In the early 2000's I took a Nikon FG with me on around the world trip. The last stop in my trip was Cuba. Of course the batteries died, and I couldn't find fresh batteries in Cuba, so I shot the entire Cuba leg at 1/90th a second by estimating all my exposures. Thanks to the M90 emergency manual shutter speed it worked out pretty good!
Thanks for your informative and helpful video. I found this little gem bundled with a black Nikon FM. The little FG was thrown in since the seller claimed not working. However the camera was fully functional! so I got a awesome deal. I recently brought the FG on a Caribbean cruise and it took wonderful photos. You can use it as a point and shoot or a pro level camera. It definitely took more interesting images from its 35mm format than my digital camera images. The compensation button in front is genius especially in backlit situation as you mentioned. I highly recommend it too!
Awesome video! Very informational. My friends father gave me one of these. And this video perfectly summed up everything I needed to know about the camera. Thanks buster!
That was my first slr and I still own it. It’s as small as a small rangefinder. It did everything I needed it to do. Considering it was not meant to be a pro camera or even a serious enthusiast camera I am quite amazed it still works all these years later.
I bought a Nikon FG with a Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 AI zoom lens for my wife back in 1985. She wanted to get into photography but didn't want to have to fiddle around with manual exposure adjustments all the time; so the 'full program, aperture priority auto, and full manual' exposure setting options on the FG was perfect for her. And in fact she took some award winning photos with her FG. I had a Nikon FM at the time (still have it) and in direct comparison quite frankly I did not feel the FG had the same build quality and 'solid feel' as my FM but the FG was the perfect camera for my wife at the time and the added bonus she could use my lenses on her FG. Oh and it had through-the-lens flash metering capability with a compatible flash unit..so I bought her a Nikon SB-15 flash unit and flash photos were a 'no brainer'. I gave the FG along with the zoom lens and flash to my granddaughter after my wife passed away..so it's still in the family.
thomas moje thank you so much for sharing. I love that the camera is still in the family. I’ve accumulated over 100 cameras at this point and often wonder about who owned them way before I did. I hope your granddaughter gets great enjoyment and shots out of your wife’s camera. Thank you for stopping by.
@@ballsticghost9824 And I missed that FG so much I found another one in excellent condition along with another Nikon 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 AI lens to go with it..exactly like the outfit I bought for my wife years ago just had to have it paid way less than I did back in 1985. It now resides in my camera display case along with my collection I get it out and use it once in awhile brings back a lot of memories.
i got my silver FG for $30 at a rumage saie. that included the 50mm prime, a 28-80, and an 80-200. i saw the FG and immediately decided to get it. i then tried the lenses on my digital D3100 and when the lens clicked into place, I was in awe. those are really nice lenses and I am still so glad i was able to find that entire bundle.
Thank you, I recently came into one of these cameras. My mother used it throughout the 90s and gave it to me because I want to get into film. It uses two a76 batteries, but I don't know if that's the equivalent of the batteries you mentioned. Thank you for the video!!
My mother recently gave me a Nikon FG that belonged to her baby brother. He was captain of an oil tanker and died at sea when I was about 11 years old. His birthday was also the day after mine. I think it needs a few repairs, but I would love to take photos with it.
Nice video. Nikon introduced the FG to compete with the wildly successful Pentax ME and ME Super. As shown here, it is fully featured. I bought one about 25 years ago, but sold it because it seemed too "non-Nikon" to be durable for the long haul. Time has proven my fears largely groundless, although it will not take the abuse an F3 would survive. Last year I acquired a near-mint FG. I added the power winder, which has proven to add little to convenience and too much weight. Today, it's a great first camera or a back-up.
You did fine with the presentation of what for the early 80's was a fine compact SLR niched for novice film shooting enthusiast. Hope your FG has captured many memorable moments.
I used a Nikon FG during the late 1980s into the early 1990s. It was the first SLR I had when learning photography. A great starting place for someone getting into film. More serious users might want to move on to a FE/FM series or a F series camera; more money, but better build quality. I concur that the Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 lens is excellent. You'd be hard pressed to find better image quality anywhere near the price.
The Series E 50mm: It is a good lens for its price, depending on the price. You can find a late 50mm 1.8 Nikkor, or one of the last 50mm 2.0 lenses often for a similar price or within $15-20. Those Nikkors have better build generally, and they have multi-coating, which makes them higher contrast and more saturated color. All of the prime Series E lenses are not mutli-coated, and there are a few total dogs, particularly the 28mm. The best are the 50mm, 100mm (hard to find), and the 75-150mm zoom.
WOAH! That thing is tiny haha. I'm looking into getting a nikon SLR but at the same time I don't want to spend an arm. Would this be a viable option? I do really like the look and feel of the f3.
KingJvpes I had an f3 just off screen too. The F3 is a beautiful camera. If I had to choose Between the two, the f3 all day. But you can find the FG for cheaper every day of the week. The F3 is a much better built camera but the FG is more compact. And the FG doesn't use an LCD in the viewfinder which is the only thing I don't really like about the F3. The FG will not be a bad decision if you want to get it. And neither will the F3. I know... I kind of left things in the middle. But the decision is ultimately yours to make. I hope you found this comment helpful and thank you for watching. I have an F3 video coming next. Have a nice day!!
Great video! I own a Nikon FG-20 and really like how compact it is, but it feels a little cheap with a lot of plastic. Is the FG better built than the FG-20? Also, does it have a focus mirror for easy focusing? I'm thinking of the split image that aligns when in focus?
The Nikon FG was targeted to the 'consumer' market and was not quite up to the build quality of the Nikon 'pro'/'prosumer' level cameras but is a very handy photo-taker and gets you into the Nikon film camera system for not a lot of money. It is packed with features as shown in the video. Bottom line is you get a lot for the money if you find a good deal on a good example of one.
My dad has Nikon FG they cust $1000 back in the 80's and today it you price it i took some photos and some are btter than today's smartphones. I like it.
Would anyone recommend this camera over the Canon AE-1? I use a Nikon D5300 as my primary camera, so being able to use the same lenses if needed would be nice, though not necessary.
I used to use the Nikon FG and I had used my uncle's Canon AE-1. I preferred the UI of the Nikon FG; personal preference. The Canon AE-1 uses Canon FD mount lenses. Those are not compatible with current Canon EF mount lenses. While both the Nikon FG and the D5300 both use F mount lenses, there are definite compatibility issues. Modern G lenses do not work on the older manual focus cameras like the FG - there is no way to set the aperture. AI or AIS manual focus lenses will not meter on a D5300. Nikon pro and semi-pro/enthusiast digital cameras can meter with AI or AIS manual focus lenses.
Hello sir. I used the FG in Ekaterinburg Russia back in 1998 when I first met my wife. It was November and for the time I was there it was around -25 C. Had no problems with it, but again...I wasn't outside for more than half an hour at a time. I go back every year. Hope this helps you.
I recently got one on Ebay UK for £20 =$30 but it was sold as parts or repair and no battery cover. I got a battery cover for £13🤯 refitted the 2 shutter blades that where slightly bent and out of shutter runner fixed the film unlock button and tried it out. Shutter, meter and winder all work properly in fact you would think the camera is only a few years old it even meters close to the readings I get on both my F100 and D850. Infact the meter and shutter works so well to see what would happen I put my afs 14-24 f2.8g and set up a shot at home in very low light and set on A and because you cannot set the aperture manually it is automatically fully stopped down but the camera gave me a 10 second shutter time the light reading with my D850 set at 100 iso and f22 also gave me a reading of 10 seconds not bad for a 35-40 year old manual amateur camera.
The original battery looks as if it is 1 due to a metal sleeve around x 2 batteries (previously L44's are now referred to as a type:357 @ 1.3 volts per battery (takes (2)x 1.3 batteries with the " + " sign up facing into the camera. Best advice don't leave the batteries in the camera, especially if you don't shoot film a lot they will corrode with time if left unattended.
The EM is even smaller, believe it or not. However it is a real point and shoot, barely any functions. Strangely they are the only Nikon cameras that I know of that can share a battery grip, MD-E. The FG can also use the MD-14, so the FE-FG-FG20 are very compatible.
You forgot to mention that it takes for a motor drive is the MD-14 in which it takes either 4 or 6 AA batteries, since I have one, as it will do 3 to 4 frames, and of hold the shutter button that it will go to continuous mode, and also that on the button on the left side that if you turn on the beeper switch, and then press the button to be sure of your exposure that it is also saying that your 2 stops ( + -) mode depending on the exposure lighting scene, and also that this model will not meter on NON AI lenses as there is no feature to see metering in a stop down mode. This model is for AI lens mount. And last never use the DL1/3 3volt battery in area where the temperature is not lower than 30' degrees the battery will not respond to COLD WEATHER Temperature, Only use Silver Oxide 1.5 button cells batteries. Never use Alkaline Button Cells as the camera will have a life span for 2 to 3 rolls of film. Remember Silver Oxide POWERS THE FG AS IT IS Controlling the camera in the Auto, Program mode, Electronic Shutter, The Plus and Minus exposure compensation metering, and also when you have fresh batteries that the beep sound will be abit loud, but when using it you will notice that the Beeping feature acts like a Battery Checker - The loud of the beep batteries OK, the medium to low beep change the batteries, and again DO NOT USE ALKALINE BATTERIES.... It is a cute but the first Nikon with Program mode before the Nikon FA(Piece of Shit)came out... THEIR IS A TEST AFTER THIS.....
Sorry. I have had this camera since 1982. The last time I tried to take a photo the lever to forward the film became stuck, and the lense opening is also stuck closed. I checked the battery, but it wasn't that. So is it possible the motor drive has failed. Hope that make sense.
Thank you Buster Photo. You are correct about the motor. I do not have one attached. I took it in to the one and only photo store in our small town and it was the "batteries"...now there are two. It always needed just one. I was told many years ago that the motor drive needed rebuilt, but as it turns out now they scammed me because it didn't have one attached. They charged me a $100 back in 2002 for a rebuilt motor. Much to my shock and dismay last week, the place I took it to informed that it didn't have a motor and it was the batteries. Peggy at the photo shop has been in this industry for 25 years and I was just stunned and shocked to learn this. She replaced the batteries and sure enough it works fine now. I put this camera in it's bag for the last 10 years, thinking it needed a new motor, after taking it with me all over the world for three decades. Your reply also confirms that I was ripped off back then and left without my wonderful camera for all these years, thinking the cost to rebuild another motor would be 2x as much. I recently pulled it out of storage because my son needed a film camera for his photography class, and was prepared to replace the motor for him if need be, so this is bitter sweet for me. Thank you so very much for your reply and for the video on how to use it so my son can figure it out. I lost my manual somewhere in a box, so this video will help him. Thank you again.
I still have one of these. It does not have a motor drive. If you ever run out of batteries you can shift the shutter dial to M90 and shoot without batteries.
In the early 2000's I took a Nikon FG with me on around the world trip. The last stop in my trip was Cuba. Of course the batteries died, and I couldn't find fresh batteries in Cuba, so I shot the entire Cuba leg at 1/90th a second by estimating all my exposures. Thanks to the M90 emergency manual shutter speed it worked out pretty good!
Do you have some of those photos published? I want to see them!
Thanks for your informative and helpful video. I found this little gem bundled with a black Nikon FM. The little FG was thrown in since the seller claimed not working. However the camera was fully functional! so I got a awesome deal. I recently brought the FG on a Caribbean cruise and it took wonderful photos. You can use it as a point and shoot or a pro level camera. It definitely took more interesting images from its 35mm format than my digital camera images. The compensation button in front is genius especially in backlit situation as you mentioned. I highly recommend it too!
Just obtained such a camera, and appreciate this helpful overview, thank you!
Awesome video! Very informational. My friends father gave me one of these. And this video perfectly summed up everything I needed to know about the camera. Thanks buster!
Jasons Lens Oh Yeah!!! I’m so glad it helped! Thanks for your comment!
That was my first slr and I still own it. It’s as small as a small rangefinder. It did everything I needed it to do. Considering it was not meant to be a pro camera or even a serious enthusiast camera I am quite amazed it still works all these years later.
I bought a Nikon FG with a Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 AI zoom lens for my wife back in 1985. She wanted to get into photography but didn't want to have to fiddle around with manual exposure adjustments all the time; so the 'full program, aperture priority auto, and full manual' exposure setting options on the FG was perfect for her. And in fact she took some award winning photos with her FG. I had a Nikon FM at the time (still have it) and in direct comparison quite frankly I did not feel the FG had the same build quality and 'solid feel' as my FM but the FG was the perfect camera for my wife at the time and the added bonus she could use my lenses on her FG. Oh and it had through-the-lens flash metering capability with a compatible flash unit..so I bought her a Nikon SB-15 flash unit and flash photos were a 'no brainer'. I gave the FG along with the zoom lens and flash to my granddaughter after my wife passed away..so it's still in the family.
thomas moje thank you so much for sharing. I love that the camera is still in the family. I’ve accumulated over 100 cameras at this point and often wonder about who owned them way before I did. I hope your granddaughter gets great enjoyment and shots out of your wife’s camera. Thank you for stopping by.
Wow that's amazing my grandmother just passed this one on to me I feel very honored to have it
@@ballsticghost9824 And I missed that FG so much I found another one in excellent condition along with another Nikon 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 AI lens to go with it..exactly like the outfit I bought for my wife years ago just had to have it paid way less than I did back in 1985. It now resides in my camera display case along with my collection I get it out and use it once in awhile brings back a lot of memories.
@@thomasmoje5926 wow that's so cool I can't wait to get into the world of film photography been learning so much over the past few days
Just got an FG at a local flea market. It seems to be a sweet little camera, so thanks for the review, .....it helped me figure it out!
I'm so glad. Thanks for stopping by!
i got my silver FG for $30 at a rumage saie. that included the 50mm prime, a 28-80, and an 80-200. i saw the FG and immediately decided to get it. i then tried the lenses on my digital D3100 and when the lens clicked into place, I was in awe. those are really nice lenses and I am still so glad i was able to find that entire bundle.
Thank you, I recently came into one of these cameras. My mother used it throughout the 90s and gave it to me because I want to get into film. It uses two a76 batteries, but I don't know if that's the equivalent of the batteries you mentioned. Thank you for the video!!
My mother recently gave me a Nikon FG that belonged to her baby brother. He was captain of an oil tanker and died at sea when I was about 11 years old. His birthday was also the day after mine. I think it needs a few repairs, but I would love to take photos with it.
Nice video. Nikon introduced the FG to compete with the wildly successful Pentax ME and ME Super. As shown here, it is fully featured. I bought one about 25 years ago, but sold it because it seemed too "non-Nikon" to be durable for the long haul. Time has proven my fears largely groundless, although it will not take the abuse an F3 would survive. Last year I acquired a near-mint FG. I added the power winder, which has proven to add little to convenience and too much weight. Today, it's a great first camera or a back-up.
I bought one in 1982 and still have it and it still works. I have a 50mm f1.4 AIS lens to go with it.
You did fine with the presentation of what for the early 80's was a fine compact SLR niched for novice film shooting enthusiast. Hope your FG has captured many memorable moments.
I used a Nikon FG during the late 1980s into the early 1990s. It was the first SLR I had when learning photography. A great starting place for someone getting into film. More serious users might want to move on to a FE/FM series or a F series camera; more money, but better build quality.
I concur that the Nikon Series E 50mm f/1.8 lens is excellent. You'd be hard pressed to find better image quality anywhere near the price.
The Series E 50mm: It is a good lens for its price, depending on the price. You can find a late 50mm 1.8 Nikkor, or one of the last 50mm 2.0 lenses often for a similar price or within $15-20. Those Nikkors have better build generally, and they have multi-coating, which makes them higher contrast and more saturated color. All of the prime Series E lenses are not mutli-coated, and there are a few total dogs, particularly the 28mm. The best are the 50mm, 100mm (hard to find), and the 75-150mm zoom.
The FG was my first SLR. It definitely punches above its weight.
Awsome looking camera! Those old nikons are just amazing
The Nikon FM3a has a similar lower exposure button (on the left side of the lens mount), except that AFAIK it brings it down one stop instead of two.
Thanks for the review. Very good and useful. Cheers from Poland
Beautifull camera, and very compact.
Thank You !!
I gleaned much from this Great Tuber !!
There's also a version without the P mode known as FG-20. Both were considered beginners cameras as they lacked depth-of-field preview lever.
WOAH! That thing is tiny haha. I'm looking into getting a nikon SLR but at the same time I don't want to spend an arm. Would this be a viable option? I do really like the look and feel of the f3.
KingJvpes I had an f3 just off screen too. The F3 is a beautiful camera. If I had to choose Between the two, the f3 all day. But you can find the FG for cheaper every day of the week. The F3 is a much better built camera but the FG is more compact. And the FG doesn't use an LCD in the viewfinder which is the only thing I don't really like about the F3. The FG will not be a bad decision if you want to get it. And neither will the F3. I know... I kind of left things in the middle. But the decision is ultimately yours to make. I hope you found this comment helpful and thank you for watching. I have an F3 video coming next. Have a nice day!!
Great video! I own a Nikon FG-20 and really like how compact it is, but it feels a little cheap with a lot of plastic. Is the FG better built than the FG-20? Also, does it have a focus mirror for easy focusing? I'm thinking of the split image that aligns when in focus?
Bought one today, got to be all black. Looks so much better than chrome!
Do you have a video of you using that 50mm on your DSLR? I’ve tried but it gives me an error message on my D750 :(
i saw one mint dondish for less than 50 bucks.. should i go for it?
nikon EM has the button for back-lit exposure compensation as well
ProSimex84 I didn't know that. Thanks for the info!
If the camera has manual mode?
The Nikon FG was targeted to the 'consumer' market and was not quite up to the build quality of the Nikon 'pro'/'prosumer' level cameras but is a very handy photo-taker and gets you into the Nikon film camera system for not a lot of money. It is packed with features as shown in the video. Bottom line is you get a lot for the money if you find a good deal on a good example of one.
My dad has Nikon FG they cust $1000 back in the 80's and today it you price it i took some photos and some are btter than today's smartphones. I like it.
I heard that you used that lense with your digital? Is that right? That’s great!
I have the silver and black one. That all black one is sweet though.
I just bought this camera do u have a video how to use it to take photos
Dahlia Romero I do not. Sorry.
Would anyone recommend this camera over the Canon AE-1? I use a Nikon D5300 as my primary camera, so being able to use the same lenses if needed would be nice, though not necessary.
I used to use the Nikon FG and I had used my uncle's Canon AE-1. I preferred the UI of the Nikon FG; personal preference.
The Canon AE-1 uses Canon FD mount lenses. Those are not compatible with current Canon EF mount lenses.
While both the Nikon FG and the D5300 both use F mount lenses, there are definite compatibility issues. Modern G lenses do not work on the older manual focus cameras like the FG - there is no way to set the aperture. AI or AIS manual focus lenses will not meter on a D5300. Nikon pro and semi-pro/enthusiast digital cameras can meter with AI or AIS manual focus lenses.
does it work well when there's winter outside and temperature is below 0 °С (celsius, or 32 °F)?
Yaroslav Ra not sure friend. I live in Los Angeles and haven’t taken the camera anywhere that cold.
Hello sir. I used the FG in Ekaterinburg Russia back in 1998 when I first met my wife. It was November and for the time I was there it was around -25 C. Had no problems with it, but again...I wasn't outside for more than half an hour at a time. I go back every year. Hope this helps you.
I recently got one on Ebay UK for £20 =$30 but it was sold as parts or repair and no battery cover. I got a battery cover for £13🤯 refitted the 2 shutter blades that where slightly bent and out of shutter runner fixed the film unlock button and tried it out. Shutter, meter and winder all work properly in fact you would think the camera is only a few years old it even meters close to the readings I get on both my F100 and D850. Infact the meter and shutter works so well to see what would happen I put my afs 14-24 f2.8g and set up a shot at home in very low light and set on A and because you cannot set the aperture manually it is automatically fully stopped down but the camera gave me a 10 second shutter time the light reading with my D850 set at 100 iso and f22 also gave me a reading of 10 seconds not bad for a 35-40 year old manual amateur camera.
The original battery looks as if it is 1 due to a metal sleeve around x 2 batteries (previously L44's are now referred to as a type:357 @ 1.3 volts per battery (takes (2)x 1.3 batteries with the " + " sign up facing into the camera. Best advice don't leave the batteries in the camera, especially if you don't shoot film a lot they will corrode with time if left unattended.
Don Kearney thanks for the great info.
It takes one battery. If the film forward stops and the shutter freezes closed, is it the motor, if it is not the battery?
sloemma k sorry but I don't understand your question.
It should take two batteries
Is there an on/off switch to conserve batteries?
No. The light meter will turn off after a couple of seconds.
Buster Photo that’s what I was thinking. Thanks!
Haha! Just bought one today.
The EM is even smaller, believe it or not. However it is a real point and shoot, barely any functions. Strangely they are the only Nikon cameras that I know of that can share a battery grip, MD-E. The FG can also use the MD-14, so the FE-FG-FG20 are very compatible.
Thomas Xavier good to know. Thanks for sharing!
The advance lever/stick of my camera is stuck. Is that because its out of batteries? Or am i fucked?
hi what batteries does it take?
Nevermind you just said it takes 2x LR44 @7:10
Как субтитры на русский перевести ?
You forgot to mention that it takes for a motor drive is the MD-14 in which it takes either 4 or 6 AA batteries, since I have one, as it will do 3 to 4 frames, and of hold the shutter button that it will go to continuous mode, and also that on the button on the left side that if you turn on the beeper switch, and then press the button to be sure of your exposure that it is also saying that your 2 stops ( + -) mode depending on the exposure lighting scene, and also that this model will not meter on NON AI lenses as there is no feature to see metering in a stop down mode. This model is for AI lens mount. And last never use the DL1/3 3volt battery in area where the temperature is not lower than 30' degrees the battery will not respond to COLD WEATHER Temperature, Only use Silver Oxide 1.5 button cells batteries. Never use Alkaline Button Cells as the camera will have a life span for 2 to 3 rolls of film. Remember Silver Oxide POWERS THE FG AS IT IS Controlling the camera in the Auto, Program mode, Electronic Shutter, The Plus and Minus exposure compensation metering, and also when you have fresh batteries that the beep sound will be abit loud, but when using it you will notice that the Beeping feature acts like a Battery Checker - The loud of the beep batteries OK, the medium to low beep change the batteries, and again DO NOT USE ALKALINE BATTERIES.... It is a cute but the first Nikon with Program mode before the Nikon FA(Piece of Shit)came out... THEIR IS A TEST AFTER THIS.....
Sorry. I have had this camera since 1982. The last time I tried to take a photo the lever to forward the film became stuck, and the lense opening is also stuck closed. I checked the battery, but it wasn't that. So is it possible the motor drive has failed. Hope that make sense.
Trude Kyle this camera on its own doesn't have a motor drive. Unless you attached one. Sound like your shutter just got stuck if the battery is good.
Thank you Buster Photo. You are correct about the motor. I do not have one attached. I took it in to the one and only photo store in our small town and it was the "batteries"...now there are two. It always needed just one.
I was told many years ago that the motor drive needed rebuilt, but as it turns out now they scammed me because it didn't have one attached. They charged me a $100 back in 2002 for a rebuilt motor. Much to my shock and dismay last week, the place I took it to informed that it didn't have a motor and it was the batteries. Peggy at the photo shop has been in this industry for 25 years and I was just stunned and shocked to learn this. She replaced the batteries and sure enough it works fine now.
I put this camera in it's bag for the last 10 years, thinking it needed a new motor, after taking it with me all over the world for three decades. Your reply also confirms that I was ripped off back then and left without my wonderful camera for all these years, thinking the cost to rebuild another motor would be 2x as much.
I recently pulled it out of storage because my son needed a film camera for his photography class, and was prepared to replace the motor for him if need be, so this is bitter sweet for me.
Thank you so very much for your reply and for the video on how to use it so my son can figure it out. I lost my manual somewhere in a box, so this video will help him. Thank you again.
I still have one of these. It does not have a motor drive. If you ever run out of batteries you can shift the shutter dial to M90 and shoot without batteries.
Place the setting on M90, press the shutter. That should free things up.
Spy Camera! Not quite, but so dinky. I'll keep my eye out for one.
I just bought the camera. Next week will arive
i am looking for a motor driver for a Nikon fg could you line me up for one thanks
What?
According to online sources, the Nikon MD-14 or the Nikon MD-E motor drive should work with the Nikon FG.