Back in 1985, I first saw the Nikon F301 and fell in love. £250 with 50mm lens was the right price for this camera. No LCD display was apparent, but this was good for me as I upgraded from a Nikon FG20. The F-301 was the first Nikon to have a polycarbonate chassis, and to have a built-in motorwind ... Read review
(+) Fold out LCD screen, Image Stabilization, Zuiko lens quality, Picture quality, Flash options (-) Noise in low light, Too many buttons, Badly laid out, Too many gimmicks
Advantages: 2.5 FPs motor wind, TTL flash metering, DX decoding Disadvantages: Manual film rewind, AAA batteries as standard, offset tripod mount
...1985, I first saw the Nikon F301 and fell in love. £250 with 50mm lens was the right price for this camera. No LCD display was apparent, but this was good for me as I upgraded from a Nikon FG20. The F-301 was the first Nikon to have a polycarbonate chassis, and to have a built-in motorwind (2.5 fps).
Shutter speeds from 30 secs - 1/2000th sec (in any auto mode), 1 sec - 1/2000th sec (in manual mode) + B, flash sync is 1/125th sec. ... ...modes.
The viewfinder is pretty basic compared to modern SLRs, a LED readout of the shutter speed is all there is. Light metering is only centre-weighted (Matrix metering was in it's infancy in 1985, and only available on the FA).
Even though film is wound automatically, it has to be rewound manually (cost-cutting, I guess). Power is supplied by four AAA batteries, although AA batteries could be used with the fitting ... more
Back in 1985, I first saw the Nikon F301 and fell in love. £250 with 50mm lens was the right price for this camera. No LCD display was apparent, but this was good for me as I upgraded from a Nikon FG20. The F-301 was the first Nikon to have a polycarbonate chassis, and to have a built-in motorwind (2.5 fps).
Shutter speeds from 30 secs - 1/2000th sec (in any auto mode), 1 sec - 1/2000th sec (in manual mode) + B, flash sync is 1/125th sec. The camera features 2 program, aperture priority, & manual shooting modes.
The viewfinder is pretty basic compared to modern SLRs, a LED readout of the shutter speed is all there is. Light metering is only centre-weighted (Matrix metering was in it's infancy in 1985, and only available on the FA).
Even though film is wound automatically, it has to be rewound manually (cost-cutting, I guess). Power is supplied by four AAA batteries, although AA batteries could be used with the fitting of a different baseplate. Because of the way the batteries are fitted, the tripod bush has to be offset to one end of the baseplate.
I have owned four F-301s over the years; they've never broken down (I had two stolen though). One was accidentally slung across a car-park; and apart from a few scuffs, it still functioned perfectly. My current F-301 is fitted with an AA battery holder, data-back, tripod adapter plate, & second shutter release button (all this makes a good camera into a great one)
Advantages: Power winder, program modes, very intuitive if you grew up on older Nikons Disadvantages: No stop-down preview mode
...of shooting with an autofocus Nikon F60, I wanted to get back to full control using my excellent manual focus Nikon prime lenses. I had a Nikon FE for many years, but its auto-exposure capabilities had broken. I was very sad to see that old friend start to decline. While the FE continued to have accurate shutter speeds, I didn't want to carry around a separate light meter or guess at exposure using the "sunny 16" rule. I picked up an F-301/N2000 ... ...Like the Nikon FE, it's built like a tank, but gives me even more capability than my trusty old FE, such as a reasonably brisk motor wind, single or continuous shooting, DX film capabilities, film speed override, exposure compensation, AE-lock, full manual exposure plus two program modes on top of the FE's Aperture priority mode. The only thing missing from my FE is stop-down preview.
I think this will be a camera I'll enjoy for many years to come. ...
Hal_the_Stereo_Nut 08.07.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nikon F301
Advantages: Nikon name, rubust, performance, compact, looks Disadvantages: non really..
...I went Autofocus (Canon then Nikon F90x) this was the camera for me. I don't know if its just me but I have not been able to capture the same brilliant 3D type of image this camera gave me with all my other cameras.
Maybe it is just me..I was into photography in a big way back then and had more time and patience to get it right, fiddling with the settings. (before I got lazy and just let the camera do the lot!)
But I am tempted to buy another F301 ... ...not remember that much about the technical side of it but I can remember the viewfinder being very bright and informative of the settings.
Its meter is centre weighted only which in a way is better than the new 'matrix' meters which take readings from different areas of the image and you never really know what its doing.
At least with centre weighted you know that 80% of the metering is in the centre of the image and the user can make adjustments ...
boooon 30.03.2004 (31.03.2004)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Nikon F301
Advantages: Ease of use, picture quality, automatic roll-on Disadvantages: Maybe a bit heavy
Abosolutely great camera. I got one of these three years ago and it was the first SLR I had owned. Upgrading to an F55 soon but I still love this camera. Brilliant picture quality, and a lovely noise when the shutter closes! I've taken this camera to Tunisia, France, Cornwall, Spain and New York and in every situation it has produced some fantastic photos. I have had a 28-200mm vivitar lens with this since I got it with a skylight and it has survived ... ...three different continents! Anyway I would definitely reccomend one as it has been my pride and joy for three years without fail, produes great quality photos and is so simple to use. Another great feature of this camera is its 1/2000 sec shutter speed ability, allowing it to take pictures of fast moving objects in extreme detail.
Chris ...
Genesis77 06.06.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Nikon F301
Advantages: Robust construction, compatibility across the Nikon Family Disadvantages: Not very ergonomic grip
...It is not an extremely light camera, but this makes it more of a classic one, without trying to say though that it is too heavy to carry. You can use a vast number of Nikon fit lenses, enen AF (disabling the AF cabability obviously and focusing manually). ...
Photo_grapher 05.02.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Nikon F301
Picture Quality
Range & Quality of Feat...
Ease of Use
Overall Look & Design
Value for Money
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Nikon F301"
Last Saturday, I purchased the E-30 from a local dealer. My old camera was a NikonF-301, bought more than 15 years ago. Just last week, this old Nikon became faulty. I took it to Nikon's service centre to repair it, but the repair man told me it is beyond repair. I thought to myself, yeah, since I was using it almost daily from the time I bought it, now it should be the time for it to spoil and for me to buy a new one.
I went to my friends for advice about buying a new camera. Their advice was to go for a compact pocket camera. However, my heart was always on DSLR cameras. I loved them so much that even in my dreams, I also dream of them! I just adored their decent and distinct "Kachack" sound after taking a picture. So, I went everywhere to look for a nice DSLR camera. Finally, my eyes were set on an Olympus E-30 on the displays ...
JudgeIronFist 11.02.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Olympus E-30
Advantages: Build, reliability, image quality, functions, the name & value for money especially second hand Disadvantages: to heavy for some, slightly noisy focusing, lenses and flash units expensive
I owned a NikonF301 in my teens and that camera was brilliant!
I then caught the Auto focus bug and purchased a Canon EOS 100 which took brilliant pictures nearly as good as the Nikon and the auto focus was ultra fast and you could hardly hear it focusing, the Nikon is not as quiet but not to noisy.
Anyway i like the sound of the motordrive being loud.
The thing that really bugged me about the Canon was that it was TOO lightweight! It felt like a toy and very plasticy.
I was sure that if I dropped it that would be the end of it!
So after a couple years I was tempted back to a good solid Nikon.
At the time the F90x was recieving rave reviews in the press and that was good enough for me.
On getting it out the box the first thing I noticed is the weight of the thing! Which to me is a good thing..it feels as expensive as it ...
boooon 19.03.2004 (31.03.2004)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nikon F 90 X
Fantastic build quality, superb handling, access to Nikon's legendary range of lenses, capable of virtually any assignment, total "systems"camera
Slow 1/80 sec flash sync, idiosyncratic position of hot-shoe,dull (by modern standards anyway) viewfinder, metering pattern takes getting used to, this is NOT a point-and-shoot camera. (*)
