INTRODUCTION

The Nikon F-301 (or N2000) is a 35mm film SLR camera made in Japan by Nikon between 1985 and 1988.

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PERSONAL NOTES

The Nikon F-301 marks history by being the first Nikon with motorized film advance. A little later, the autofocus system was added to the same camera frame, making the F-501 (or N2020).

Like you can see on the above image, the F-301 does not have autofocus, it would have a small screw that protrudes into the lens on its lens mount at the 7 o'clock position. The F4 has it, and has a very fast autofocus system of it's time, still faster than many cameras today, that beast was impressive. From the F4 up, the new autofocus AF-s technology is also accessible, which uses the contacts between the camera and the lens (visible on the photo down here, inside the camera, near the top of the lens mount) instead of the physical screw to do the focus.

The F-301 is a kind of modern looking Nikon FE or FA. It has Aperture priority mode, and Program mode. It does not have Shutter priority mode like the FA. This is weird, because it has Program modes. I can't understand why it does not give you the Shutter priority mode as a bonus, as the camera can control both Aperture and Shutter. Maybe because the lens that was coming with it could not lock at f22, so the camera could control the aperture setting automatically? Maybe because Nikon wanted to keep that mode only to other more expensive cameras like the F4? Anyways, Aperture priority was always the strength of Nikon, so here you go.

The F-301 is a weird animal, kind of trapped between 2 worlds, it wants to look like a modern SLR, but is more comparable to the older manual focus ones.

We could say that the F-301 is more like a very very cheap version of a FM3A. Much less attractive, a bit more heavy, less silent (because of the film advance) and you absolutely need the batteries to take pictures. I like both !

The F-301 has a good grip, ergonomy is good. If you came from the older manual focus Nikon cameras, the controls are exactly where you would expect them to be. The timer is still on the front, but is now a button instead of a lever, and there now an exposure lock lever around it.

The F-301 I have also has the MF-19, a special back that can imprint information on the film. It uses 2 small button Cells LR44. You can configure the back to print the date, time, film count, ect... The back seems to eat the batteries quite fast, but it's independent from the main camera batteries, which can last a long time.

The camera uses 4 AAA batteries in a nice battery holder accessible by unscrewing the bottom plate. This is the reason why the tripod socket is so deported to the left.

Bottom line, this camera is very cheap for what you get, I like it, and it's cute with a black 50mm f1.8 series E lens.

CONCLUSION

I like this Nikon F-301. It's cheap, has good options, it's ergonomic and uses regular batteries. If you want a Nikon with no auto-focus, but motorized film, this is it!

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