I bought my F5 after asking Fisher about depth capabilities, asking how it compared with their 1236x2, and they told me that it would go as deep as a 1236x2 - now that is a deep machine, I've had one. So, going on that information straight from Fisher, from the horse's mouth as one would say, I bought one.
Originally I thought that it did go that deep but after comparison with other machines in the field I now realise that it does not. They do not go as deep as a 1236x2 - simple as that.
They are a brilliant machine, it is true, but they do not go deep. Our detecting in England is different from yours in America. We do not search 'lots' or backyards or school parks and so on, our detecting is mainly upon farmland. Farmland is usually easy to dig and items sink into the ground over time - so although many finds are found within the first six inches or so - especially on land that is regularly ploughed - on pasture fields older items can be quite deep. So in England we need machines that have reasonable depth capabilities.
The 1236X2 had those capabilities - unfortunately Fisher machines are renowned (over here) for not being able to distinguish between ferrous and non-ferrous items at depth, so although it was a sharp and fast and deep machine I found that I was digging up a ridiculous amount of ferrous items. After a while this becomes quite disheartening.
For some years I used the minelab Sovereign. This was sharp and deep, very deep, but has a problem with slow recovery from masking a ferrous item so if one is in a field that has seen a lot of activity, and therefore is full of ferrous items, the Sovereign would miss a lot of the good stuff. I checked this a number of times with friends using single high frequency machines. When the F5 came along it had very good reviews in the States - though not over here as not many people bought them - so I checked with Fisher before I bought.
I say again that it is a very good machine, the most pleasant to use that I have ever used, but in comparison with other machines over here it again and again displayed a complete inability to find items deeper than, say, five inches - which is quite useless over here. So I sold it and returned to a Sovereign Elite.
In America you have different detecting problems I think. your lots and yards are difficult to dig and littered with trash items. Here the F5 would appear to excel - I suppose that it is horses for courses.
Now, I don't really need insults from people about my decisions - I am not a fool, and I am an experienced detectorist. I am an honours, with distinction, graduate (theology and world religions), have written a number of articles for the hobby magazines over here, and have experience of many machines.
My mistake was to trust that information I had received from the manufacturer was true.
As for not getting depth with a mid-priced machine. Well this is not correct. The C-Scope 2MXP and 5MXP are in the same price range and are fast and sharp and go quite deep - I have found silver coins at a measured nine inches with them - they are very good machines indeed - and they are the same or less in price as the F5.
And, as for comparing with Minelab Explorers and Etracs - I didn't, I mentioned only the Minelab sovereign range. I find that what is quite helpful is to read a post properly before replying to it, don't you think?
so .. can I go back to my detecting now?