Okay, so I am going to invest in nice 35 mm soon. I am going Nikon because of my lenses. SO my decision is between a F5 and a F100, either way I am going to be buying the bargain priced one from KEH. Does anyone have any experience with either of these?
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F100 or F5...decisions decisions...
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The only feature that really maters in a film camera body is the light meter. The F5 has by far the better meter. The F5's Color RGB meter is what is used in the modern DSLRs. and it's good. The F100 has the same meter as my N90. It's good, compared to even older Nikons but the 1024 segment RGB meter is smarter.
But the F100 will be lighter and handle quicker, Hands down the F5 is better built but solid metal weighs more than plastic. I remember when the F5 first came out. Long time Nikon shooters were amazed by the new RGB meter. You could shoot a snow screen without using exposure compensation. No way would the F300/N90 do that.
The F100 was the last film body I used as a pro before going digital with the D1. I loved the the F100 and used several as a newspaper shooter. My only complaint was the lack of a removable finder but that has since disappeared on all the bodies I shoot with so I got over it. The F5 was not around for me when I chose the F100. I also used the N90 and the 8008 alongside an F4. I think the F100 would be a good choice. Unless you need some of the ruggedness of the F5 you should be OK. I banged gear up badly and the F100 held up well. Learn the meter and you will be fine. I thought I remembered the F100 having some metal components in the body but that was years ago. As far as the meter having to be better in one camera than the other all meters can be fooled and it is your job to know the difference and compensate. This comes from practice. I still have nice photos that were shot with a meter-less FM2, fujichrome 100 with a vivitar 285 on 1/16th power.
Here is a comparison done way back in the day between those two cameras.http://www.naturfotograf.com/f100_rev.html