Saturday, February 2, 2013

Nikon F55

General
A bit different review for today - a Film Camera! The F55 was a very basic, very simple to use film SLR camera which can be found used at very low prices (I bought a fully functional one for testing with 5$). 


It surely looks a lot like a silver D50, only it takes film


Pros/Cons 
+ if you wanna try film and you want a very cheap but automatic exposure/focus camera, the F55 is an option to consider
+ very light and small, very easy to use
+ does offer some basic features like bracketing (plus, full Manual mode)

- can't use AF-S lenses (only screw-type)
- plastic-it's-fantastic. (Then again, even if it breaks, who cares)
- if you look for full customization of various parameters, look elsewhere

Intended Users

Great for:
  • those wanting to try film without spending a fortune
  • a gift! (I'm not joking, people would appreciate an "old" camera)
  • selling it together with an old lens, increases the selling value of both, ironically.

Not for:
  • if you are serious about film (why would you, I wonder), this is certainly not a camera for you
  • those having AF-S lenses; it can't autofocus them
  • those who need to fine-tune many aspects of their camera.


The top is unsurprising, with the buttons you'd expect from an entry-level film camera

Final Verdict
Let's face it, this is something between a camera and a "lens-carrying-mechanism". Does it do the job? It does. It meters a scene, it focuses an AF lens, you take a picture. But this camera, even if it has the full set of PSAM (Program, Shutter, Aperture, Manual), is mostly meant for people who would set it to "Auto" and forget about it. Before the digital era, there were plenty of those. Nowadays, less and less (and they use compacts or even mobile phones). If you have film nostalgia, chances are you will want to try something more traditional, like a Nikon F or something else from the closet of history.




No comments:

Post a Comment