. Optical design has advanced significantly over the years but this lens still makes stunning images. Picture control on the Z6 II was set to standard. Only minor adjustments to exposure were made. Note the wonderful colors and bokeh in figures 3 and 4.
I could write a lot more about all of the controls and functions of this camera. However, there are already many sources on the web that have already done so. The beauty of this timeless design, though, is really that most anyone reasonably familiar with manual film SLRs could simply pick it up and start shooting. I might even get the urge sometime soon to load up a roll of film myself and take some actual photographs – a distinctly different thing than making digital images.