Camera Reviews

The Nikon F5 - Hands On Review

Keywords: nikon, f5, camera, bodies, film

= 4.0 (3) \0

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Here you can read about my very first experiences with the Nikon F5 camera and accessories, read about how I [mis]used the stuff and get some price information. Also check out the links to reviews and specs on Nikon gear.

Editor's note: This article was written mid 1999 and a lot has happened with both the author and the F5 since. End of 1999 Bo decided to start a Nikon User community, the first of its kind, together with J Ramon Palacios and they called it Nikonians. Do not miss out visiting the Nikon F5 forum where lots of stuff is being discussed and information exchanged on this great camera. We also have some other articles to read on the Nikon F5 here at Nikonians.

Enjoy your advertising free, tracking free Nikon Community, since April 2000 made possible by our supporters participating in our fundraising, volunteering as team members or paying for a membership

The channel in the city of Hüfingen, Germany. May 1999.
Nikon F5, Nikkor AF 20mm f/2,8D on Ilford XP2 Super.

My first impressions

May 19th 1999. Well, at last I got the Nikon F5 from the other side of the puddle. After paying the additional import fees at the customs of Villingen (merely 600 Deutsche Marks - hey, you can get a somewhat decent 2nd body for that!), I had this little 1 kg box in my trembling hands. After opening the box, I loaded an old (August 98, though refrigerator cooled) Fujicolor HG 1600 in the camera - thought it might be smart to make the first mistakes on something which was doomed to fail anyway :-)

1. Nice camera; robust and fits those big hands of mine.

2. Wow, this one is fast: The AF works really quick and precise, even in low-light.

3. Yowza! I can even understand most of it; the arrangement of the controls is easy to grasp and you can lock (either by software or by hardware) any controls which might be easy to change by mistake.

The virgin roll

Going out into the darkness of this little village, bringing my Bilora Favorit 820 tripod with me. Quickly killing off the virgin Fuji roll. Back into the house. Fumbling with the rewind buttons. Rapidly blinking error LED. Thinking "Yeah, first roll of film By West...". Pressing the tiny push buttons again. A humming noise. Stops. "Can't be the whole roll, can it?" A sadistic grin plastered on my face as I lean over, putting the camera in the shades of the table while pulling the back open. Correct - it wasn't the whole film. Snapping the back shut. Next try. Buttons pressed firmly. ZzzZzzZZrrrrr..qqqqk. Silence. Ok, must've been the whole film. Opening the back again. Positive result - no silver to be seen.

Summary of my first mistakes and experiences with the F5

1. The error LED blinks rapidly to indicate that you have started to rewind a film but the operation is not completed. I couldn't find this rapid LED blink indication in the manual.

2. I kept the two film rewind buttons pressed for a while, maybe for two seconds and then let loose. This was the mistake: if you let loose, the rewinding stops. Hey, what's this? Even my tiny F-401 kept on rewinding even if I'd let go off the buttons. Now I know it: you got to keep the buttons pressed until the motor stops - or at least for a longer period of time (not sure for how long). Added June 10th: It looks like you must keep the rewind button #1 pressed for the whole time the film is rewinding (you can let go of button #2). If you let go of button #1 the rewinding stops, combined with an angrily blinking Error LED. Pressing the button again and the rewinding starts anew. Comment made later. As several readers have noted: You do not need to keep button #1 nor button #2 depressed the whole time to rewind the film: Both buttons holds by themself when depressed completely and the lever stays up by itself - let the F5 do the job for you.

3. The IR light on the SB-24 flashlight doesn't light up to help the AF if you're using the (C)ontinous AF servo function - at first I thought the IR light on the flashlight malfunctioned... This is sort of mentioned in the SB-24 booklet though.

4. The vertical shutter button is disabled if you have your flashlight turned on. This is a strangie... and I got to get this one confirmed for sure.

Shooting the office

May 20th 1999. Brought the camera with me to the office. Was eager to try out the 20mm/2.8 on my fellow collegue photo victims. Packed two extra rolls of b/w Ilford XP2 400 Super while having one in the camera.