Nikon F100 Review
Is this the best film camera for most people, most of the time, regardless of price?
When I got back into photography, it was all about film. I dusted off my old manual film SLRs and had a play.
I read Ken Rockwell’s site and tried out slide film. It was terrible. Both his advice and my attempts to expose it properly.
I bought a Yashicamat 124G. It produced wonderful pictures but was too slow and clunky. I wanted something faster, more modern. I bought a Fujifilm GA645Zi. This huge toy camera produced some great photos when it focussed where you wanted it to, but that was rare. A point and shoot that doesn’t focus when you point and shoot it is not reliable enough, especially when each frame of film costs as much as it does. I couldn’t continue to justify putting film through it, so it went too.
The next recommendation came in the form of the Nikon F100. I wasn’t shooting film to sell to clients, but for my own interest and education. So whilst it didn’t have the resolution of medium format, 35mm was certainly a cheaper, and more accessible format.
Shooting 35mm gives you access some pretty advanced cameras designed around the turn of the millennium (you scoff but a lot of MF film cameras are much older). If you take a modern Nikon or Canon film camera, add some modern AF glass to the front, and you don’t shoot directly into the sun, you can put it in A, S or P mode and snap away merrily, providing you follow the 1/focal length shutter speed rule (50mm lens means 1/50s minimum, 200mm lens means 1/200s minimum etc.).
Look, you can spend as much money buying Lightroom presets for your digital photos as you can buying a decent Nikon F100 off eBay. The camera is a bit like the D800, it’s semi-pro which means a round eyepiece, controls where you might expect them, and nothing superfluous.
You set the ISO by pressing the ISO button and turning the rear adjuster knob. Ditto for bracketing and Flash Sync speed. To change between shooting modes you press down the button and turn the knurled adjuster, as is the case with all professional Nikon cameras.
The Camera has a custom functions menu which is accessed via CSM button on the left rear. To view the CSM functions, have a look at the F100 user manual here. This allows you to tweak all of the elements to your liking, things such as dynamic AF with close subject priority focussing, stops intervals (1/3, 1/2 or whole stops), auto film rewind, advance film when you close the rear door upon loading, enabling or disabling AF when depressing the shutter button etc.
The shutter button is standard Nikon, with an exposure compensation and mode button behind, rotating it past on illuminates the top LCD panel for shooting in poor light. Behind are the MODE selector and exposure compensation button.
On the front of the camera there is the usual selector switch for autofocus settings (manual, single, continuous) and a depth of field preview button as well as the lens removal button and flash PC and remote timer sockets.
On the right hand side of the prism is the metering selector switch which goggles between matrix metering, centre weighted and spot metering.
LCD display
The LCD display shows what you need, MODE (P, A, S, M), shutter speed, aperture, an exposure meter, autofocus point selection, and information relating to flash, bracketing, ISO as and when required, and frame number. There is also a battery meter which is accurate. Get some spare batteries ready when it gets to halfway.
Autofocus
The autofocus system allows you to choose between single [ ] and continuous [+]. This is used in conjunction with the focussing C, S, M switch on the front of the camera. The AF point is selected using the rear thumb pad, which can be locked if required.
For stationary subjects or reframing, use [ ] with S for single autofocus on a single AF point, while dynamic objects (not sure why you’d use a film camera for those, but back in the early 2000s….) use [+] and C for continuous autofocus. In dynamic [+] mode, after selecting the autofocus point and focussing on the subject, the camera will track the subject using any of the 5 autofocus points as your subject moves across the viewfinder.
You also have AE-L AF-L and AF-ON buttons which are locks for auto exposure and autofocus, while the AF-ON button can be used instead of a half press of the shutter button to focus. This is set up in the Custom Menu (see below).
On the top left are the CSM Custom Menu and L – Shutter / Aperture lock button.
Is it expensive to run?
I’ve spent more money that I would have liked keeping mine going, but I have had it nearly ten years, and it’s taken some good photos over those years, so it’s not been an expensive piece of equipment, all things considered.
It is very light on batteries, and I have left it switched on for extended periods without battery drain.
I replaced the rear door, I also had to send the camera off to Nikon as it wouldn’t autofocus properly, so entire rolls of beautiful film were wasted 😔, and most recently the battery cage broke but I sourced a new one for around £20 off eBay. I might buy another or perhaps a grip for future proofing purposes.
If you shoot digital Canon, and have Canon glass then have a look at the EOS1, EOS1n and EOS1v, which are all reasonably priced Canon alternatives.
Handling
If you have a Nikon DSLR, then the F100 will feel very familiar in your hands. Being a film body it is slightly wider than a digital body, but also less deep. It feels solid, and everything else is as you would expect. The crop of current DSLR’s are built upon the design and ergonomic development of the film SLR bodies, so you’re in good hands. See my GA645Zi review for a size comparison photo.
Use
Easy Peasy Japanese-y. The camera takes 4AA batteries held in a cage, or you can buy the optional MB-15 battery grip.
If the camera is switched on at the time, the film can wind on automatically when you load it (Custom menu setup), line up the film end to the red dot, and shut the rear door and it advances to frame 1. If your camera is off then you’ll need to switch it on and press the shutter button to get to frame 1.
I typically get 36-37 frames from a 36 exp roll. The camera sounds like a proper old school camera when it auto advances after the shot. It’s not too noisy, but don’t take it to the concert hall, or you won’t be popular.
Speaking of auto advance, when you have finished the roll and you want to rewind the film, you press and hold two buttons, the Bracket button and the exposure comp button. Once the rewind starts you can let go.
This starts the rewind process which stops once the film is safely back in its container.
I once made the mistake of opening up the back with film still inside (I knew the roll was finished, but thought I’d taken it out). Thereafter I set the camera to auto rewind when it reaches the end of the film. If you shoot at weddings, you might not want to have this happen, but for me it’s peace of mind that I’m not about to ruin my film by opening up the back.
Viewfinder
The viewfinder is nice and big, with easily visible green LCD showing the metering mode, whether the camera focus is locked, the shutter speed, aperture, exposure meter and number of frames.
Lenses
The F100 works with all Nikon lenses, though you may need to manually select on the camera if there are no CPU contacts. The functionality of the camera is reduced with anything older than -G or -D lenses. It has a built in screw drive for lenses without their own inbuilt focussing motors.
I have used the camera predominantly with the Nikkor AF-S 50mm F1.8, which produces nice results and is really affordable, especially used. If you have no Nikon lenses, I’d highly recommend this one.
Metering
The F100 has a 3D matrix metering system which is not quite as advanced as that on the F5, but it’s not far off. I tend to externally meter anyway when using film, but if the light is flat or behind you, there’s no harm in using the inbuilt meter.
Just remember to err on the side of overexposing, and remember the real speed of your film is slower than the advertised box speed (Here’s a handy reference sheet courtesy of the great guys at MastinLabs.com). So Portra 400 is ISO320, FujiPro400h is ISO100. Set your ISO meter or camera ISO accordingly.
There are two methods other than matrix metering available; spot metering and centre weighted average metering. The centre weighted average takes into account a larger area than spot, but both weight the exposure towards whats in the middle of the viewfinder. See below from the F100 brochure.
If you’re not using an external meter, something like a Sekonic L758, then for photos where you are looking into the sun, a centre weighted average or spot function will likely be better than Matrix metering which will tend to underexpose your negative.
Does it have any competition?
Without wanting to sounds cocky, not really. The Nikon F5 is definitely more robust, but it also weighs a lot more. If you’re a Nikon professional, and your dalliance with film goes as well as you hope, and you find yourself adding a roll or two of Kodak Portra 400 into your wedding shoots, then you will definitely appreciate the tank-like build quality of the F5.
The F5 is the most advanced Film body that Nikon has created (apart from the swansong spec F6 which looks remarkably similar to the F100). The F5 can shoot at 8 frames per second and has an autofocus system which can keep up. But for everybody else, the F100 is all the camera you will ever need and then some, and the good thing is that Nikon still service it as of 2020, thought this support will likely disappear at some point.
Summary
If you like shooting with your Nikon D850 and have some nice Nikkor glass, and you fancy trying out your 24–70mm f2.8 on a film body, then $200 on a F100 body is not a huge outlay.
If you don’t get on with it you can sell it and recoup most of your outlay. If you do get on with film, and you find it helps you develop new skills and a new fresh look to your work, then you’ve got yourself something which integrates effortlessly into your current workflow and will last for many years to come.
If you don’t have any Nikkor glass, then I would recommend the 50mm f1.8G which is available for around $100–150 used and provides nice photos. It’s the only lens I have (once this photography thing takes off, I’ll be able to try some more, but for now, it does the job).
If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you’ll know I don’t recommend many of the cameras I’ve owned, but when it comes to the F100, I really can’t fault it and I heartily recommend it to everyone who happens to ask “What’s that?”.
If you get a decent working example, and shoot a test roll with your favourite lens to check everything is working at it should, you’ll have yourself a keeper for the cost of an external hard disk.
Sure, you could buy a nice used Medium Format camera for $300–$500, something like a Mamiya 645 or Pentax 645, but unless you’re a professional, do you really need the extra expense and hassle of medium format just to get less grainy images? If we’re being honest with ourselves, the answer is probably not.
Sample Photos
Here are some sample photos taken over the years with the F100, straight back from the lab (no retouching). Not that this is anything to do with the camera, it’s more about the glass, film and the development. A good film camera should just get out of the way and let you do your thing, and in this regard, the F100 excels.
Get yourself an F100 on eBay here.
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