On the bottom of the Nikon F2 you’ll find the fantastically secure locking mechanism for the film door, as well as a tripod socket, spool release, battery cover and motor drive connections. In keeping with the ruggedness of the F2’s design ethos, the door is locked shut by a heavy-duty latch on the bottom plate: lift a handle and rotate the latch to unlock the door. The F2’s back is hinged, unlike that of the F, which was mated to the bottom plate and had to be removed entirely like the back of the Olympus Pen series. The F2 was discontinued by Nikon with the introduction of the F3 in 1980, but parts remained available and Nikon Professional Services continued to service F2s until 2000. The F2 was, more than anything else, the amalgamation of all the lessons Nikon learned and the advancements they made during the foregoing decade-plus of incremental upgrades released for the F.
Preceded by the 12-year run of the legendary Nikon F, the F2 was introduced in 1971 to great fanfare. Always a favorite when backed by moody clouds. Test shot of the giant sign above the Denver Pavilions shopping center just off of the 16th Street Mall in Denver. It’s kind of like the Plymouth 426 Hemi ‘Cuda of cameras. It’s not as beautiful as a Ferrari, or as luxurious as a Bentley, but its performance is wrapped in a unique and utilitarian beauty that will be remembered for centuries. Spoiler alert: this camera will receive all five possible stars, and quite possibly deserves a sixth.
If it seems like I’m using a lot of glowing superlatives in this brief intro, that’s probably because I am. In one of his more eloquent passages of praise, Nikon guy Ken Rockwell says of the F2: “The original Nikon F of 1959 put Leica in the coffin, and the F2 was the camera the almighty himself used to hammer in the nails.”
More than 800,000 of these superb cameras were made, and while they are relatively common on the used market today as a result, they still fetch a better price than many of their original competitors. Known as much for their considerable heft as for the model’s innovations, rugged durability and long-unequaled versatility, to this day thousands of F2s lie waiting in photojournalists’ closets for the day when digital dies, or the zombie apocalypse, whichever comes first. Okay, to be fair, the Nikon F3/T might be the most well-loved of all hard-working 35mm SLRs by a slim margin, but the F2 was the gold standard workhorse for a decade or more. The Nikon F2 is the camera to beat all cameras in many photographers’ eyes. The Nikon F2 exudes a commanding presence.
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