Hello, About a year and a half ago, I was looking to upgrade from an N8008 (F801) and was also considering an F4s and an N90s. The basic question I asked myself was, "What needs do I have that the N8008 doesn't satisfy and which new camera will fill those needs (as well as all of the needs that the N8008 *does* satisfy) the best?" The N8008 had two shortcomings in my book. First, it wasn't as tough as my older all-metal Nikons. I'd already paid to replace a cracked top cover and it wasn't cheap. I like to take my camera hiking and my son (my hiking and photography partner) thinks that the steeper, rockier, and more treacherous the hike, the better. Second, the autofocus wasn't good enough. Now, a lot of my photography, like landscapes, doesn't need AF at all, but in those instances where I'd have liked to have had it (e.g., soccer games) it wasn't fast enough, didn't have focus tracking (which wasn't introduced until the N8008s), and you had to have your subject dead center. The obvious solution would have been an F5, but it was out of my budget as well as a bit heavy for hiking. So it came down to a choice between a used F4s and a new N90s. The F4s was as rugged as I needed but the AF wasn't that much better than the N8008. The N90s had all of the AF performance, but was still in a plastic body. In the end, I decided that ruggedness was more important than AF and bought a beautiful used F4s and an MB-20 battery pack to lighten the load for hiking. The F4 is a great performing, great handling camera whose only real flaws are its weight and lack of modern electronics. What I've been wishing for has been a camera with an F5-like AF system in an N90s-sized metal-covered body. Sound familiar? Yes, The F100 is exactly what I've been waiting for. The F4 has already been sold and the N8008 will be as well. Now I'm *not* telling you to buy an F100. The F4 and N90s are both great cameras and I'm expecting the F100 to be one too, but they're distinctly different. You need to evaluate them in terms of *your* needs for *your* photography. Regards Dennis
