s/n 28668
November 3, 2025: First impression is amazing. I had never seen one before mine arrived let alone hold it. It reminds me more of my D780 than anything. I paid for a mint copy and that’s what I got, not a scratch on it, it’s clean. The displays are not scratched, nothing. Just a new copy. I really like the grip, the feel, the weight. The controls are easy to understand and configure. Autofocus is fast, the display is bright and it’s easy to navigate the menus
I’m pleasantly surprised.
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I am one of those that thinks ahh, wait, I’ll say it this way, “I’m a lens junky” well, maybe not so much anymore. I want to just jump in and start right with the lenses I’m going to use on the F6 but, the story needs to be told first. At the time I'm writing this, I’ve already gotten past the below and man that was close. Let me tell the story of the camera first, then I’ll get into the lenses.
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Nope, not surprised, I took a fresh roll of Velvia out and loaded it in the camera and got the “Film Load ERR” well, this is the third expensive camera from Japanese sellers on eBay that arrived dead in the box. My FE2 came with a broken aperture ring, one F3 arrived dead, one F100 too. This is not just a one off, or even a two off. My experience has been a four off cluster eff or in this case ERR..
I followed all the best practices, the seller 100%, the pictures were exact, the description matched, when the camera arrived it was in better shape than the description. Absolutely mint. Like no wear, not even any detection of film movement on the film pressure plate.
“Adam, the camera is in mint condition because it hasn’t been used, it’s broken!” and we laughed. My wife nailed it.
I contacted Nikon Service and chose “film camera” and put in my serial number, then selected the only camera displayed, the F6 from the drop down and then selected the “ERR” quote, $270. I want this camera so I got out the CC and paid it.
Back to eBay and indicated to the seller that there were two paths, return or have Nikon fix it and he pay the repair cost. He apologized profusely saying he would pay for the repair. I told him if it was not repairable then I would be returning the camera.
He agreed but asked me to send a quick video of the ERR which I did and also indicated that Nikon would also verify with their work order. He quickly offered a discount of $250 which I declined telling him we can wait to see what Nikon says. Off to FedEx, $40 shipping charge and now the camera arrives at Nikon today.
I had planned to send to Nikon to have the camera looked over in a year or two however, that escalated quickly and to my advantage. I’m out a couple of grand and far down a road dropping bread crumbs to find my money back if necessary.
Regarding Japanese camera sellers on eBay. They don’t like negative feedback. They are super nice and customer service oriented. But this is their modus operandai, there are big warehouses that prepackage cameras and label number them. Climate controlled and prepackaged, they sit on shelves with an available list to a seller who acts as a proxy. These cameras are not thoroughly checked with film or battery consumption (two known issues in my case) before sale. This is not conjecture but my experience. The seller then offers discounts after the sale and or quality customer service where you get your money back.
So what’s the deal?
I guess there is not much of a risk, that is if you are willing to trust eBay stepping in. And I do.
Anyway, some of my experience with Japanese sellers has not been good. Sometimes I get a nice camera but often it’s weeks waiting to get my money back. I will continue to purchase from Japanese sellers. I buy a lot of lenses from them and part of my experience notes is from buying more about three dozen lenses from them too. I’ll continue to purchase because they are polite and pose very little risk.
So begins the journey of my F6, much like my FE2 and F100. My F3 and FG were local sales.
November 22, 2025 and my F6 arrived from Nikon Service! In short, they replaced the motherboard, the clock battery, updated the firmware and grip rubber. No clue why the grip rubber, it was perfect when I received it.
I mounted a lens, loaded a roll of Provia 100, set AF and boom! Time to take pics. I’m going to change lenses from G to MF AI-S for this first roll to see how it goes.
July 15, 2026 After a couple of rolls, I discovered the focus was off. I had to shoot in manual mode. My F6 sat on the shelf, I was in an F6 funk. It made me ill just thinking about it. I finally got up the nerve to send it back and got another $277 repair bill.
It’s back and its perfect now.
I’m ready (confident) to commit to use it as a primary camera. The road to F6 ownership has had a rough start. I do have some serious plans for it, I’m excited for cooler weather to return to the desert here in Arizona…
The Japanese seller more than payed for the repair. I would have sent it to Nikon after a year to have it checked out before they stop servicing them. Now it’s done. Basically I have a mint F6 by waiting a month after paying $1,800 USD. Not quick and not cheap but a badass camera that I can now share my G lens kit and take just two cameras on assignment when I want to shoot film too.
I’ve put one roll through it taking pics of the below petroglyph hike. I believe this camera is going to serve me well. I like the idea of using my G lenses with it, sharing those AF lenses with the D780. I like the idea of my MF AI-S lenses being used with both too. I have a kit that uses all lenses I own and it’s going to serve me well.
It’s back and its perfect now.
I’m ready (confident) to commit to use it as a primary camera. The road to F6 ownership has had a rough start. I do have some serious plans for it, I’m excited for cooler weather to return to the desert here in Arizona…
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To make the "F6 Nikon" logo appear on your rear screen, you must configure the camera to its precise default factory settings. The logo only triggers when the camera is idle and all creative overrides are turned off. [1, 2]
Follow these step-by-step requirements extracted from the official Nikon F6 Instruction Manual:
Step 1: Set the Physical Switches
- Exposure Mode: Rotate your top dial or use the Mode button to select P (Programmed Auto).
- AF Area Mode: Switch your focus system to Single-Area AF.
- Focus Area: Use the rear multi-selector pad to ensure your active focus point is locked precisely in the Center. [1, 2]
Step 2: Clear Custom Overrides
- Film Speed: Ensure your film speed detection is set to DX mode (not manually forced ISO).
- Exposure Compensation: Verify your exposure compensation is set exactly to 0.0 (no +/- values applied).
- Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): Turn this completely off.
- Flash Sync: Set your flash mode to standard Front-Curtain Sync. [1, 2, 3]
Step 3: Turn Off Data Imprinting
- Open the small protective door on the back of the camera.
- Press the MENU button, navigate to the Shooting Menu, and select Data Imprint.
- Set Data Imprint to OFF (all imprinting types must be deactivated). [1, 2]
Step 4: Let the Meter Sleep
- Turn the power switch to ON.
- Tap the shutter release button halfway down to wake the camera up, then let go.
- Wait 8 seconds without touching any buttons. [1]
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