The neglected Nikon 'FA'

[bal_zs_vintze]

I was wondering apparently how disregarded are some camera models,

without a really particular reason, while others -even old ones- seem

to be used by everyone.

Looking on the manual Nikon made cameras, for instance, I never

noticed anyone using, nor presenting any work exposed with an 'FA'.

Yet it is a full-featured, sturdy, innovative body, fitting extremely

well in the hand, being more versatile than most of the models of

that time.

What could be the reason; is there any reason of this fine camera

being forgotten?

 

Thanks for Your thoughts,

 

Balázs Vintze

[jim_gifford]

The main question mark about the FA -- or about any camera from the early 1980s that is highly dependant on electronics -- is the ability to repair it.

 

The specifications on the FA are lovely. If you find a nice one in working order, great! Enjoy it. It might work trouble-free for decades to come.

 

Its popularity, or lack thereof, is partly a function of what was happening in the camera market. Autofocus and built-in motor drives were about to revolutionize the "easy to take good pictures" part of the SLR market.

 

I always thought the S.S. United States was a beautiful ship... looked fast at the pier, was fast on the trans-Atlantic route, a true pinnacle of ocean liner engineering. But a Lockheed Super Connie would get you to London in about the time it took to get any ocean liner out of New York harbor, and then came the DeHaviland Comet and Boeing 707 and McDonnell DC-8.

 

The FA is, to me, sort of like the last and best of the ocean liners. It did everything people wanted... until the people learned there were OTHER things they could want.

 

I have a Nikon EM, which is less sophisticated than an FA body but of about the same vintage. The supply of nice used EMs will dry up over time, because even in excellent condition they sell for about half what it would cost to get one professionally repaired.

 

Have fun,

[efusco]

Bala'zs,

I know what you mean. I used to have an FA, unfortunately it had significant problems (recurrently the mirror would get stuck in the up position having to use a finger to get it back down) that were not repaired sufficiently by Nikon. The camera still worked, but the mirror locking anywhere from 2-20 times per roll was not acceptable.

 

I thought it was otherwise a wonderful camera...the first ever with 5 segment matrix metering, lots of options and flexibility, solidly built. I dunno why it doesn't get more of it's due--unless the functionality issues I had were more widespread.

[blueisland]

I use an FA alongside a FM2n. Never had any significant problems with it. Love it to bits; think its a great camera...I didn't even realise it was disregarded but then I haven't any intrest in auto-focus or digital cameras.

 

I still even use a Praktica LTL at times for godsake.

 

I suppose those people who are buying new manual cameras would go for the FM3a which is pretty much a combination of my two. I never use the shutter priority mode and only once in a blue moon the program mode.

[markp]

I owned an FA for several years. I liked it pretty well, overall, but I didn't care for the AMP (pre-matrix) meter. Other than that the specs for the camera were good.

 

However, the FA was introduced in 1983 alongside the FE2. During its life, the FE2 always seemed to be more popular than the FA - still is on the used market, it seems.

 

Then, the F801/N8008 came along just a few years later and did everything the FA did, but had a far superior matrix meter, a built-in winder, AF, and compatibility with Nikon's first smart flash, the SB-24. So the F801 became an instant best-seller. The combo of the F801 and FE2 rather left the FA to be forgotten.

 

All that said, even though the FA was well-spec'd, the main issue for me was that mine, at least, was a pretty unreliable camera. I did not treat it roughly, but was plagued by problems with it. And even by the mid-'90s, parts for it were hard to find. When I had some recurring shutter and mirror assembly problems with mine in 1994-1995, Nikon USA sent it back to me as "parts not available," and it took MONTHS for a local repair shop to find the parts required to fix it. When I finally got it back, I quickly traded it in for a then-current FM2n, as I didn't want to go through that again.

 

I hope you have better luck with yours and don't need repair. If you keep the center-weighted meter tab pressed in, you'll have more consistent metering results. You could also try to find a nonfunctioning extra FA for cheap, and buy it to keep as a "spare parts" body.

[gary_watson]

One word: autofocus. The FA--like such other innovative designs as the Minolta XD11(XD7)--were introduced shortly before AF reordered most producers' development agendas.They were crammed with features that reappeared in the first generation of AF bodies(e.g., multimode exposure systems, matrix metering, DX coding, auto film advance).By 1980, SLR sales were at their high water mark. How many more MF bodies could the market absorb, whatever their merits? The FA did nothing to change this.Nice camera but an evolutionary dead end.

[colin carron]

The FA was similar in many ways to the excellent FE2 except for taking AIS lenses instead of AI, having matrix metering and TTL flash. It is possible that customers were a bit shy of such new-fangled things and opted for the safer FE2 or FM2 so there are fewer on the 2nd hand market today. This is especially likely as it came out at much the same time as the first autofocus cameras so maybe the conservative customer avoided it and the less conservative went for A/F. If you can find a good one you will have one of the most fully featured manual focus camera as you are likely to find.

[mark_jordan3]

Balázs, I think to the present day photographer, the FA just doesn't offer much to get excited about...as more or less a transtion model into matrix metering it doesn't offer the mechanical qualities that have given the F and FM series their staying power. As a matrix metering system, (while at one time revolutionary) it's old technology. I've seen them selling used at prices that equal a grey market N80...just my thoughts.

[dj_soroka]

I had an FA for about five years.

 

Nice camera. I preferred the centerweighted metering option to the multi-pattern (before the term matrix was coined).

 

Nikon mismarketed this camera by not clearly explaining that AI and AI'ed lenses worked fine; the only thing that you would miss was the automatic switchover to high speed program mode with lenses 135 mm or longer.

 

One advantage of the Nikon FA, shared by the N2000; is that with manual focus lenses, you get PROGRAMMED TTL flash in addition to program mode. Now, I never used program mode, or programmed TTL mode, choosing to shoot in manual or aperture priority. But, if you want program mode in a manual focus lens, the FA and N2000 offer it.

[dj_soroka]

Sorry, B Vintze, the N2000 had programed TTL flash.

 

I'm not sure now, if the FA had it. But it had TTL manual and TTL aperture priority for sure. Quiet shutter.

[chuck]

Basically, FA is a very good design for its time, but the evolution of the camera market has shut it out of the main markets today.

It is neither here nor there. If you want electronic picture taking assistance, newer models like N80 offer vastly more help for hardly a penny extra. If you want total control and battery independent reliability, FA is not there. If you like the old time metal robustness, FA places plastic where metal durability counts the most - around the pentaprism.

[ronb]

I picked up an FA in great condition. It is a good complement to an FE2. The program mode is surprisingly useful...and shutter priority is used more than one would think. So-called cybernetic override is a well-designed feature. The mirror movement is well-damped. Finally, it has center-weighted and AMP (matrix) metering. Recent tests on slide film demonstrate how surprisingly accurate the AMP is with a variety of subjects. It does not have exposure lock or manual speeds over 1 second, but that's where the FE2 comes in.

[aaron_ng]

Hi,

I was using the FA exclusively until I added an F4 to the mix. Here are some of my comments about the previous posts.

1) The FA does not have programmed TTL or shutter priority TTL. Using those, all you'll get are underexposed shots taken at F22/32. Fill-in flash is a bit troublesome, requiring the use of the ISO or exposure compensation dial and M mode.

2) The plastic construction of the pentaprism is really disheartening since every other part of the body is metal. But unless you drop it head first to the ground, the plastic pentaprism will resist dings and dents better. But, yes I agree, metal would give a us better peace of mind.

3) NO exposure compensation is a pain. One way to overcome is to meter and then switch to Manual mode and match the earlier meter settings. But this doesn't work well when your exposure is above 1 second since the camera does not have manual settings longer than 1 second (FE2 rocks in this case).

 

Advantage:

1) No exposure compensation is available because the camera uses stop-down metering (to cater for AI lenses in P and S modes). This means if you have a lens with a busted aperture, the camera will do that last moment stop down metering and compensate for the aperture by varying the shutter speed. So you won't get a roll of underexposed/overexposed shots back before you realize that your lens is busted.

2) Multi Pattern metering works great for exposures longer than 1 minute. I have used the FA for shooting star trails in aperture priority mode (4 minute exposure)! Just set your aperture, compensate for reciprocity failure, close the viewfinder cover and fire.

3) Viewfinder cover. How many non single F cameras have the viewfinder cover?

4) What camera with matrix/multi pattern metering, P,S,A and M modes can last 1 year on a set of batteries?

 

Regards,

Aaron

[bal_zs_vintze]

I always wanted a manual camera. Last year when I bought one I had to choose between an 'FA' and an 'FE2' and I opted for the latter because some of its features suited my needs more. I felt a bit distrustful the 'FA's user interface which at first glance was't that friendly, maybe most people prefer the easy-to-use cameras, the simplicity in operation, fewer controls.

I read many rumors, experinces of people suggesting these electronic models being certainly prone to failures, the lack of spare parts; so it wasn't an easy decision, as a matter of fact I was quite worried. Fortunately the only alarming symptoms that occured, vanished when I suddenly remembered to change the batteries ... I am sure that I could have had a nice bargain with the 'FA' although it wasn't that cheap, almost $400.

 

Regards,

[gordon_checknita]

Nikon FA and FE2....shoot handheld at 1/15 sec with a 135mm lens..silky smooth mirror and shutter operation. Enough said.

[krishna_mohan_kommini]

I bought a new FA in Nov 1986 and used it right upto May 2003! Then I put it in the hold on a long haul flight. Now the meter does not work. I must say that I got immense pleasure ( and matching results) with this wonderful camera. It was ahead of it's time - which may have contributed to it being not so popular. I am now looking for a used FA in good working condition. Until I find it, I will have to use my new FM3a.

[uarts64]

<p>I have just bought one from Keh. According to them it was classified as "excellent" but when it arrived in my hands I saw that they were wrong: it is in absolutely mint conditions. The first black and white (which I exposed using all the modes in order to test them) roll had only two frames properly exposed, and a few were blank...I freaked out, but I changed the two button cells I had put in it at first and...voilà! I already did five rolls and it has not missed a single frame. I love it. I have to say that I am not an "automatic" shooter, but the quartz oscillator of my baby assures me that all the shutter times are completely right even now, so I am happy so far...</p>

[uarts64]

<p>anyway, looking beyond the automatic exposure modes (which work just fine as those of modern all-plastic toys, thank you) FA offers: a metal body (only the prism is plastic made, more than most of digital junk which will be obsolete in a couple of years can offer), matrix metering, which works fine with all manual focus AI and AIS lenses (in my modest opinion the best lenses for 35mm format ever made including Leica, with a few exceptions) and please notice that only the F4 can do the same, a smooth mirror movement and an even smoother shutter release that allow us to shoot with pretty long times without blurring the photo (well, with a minimum practice...), this shutter is silent too, which helps me more than a motor winder could do...ah, and shutter times are quartz controlled in an even better way than the FE2, so?<br>

Finally this shutter is made in titanium, which assures me to be able to keep it working at least as much as a professional DSLR. Of course for many people who want a point and shoot with just the appearence of a real camera this is not enough...but it is enough for me!</p>