Is the Nikon F90/N90 series ugly?

perkeleellinen · Oct 31, 2020

I had one of these cameras, bought in a panic when my FM2 developed a fault one week before my son was born. The square-ish hand grip was a bit uncomfortable in my hand (but still far better than holding an FM2) and I prefer the more curved handgrips of later AF Nikons. I recently thought about buying another for a project that required a fast motordrive camera but it wasn't fast enough and I bought an F5 instead. Nine years ago when I bought one if these they were selling so cheaply - like £25!

138S · Oct 31, 2020

George Mann said:
A lot of people seem to think so for some reason, but I find its styling to be like the Porsche-design Contax slrs, which I like.

What do you'all think?

When I returned to film the F90 was the first camera I got.

If anyone has a doubt, Nikon was selling the F90 to true Pros to address the F4 shortcommings in the AF while the F5 "revenge" was preparated. In that era Pros using Nikon had a tendence to move to Canon because they offered the AF motor in the lens, being the AF faster in the Pro segment.

The F90 is a Prosumer+ contruction device that was totally able for Pro jobs... When the F5 came all changed, this was a great leap forward, the F5 could destroy the AF gears of some 3rd party discount glass, and it had powerful drivers to move internal motors fast, beyond major improvements in every key feature mattering for News and Sports Pros, among others.

To me, the F90 is better used with the lenses that work well with it, like the fantastics 28-85AF and 50AF ... but we have several drawbacks with other glass series:

>G lenses work perfectly in Program and shutter-priority, but in Manual and Aperture-priority modes only minimum aperture can be used.

> AI and AI-s lenses work great and meter and focus work precisely, but you can't see the set aperture in the finder, you have to count the clicks if wanting to know the aperture, still one may use the DOF preview button to seen the effect.

> VR of modern lenses doesn't work, body cannot instruct the VR system in the lens to start operation, while F5-6-65-75-80-100 are to start the VR function and will have all priority modes with VR and G glass...

So if we use AF / AFD glass it works atonishingly nice, we have in the hands a refined camera, with other glasses we may have some limitations, specially with G and VR glass...

George Mann · Oct 31, 2020

138S said:
> AI and AI-s lenses work great and meter and focus work precisely, but you can't see the set aperture in the finder

I use it exclusively with my Ai lenses, and rarely shoot at anything other than F8, which is optimal for what I shoot.

I have always looked at the aperture ring when changing it.

138S · Oct 31, 2020

George Mann said:
I have always looked at the aperture ring when changing it.

Well... the FM2 also won't show aperture in the viewfinder, and no FM2 lover would complain about that...

Perhaps, what I miss a bit in the F90 (with Ai glass) is the on screen optic focus aid (hor rangefinder and microprism) that the F4 still has. With the F90 one may check focus with the arrows and dot lights at bottom left in the viewfinder, but to me this is way less convenient than the optic aid.

It lacks the classic feel and aesthetics of (say) an FM2 but IMO the F90 has better ergonomy. I use it from time to time with AFD lenses, what I use the most is the F5 and F80, but when I want to use a 3rd film type then the F90 also is a perfect solution, I prefer the F90 feel than the F80 one. Still, the 35mm camera I prefer is the F5, at least for moving kids.

Huss · Nov 3, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
Aw gee, just about everything. His ideas of how the photographic world should be. I have been known to take his articles with me to the bathroom to set me free.

Everything is not an answer. Mention one specific gear related item where he has provided inaccurate/misleading information.

His Leica man shtick is just that. A joke. And saying stuff like P (program mode) means Professional.
But his gear info has been very useful.

Huss · Nov 3, 2020

138S said:
Well... the FM2 also won't show aperture in the viewfinder, and no FM2 lover would complain about that...

The FM2 does show the aperture in the viewfinder. Mine sure does.

jimj · Nov 3, 2020

I wouldn't say ugly but they don't give off a high quality feel.

George Mann · Nov 3, 2020

jimj said:
I wouldn't say ugly but they don't give off a high quality feel.

What part of the F/N90 series fails to feel this way?

jimj · Nov 3, 2020

George Mann said:
What part of the F/N90 series fails to feel this way?

Judging purely on aesthetics it feels chunkier than in need to be in certain places and the door has always given me a miss match vibe.

138S · Nov 4, 2020

Huss said:
The FM2 does show the aperture in the viewfinder. Mine sure does.

Yes, you are right, in the top. Sorry, I've I had not been using the FE2 (wich I judged like the FM2) for some 5 years and I was confused.

Stephen Furley · Sep 4, 2022

George Mann said:
A lot of people seem to think so for some reason, but I find its styling to be like the Porsche-design Contax slrs, which I like.

What do you'all think?

I think it's ugly, but I'm not too worried about how a camera looks, at least when actually using it. I have to say that the one pictured here looks better than mine, for two reasons. Firstly,it has a lens mounted, while most of the time mine just has a cap and secondly, mine has a MB-10 fitted. I don't think that attaching a large lump to a camera, be it a motor drive or a battery pack, does much for the looks of the thing. With the prism housing overhanging at the top, and the vertical and horizontal grips the lens mount is sort of recessed on three sides, and with the body being a somewhat curved shape I think it looks rather like an inflatable rubber model of a camera, or maybe one made out of a bit of old hovercraft skirt. To my mind the best loooking Nikons were the FM and FE.

The F90X is quite a nice camera to shoot with,I took mine to the Isle of Wight last weekend for the bank holiday, loaded with a roll of ProImage 100.

NB23 · Sep 4, 2022

Helge said:
Is there a series? I’m mean is two cameras a series?

It obviously belongs to the same school/style as the F4 and F801/8008, all of which I regard as the last really attractive Nikons.

After that, industrial design as such descended into the nightmarish, everlasting hell of blobby, inflated, sack of flour design, with kooky ovals and whimsical bean shapes.
And there we still largely are (with a few retarded attempts at a stilted return to (retro) form, without really wanting to admit it).

The F90x/N80s is probably the best Nikon camera to get if you want AF.
It’s not fully compatible with new lenses. But who wants that anyway‽ They are expensive, ugly and tailored to digital.

The 90 will take just about any lens from a 77 Ai to late nineties AF with no qualms what so ever.
It’s not quite as attractive as the 8008, but is better than the F4 in most ways.

Yes it was a series. F90/F70/F50, that was a generation of caneras before the F401/F601/F801

gone · Sep 4, 2022

I've owned a number of ugly SLR cameras, and would put the N90/N6006/N8008 SLRs sorta in the middle of the pack. The Canon T90 too, especially when compared to the F1. The Canon Rebel and EOS early "blob" cameras are not any better.

What made the Nikon cameras keepers was (and still is) their performance, low cost and reliability. They almost never break, have accurate meters, and electronic shutters that give crisp exposures.

gone · Sep 4, 2022

You want ugly? This is ugly, even if it is the first drone camera.

Dr Julius Neubronner’s Miniature Pigeon Camera

100 years before drones, in search of better aerial photography, Dr Julius Neubronner patented a miniature pigeon camera activated by a timing mechanism and created a remarkable body of images.

publicdomainreview.org

Huss · Sep 7, 2022

momus said:
You want ugly? This is ugly, even if it is the first drone camera.

Dr Julius Neubronner’s Miniature Pigeon Camera

100 years before drones, in search of better aerial photography, Dr Julius Neubronner patented a miniature pigeon camera activated by a timing mechanism and created a remarkable body of images.

publicdomainreview.org

those cameras go on and on and on and on

vlasta · Sep 8, 2022

F90 - classical beauty.
Handsome, heavy so you can feel it.
In one word - delight

Andrew O'Neill · Sep 8, 2022

I'd rather have the F4. I prefer knobs over little buttons.

Ariston · Sep 8, 2022

The F90x/N90s is sooo ugly. No one should ever buy one! I have four (all bought for less than $30), and they are not worth it at all! Hopefully they will stay on the cheap rubbage heap of disdain forever, so that I never have to pay more than $30 for one of these atrocities.

Huss · Sep 8, 2022

They are ugly. But they are also very good cameras.

jwd722 · Sep 8, 2022

Back around 1999 I had thought about purchasing an N90 but then discovered the newly introduced F100.

Still have that F100...

Tomwlkr · Sep 4, 2023

Interesing, I just won a F90s on ebay for $26. Need another Nikon like I need a hole in my head but " I got the fever"

Tomwlkr · Sep 4, 2023

Just looked online at the manual, my eyes are crossed and my head spinning! Kinda reminds me of the manual for my D200

Is the Nikon F90/N90 series ugly?

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