This is the famous Nikon F. ⁠

⁠The world of film photography was taken by storm when this camera was introduced in 1959.  Nikon had managed to combine many desirable features into one beautiful, mechanical, and versatile 35mm SLR.⁠

⁠The Nikon F has interchangeable focusing screens, prisms, and lenses.  Nikon also made a variety of accessories that were designed to appeal to photographers of all backgrounds.  The camera body itself contains a self-timer, depth of field preview, and mirror lockup switch.  Many of these popular features existed in other cameras, but none of Nikon's competitors had one camera fully loaded with them.⁠

⁠The Nikon F is one of those cameras we are always excited to sell.  Try picking one up while resisting the urge to wind and fire it... we bet you can't.  It just feels so darn satisfying.⁠

⁠And we haven't even touched on the vast world of incredible Nikon lenses out there... though, we will save that for another day. ⁠

⁠An undeniably good pair: the Nikon F with a Nikkor-P 105mm f/2.5 lens.

dm/sd

Staff member Shawn Kim, who is always engaged in some kind of odd little exercises of personal creativity, brought this impressive Nikon F into the shop.  He had recently finished reskinning it and brought it in to share his custom work.  Shawn loves space and he wanted a camera with little spacemen all across it, so he printed out this design on a piece of inkjet canvas, ironed on a laminate, cut the pattern out by hand, and used super-sticky tape to adhere it to his Nikon F. 

He calls it a "five footer project" because from five feet away it looks perfectly fine.

za/sd

Nikon F + standard prism + Nikkor 20mm lens = ? 

We are not entirely sure of the answer, but we know a good equation when we see one. 

za/sd

Got filters?  We do.  Oh boy do we ever.  We are big filter fans here at the shop.  UVs, NDs, reds, yellows, oranges, R72s, polarizers, starbursts, soft focus, proxars... you name it!  We even sometimes have absurd filters, like most of the ones made by Cokin, that do wacky things like put rainbows or fog artificially into your images.   Yes, Cokin made a rainbow filter.  It had a tiny rainbow painted on the filter so that it rendered soft and fuzzy in every frame... they thought of everything.⠀ ⠀

Even though we love 'em all, do you know the two filters we'd recommend over all others?  A UV and a polarizer - every photographer should own each of these filters.  Polarizers are one of the most useful and versatile filters you will come across and one of the few filters that cannot be quite truly reproduced in post-processing (imitated maybe but not quite the same). ⠀ ⠀

The UV is a bit of a different story but no less recommended.  There should be one of these on every lens you own.  They are there for protection.   We have lost count of the number of dropped lenses we have seen with shattered UV filters - a filter that sacrificed its life to take the brunt of an impact, hopefully saving the lens.  We have also lost count of the number of fingerprints and other greasy, sticky substances we have cleaned off UV filters that, in the filter's absence, would have been on the front optic of the lens itself.⠀ ⠀

Keep filters in mind.  There are so many out there, both current and vintage.  They can open up wildly creative possibilities or, very simply, help prevent heartbreak. ⠀ ⠀

Next time you are in, you might ask us to pull out the filter box.  You never know what you will find in its depths.

za/sd

This is for all you Nikon F users who thought the standard photomic metered prism wasn't bulky enough, try putting the Nikon Action Finder atop your camera!  While extremely bulky, this action finder (aka sports finder) had some nifty applications.  Its main purpose is to give you a very large eyepiece through which to view the focusing screen, a feature appreciated by photographers who wear thick glasses or safety goggles - we also saw a reference to this being useful if your camera was sealed in an underwater housing.  It also shows the entire viewfinder, meaning 100% accurate framing, which would be useful when making really technically-precise compositions. ⠀ ⠀

All of this is simply justification for us wanting to bulk up our Nikon into as much of an obelisk of a camera as possible.  Put the action finder on with a 55mm f/1.2 lens, and you have quite the mega-camera on your hands.

za/sd

"Have camera, will travel." 

All in a (few) day's work.  Leftover 35mm cans from our darkroom processing.  A lot of b&w film passes through our lab and it's still something that truly excites us.  These canisters represent a lot of collected memories, a lot of passing light, a lot of adventures, and a lot of life.  In other words: good stuff. 

za/sd

How about this peculiar setup? The Nikkor 2.1cm f4 was one of the earliest super wide angle lenses for an SLR. As such, the un-perfected design had a rear optic that intruded far into the mirror chamber of the camera, requiring the mirror to be locked up while using the lens, hence the auxiliary viewfinder (in this case, a Zeiss and not the traditional Nikon version) on the right top of the camera. These lenses were meant to be used exclusively with the Nikon F and F2. 

za/js

A Nikon F with the early Nikkor 2.1cm f/4 O lens. 

Originally, this lens was part of the S series for Nikon's rangefinders, but was later fitted with an F mount to be used with SLR cameras.  Due to this history, it was built with a rear optic that protruded all the way back to the film plane (only a 7mm gap is left) which means that it has to be used solely on cameras that can lock up their mirrors like the F, F2, F3, etc. Invented by famed lens designer Zenji Wakimoto (who would later be awarded the Emperor's Purple Ribbon medal for his lens design contributions) this lens was the fastest of its time, in this class of focal length, and despite being built before the age of computer assistance, performs exceptionally well with only low levels of distortion.  As shown here, you will need to pair it with an auxiliary viewfinder for composing images.  If you have one of the earlier Nikon F series cameras and are looking for a nifty and noteworthy lens to pair up with it, we may have just the thing...

za/sd

Inventory Day at Blue Moon Camera is always January 2nd.  We close down the shop for regular business, while we count Mrs. Nikon F here, along with of her brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, second cousins, friends, acquaintances, even that camera she met at the bar the other night whose name she cannot quite remember.  We take inventory of the whole extended family... and then some.⠀ ⠀

This day is an important, if tedious, one for us.  It is what allows us to put our vast inventory of cameras back in tip-top shape, so that we can more easily and accurately find anything you may be looking for.  It closes us down for the day, but when we open back up on January 3rd, you can always expect an expertly rearranged and accurate inventory to enjoy. 

za/sd

This image was the result of after-hours camera geekery.  Our scanning technician, Shawn, had rescued a Nikon F, replaced some screws, and used tape where screws were not available to get it into functional shape.  He had it tricked out with a waist level finder, so we decided to grab another F and pair them up.  There was no overt purpose to this image, other than having fun with cameras as we were closing up shop one day, but that's just the sort of passion and enthusiasm we like to promote... also, naturally, we wanted to share this image with all of you.

za/sd

Meet Charlie Haughey.

He was a rifleman in the Army during the Vietnam War.  Additionally, he was company photographer, carrying a Nikon F, a Minolta SLR, and a Yashica TLR into the field.  In March of 2013, several of Charlie's images were exhibited at the ANX Gallery at 1015 SE Stark St in Portland, OR.  Charlie himself was there in person to share stories and answer questions.  His work was celebrated through several fiber print giveaways and raffles in the days leading up to and at the special event.

za/sd

A black 1962 Nikon F with meterless prism, Nikkor 15mm f5.6 QD.C lens and Peter's ever-lengthening hair...We're not quite sure how these three came together but they somehow did.

za/sd