The head on the basic Nikon F2 was called the Nikon DE-1. Therefore, it’s not unusual to see body/head combinations with mismatched serial numbers and/or colours. Note: F2 heads were often sold separately from the body, mostly in black finish with about 10% in chrome.

However, it was the F2’s interchangeable viewfinders (also known as “heads”) that marked it as a truly professional level SLR and was its greatest strength.īy providing updated heads every few years, Nikon was able to introduce new versions of the F2 and keep the basic body in the latest technology until production ended in 1980. It was the last all mechanical professional-level Nikon SLR. It also offered a detachable motor drive, something the F only had as a custom modification. The F2 replaced the Nikon F, adding many new features a faster 1/2000 second maximum shutter speed, a swing open back for easier film loading, a wider assortment of detachable finders and metering heads, a 250 exposure film back, a larger reflex mirror to ensure no vignetting, and a shutter release nearer the front of the camera for better ergonomics. The camera itself needed no batteries, though the prism light meter did (and of course the motor drive). The Nikon F2 is an all-metal, mechanically (springs, gears, levers) controlled, manual focus SLR with manual exposure control.

Nikon f2 finders