Film Photography and the Nikon F5

Nikon F5

By Anne Ahira

Many of the professional photographers nowadays are using highly expensive digital SLR cameras boasting high megapixel counts and bearing tons of innovative technologies to ensure that the quality of the lens is maximized to output a picture that is as close to reality as possible even when printed.

Because digital photography relies on pixels which may not always be color accurate, some people believe that film photography is still the better choice for overall image quality.

But as DSLR cameras get more advanced each year and no film SLR cameras taking the center stage it is easy to conclude that digital photography is the way of the future. However, certain DSLR cameras like the Nikon F5 deserve a lot of credit as several technologies that the F5 used are carried over to their digital counterparts.

The History of the Nikon F5

The Nikon F5 is the 5th iteration of the F series with the first model being introduced way back in 1959. The early models started as purely mechanical designs until the F3 and F4 models and its variations were released which resemble the current digital models. The Nikon F5 followed in 1996 and lasted till 2004 when the F6 was released.

Main Features

The Nikon F5 is the first of its series to fully support both the Nikkor AF-S and G lenses. It also supports Nikon’s Vibration Reduction technology which is an optical image stabilization method that many of the newer lenses use.

It also introduces the Nikon 3-D color matrix meter with color sensing functions which aid in exposure control and contrast and brightness adjustments. It was famous for short shutter lag, self-adjusting shutter, and support for F-mount lenses like the older models.

How it Influenced Modern Nikon Cameras

The Nikon D1 emerged on 1999 during the time when the Nikon F5 was still on the shelves. Being Nikon’s very first digital SLR camera, many of the design features resemble the F5. Its construction allowed full compatibility with the Nikon F-mount lenses.

The F5 also had a high-precision Autofocus system that includes five focusing areas and brought in the Dynamic AF mode which was carried over to many of the digital SLR cameras by Nikon.

Usefulness in Modern Day Photography

The Nikon F5 is currently in the Nikon archives since it was replaced by the Nikon F6, but some sites like Amazon.com still sell it for around $500 and still stands as a fantastic 35mm film camera for taking quality images. It also has an interchangeable viewfinder pentaprism which the F6 lacks.

Many of the present F mount lenses can be used as well to boost the effectiveness of the images taken in terms of color accuracy and image quality. As long as the film is tolerable, the D5 should perform better than some of the existing entry-level DSLR cameras.

Film photography is still being used by some photographers and developed photographs can be turned into digital images through the use of a high-quality scanner. Learning how to use a Nikon F5 is rewarding especially when using digital SLR cameras.

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