Nikon F6 Camera Serial Numbers

Hello, here is a short report about the current production of the Nikon F6 in Nikon's plant in Sendai: In autumn 2007 there has been a quite long report about Nikon's Sendai plant in the french photo magazine 'Chasseur d'Image'. At that time about 200 F6 has been built monthly. The Sendai plant is capable of producing very small batches. And it is very flexible. That's necessary because the production numbers of some the digital high-end models has been very low (e.g.

1. Nikon Camera Serial Number And Year

From the D2H only 7000 units have been built). These low production numbers have been caused by the very high prices (only very few photographers could afford a 7000€ D3x for example), and the short production periods of these models.Therefore the production systems have to be extremely flexible. And luckily that is the basis that the F6 still can be produced as a fine niche product. By the way, I can highly recommend this camera: It's a dream machine, the finest engineering you can imagine. In my opinion the best 35mm SLR ever made.

For years I have dreamt of that camera, and 3 1/2 years ago have fulfilled my dream. And bought a brand new one with MB-40 vertical grip and MV-1 data reader, and additional split image screen. One of the best decisions I've ever made. Now I lust for another one: One body for color, the other for BW Best regards, Henning P.S: So far since the introduction in 2004 about 34,130 F6 has been made.The 34,130 serial number is the latest one I heard of from a friend who bought a new one some weeks ago. Click to expand.There have been indeed more than 34,000 F6 made so far.

I've have contacts to several F6 users, and we have compared our serial numbers. So far we've seen / got reports of F6s with the following serial numbers: 001 004 008 0034130 If you look at both the first and the last number left and right (besides the zeros), they are all different, therefore no coding here. That are the real production numbers. Most of the cameras have been produced in 2004 - 2007. We've seen brand new F6 in the 27 - 28 thousand serial number range in 2007.

That accorded with the report in 'Chasseur d'Image', that in second half of 2007 the monthly production has been 200 units. And the last serial numbers we've seen in the last two years accord very well with the latest report I've mentioned in my first post, reporting that the current production is 50 units every month.

After the introduction in 2004 and in 2005/06 quite a lot professionals have bought the F6. Mostly portrait / wedding and travel, nature / wildlife photographers (got that info independantly from two distributers and a Nikon rep.). Best regards, Henning. Click to expand.O.k., so you are claiming that Nikon is printing misleading fake serial numbers on the cameras. It would be the first time in Nikon's history.why should they do that?? I have my F6 here, with a + 30 thousand serial number on it.

If I delete the '3', assuming it could be a code number, then only about 1,500 units would have been made until 2009. If I delete the last number, then only about 3,500 units would have been made until 2009.

If that would have been the case, Nikon would have stopped production years ago because such extremely small numbers are not economical and the production would have been a big loss for them. Click to expand.As I've explained above, during the first years much more than 200 units have been produced per month.

Sales volumes of such items are not a linear thing. It is a normal product lifecycle that after the introduction you have the highest demand and best sales volumes, and then, with increasing market saturation, sales volumes are decreasing and after some years levelling out. At the F6 introduction there have been a background report about the F6 published in a German photo magazine, explaining the maximum capacity of F6 production which can be run (if the demand is so high) is about 5,000 units monthly. The demand has never been in this region, so Nikon has never exploited this maximum monthly capacity. Click to expand.Anecdotic observations are no evidence.

In my area there is also lots of tourist traffic, especially from other European countries and Asia. More than 750,000 Nikon F3 has been produced. More than 240,000 F4.

More than 828,000 Nikon F80/N80. More than 1 million Rolleiflex TLRs. Nevertheless I've never seen either a F3, F4 or F80/N80 at our tourist hotspots. And only one time a Rolleiflex (and that one was not from a tourist, but a native student). But I would never derive assumptions on production numbers from my observations.

Best regards, Henning. Anecdotic observations are no evidence. In my area there is also lots of tourist traffic, especially from other European countries and Asia. More than 750,000 Nikon F3 has been produced.

Nikon Camera Serial Number And Year

More than 240,000 F4. More than 828,000 Nikon F80/N80.

More than 1 million Rolleiflex TLRs. Nevertheless I've never seen either a F3, F4 or F80/N80 at our tourist hotspots. And only one time a Rolleiflex (and that one was not from a tourist, but a native student). But I would never derive assumptions on production numbers from my observations. Best regards, Henning. 750,000 F3's make sense, at the height of the 35mm film era.

I have 5 of those. 240,000 F4s makes sense as well, I have 4 of those. What's the F5 numbers like?

Probably more than the F4. Lots of pros I know and myself still have and shoot that. Out of the at least 65 pro's I know in my area (PJ's, editorial and wedding shooters) the only one who had one F6 was trying to sell it to me. How many do you Know of being used? Yours and your friend and.? From my understanding about the F6 is that the shutter unit and body casting was designed alongside the D2/D3 era cameras, making it quite easy for nikon to keep producing F6's in small amounts. As in 50 per month.

Even if the production was over 200 per month for the first few years 34,000 still seems very high. A top tier high performance 35mm still camera produced in the digital era at high prices to a dwindling market. Hey I'm glad they still make them, love to get me a couple, but serial numbers aside, not many are out there. I'd be stoked if there were that many around, it increases the chances I can find one! Best regards. I'll take your word for it. In comparison to the F5 and F4 34,000 does seem a realistic number and low in comparison.

I did manage to shoot a roll with the F6, rattled off a roll in record time, Kodachrome 200 I seem to recall! He offered me the body with the MB-40 for 1200.00 US which was a great price, and the other one I saw was with the MB-40 as well for 1600 so deals abound (at least at that time). I do think the F6 is more in use in other areas like Germany.

At least here in Hawaii most shooters are too taken with the digital. Best Regards. Click to expand.Before I decided to buy the F6, I've also often thought about whether this camera may be indeed overkill. But quite fast after my purchase and the first films shot with it I knew no, not an overkill at all. Click to expand.Hello Jim, I can confirm this.

The F6 is still in production, made on order. I've been so satiesfied with my F6 which I've bought brand new seven years ago, that I decided last autumn to add another brand new F6 with MB-40 vertical grip. After ordering I had to wait about four weeks for my F6 being produced and shipped from the Sendai factory in Japan. The serial number was a bit above 003501x. So far a bit more than 35,000 F6 has been produced. For me a second F6 make much sense because at my photo projects I often use colour and BW film parallel, or reversal and negative film parallel.

Having two F6 is just like being in heaven. I can highly recommend the F6. The best 35mm SLR ever built (both AF and MF). Production has now entered the 13th year! That is longer than all other Nikon F professional models except the F3 (which has been produced for about 20 years). For all who want one, you shouldn't wait any longer.

Go for it now! You will not regret it! It is a once in a lifetime purchase. The camera for the rest of your life. Best regards, Henning. Regarding the serial numbers, unless you have the info from the company you cannot really rely on them. For example, they may start at 0 and go up to 2000 for a particular production batch, then they make some internal revision (this does not have to alter any functionality, it could be something as simple as changing an electrical/electronic component due to parts/reliability/efficiency redesign) and they up the serial number to 10000 and start again.

This way they know when they get a camera back which revision of the design it is. So with the above example the serial number can go up to 10001 but that means that 2001 were actually made. This is common practice in manufacturing, the serial number jumps to denote product revisions or production batches. 750,000 F3's make sense, at the height of the 35mm film era. I have 5 of those. 240,000 F4s makes sense as well, I have 4 of those. What's the F5 numbers like?

Probably more than the F4. Lots of pros I know and myself still have and shoot that. Out of the at least 65 pro's I know in my area (PJ's, editorial and wedding shooters) the only one who had one F6 was trying to sell it to me.

How many do you Know of being used? Yours and your friend and.? Just shows how much market share Nikon lost to Canon's EOS 1.