how nice is a Nikon f-301 (N2000)

I recently came upon an f-301 with some mirror and aperture problems,

I got it all fixed, and was just wondering how nice of a camera it

is. Does anyone out there have one? And if you do, do you like it?

I have another general question too. But I don't know how to put it

really.

As I said earlier the camera had aperture problems. The little tab on

the body that catches on the little tab on the lens as you change the

aperture had lost its tension, and sure enough upon inspection the

spring had come off. I have it all tensioned now but when I put the

lens on it seems like the tab on the camera should catch on the side

of the tab on the lens, but when doing that it doesn't always work

well. The other option is when you put the lens on position the tab

on the camera directly between the body and the lens tab. for some

reason I don't think this feels right, but it works better. And in

the process of fixing the mirror i knocked loose the battery contacts

(I'm going to go solder that now) so I can't use the light meter or

anything to check which way is right. So if this question made any

sense, which I don't think I even understand now, please let me know

which way to do it. I guess you just have to see it to know what I

mean.

Thanks - Dave

I'm a bit confused by your aperture coupling issues.

The N2000 is an AI coupled body and requires AI lenses. If you set an AI lens to f/5.6 and align it with the dot on the body, the AI tab should be somewhere in the middle of the milled out area on the rear of the lens aperture ring and not be toughing anything. Once the lens is rotated and locked in position, it should then follow the counter clock wise edge (viewed from rear of camera/lens) of this milled slot as the aperture ring is rotated. If the camera's AI prong slips past this edge or is binding somewhere in the middle of the lens AI milled slot, you either have a bayonette mount problem, a non-AI lens, a bent AI tab or a damaged AI lens ring.

The N2000 is an early AF body design so it isn't highly regarded by many.

The previous poster made an error saying that the N2000 is an early AF body. That was its cousin, the N2020.

The N2000 was Nikon first genius design for the consumer market.

After getting their as*ses kicked from 1979 by Canon, Minolta and others, Nikon finally abandoned the EM, FG and FG-20 line for the N2000.

What did they do differently?

In a $200 body, Nikon put DX coding (a first), an integral 2.5 FPS motor drive (a first), integral auto rewind (a first), a choice of program mode, shutter priority, aperture priority or manual with any AI lens including programmed TTL mode, shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 1 second (actually until the battery dies, in reality); TTL flash, 1/125 flash sync, and a center weighted 40/60 (yes, 40/60) meter, the same as in the EM, FG and FG-20.

Nikon finally was designing cameras for the mass market. Something they could have done years earlier simply by making the FG, for example, a nicer body to actually hold (like the FE2).

The N2000 (f-301) is my favorite camera model when I just need something basic and I don't want to risk more expensive stuff. The LED displays never wear out the way mechanical meters do, and LEDs seldom go bad like LCD displays do. The metering system is surprisingly good and it is not at all fussy about a little wear on the lens stop-down mechanism. The mirror-up function is very gentle, reminiscent of an N90s. N2000s are light and they balance exceptionally well with small, light lenses. Of course there are limitations. Their gentle (slow) mirror-up causes a longer shutter-release delay. The finder is not HP and it only covers about 92%. And worst, the external film rewind knob rotates after each shot against your cheek. N2000s also lack many features which some later models provide. But they do the basics very well for me. I sold one of mine to a friend at work and it is still going strong. The ideal candidates were used for a short while and then left in the closet. If battery corrosion hasn't migrated past the battery compartment, these N2000s clean up well and usually give a lot of good service.

By the way, the other bargain camera I like is the N8008/N8008s. Personally, I would pass on all models between the N2000/N2020 and the N8008.

a few more dumb questions.

1. what did the guy before this mean when he said the finder wasn't HP.

2. what is so great about the 40/60 metering system (how does it work)

3. why is it so commonly reffered to as the N200, is the f-301 that I have an overseas model or something.

thanks again

-dave

Dave,

HP stands for High Eyepoint referring to the eye relief designed into the finder optics. High eyepoint allows an eyeglass wearer to see the whole screen.

40/60 refers to a center weighted meter system where 60% of the meter reading comes from the center area of the field.

You're right the N designation for consumer Nikons is for the US market.

N2000 is USA model, F-301 is international model.

40% of meter is weighted for center circle, and then metering gradually extends over remainder of frame for remaining 60 %, but not equally. It is slightly weighted towards the center, but the center portion itself only contributes 60%.

I wouldn't say that the meter is anything special, but I never had a problem with it. I used the camera for a few years, and gave it to my Dad. My brother also has one.