Nikon N65, thoughts on it?
I just started film photography and I bought the Nikon F801 but something was wrong with it so I switched to the Nikon N65, I have heard good thoughts on it but was wondering if someone who is familiar with film photography, better yet familiar with the Nikon N65 to help me out, give me tips.
I got the camera for a good deal, but is it really any good? If you own the camera, are the kit lens that come with it good?
If you have pictures taken with the NIKON N65 + KIT LENS that would be so fantastic! I'm so lost with the camera I'm not sure if it is good or not, or if the camera takes good pictures, or what film works best with it? Thank you so much.
Added (1). Wow, thanks Paul R. That was super helpful! I think I might get the nikkor lens you recommended me, what is is the difference between the nikkor 50mm lens 1.8, 1.4 and what not? I'm sorry I'm new to this. Also, what would you recommend for good film for close up in B&W?
Was a decent enough camera with enough to keep most amateur users happy, decent enough af, decent enough range of shutter speeds, decent enough turn of speed.
Like all similar budget models from Canon and Minolta and Pentax etc it used a pentamirror viewfinder, ok, but not great, it also wasn;t particularly compatable with older nikon MF lenses, they would mount etc but you would have to meter manually using stop down etc.
The kit lens is a good enough all-rounder, but there are better ones to move onto, such as the inexpensive 50mm f1.8.
The kit lens wasn't great for low light etc but none of the contemporary kit offerings were.
Film wise, depends on what kind of subjects you are doing, my favourite emulsions were:
Fuji Velvia 50 for landscapes
Fuji Reala for portraiture
Ilford XP2 for black and white (love the grain and the ease of high street processing, other b&w panchromatic films are more costly to get processed and usually need sent away, Ilford XP2 can be put through a colour lab no problem)
Advice: Get a wee 50mm f1.8 AF-D lens, it's small, compact, good IQ, good in low light, and crucially for a learner, will get you zooming with your feet rather than the lens (you will learn about perspective without realising it) also the depth of field is so shallow with this lens that you will also learn about apertures and controlling focus with the aperture.
You should go with Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
High-speed normal lens
Great for travel and for shooting full-length portraits in available light
Distortion-free images with superb resolution and color rendition
Provides high-contrast images even at maximum aperture
I have used N65s (I own two) fo stock photos. My images taken with these were good enough to sell. I did them with two lenses, the Nikkor 28/2.8D and the 85/1.8D. So yes, you can do it. Avoid zooms. Shoot color slides. Invest in a good scanner and learn how to use it. Market yourself well. You may be interested to know that I now use a Nikon D700 and a D800 for my stock shoots. Unfortunately, Covid-19 and the proliferation of digicrap images online have all but wiped out the stock photo markets. Sad, but that's life. N65 images shot with a little care are truly gorgeous, which is what you may have wanted to know. So go for it.