Well the F5AE pictured here is a hard working camera. It may be pretty, but it is still a Nikon through and through. I added the 80-200 AFS to my aresenal, and the old 80-200, well I had no trouble finding a buyer for it. Both zooms will remaining the Nikon inventory for the time being. This AFS lens will just about be permanently mounted to this Anniversary body.
Why use the body and not collect it? Well you collect to make money. Had I put the money for this F5AE into Ebay stock last year, I'd have $63,195.96 in cash now. So enjoy what you have. I'm not advocating breaking up collections, but I am an end user. I want to enjoy the stuff while alive instead if having my stuff sold in mint condition at a garage sale by relatives who never knew what I valued.
The F5AE was produced in a run of 2000 bodies, with an additional 1000 produced for the world demand. 300 of those bodies were made for the USA. Mine was made for Tokyo. The instructions are all in Japanese but there is nothing specific about the Anniversary Edition in the product materials, it looks just like the regular F5 instruction manual and advertising. I can't fill out the warranty card--I don't know Japanese.
Nikon had made a 25th Anniversary Edition Nikon F2A, seemingly at the last minute. The F2A had a glued on front plate, a 25-number engraved on the bottom of the camera, and a silver box. They went a bit further with the F5AE, using silk screening to add more text to the back of the camera and change the logo on the front.
If I was in charge at Nikon I'd go a step further than this. I'd make 50 cameras in gold, with .50 troy ounces per camera. The serial numbers would all have 50 in them, along with matching 50mm gold lenses that have a special stop down lever to get to f/50. To top this off, add a 50 year warranty, which no doubt you would never need. Go for it Nikon, give Leica something to squirm about!
This camera was purchased in Buena Park, CA, at the monthly camera show there. Check Shutterbug magazine for trade shows in your area.
Above all, enjoy the photography end of cameras, the photos bring more joy to others than the metal and glass alone can bring to you.
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