Nikon N65 35mm Film Camera

Product Rating
4.37 of 5
118 reviews

Price Range
$0 - $0

Product Description

Summary

I would give the Nikon a strong rating based on ease of use and advanced features

Strength

Ease of use. Long battery life.

Weakness

Little difficult to change aperture in a pinch. Would be nice on manual rewind if there was an option to have film stop before going back into the film cartridge.

Summary

I bought mine as a kit with the 28-80 & 70-300 lens but have since also purchased a 19-35mm Tamron lens which works well with the F65. The F65 (non US version) is a very good camera, especially for people getting away from compact's and into SLR's. It is very feature packed for an entry level SLR although it does lack a few of the more advanced features I would've liked. I switched from an old Monolta 7000 SLR to this mainly because of the specific modes like "portrait, sports, close up, landscape" etc however I personally have outgrown these features already and now would prefer an F80 to be living in my camera bag. It has some extra features like a back lit LCD, faster flash syn, higher top shutter speed but I won't go on, it will just depress me. The F65/N65 is a great camera for beginners to intermediate users and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Having exposure compensation and auto bracketing is a huge plus, although I would like the manual over-ride of film speeds. The MB17 battery pack makes it feel better in the hand especially if you have large hands like I do and the batteries are cheaper to replace, which can be a blessing if you do alot of long exposures for star trails etc. Plus it makes them look hell cool .....

Strength

Great value for money ... Well packed with features ... Very easy to use, almost idiot proof ... Relatively lightweight while not compromising on quality of parts ... Great clear sharp shots ...

Weakness

Missing a few of the features of the F80 that I personally would like (but that's just me) ... No illumination of the LCD panel for night use ... Some shot's in the dark or night confuse the autofocus making it "hunt" in and out ... Lastly, the autofocus could be a tiny bit faster, especially when using the 70-300 lens ... otherwise brilliant camera ...

Summary

I have it and love it using my vivitar 283 with it is great. I have worked with some others but this is a great bang for its buck.

Strength

Small Compact Easy to use

Weakness

Not able to set ISO manually Flash pops-up in automodes in low light No PC-SYNC Socket, need to buy an adapter Continous AF and advance in Sport mode only

Summary

This camera is very good for the price. I would suggest that anyone purhasing this camera should also purchase the Magic Lantern guide for it. Many of the comments I find in reviews are inaccurate about this camera. Learning all of the features is much easier with the Magic Lantern guide (the owners manual with the camera is not very well written...)For instance, if the camera is used in the variable program mode the flash will not always pop up as a previous reveiwer wrote and all other functions of auto mode are still available. I also think that owners should purchase the MB-17 battery pack. It allows the use of AA batteries (more reliable than CR-2 in cold conditions AND less expensive!) also the MB-17 makes the camera easier to handle and a little heavier making for better hand held photography in low light conditions. My camera was packaged with a Quantaray (Sigma) 28-90 f 3.5-5.6 zoom which has been a great 1st lens (pretty sharp for the price and great range...) but Since I purchased the camera I have purchased a Nikkor 50mm f1.8 fixed lens and believe it to be a much better lens for someone starting out. I did not know that pictures could be this sharp and colorful.

Strength

I have found it nearly impossible to take a bad picture with this camera in auto and program mode. however the exposure compensation has been a savior of a great shot under difficult conditions. The layout and controls are very convenient and common sensical. This was the best choice for me in the Nikon line to make the leap from point and shoot cameras. At the time that I purchased this camera the n-75 was a few months in coming, and when it did come available I felt that I wished that I had known about it because I would have waited to purchase until the N-75 came out. The price of the N-65 went down and for the price I paid I could have gotten the N-75 (which has a spot meter and 25 segment matrix metering with exposure lock). I still feel that I have a very reliable camera that takes great pictures.

Weakness

The shutter speed is not as fast as some cameras, you cannot set your own film speed, the flash funtions are not as advanced as some models and there is no spot metering or exposure lock included in the assortment of functions. but I think these are acceptable compromises considering the price of this camera.

Summary

It's a great camera for beginners. It allows you to manually control everything and at the same time, gives you features like shutter or aperture priority, program mode and full auto. Be carefull though where you buy your camera, I got ripped when I bought mine because I saw it advertised $150 lower than the price I paid.

Strength

good enough autofocus which gives sharp enough pictures when shooting with ample light.

Weakness

Pop-up flash is a bit anoying. When used with nikkor 70-300mm ED, autofocus hunts when used indoors.