Nikon F2 + DP-1 Finder + Nikkor AI 50mm F1.4

The Nikon F2 is, by wide agreement, the finest fully mechanical SLR Nikon ever built. Produced from 1971 to 1980, it refined everything the original F established: a 1/2000s top shutter speed, titanium-foil curtains, a swing-open back, and a mechanism that runs at every speed with no battery at all. Here it wears the DP-1 Photomic finder — the original metered prism, and the combination Nikon called the F2 Photomic — with the Nikkor AI 50mm f/1.4, the fast normal Nikon bundled with its better bodies through the late 1970s. A working Photomic meter on an F2 is the part that is genuinely hard to find, and this one has it.

Specifications

• Body: Nikon F2 — fully mechanical 35mm SLR, produced 1971-1980
• Shutter: Mechanical titanium-foil horizontal focal plane, 1s to 1/2000s + Bulb and Time
• Flash sync: 1/80s
• Self-timer: Mechanical, also gives timed exposures to 10 seconds
• Finder: DP-1 Photomic — CdS cell, 60/40 centre-weighted, centre-the-needle galvanometer display
• Metering coupling: Via the lens meter-coupling prong. Factory AI lenses retain the prong, so the AI 50mm f/1.4 included here couples and meters correctly; maximum-aperture indexing is set by hand when mounting.
• Mount: Nikon F
• Lens: Nikkor AI 50mm f/1.4, 7 elements in 6 groups, 7 aperture blades, f/1.4 to f/16
• Lens filter thread: 52mm
• Lens minimum focus: 0.45m
• Lens weight: approximately 255g
• Power: 2x SR44 / A76 — finder meter only, the body is entirely mechanical

Condition

• Cosmetic: Excellent++ overall condition with very minimal signs of use. There is a small wrinkle visible on the titanium shutter curtain as shown. Lens in excellent condition with some cosmetic signs of use; glass is clean and free of haze, fungus or scratches.
• Functional: Fully working, including the light meter and self-timer. The shutter has been tested and works correctly at all speeds with no issue. Lens fully working with smooth rings.

Included

• Nikon F2 body with DP-1 Photomic finder
• Nikkor AI 50mm f/1.4 lens
• Lens cap
• Strap
• Camera bag
• Filter set: Hoya centre-spot, Marumi GC-Gray graduated, Hoya Skylight 1B, UV, Astrom circular polariser, Kenko circular rainbow, Hoya red

About the filter set

• Hoya centre-spot: soft-focus glow around a sharper centre, for drawing the eye to a subject
• Marumi GC-Gray graduated: neutral grey fading to clear, to hold back a bright sky
• Hoya Skylight 1B: faint warming filter that cuts bluish haze on colour film, also useful as lens protection
• UV: cuts ultraviolet haze; mostly used as clear protection
• Astrom circular polariser: kills glare and reflections, deepens blue skies, costs roughly 1.5-2 stops
• Kenko circular rainbow: special-effect diffraction filter that turns point lights into coloured streaks
• Hoya red: for black and white — dramatically darkens blue skies, needs about 2-3 stops of extra exposure

Two things worth setting out plainly. First, the meter: the DP-1 reads the lens aperture through the external coupling prong, and factory AI lenses like this 50mm f/1.4 kept that prong, so the two work together properly — you index the maximum aperture by hand when mounting the lens, which is simply how these finders are used. Second, the shutter: there is a small wrinkle visible in the titanium curtain, shown in the photographs. It has been tested across the speed range and fires correctly with no issue. The F2's titanium curtains are thin foil and surface marks of this kind are not unusual on cameras of this age; what matters is that it tests clean, which it does. Beyond that this is a superb example, with a working Photomic meter, a clean fast 50mm, a bag and a seven-filter set.