The Nikon N90s

Huss · Dec 10, 2022

My local shop - Pauls Photo in Torrance - has a really nice N90s for sale (p.s great place to buy film and has a lab etc).
I was playing with it for a while and, man, what a great camera. They had a Nikon f100 next to it, and the first thing I noticed was the N90s has a metal door latch vs the plastic one on the F100.

The price of the F100 was $280. The N90s? $50. What an insane deal, and the only reason I didn’t get it is that I hardly ever use my F6 as it is.

p.s the one downside of the N90 is like the F4 it is not fully compatible w G type lenses, i.e lenses w/o an aperture ring. With those it can only be used in shutter priority or programme. But they can still be used.

Still tempted though, because, dood, $50? I mean sure I can buy five Leicas for that but still.

Eric Rose · Dec 10, 2022

I have 3 of them. Great cameras!! I originally bought them for underwater photography (yes in a housing - duh). They were cheap and disposable. Only flooded one as it turned out. The 3 remaining get used all the time. Solid performers!! Great metering too.

Huss · Dec 10, 2022

Even the AF was great. Testing it indoors it nailed focus instantly.

jimjm · Dec 10, 2022

A seriously underrated camera. I highly recommend you get one. Has the heft and feel of a pro camera, more solid than the F100, IMHO. AA batteries are always easy to find. A lot of the bells and whistles of some later cameras and the VF display is just about perfect. I sold my F4 cause it was just too darn big (for 35mm film) for my use, and the N90s really fills that robust "do-everything" niche. I read that the outdoor photographer Galen Rowell was a big fan, and he put his cameras thru all sorts of tough conditions.

NB23 · Dec 10, 2022

Bargain it down to 30$ and get out of the store with a N90 plus TWO Leicas. Be smart.

ic-racer · Dec 10, 2022

N90 is on my 'want list.' However, last camera show I attended the guy with the AF Nikon gear had a like new in box F100, for not much more than the N90, so I went with that. Still would like a N90 some day.

Sirius Glass · Dec 10, 2022

I have an N90 as a backup when my N75 gives up.

Huss · Dec 10, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
I have an N90 as a backup when my N75 gives up.

That's the thing about the N/F75. Sure it is not built as well as the N90s, and not as feature laden, but it is so light weight (and has built in flash), uses G lenses that in a way it makes more sense than having two big heavy Nikon AF cameras. But the VF on the N90s is big. Even tho I don't happen to have an N75 handy, from what I recall it is much bigger, or at least seems that way.

Either way, these are awesome cameras for stoopid cheap money.

RAY WILSON · Dec 10, 2022

Found one at a flea market this last summer. What attracted me to it was the 80mm f2.8 Nikkor attached to it…..the early autofocus version for the F3AF.

Sirius Glass · Dec 10, 2022

Huss said:
That's the thing about the N/F75. Sure it is not built as well as the N90s, and not as feature laden, but it is so light weight (and has built in flash), uses G lenses that in a way it makes more sense than having two big heavy Nikon AF cameras. But the VF on the N90s is big. Even tho I don't happen to have an N75 handy, from what I recall it is much bigger, or at least seems that way.

Either way, these are awesome cameras for stoopid cheap money.

One of the advantages of the N75 is the built in flash.

gone · Dec 11, 2022

I guess it depends on what lenses you want to use on it. I've owned maybe a dozen N8008s cameras over the years, they're fantastic cameras w/ a real spot meter and take plain AA batteries. But I always used them w/ manual focus Leica R lenses.

If you plan on using the AF Nikkors, then N90s would be better as the AF is supposed to be considerably faster than the N8008s. The one N90 I owned felt somehow bigger, or at least it was a lot taller. I also loved the N8008s's high point viewfinder because I could see the whole frame even w/ my glasses on, which was a big plus.

Otherwise, feature for feature they're pretty much the same. Very bright viewfinders, user interchangeable focus screens that take about 30 seconds to switch out, metering adjustable in 1/3 stops, 3 or 4 different types of metering, AE-Lock, and a lot more.

George Mann · Dec 11, 2022

momus said:
If you plan on using the AF Nikkors, then N90s would be better as the AF is supposed to be considerably faster than the N8008s.

I have owned both. I would say that the 90 has a bit faster and more accurate focus cam, but its not a huge difference. I would say it is like going from almost perfect but generally reliable to as perfect as one could expect.

Both work best with the 1st and 2nd generation autofocus lenses, minus the occational squeak.

mtnbkr · Dec 11, 2022

The last new (as in NIB) film camera I bought was an N80 (this was when it was still in production). I couldn't afford an N90 or F100 at the time. The N80 was great though and by far the most modern 35mm camera I've ever owned. Up to that point I had been using various vintage mechanical SLRs, so having AF, Matrix Metering, Nikon's brilliant flash metering, etc was a revelation. It made chasing and grabbing pics of my young daughter trivial.

That said, while the output was great, I still prefer using the older mechanical cameras for the haptics and all.

Chris

Alan9940 · Dec 11, 2022

I bought the N90 brand new back around the time when it was first introduced. I've always read that the "S" version is supposed to be so much better, but my N90 has never let me down and has never got in the way of me making images. I use it with a couple of D auto-focus lenses and various manual focus lenses, all Nikon. The only thing that's ever happened to it is "sticky rubber covering syndrome" which I removed at some point. Didn't affect functionality, in the least, and the camera still works fine to this day.

Paul Howell · Dec 11, 2022

AP, the Air Force, and Army used N90s rather than F4 and later F5s, lighter, with battery grip if needed, takes standard AA batteries, shoot at around 4 FPS, and if have manual Nikon lens you can get an aftermarket split image focusing screen. Not weather sealed, all plastic composites, and will not work with G lens. I think one of the best bargains out there. I bought a F4, might sell it off and get a N90s.

Nitroplait · Dec 11, 2022

Having owned F801, F801s, F90 and F90x I can't say I feel much difference in AF speed - not for my use anyway.
It may have been improvements in small increments amplified by marketing perhaps?

I tend to prefer the ergonomics of the F801/s over the F90. Tiny bit smaller. The top plate of the F801/s is metal versus the N90 polycarbonate - not that it matters, but the idea just agrees more with me.
I also like that the F801/s don't have the gimmicky vario-program (portrait mode, macro mode etc) of the F90/x.
If you buy an F90/x you may have to spend some time removing the rubber coating on the rear film door. It has likely turned sticky by now - the F801/s didn't have that rubber coating.

Anyway - just unimportant details, those cameras are the best film camera bargains out there at the moment.
Nikkor screwdriver AF lenses are also cheap.

John Bragg · Dec 11, 2022

I bought my F90x when the price for them was at all time low back in 2010. It came with a 50mm f1.8 af lens and an ever ready case and cost me the princely sum of £35 all in. It was my first AF Nikon body and since I have added an F5 an F4 and an F100. All very capable cameras and the F90x proved the gateway drug that introduced this crusty old Luddite to that new fangled auto focus !

Huss · Dec 11, 2022

The sticky back has been removed on this one, so where it was sticky it is now shiny.

just incredible that you can buy a camera like this w 1/8000 shutter for $50.
the same price as my Kodak Ektar H35 w its fixed 1/100 sec shutter.

ericB&W · Dec 11, 2022

I've ordered one yesterday with MB-10, should arrive this week,
i'm satisfied with my F-80 but is my second F-80 as the first one
is broken for power supply problems , i fear that my second f-80 could suffer
the same problem, so i ordered the more reliable f-90 .

Paul Howell · Dec 11, 2022

Over the years, other than sticky back, N90s seem to just keep on trucking, I don't recall many folks to complain of sudden death.

Sirius Glass · Dec 11, 2022

Paul Howell said:
Over the years, other than sticky back, N90s seem to just keep on trucking, I don't recall many folks to complain of sudden death.

Most people after sudden death, do not tend to talk much.

Henning Serger · Dec 12, 2022

Yes, the Nikon F90X (N90s in North American markets) is really an excellent camera in absolute terms.
And in relative terms considering the current extremely low price level on the used market its price-performance ratio for someone who want to start using it it is really very hard to beat. It is a real bargain!

I am using mine since 1998, bought it brand new. It has been a very reliable and trustworthy camera since then. With a very accurate autofocus system and exposure system (including flash with the excellent 3D flash metering, which was introduced with the F90/N90).
And with almost all important features you need.

It has only very few disadvantages:
- lack of multi-exposure capability (you need the data-back for that)
- quite loud
- the rubber of the back is getting sticky over the years, but that can be solved with several tricks (I've used "Armor All Tiefenpfleger" - which is normally used for car cockpits ).

Lots of professionals have used this camera together with their F4 and F5. For good reasons.
By the way: With the Meta 35 you can even also store the EXIF data of all your films, the F90X is recording the EXIF data!

Best regards,
Henning

Huss · Dec 12, 2022

Many Nikon SLRs get that sticky back. My F75 and F80 had it. I'm not sure if my F100 had it as it's been a while but the first two definitely did. Fixed with isopropyl alcohol.

ts1000 · Dec 13, 2022

a question for the people that may know this -- can the battery adapter from N90 fit 8008? Also are there alternative adapters for 8008 (different battery types, or even 3-d printer printed). It seems that this a weakness of the ones appear for sale -- the batter adapters are broken

mtnbkr · Dec 13, 2022

ts1000 said:
a question for the people that may know this -- can the battery adapter from N90 fit 8008? Also are there alternative adapters for 8008 (different battery types, or even 3-d printer printed). It seems that this a weakness of the ones appear for sale -- the batter adapters are broken

I happened to have thangs.com (search engine for 3d printing) open, so I did a quick search. Nothing came up that I saw in a quick scan of the results.

Chris

The Nikon N90s

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