Nikon FG Revisited

<p>I have not used this camera in 11-months. Why? No love for it or the Nikkor lenses. The camera is much better than the reviews or specs. In fact. it is outstanding in many ways, but I cannot love it or like it very much. The lenses are sharp, the produce great images, but I do not love them or like them very much.</p>

<p>I cannot write too much. I am looking after my 2-week old son. Holding him as I type.</p>

<p>Photos taken with Kodak Elite Chrome 100. The camera was a Nikon FG. The lens were a 50/1.8 Ai-s, a 35/2.8 Ai`ed and a 135/2.8 Ai`ed.</p>

<p>Mike</p><div></div>

<p>photo 1</p><div></div>

<p>photo 2</p><div></div>

<p>photo 3</p><div></div>

<p>photo 4<br></p><div></div>

<p>photo 5</p><div></div>

<p>photo 6</p><div></div>

<p>photo 7</p><div></div>

<p>photo 8</p><div></div>

<p>Photo 9</p><div></div>

<p>photo 10</p><div></div>

<p>It's an odd little thing, the FG. I dumped mine after four or five rolls, simply because I didn't like the feel of it.</p>

<p>Mind you, your pictures show that it's perfectly capable of producing first class results.</p>

<p>HP,</p>

<p>Yes, there something about the feel. I do not like the shutter and mirror clunk sound.</p>

<p>Micheal - i don't mind the series E lenses, the pancake 50mm lens is quite good although the fit and finish is not as good as the older nikkors. but i agree that the FG is a plasticky camera that was released to compete against the Canon AE-1 (and failed). great images, regardless. congratulations on your new son!</p>

<p>The main thing I don't like about the FG is the cheap-feeling hinged advance lever. Other than that it's fine.</p>

<p>A son! Congratulations to you and the Mrs.</p>

<p>A cheap, student camera and a tough transition going from shooting with the jewel-like OM2n. Better to get an FM2n to feel a good quality classic manual Nikon compact. The lenses are as sharp but have more contrast (less flare) than the Olympus lenses. Nikkor normal AI/AIS lenses are some of the best ever made, Excellent build quality although I have used many were the original grease breaks down in the helicoil and makes for poor dampening and sloppy focusing. A visit to the shop for a CLA brings these fine optics back up to snuff.</p>

<p>What Louis says about the grease has been my finding, three of my Nikkors have loose focusing due to dried grease though the only one that's annoyingly loose so far is my 55/3.5 macro lens. However, I like my FG well enough although the layout isn't as comfortable as my Minolta X-700 (the most analogous automatic I have, they're close in features and about equally plasticky). It helps to have the MD-14 attached. With the finger grip on I was bumping the self-timer a lot - that got old so I picked up an MD-14 really cheap. I have a soft spot for it since it was the first Nikon I ever bought (such nostalgia, I got it in June), but I much prefer the FA if I want to use an electronic camera. <em>That</em> is a real Swiss army knife of a camera as long as the batteries hold out. I also have 2 of the 4 FM models (missing the FM2n and FM3a), and the Cosina, er, Nikon EM. The EM is the only one I cannot warm to, I can't stand not having a shutter speed dial. An FE2 is also in my future, after I get a few more lenses.</p>

<p>Interesting. I've never had a problem with <em>loose</em> focus on Nikkors (either pre-AI, AI, or AI-S). My experience has been that either they're just fine, or they're stiff.</p><p>Dante Stella has an interesting <a href="http://www.dantestella.com/technical/fg.html">article about the FG</a>.</p><p>I have the sense that I really have more Nikons than I need (but what does need have to do with it?): F, F2, F2S, FM, FE, FG. But I would like to have an F3HP, an FA, and an FE2, maybe an FM3a someday...</p>

 

Btw, photo #9 is really nice. Lovely mix of colors and textures.

I can't fault my FG.

<p>Your 35 and 135 lenses look to be 'K' models updated to AI. I don't have that 135 but I have the six element 35/2.8 'K' and it's one of my favorite lenses. It would be a good lens on any Nikon body. </p>

<p>I enjoyed an FG with its motor drive for a few years. Then, the shutter started to taper - ie one side of the image was darker than the other. The repair shop quoted me a $150 fee to fix it, and as it was more than the cost of the whole rig, that was the end of it. It was a fun and competent little camera while I had it.</p>