Completely unloved Nikon cameras

Last week I was given a near mint Nikon F301 as that model is completely unsellable at any price. It is not a bad camera, just completely unloved and forgotten. 1985, made in Japan, super reliable, loads of features, probably the best focus screen for manual focus I have seen and takes AAA batteries. So had me thinking, what other completely unloved Nikon bodies are there?

 

I thought:

 

1985 F301

1986 F501 (as F301 but AF)

1988 F401 (clunky but great exposure and good build). Can't give them away.

1994? F60. Again, good camera but they go straight into the bin when they come in with lenses.

F601. Bit loud but loads of features. Another unsellable model even at £1.

 

Any more to add?

 

I have an N2020(F501), although unfortunately mine is dead from corroded batteries. I keep meaning to add both an N2000 and working N2020 to my collection.

 

I like the N80. It's small an inexpensive, but works great with all modern lenses. IMO, it's a great little camera if you're a digital shooter who wants to carry a film camera.

 

I like the FG in the "ultra compact" category. It's a real Nikon(unlike the FM/FE10) but gives full program with all factory AI and AI-s lenses. It's lightweight and small, and with something like a Series E 50mm 1.8 it all but disappears. I also love the "match diode" meter read-out. It gives more information at a glance than the +/0/- of the FM series, but unlike the FEs is easily visible in all light.

Edited February 25, 2018 by ben_hutcherson

A camera is a tool. some were better than others but all were capable of getting the job done. That being said I am a equipment junkie and always wanted top notch. Back in the film days cameras were more affordable and easier to get the better models.

Those listed above, for all their functional sophistication and reliability, were blocky tanks whose design seemed pulled from the sketchbooks of Mobile Suit Gundam anime artists. The transition from metal to polycarbonate wasn't easy for Japanese camera makers who cranked out some truly ugly gear.

 

I'm always surprised how cheaply the little FG goes for, even with the Series E 50/1.8 attached. Rare to see one in any other shape than Mint- since most likely got used only at the holidays and birthdays before hitting the bag again.

I have an N2020(F501), although unfortunately mine is dead from corroded batteries. I keep meaning to add both an N2000 and working N2020 to my collection.

 

I like the N80. It's small an inexpensive, but works great with all modern lenses. IMO, it's a great little camera if you're a digital shooter who wants to carry a film camera.

 

I like the FG in the "ultra compact" category. It's a real Nikon(unlike the FM/FE10) but gives full program with all factory AI and AI-s lenses. It's lightweight and small, and with something like a Series E 50mm 1.8 it all but disappears.

I love the FG too - just dug mine out. Another unloved one there - mine was up for sale for three months at £5 with no takers. And just look how petite it looks compared to a digital SLR.

 

I'm an FG fan. I guess I have 6 or so, now. I watch Ebay and when one shows up unusually cheap, I just buy it. For me, it's the most ergonomic camera I've ever used, light, and I like the metering system. I have a couple of other film Nikons, all bought cheap, but they're more to carry around, so I don't. Friday I dug out my N90 (Ebay, specified as from a wedding fleet, $25), and it's a nice camera, but big. That got me to looking at F4s, which I imagine are nice cameras, but big. I have an FA and an FM which are nice cameras, but big. I just can't justify carrying more weight when all I really need is a box with a lens at the front, film at the back, shutter between. A meter isn't even a requirement.

I used an N2020 with my first Novoflex rapid-focus lens - focus confirmation and automatic film transport in a small and light package.

The F-601 came in two versions, one with and one without AF (F-601M). I was considering the latter but never actually got one. Same with the F-801.

The F60 is from 1999, not 1994; the F50 is from 1994. Wonder if the F70 should be on the list too?

Got an EM at some point, never liked it much after it failed me once.

I've completely disassembled several of these on the bench just to marvel at the design and all the assembly labor and hundreds of small parts. Lots of tiny screws, I mean lots.

The F70, with its bizarre LCD. Just looking at it gave me a headache.

The F70, with its bizarre LCD. Just looking at it gave me a headache.

Ah, the F70. For all its quirks, wasn't it made nicely though? Metal chassis, metered with Ai lenses, metering system from the F90, super smooth sounding and nice to hold. The back door goes sticky, however the replacement doors from Nikon are an improved part so they can be fixed if you feel so inclined.

 

And yes, the F50, F55, F60 and F75 all need to go on the unloved list.

 

I will also add the D100 as they struggle to sell too even at £40.

FM10 and FE10 - anyone really loves those?

Always found the F-401 in its various incarnations odd looking - probably because of the exposed flash and the really large NIKON lettering on the grip.

F65 - even some 10+ years ago I couldn't give it away...

Wonder if the F70 should be on the list too?

 

The F70 (N70 in the U.S.) was a lovely little camera, with autofocus and a very nice meter that provided spot, averaging and matrix readings. It was contemporary with Nikon's 80-200mm f/2.8 push-pull zoom, which took forever to focus with the small motor in the camera. To be fair, that lens didn't focus all that quickly on larger bodies. The F70/N70 is certainly not beloved now--I couldn't give it away to a friend who wanted to try film.

I wanted an N70 because of its "quirkiness" and I think I ended up paying $15 shipped for one on Ebay.

 

I admit that the "fan" is a headache, but I know someone who used one pretty extensively as his first SLR and he says that it's not terrible once you get used to it. In some ways, it's easier to use than the deep CSM menu on DSLRs, although at least those use words instead of symbols.

 

I've yet to run any film through my N70, but I did get it set-up to where I could use it it. Basically, I got it back to where I could toggle the PSAM modes, and that was about all I wanted. Despite being relatively low end, it is a solid feeling camera.

 

I can honestly say, though, that it may be the quietest camera I have. It's certainly the quietest electronic camera(although the AF with big lenses is loud) and quieter than ANY DSLR I've had. It's nothing at all like the earthquake-inducing N90, and I'd say is overall fairly discrete.

 

BTW, yes AF is slow with an 80-200 2.8. That lens is slow on anything short of an F5 or single-digit-D.

 

I don't recall testing it, but I see to have it in my head that it is AF-S compatible. I don't know about VR.

FM10 and FE10 - anyone really loves those?

 

I've not had an FE10, but I have an FM10. It was a cheap KEH purchase, and I ended up replacing the broken rewind knob with one from a Canon T60(same basic Cosina chassis). It has a place in my cabinet as Nikon's last fully manual camera, but it's extraordinarily cheap feeling. It does serve its purpose fine, though. I'd have felt ripped off paying ~$600 for a new one last summer, though, when not much more will buy a new in box FM3A or two really nice FM2Ns.

I got an FM-10 with a loose part some years ago for something like 8 bucks at a yard sale, complete with the cheapest kit zoom lens, and after fixing found it really not bad at all. Compared with the Pentax K1000 or the low-end Yashicas, it comes off rather well, I think, with a decent set of features. Not, perhaps, made with traditional Nikon robustness, but it worked quite decently. Even the bottom end lens was really not so bad, at least for small images.

 

A few years later I got an FG-20 for five bucks because it had a minty 50/2 AI lens on it. I never got around to putting film in it, but it sits patiently awaiting some day when I feel like giving it a workout just to say I did. It feels a little more substantial than the Fm-10.

 

More recently I bought a minty N65 for five bucks, basically in order to get the cheap but serviceable 28-80 kit lens. I've never even bothered to put film in it ether. When, every once in a while, I shoot film, I'm more likely to load up the F4, just to see how much longer the batteries, which have been in it since 2013, will last!

 

I have more unloved Nikons than I need, but must confess that I have trouble passing them up when they're basically up for grabs.

I will also add the D100 as they struggle to sell too even at £40.

 

My D100 looks to have been hardly used(no way to check the shutter count) and it was $50 in the used case at the local shop.

 

The only thing I DON'T like about the N80-based DSLRs(including the Fuji and Kodak ones) is that you have to spin the mode dial on top to change the ISO. Aside from that, they're dandy little cameras and work with any generic $5 cable release. Lest we not also forget that this is the body that gave us the first full frame Nikon-mount DSLR(Kodak DCS 14/n and later the SLR/n).

 

I don't know what it is, but my D100 does feel more substantial than my N80 or any of my other cameras based on this body. Maybe it's my imagination, but it's a much more solid feeling camera than the D70 that was effectively a replacement for it.

"Unloved Nikons"

 

I hate the bloated, heavy and yet fragile F4. Does that count?

 

Oh, and the FA, that has hardly a single working example to be found.

Edited February 26, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

"Unloved Nikons"

 

I hate the bloated, heavy and yet fragile F4. Does that count?

 

Oh, and the FA, that has hardly a single working example to be found.

 

Even completely battered F4's seem to fly off the shelf so somebody loves them still, however I don't like them as they always seem slippery as a bar of wet soap as all the texture has worn off over the years. I take it that it should be a soft matte finish like the F301 or F501, but all the ones I have ever seen - even the 'mint-' ones are super shiny.

 

The FA was never on my radar - always overpriced and always with issues. Just don't need that in my life.

Just as the world turned digital some of my more 'conservative' clients wanted the flexibility of digital and the archivalness of 35mm colour slide (!), and were a bit worried about digital ONLY. Think of all the tails of crashed hard-drives and corrupt files as opposed to the slides from the 50's etc etc....

 

So I got an F55 with a 28-80mm lens for ~ £30 on eBay, a very good deal in 2007

 

Ironically, other than me testing it with a film or 2, it never went to into battle to earn it's keep. It now lurks on a shelf. Forgotten....:-(

 

The digital 'conversion' happened pretty quickly in my working world.

I hate the bloated, heavy and yet fragile F4. Does that count?

 

I have a friend who considers that the F4 was the best manual focus camera Nikon ever built--and yes, he is aware that it has autofocus.

I've got a F65, and there is a lot not to love about it - poor viewfinder, poor controls for manual shooting and mine also has very poor batterylife. But with something like a AF-D 50mm f/1.8: small, simple and extremely portable - it is featherweight light. If it breaks, replacing it costs near nothing. So even if unloved (for good reasons), there are still positives to be found.

 

That said, it sits on the shelve :-)

"Think of all the tails of crashed hard-drives and corrupt files as opposed to the slides from the 50's etc etc...."

 

- A quick glance at any of the film-oriented fora here, shows that there are a million and one ways to lose a priceless image on a bit of film - before, during or after processing.

 

Some of it is user error, but a heck of a lot more than there should be is down to careless 'professional' processing. And most of my oldest Ektachrome slides have very distorted colour these days.

 

Due diligence is required whatever medium is used for capture, and 'accidents' can happen to anyone or anything.

Edited February 26, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

I have a friend who considers that the F4 was the best manual focus camera Nikon ever built--and yes, he is aware that it has autofocus.

Your friend is not the first who considered the F4 as the best manual focus camera ever built. I've read similar comments, some to the effect that it was a manual focus camera with AF crammed into it. Can't say that I disagree with that assessment.

Ah yes, the F4. I loved the F and I loved the F3, beautiful and iconic, and then along comes the f4, huge, ugly, neither quite modern nor traditional. Mine was a beat up bargain, used hard and put away wet as they say, with LCD bleed and paint worn off, but....holy cow does it work well! If I'm going to show off my beautiful cameras, that one definitely doesn't get top billing, but if I'm going to take a vacation from digital, that's the one that gets the film.

"Your friend is not the first who considered the F4 as the best manual focus camera ever built."

 

- Not sure why that should be. The screen is no brighter or clearer than the F3 really. Plus the F4 was the first 'professional' Nikon to be totally battery dependent, have a plastic top-plate that (as I found out) could fairly easily be cracked, and have a quite bendy aperture actuator lever. Lots of dead weight, and nothing to show for it.