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Nikon F2 Black s/n 7338006
Nikkor-H Auto 85mm/1./ s/n 268633
Nikon MD-1 s/n 207329
The Nikon F2 professional camera was introduced in 1971 by Japan's premier camera and lens maker, Nippon Kogaku KK, as the successor to the famous Nikon F, which by then was growing long in the tooth. The F2 was discontinued in 1980, when it was replaced by the F3, the first battery dependent Nikon professional camera and the first to offer aperture priority automatic exposure. The F3 was also the last Nikon fitted with a titanium curtain, horizontal focal plane shutter of the type used by the F and F2. It was eventually superseded by the motorized, auto focus F4, which used a vertical travel, titanium blade shutter and the improved F4s, which was the last Nikon professional SLR with interchangeable viewfinders and bulk film backs. The F5 and the current F6 are fine cameras with lots of bells and whistles, but they lack the full system interchangeability of their illustrious predecessors.
If there were a contest to choose the best 35mm SLR of all time, I'd vote for the Nikon F2. The F2 was the ultimate mechanical SLR. No onboard electronics and no battery required, unless you chose to use one of the TTL light metering viewfinders. All F2 light metering viewfinders used a 60% center weighted / 40% field metering pattern.
All basic F2 camera bodies were the same, but changing viewfinders changes the designation. Briefly, "F2" with no suffix indicates a camera sold with a plain eye-level prism (DE-1) without a light meter. Add "Photomic" (F2 Photomic) and you have an F2 body with a DP-1 prism finder incorporating a TTL light meter that couples to the camera's shutter speed dial and to the aperture ring of the lens via the meter's spring loaded prong and a shoe on the lens. An "A" suffix (F2A Photomic) stands for automatic indexing, meaning that the light meter in the DP-11 finder couples to the lens automatically, without the prong or a shoe on the lens. Either way, you had cross-coupled, full aperture, manual match-needle, through-the-lens light metering.
Standard Photomic meter prisms, whether lens shoe or AI coupled, used a CDS metering cell. An "S" designation indicated a Photomic prism finder using a low light capable silicon blue metering cell, instead of a CDS cell. These initially coupled to the lens via the prong and shoe method and later by the AI method. S meter finders used LED exposure indication, instead of a needle. Thus, an F2AS Photomic camera was an F2 body with a DP-12 finder, a silicon blue cell, AI coupled, eye level metering prism.
The basic DE-1 eye-level prism finder sans light meter could be had in all black or with satin chrome trim to match black or silver chrome bodies. However, all F2 Photomic metering finders were black, which I felt looked better on black camera bodies. (Again, note photo at top of page.)
AI and AIS Photomic meter prisms can use non-AI lenses in stop-down metering mode. Non-AI (prong to shoe coupled) Photomic metering prisms can use E or AF lenses lacking a metering shoe in stop-down metering mode. AI Nikkor lenses retained a meter coupling shoe and therefore work fine for full aperture metering with either AI or non-AI Photomic finders.
The most common and popular types of viewfinders were the DW-1 waist level finder with flip-up magnifier, DE-1 plain prism eye level finder and the various Photomic light metering, eye-level prism finders. There were other, more specialized viewfinders, such as the DW-2 (stovepipe) high magnification waist level finder for macro work and the long eye relief DA-1 sports prism finder for action photography.
In fact, pretty much everything on the F2 was interchangeable, allowing the camera to be configured for almost any photographic purpose. The standard camera back was removable and could be replaced with data backs and bulk film magazine backs. The viewing screen was interchangeable and there were about 20 alternatives, many quite specialized. Viewing screens came with a center circle showing the area in which 60% of the light meter's sensitivity was concentrated. The camera's "F" bayonet lens mount could accept non-AI, AI, AIS, Series E and even AF Nikkor lenses. (The latter in manual focus mode only, of course.) The camera's bottom plate accepted two different motor drives with maximum continuous speeds of four fps and six fps. The prism finder's eyepiece was threaded to accept accessories, including diopter correction lenses, eyecups, magnifiers and right angle finders. A hot shoe flash adaptor slid over the rewind knob to accommodate cordless flash units equipped with an ISO hot shoe and there was a PC flash cord socket on the camera body.
There were over 60 interchangeable Nikkor lenses for the F2 in focal lengths ranging from 6mm to 2000mm, the largest selection of lenses made for any camera. Many of these became legendary for their excellent performance, such as the 35mm f/2 Nikkor, 50mm f/2 Nikkor, 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor, 55mm Micro-Nikkor, 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor, 180mm f/2.8 Nikkor and 80-200mm Zoom Nikkor.
There were even a couple of specialized, modified F2 bodies. The F2T body, intended for exceptionally rugged conditions, was made with titanium. The F2H was a titanium high speed motorized body (MD-100 motor drive) with a fixed, partially silvered mirror that allowed continuous frame rates up to 10 fps.
The Nikon F2 was designed and built during a time when the major camera manufacturers of the world were competing to build the best, highest quality system cameras they could. Features were oriented toward improving imaging capability. The F2 body was made of die cast aluminum with brass top and bottom covers. The removable back was also brass and inside was a large pressure plate and the longest, widest film guide rails in any 35mm camera. Film plane flatness is crucial to sharp photographs. The heavy duty bayonet lens mount was machined from stainless steel. The male bayonet on Nikkor lenses was machined from brass and hard chrome plated. (Nikon used dissimilar metals to prevent sticking.) The camera's metal finish was brushed silver chrome or black enamel and the gripping surfaces wore an extremely durable synthetic leather covering.
The F2 competed with other fine professional SLR system cameras, including the Alpa 11 (Switzerland), Canon F1 / F1n (Japan), Contax RTS (Japan/Germany), Leicaflex SL / SL2 (Germany), Minolta XK (Japan), Olympus OM-1 / OM-1MD (Japan) and Topcon Super D (Japan). These were cameras built to last for decades and most of the remaining examples are still in operating condition. Note that all of these cameras were the products of "first world" countries.
Against such illustrious competition, the Nikon F2 not only thrived, it dominated. By the time the F2 was discontinued, something like 90% of all professional photographers were using Nikon 35mm cameras, mostly F2s.
