The Nikon F55 is the cheapest Nikon ever, even cheaper than an APS compact. I bought mine for £7 on an eBay BIN, had I had patience and bid on a few auctions I could have got one for £5, I have even seen them sell on open auctions for £1 – literally cheaper than chips. In fact, a fully working camera is worth less than its body cap.
My F55 came with the instruction manual which has a great and optimistic outlook. It starts by saying that this camera is sure to make photography a bigger part of your life and I do hope so as this will be my ‘carry everywhere’ camera for 2021. Mr and Mrs Smith from Llandudno, who bought this camera new were certainly enamoured by it, they placed an address sticker on the introduction page and highlighted the important parts of the manual – they really studied it. They placed the camera and lens serial numbers on the back where Nikon leave room for notes. I like to imagine the Smiths were upgrading from a P&S or maybe a bridge camera and this was indeed a big jump into serious photography. I think they must have been frustrated by the lag inherent in P&S cameras, the missed focus that occurs far too often and the red eye caused by the super powerful flash that seemed to go off even in bright sun. So many missed and ruined photographs. The camera is in great condition, the Smiths clearly took care of it, but then, they probably only used it for maybe two years before downgrading to a digital P&S or bridge camera, a digital DSLR being too much money. But soon enough they were no longer uploading their jpgs to an online printer and they just uploaded them to Facebook with a cable. In a year or two the Facebook app on their new smart phone meant they could do without a camera altogether as their mobile telephone allowed them to link their photos to Facebook. So seamless. That old F55 languished in a drawer, but Mr Smith did have the good sense to remove the batteries. A good decade later the Smiths moved house and cleared out all the old junk, the camera was part of a job lot a chap came to take and he tried his luck on eBay with the camera. He didn’t fancy his chances seeing completed listings for only £1 but thought he’d give it a go at £7. He was in luck as an impatient buyer snapped it up with an idea of coupling it to a 50mm and using it as an every day camera.
The F55 is so light and plastic, even the lens mount is plastic, but there is metal in the tripod socket and some of the take up spool. This is not a camera designed for frequent lens changes or for getting knocked in a war zone. It suits me fine in my carpeted home, even my car has carpet.
I do think these plastic, light and cheap cameras are more viable than the cult P&S cameras whose prices are entering the stratosphere. For not too much more bulk and weight you get full manual control, exposure compensation, Matrix Metering, freedom to use many lenses and accurate auto focus. If your Ricoh GR1v dies, you cry, if your F55 dies you spend another £1. I also think the Nikkor 50mm is better than the Yashica T5 lens. I do wish, however, that Nikon made an autofocus pancake lens like the Canon 40mm. That would really slim the profile.
My F55 came with the instruction manual which has a great and optimistic outlook. It starts by saying that this camera is sure to make photography a bigger part of your life and I do hope so as this will be my ‘carry everywhere’ camera for 2021. Mr and Mrs Smith from Llandudno, who bought this camera new were certainly enamoured by it, they placed an address sticker on the introduction page and highlighted the important parts of the manual – they really studied it. They placed the camera and lens serial numbers on the back where Nikon leave room for notes. I like to imagine the Smiths were upgrading from a P&S or maybe a bridge camera and this was indeed a big jump into serious photography. I think they must have been frustrated by the lag inherent in P&S cameras, the missed focus that occurs far too often and the red eye caused by the super powerful flash that seemed to go off even in bright sun. So many missed and ruined photographs. The camera is in great condition, the Smiths clearly took care of it, but then, they probably only used it for maybe two years before downgrading to a digital P&S or bridge camera, a digital DSLR being too much money. But soon enough they were no longer uploading their jpgs to an online printer and they just uploaded them to Facebook with a cable. In a year or two the Facebook app on their new smart phone meant they could do without a camera altogether as their mobile telephone allowed them to link their photos to Facebook. So seamless. That old F55 languished in a drawer, but Mr Smith did have the good sense to remove the batteries. A good decade later the Smiths moved house and cleared out all the old junk, the camera was part of a job lot a chap came to take and he tried his luck on eBay with the camera. He didn’t fancy his chances seeing completed listings for only £1 but thought he’d give it a go at £7. He was in luck as an impatient buyer snapped it up with an idea of coupling it to a 50mm and using it as an every day camera.
The F55 is so light and plastic, even the lens mount is plastic, but there is metal in the tripod socket and some of the take up spool. This is not a camera designed for frequent lens changes or for getting knocked in a war zone. It suits me fine in my carpeted home, even my car has carpet.
I do think these plastic, light and cheap cameras are more viable than the cult P&S cameras whose prices are entering the stratosphere. For not too much more bulk and weight you get full manual control, exposure compensation, Matrix Metering, freedom to use many lenses and accurate auto focus. If your Ricoh GR1v dies, you cry, if your F55 dies you spend another £1. I also think the Nikkor 50mm is better than the Yashica T5 lens. I do wish, however, that Nikon made an autofocus pancake lens like the Canon 40mm. That would really slim the profile.
