Overview: Nikon FA - The most underrated Nikon SLR?
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- Опубліковано 27 січ 2019
- This video gives a brief overview of the Nikon FA, giving you some basic information as well as my experiences using it. This camera is arguably one of Nikon's most underrated film 35mm SLR's so what IS so special about it?
Please feel free to leave any questions you may have in the comments down below and i'll do my best to reply to them.
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Biggest mistake I ever made was selling my FA when I moved to autofocus,it was only after selling it I realised how much I loved it
I really don't use mine enough, such a nice camera to use with so many options. AF has its benefits but none of the cameras feel quite the same
Nice informative video! I have a roll of Portra 400 in my all black FA right now.
the black FA is a beautiful camera, very tricky to find in nice condition but such a good camera
To my knowledge the Nikon F3 never had a spot meter. The FA was a top notch camera when it first came out; except for the high price it had just about everything you could dream of.
The Nikon FA was the first SLR camera that I owned, I bought a second hand one at a good price back in the early 90s when 35mm film was still going strong. I still have my FA, had the seals replaced a few years ago and she stills takes great images.
yeah they're amazing cameras, good to hear yours is still going strong
I still got 2 the black and silver one and love the FA. I wouldn’t say the FA was an amateur camera the price at the time didn’t say amateur camera.
always fancied a black FA they are gorgeous, more of a serious amateur camera but more entry level than an F3 or F-1
The little grip comes off to be able to attach either the MD12 or the MD15 motordrive...cheers.
MD12 in my case... is all gummed up wont work. time to slow down anyhow
Nice review man. It’s a bit mad these go for quite a lot less than the F3 and FE2. Not that I’m moaning as feel like I’m getting a bargain. Like those stills at the end, particularly the bits with the girl in the car park, where they on you 50 1.8e or the 1.4? Cheers
thanks, those pictures were taken with the 50mm 1.4, i only had the 1.8e on the body because i was using the 1.4 to film the video with
Neither the F3 or FA had spot metering. Both used center weighted metering, and the FA introduced Nikon's matrix metering system for optional use. When the FA came out, I had already owned two FM versions and had an FE2. The big sell for the FA was the matrix meter, and for its high price, it was impossible for me to justify the trade-up. The FA sales were far below Nikon's hopes. IMO, that happened because the FA was viewed as the next (and last) step in the FM/FE series of bodies, while other makers were already readying a new generation of autofocus models.
yeah I can definately see what you mean in regards to the FA being a let down for Nikon, it came out at that pivotal moment between MF and AF and I think Nikon thought they could get one last high in before the shift
I am glad you made the comparison between the FA and the F3. Back in the day I carried both cameras and I can tell you for certain the FA is FAR superior to the F3. The one feature the F3 has over the FA is interchangeable prisms but other than that, the FA kicks the F3's ass all day long.
Congratulations! You picked-up a fine camera. Now if you don't already have one, go get a Nikon F with a Photomic prism...that is another great camera.
Peace.
Thanks for the comment, unless you're using a specific finder for a specific purpose it won't make any difference in my opinion. I've always appreciated the original F as a beautiful machine but never got along with it for shooting unfortunately, similar reasons for why i got rid of the Nikon S2 as well
@@MaxLamdin The F2 and winder combination was a great tool for getting out of a crowd. ;)
yeah i can imagine it's very solid, the F3 with the winder is also pretty solid but somehow not to the same degree as the F2
I have both the Nikon FA and a Nikon F (1972 model year) with the Ftn prism head. Both cameras in excellent condition.
Thanks for this review. Have you had any issues with the titanium shutter? Did you end up getting the instant back?
never had an issue with the shutter, although i haven't used the camera in a while it still works perfectly. I did get the instant magny film back but would not recommend it it's tricky to use
Hi again Max.
In the Instruction manual included with my Nikon FA package under "Specification" it says:
“Shutter speeds
Stepless speed from 1 to 1/4000 sec. in automatic exposure modes (except S mode); ceramic-oscillator-controlled discrete speeds from 1 to 1/4000 sec. in S and M modes; mechanically controlled, 1/20 sec. at M250 setting and long exposure at B setting available.”
As I said before. I have used my FA since I bought it new in the 80:s and I have used it a lot since then. My camera has never been able to expose with shutter speeds longer than 1 second expect when using the B-shutter. I have tested the camera again the latest days and even now I can´t create longer shutter speeds.
So my conclusion is that you have another version of Nikon FA than I have. I am realy eager to know if there are differens version of the Nikon FA. Anyone who knows?
/Anders
that's very interesting, i haven't done a massive amount of long exposures on mine but when i have the shutter will stay open long than a second if needed and the images i get from it seem to be well exposed? i don't believe there are different variations of the FA but there may have been adjustments they made throughout production
The F3 was a professional camera mainly developed for shooting sports. The FA was developed for pro use for most any other type of photography other than sports.
Nikon actually thought that professionals would buy the FA even for sports because of the advanced metering and automatic modes but the majority of professionals stayed with the F3 because of the build quality which is understandable and so the FA ended up being a more amateur used camera
@@MaxLamdin I had both cameras back in the day. I was shooting a lot of PR photography and entertainment like the Oscar's and Emmy's. Most of that photography I used the the two FA bodies. I had two F3 bodies as well and I was using them almost exclusively for sports because of the faster rate of fire and the HP finder was a big plus back in the day.
Great review thanks subbed
thank you very much!
Instant back?! Like a Polaroid back for the Nikon Fs? Woah. Any links to it? How was it to shoot with?
it was called the Instant Magny and i don't believe they still make it, they come up for sale second hand sometimes. It wasn't for all of the F cameras just the FA/FM/FE ranges of cameras but still cool. It was good to use but all the images were inverted left to right and there was often heavy vignetting
I just picked up a Nikon FA and shot 2 rolls of film with it. Really easy to use. Very handy and easy to carry the camera. I can't wait to develop my films and see the end result.
it's a great little carry around camera, hope your rolls then out well
Hi
Thanks for an entertaining video. However, I wonder if you have a different variant of FA than the the one I have. I have been shooting, and still are, with Nikon F3, FE2 and an FA since I bought these new in 1985 and my FA has never been able to be exposed for longer than 1 second, except when using B-shutter.
FA has a maximum exposure time of 1 second, while FE2 and F3 have 8 seconds. The fact that the camera's exposure meter/system would cope with really long exposures is illogical as reciprocity failure have to be taken into account when long exposures. The extent of reciprocity failure is entirely dependent on what film is used. Reciprocity failure is due to the film's sensitivity to light decreasing relative to the reciprocity. For example, in a scene of low light, a film that, according to the exposure meter, should be exposed in 30 seconds requires double exposure time to be properly exposed. While another film needs a quite different adjustment to get the exposure right.This is why cameras for film, do not automatically set long exposure times. (Some films may cause failure at longer exposure times of 1 second). The fact that digital cameras can have as long exposure times as 30 seconds is because in the digital world there is no failure due to reciprocity.
Anders
Unfortunately i didn't design the camera myself so i'm not entirely sure why they would implement exposures of seemingly unlimited duration but they did, the reciprocity failure is the reason i've never don't extremely long exposures with this camera but in theory it's possible, if you have the camera on either P (program) or A (aperture) the. the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed to however long the camera thinks it needs to be whereas digital cameras will only give a maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds which will be better exposed that the FA image would be but in theory the FA will be a more accurate exposure for the scene
@@MaxLamdin Hi Max.
In the Instruction manual included with my Nikon FA package under "Specification" it says:
“Shutter speeds
Stepless speed from 1 to 1/4000 sec. in automatic exposure modes (except S mode); ceramic-oscillator-controlled discrete speeds from 1 to 1/4000 sec. in S and M modes; mechanically controlled, 1/20 sec. at M250 setting and long exposure at B setting available.”
As I said before. I have used my FA since I bought it new in the 80:s and I have used it a lot since then. My camera has never been able to expose with shutter speeds longer than 1 second expect when using the B-shutter. I have tested the camera again the latest days and even now I can´t create longer shutter speeds.
So my conclusion is that you have another version of Nikon FA than I have. I am realy eager to know if there are differens version of the Nikon FA. Anyone who knows?
/Anders
@@anders5783 so if you leave the lens cap on and take a picture in P mode what happens?
BTW the jumping around of your video is distracting.
thanks for the feedback