Nikon body suggestions? (no longer needed!)

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RaoulDuke

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Having recently picked up a rather nice Nikon bundle comprising an F301 and lots of lenses and other bits (see the 'my new toy' thread) it transpires that none of the lenses will focus sharply, which I'm guessing means a knackered body. I seem to remember reading that the F301 was rated as fairly unreliable compared to the rest of the range, so it's no big surprise.
As I've no intention of replacing the many lenses I've acquired (at least until I've tried them all!) what compatible body would more experienced members recommend? Bearing in mind that 1) I have a VERY small budget, and 2) I do really like the feel and action of the F301, so something very similar would be good.

Thanks in advance!
 
Any nikon body will do, the 301's are ugly , plasticky and but it shouldn't have problems focussing, are sure it doesn't just need a bit of a clean?
 
I have read a couple of threads on forums where the focusing screen has come loose on them. It is held in by a clip & may be an easy fix?

If you are on a very small budget your Nikon options may be limited. I paid £15 recently for a pretty much mint F301 off of ebay. Plastic & not great looking it may be, but it can take decent photographs so you could think about another one? Could also look at an FG too?
 
RaoulDuke said:
Having recently picked up a rather nice Nikon bundle comprising an F301 and lots of lenses and other bits (see the 'my new toy' thread) it transpires that none of the lenses will focus sharply, which I'm guessing means a knackered body.
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None of the lenses will focus sharply? What about the body do you think would be preventing the lenses from achieving focus?

At any rate, there are a few Nikon bodies that you should be able to pick up for next to nothing with a bit of patience on eBay. I picked up my old F801 and F80 for £5 and £25, respectively. You'll just need to check lens compatibility, however, as some bodies are better suited for use with certain lenses (almost all Nikon lenses will mount, but you could lose certain features such as VR or metering depending on the lens or body).
 
For use with manual focus lenses, good build quality and a smallish budget I'd look into an FM body in good nick for maybe £50 or whatever they are these days. For £100 i'd get an FM2. Well engineered, good in the hand.
 
DNH said:
I have read a couple of threads on forums where the focusing screen has come loose on them. It is held in by a clip & may be an easy fix?

If you are on a very small budget your Nikon options may be limited. I paid £15 recently for a pretty much mint F301 off of ebay. Plastic & not great looking it may be, but it can take decent photographs so you could think about another one? Could also look at an FG too?
Click to expand...


Here is a link that talks about removing the F301 focusing screen. It may help?
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NikonRepair/conversations/topics/9915
 
Many thanks for all the responses!

I'm only guessing that the body is at fault, as it seems unlikely that all 5 lenses would be out of focus by similar amounts - I'll have a look at the focusing screen later on today, and give everything a good clean while I'm at it. If that fails, I'll keep an eye out for something similar on eBay. Am I right in thinking that the actual mounts are exactly the same on all Nikons of that age? I'm not too fussed about metering etc, and only ever use manual focus.
 
Well I'm not a Nikon fan but have no complaints against the Nikon N2000\301 and would use it more if I had a nice selection of Nikkor lenses. Also as a suggestion:- the F90x is going cheap, well maybe you can use some of your digi lenses with it? But also, for you, it can take MF lenses (maybe the experts can say would there be any problems)......well when I got the camera it came with a non AI lens and it seemed to work ok although IIRC the metering didn't work with it h'mm or was it auto stop down :rolleyes:.
 
I was given an F301 and some lenses and whilst it is not the most rugged of Nikons, it is still a fine, much underrated camera. I'm short sighted and had to buy a dioptre correction lens which slides over the viewfinder; it is a very tight fit and looks for all the world like it is part of the camera body when fitted. Are you sure your 301 isn't fitted with one? If so push upwards to remove it.
 
NickT said:
I'm short sighted and had to buy a dioptre correction lens which slides over the viewfinder; it is a very tight fit and looks for all the world like it is part of the camera body when fitted. Are you sure your 301 isn't fitted with one? If so push upwards to remove it.
Click to expand...

RESULT!

There was indeed an extra lens on the viewfinder - it would never have occurred to me to try and remove it; as you say it doesn't stick out that much and looks like an integral piece! Fortunately, I hadn't started messing about with the insides yet :oops: :$

** tries not to look embarrassed and shuffles away **
 
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