Since I bought my first camera in 2000 I’ve been a Nikon guy. It was a Nikon N80 35mm camera I picked up on a break from work at the Lloyd Center in NE Portland, back when it was a hopping shopping mall. Sure, my first camera was a simple Kodak Instamatic point and shoot I got for Christmas in the 80’s (on a related note, I found that exact model at a vintage shop for $15 yesterday so had to pick it up!), sure, the first SLR I learned on was my dad’s Canon TLb, and sure, the one I used in my photography course at LCC was a Pentax K1000, but since that N80 I’ve been in love with Nikon design, usefulness, and solid build (and, to me at least, they’re damn sexy).
I caught the collecting bug a couple of years ago and fairly quickly started collecting Nikons from their F series. These were the cameras considered professional when they were being made and you’ll frequently spot them in movies. For example, watching something about the Vietnam war? You’re likely to spot a photojournalist carrying around one or more Nikon F2’s, which was my first in the series, followed by an F1, F3, F5, and eventually an F4 (mint and used only once!). The F6, the last of the great line of professional Nikon cameras, was alluding me. They’re highly sought after, not often relinquished, and frankly, they can be damn expensive (as much used as some new digital SLRs!).
I was lucky though. This past weekend I was headed out to Stars Antique Mall when I had this sudden urge to divert my course towards Camera Solutions in John’s Landing. Wasn’t planning on buying anything, just wanted to see what they had in stock, say hi to the folks were there, then hit the road again, but I looked down in the Nikon case and there she was; I did a double and triple take to make sure it wasn’t an F4 or F5 but sure enough it was the unicorn, a Nikon F6. Having never seen one in person I just wanted to hold it and slobber a bit–knowing full well it wasn’t within my budget if it were at the typically rumored prices–at which point the employee mentioned being Black Friday they were doing deals on everything plus an extra $200 off. After fifteen minutes of rolling the numbers around in my head I finally decided to go for it knowing full well I probably wouldn’t see another locally for six months to a year, and likely not at this price point.
So, she has a few minor bruises, but she works spectacularly, as you can see here on on a roll I happened to develop at home that evening. What a fun camera, can’t wait to get it out more!
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