Nikon F301 Film Camera

Nikon F301 Film Camera – A fully working and tested Nikon F-301  35mm SLR (Serial 2356659) complete with a serviced and minty Nikkor AiS 50mm f1.8 (Serial 4179679).

Fully film tested and all functions working as they should.

Camera and lens are in excellent, near mint condition showing only some small scuffs to the camera baseplate and some marks to the lower body.

This is one of our own personal cameras which we have no further use for as we are downsizing our own equipment.

Camera and lens are in perfect operating condition.

Supplied with original Nikon front cap and Nikon case.

The Nikon F-301 (known as the N2000 in North America) was the replacement for the Nikon FG. Nikons EM and FG models were troubled by a lot of electronic issues and the F-301 could be considered as ‘third times a charm’ as Nikon finally got the hang of electronics.  The F-301 was the last manual focus Nikon camera and the first to have a polycarbonate body and no manual film winder.  The built in autowinder can run the film at around 2.5-3 frames per second which is as fast as some dedicated autowinders.

The F-301 was very successful in its day but Nikon cut its production run short and as a result it was only available for around 2 years starting in 1985. It was a casualty of the Auto Focus revolution.  Its sister camera was the Nikon F-501 which is basically an F-301 with Auto-Focus.

The F-301 is a very sophisticated camera featuring full manual controls, Aperture Priority and two Program modes. The program modes feature a standard mode which favours depth of field and a High Speed Mode which favours shutter speed. The Program mode on the F-301 is masterful and it almost never misses a trick. Check out the night shot in the test pics taken on high speed Program model under very difficult lighting and you can see just how good it can be.

Like many cameras of the late film camera era the F-301 is equipped with a DX reader to automatically set the film ISO but than can be overridden and manually set if desired. The camera also has up to 2 stops exposure compensation for all shooting modes.

Technically the F-301 surpasses both the Canon AE-1 Program and the Minolta X-700 its two closest competitors from its day missing only a depth of field preview but offering DX coding, superior program modes, a built in auto winder and the superb viewfinder.

The view finder and focus screen may just be the best of any camera from the period and some would say any camera PERIOD!  Bright and sharp giving an exceptional view and making focusing easier. Only the Minolta X-700 with its AccuMatte screen can rival it.

Sadly, time has not been kind to the F-301, though its reliable very many of them turn up with badly corroded battery trays or other corrosion related issues.  The F-301 used standard AAA batteries and these could last for as many as 30 rolls of film.  Probably more film than many people buying them would ever shoot.  The consequence is many have been left to rot in cupboards and lofts. Finding a good reliable one is hard work but a good runner is a total joy to use.

We have replaced the camera light seals when we first had it and the seals are still in good condition. The camera has been used extensively over the past few years and has always returned good results.