Nikon FG Film Camera

The Nikon FG is one of those cameras that isn't the "best" at anything - yet it may represent one of the most well-balanced SLR's ever made.

Look quickly at the specs: a highly accurate electronic shutter with full manual control, aperture-priority mode, and full program. A Nikon Ai capable lens mount that can use virtually any lens ever made by Nikon. A decent range of accessories including a dedicated motor drive, a dedicated TTL flash, and a date back. In short - the FG does what 99% of what most photographers need a camera to do - and it does it in a lightweight, elegant body.

The shortcomings are few, and I scored this camera a five out of five despite them. There's no mirror lock, no power-rewind on the dedicated motor drive, and the dedicated flash isn't exactly big. But for the amateur and part-time professional market that this camera was aimed at, the accessories are very appropriate, and extremely reasonably priced.

Film camera prices are in freefall right now, and the FG could represent an excellent investment for any photographer looking to keep a basic 35mm SLR in their bag. Armed with the excellent Nikkor-E 50mm lens, it just might be th perfect little rig for experimenting with black and white, or chrome film.

If and when you decide to go retro and invest in a 20 + year old SLR such as the FG, you will find a few minor stumbling blocks. Most easily corrected.
One is battery availability. These items , or their modern equivalent can typically be found on Ebay.
Another is mirror damper and light seal replacement. These items deteriorate and leave a gooey mess, and foam cookies all over your mirror, focusing screen, shutter, film door, etc... Also easily solved by taking to your local camera shop, or with a bit of time and patience you can do it yourself for under 10$. Refurb kits are also available on Ebay. I did mine with no prior experience.
If I need digital copies, its simple, I have my local film shop convert the negatives to CD....at a much higher resolution that currently available with digital cameras.
I've had excellent luck with mine, and with my vintage hippie strap I found in a street stall Saigon, its as retro as it gets! Happy Shooting!

I deal in Nikons on Ebay all of the time and as my ME section suggests, I have a fair amount of experience with most of them (and own far too many) but these have always been one of my favorites. I won't duplicate all of the praises already given, but simply stated, if you are a novice and want to explore these things we called film cameras before the digital age emerged, or like both formats, this is an incredibly lightweight, compact, full-featured and dependable part of Nikon history that probably won't ever be duplicated. It IS important to remember that the FG is very battery-sensitive and will throw a shutter lockup tantrum if the battery runs low. I suggest good quality lithium batteries (takes either two 1.5V or one single cell 3V).

Offered in both chrome and black bodies reasonably here on Ebay in the $50-$100 range (black looks really classy with a nice Nikkor f/1.4 or f/1.8 lens, but is more scratch and fingerprint sensitive) they still get my vote.

Get a nice clean one from a reputable seller while you still can!

My ebay-purchased Nikon FG was gotten for my grandson to use for a high school black and white photo course.

I had several Nikon bodies and lenses from 8mm through 1000mm in focal length, and his little FG can make use of them all with the exception of three very old non-AI lenses that will only work on the original F's and F2's.

This FG from an ebay seller was in absolutely pristine condition. The case was a little gooey at the glued edges and some flocking was flaking off the interior, but the camera and its foam seals were fine...indicating that the case had done a good job of moderating humidity and temperature changes which can exacerbate foam deterioration.

Though capable of full-auto exposure control, it can be used completely manually, which is a much better manner in which to learn proper exposure. As a photo instructor, I always cautioned students that automatic cameras are automatically dumb -- they have no clue as to what they are looking at and will make every attempt to make white sand or a night street scene into an "average" 18% grey.

Batteries are available at Radio Shack and other retailers, but if they fail the camera can used at a mechanical shutter speed of 1/90 second.

I bought my first FG when they came out to compliment my F2 Photomic and FE. I liked the weight of the FG. The Photomic was getting too heavy for me to tote around and I sold it keeping my FE. I used the FG as a backup to the FE and finally sold the FG keeping my FE. Recently I began looking for a lighter weight camera again for carrying around and just purchased a beautiful little FG and am waiting for it to arrive.
With my first FG I seldom, if ever, used P preferring manual but, with my advancing years and recent interest in foggy morning and inclement weather photography I may have use of the P mode so I can concentrate more on comp.
I like the camera precisely because it takes every Nikkor lens I own
Do I recommend the camera. YES. YES.

My wife has used a Nikon F for as long as I've known her. She was a photojournalist back then, in the mid '70s. For the past few years, she hasn't been using it, for several reasons. Her Vivitar prime lenses were pretty much worn out, the body was heavy and bulky, and her Gossen hand meter was a bit clunky and inconvenient for casual shooting.

Recently, knowing that used Nikon gear was going for ridiculously low prices, I decided to add to her lens kit with genuine Nikon optics, which pretty much last forever. While shopping for lenses, I was intrigued by all the Nikon EMs I was seeing. Since she doesn't do pro shooting anymore, I thought that she might like one of those bodies, because of the very small size and the aperture priority auto exposure. I got her one, which came with the series E 50mm normal lens. I also got the dedicated MD-E motor drive and SB-E electronic flash. I also got her a small Nikon camera case, big enough to hold the small body and a couple of lenses.

The light seals and mirror foam weren't shot, but they obviously were going to need replacement in the fairly near future, so I bought a kit of materials for replacing those, and did the job in about an hour.

The EM has pretty much the same auto-exposure system as my Nikon FE2. Although the FE2 also has manual exposure mode available, I hardly ever use it. But, I'd noticed that the FG also has manual exposure, along with Program exposure automation, and they go for hardly any more money than the EM, and the EM accessories fit the FG. So, I bought a black FG body for her, thinking she could use the EM as a backup for it.

When it arrived, I showed it to one of my neighbors, a pro shooter who usually works with medium format cameras. He fell in love with the thing, and ran out the next day and bought one for $150 from a neighborhood camera store. He decided that it was the perfect camera for just carrying around with him- something he hadn't been doing for years.

His light seals and mirror foam were also getting iffy, as were the ones in the FG body I'd bought, so I replaced them in both cameras. The kit of seal and mirror materials I bought from an eBay seller who goes by "jgood" or something similar, had enough material for doing six bodies, for about $6, which was a really good deal.

My wife loves her "new" camera kit. While I got the motordrive just because it was inexpensive and really cute, it turns out that she's getting a bit of arthritis in her hands, and not having to use the film advance lever was a big plus to her. So, she's very happy with it. While I was at it, I'd also picked up a Nikon SB-20 flash, and she loves the TTL flash exposure, the zooming and tilting features of the strobe head.

I doubt that I spent more than $200 for the two bodies, several lenses and all the accessories. What a bargain, and everything looks and works perfectly. My wife is very happy with it all, and is planning to get a lot of usage out of it.

This is a very good time to be buying Nikon film camera equipment, because of there being a glut of it on the market, with so many people switching over to digital. However, I've also been hearing that a lot of pro and serious shooters are going back to film, because image quality of digital cameras, even Nikon's best one, still can't match the resolution of a Nikon FG or whatever, with a Nikon optic in front of the film. So, I imagine that prices will start to rise again, as more people catch on and start buying the stuff.

This Nikon is a interesting diversion into the portable amateur market. It is light weight, easy to use, and now represents good value as a backup camera. Why do I say that? Well, they are very cheap, and at this point almost disposable. You can purchase a nice example for the same price as half a dozen actual disposables. So if you have any old Nikon prime glass sitting on the shelf, this becomes a perfect "toss in the car" kit.

The downside is that the FG is very flimsy in construction. It will not take lightly to rough treatment. However, if you do break it, there is always another one readily available on EBAY!

So I would recommend this to anyone who is considering taking up photography, as it is a good camera with plenty of old Nikon AI glass available at excellent prices. Also recommended for anyone who may be entering areas where potential equipment damage is high. If you break one of these, you just move on.

For your actual backup camera, this is not as good as a Nikon FM or FM2. Those two bodies are designed to take repeated abuse. I have confidence in my current FM above any other camera! But even with it, I don't like to go to the beach on a windy day. However, the FG goes to the beach...

One last quirk for the new FG owner, it has the annoying feature of locking out the light meter and shutter for the first few frames. Those crazy 70's engineers. Bet they got jobs at Microsoft later.

The Nikon FG is one of those cameras that isn't the "best" at anything - yet it may represent one of the most well-balanced SLR's ever made.

Look quickly at the specs: a highly accurate electronic shutter with full manual control, aperture-priority mode, and full program. A Nikon Ai capable lens mount that can use virtually any lens ever made by Nikon. A decent range of accessories including a dedicated motor drive, a dedicated TTL flash, and a date back. In short - the FG does what 99% of what most photographers need a camera to do - and it does it in a lightweight, elegant body.

The shortcomings are few, and I scored this camera a five out of five despite them. There's no mirror lock, no power-rewind on the dedicated motor drive, and the dedicated flash isn't exactly big. But for the amateur and part-time professional market that this camera was aimed at, the accessories are very appropriate, and extremely reasonably priced.

Film camera prices are in freefall right now, and the FG could represent an excellent investment for any photographer looking to keep a basic 35mm SLR in their bag. Armed with the excellent Nikkor-E 50mm lens, it just might be th perfect little rig for experimenting with black and white, or chrome film.

I bought to use at photography school, this camera it is the best to learn how to take picture, total manually.

I've had Cannons, Minoltas, and even other Nikons...but this little stinker is my all time favorite...it's small, light, and it takes incredible shots and never fails me. Little story...I had one stolen about 5 years ago...the insurance company paid me squat for it, but in the last year, I bought 2 to replace the one I lost, and the first one wwasn't a fluke,..these 2 I have are the same in performance that I remember my long lost darlin'.....I now know I have a great camera and the replacements proved to me that it's THE camera not just the particular one I had...can't beat it....just wish the thing had a quicker shutter speed...1/1000 sec is a bit slow to stop the wheels of a AA/fuel dragster on top end with the chute opened...but I can live with that....(besides I don't work for Hot Rod Magazine or SS&DI anyhow)

This camera was supposed to be an "entry" camera, to introduce Nikon to the beginner. It was scoffed at by the professionals who had their F's and later, their D's, the digitals. But any pro who has used the FG as a backup must admit that its light weight, program and priority-automated methods are excellent. The meter is center weighted and the camera chooses the shutter speed in these two methods. All manual is the method for the student. Nearly all Nikon lenses work, as does several motor drives and electronic flashes. The camera I have is 20 years old, at least, and shows little signs of wear. IMHO it's as good as the FE and a close second to the FE2.

the camera i purchased was not a good deal for me. I took it to a camera shop and they said it would cost at least $150.00 to fix it- the seller did not disclose any defect, so needless to say I was not happy with the purchase.

I love Nikon cameras,I found this Nikon FG is sell at a low price.In this deal,not only a camera,but also a Nikkor lens and some filters,it is over worthwhile.
So,I bought it by the above-mentioned reason.

I love Nikon cameras,I found this Nikon FG is sell at a low price.In this deal,not only a camera,but also a Nikkor lens and some filters,it is over worthwhile.
annwnere good nikon camera, recently will be nikon camera...

I got a super Deal on a Nikon 35m camer. works well and is almost New. If you do you homework, you can score great deals on E Bay

I purchased this camera as a Christmas present because the seller claimed it was in good working condition. When I recieved the camera I found it hung up when taking the photo. I have sent it into a camera shop to find out what the problem is before notifiying the seller and leaving a negative feedback. I want to be fair before responding.

HELLO, IT BUYS THE CAMERA BECAUSE I HAVE A WAREHOUSE WHERE I BUY AND SELL PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTICLES.I NEED THE CAMERA FOR A CLIENT.

I got this camera for my sister as a gift. She loves this camera and has been getting the hang of it! I decided to buy it for her so that she could explore photography a little more and now she has decided that she wants to sign up for photography classes. The quality of photos that this camera takes is amazing!

camera is in the condition stated. works well. shipped out fast and packed nice. extra lens works nice also. thank you

Love the compactness of the camera. Metering is quite reliable and accurate.

It is the camera for newbies who want to start shooting film. It has everything you need.

The seller stated the Nikon FG camera was jammed and was selling it as parts. Having the same model camera for a number of years, I had an idea what was wrong with it. The condition of the camera showed some use but otherwise clean. My analysis of the problem was correct and I shortly had it back in operation. I installed a new battery and completed my operational checkout and found it to operate fully with all functions normal...It was great buy!

The camera delivery was fine. However, batteries dead, battery case corroded and one contact completely eaten through, film advance was stuck, making camera unusable. Son took it to a camera shop in Denver and it was repaired for a little under $200.

Not a good experience. Seller said "it was mother's camera and he knew she used it in the Spring 08.

built solid. will last a long time...just take care of it. you`ll learn some photography skills that digital will have a hard time doing because of digital`s convenience and endless shots...mistakes are masked. certainly not a replacement for digital but value of this will be the same or even appreciate a little over time...the digital cams,i doubt it.