Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3296 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Nikon
• Model: N75
• Dimensions: 4.30" h x 8.40" w x 10.40" l,

Features

• More Portable - This Nikon SLR is compact and light enough for anyone to handle.
• Enhanced Versatility - With fully automatic mode and five Vari-Program modes.
• Sharper Pictures - Five-Area Dynamic Autofocus.
• Nikkor Lens - 28-80mm f3.5-3.6
• Superior Exposure - 25-Segment 3D Matrix Metering to capture scene in detail

Customer Reviews

Very good - but make sure you're comfortable with size
It is essentially a facelift job on Nikon N65 (marketed outside US as F65), and all the good things that can be said about N65 apply to this product, too: it's reliable, it's capable of fully-manual operation (although this can be a little fiddly and N75 will feel more natural in automatic or semi-automatic mode).

Quality of pictures, for the price, is stunning, and in the line-up of entry-to-medium level SLRs this is definitely the one to choose (for example, auto-focus speed beats Canon equivalent hands down; Canon Rebel 300 - marketed outside US as Canon EOS 300 - also looks decidedly like a cheap compact camera with a big lens on top).

For many, many users (including myself) it will provide all the advanced functions that they will ever want. Pricier "professional" cameras like N80 are of course more robust and may have a few extra features or even faster AF, but the difference in price will be so significant that you will have to be a heavy user to make a more expensive camera pay for itself.

The only reservation about N75 is the size: Nikon tried to make this camera as small as possible, which makes it more agreeable for delicate hands (or so they think). For someone like me, a person with bigger paws, it does not feel right - it is just not chunky enough to provide a good grip: a lightweight camera it might be, but still it is no compact thing which you could put in your shirt pocket. This is an important consideration: all the good features will bring you no joy if you feel awkward holding the camera in your hands.

Excellent, economical SLR
I love my Nikon N75 - it's by far the best camera I've ever owned. I've had it for several months now, and have taken the best pictures of my life with it. A great first SLR, due to the ability to leave it in fully automatic mode at first, and then start using the expanded features as you learn.

I mainly wanted to write this review to debunk the 'error' a previous reviewer was complaining about. They really should read the owner's manual... The 'film not loaded error icon' that they are talking about is used in two ways on this camera. If when you first load the film, something goes wrong, this will blink to indicate the film was not loaded correctly. The second use is as a 'low-film' indicator. When you're looking through the viewfinder, this light will blink when you hit 5 exposures left. It's obviously meant to let you know you're getting close to the end of your film, so you don't miss that 'perfect shot' due to running our of film. The fact that the reviewer went through several of these cameras, and never figured this out astounds me. I've never had to contact Nikon support, but I would hope that the support person I got would be a little more knowledgeable than the people she talked too...

Overall, if you're looking to get started with an SLR, you can't go wrong with this camera. I would, however, suggest that you visit your local Ritz (or equivilent camera shop) to hold onto the camera, and compare it to a few others. I was all set to buy a Canon Rebel Ti, based soley on reviews - until I went to the shop. It just felt wrong in my hands, where the Nikon felt perfect. It's all a matter of personal preferrence, so you'll want to make sure you're getting the right one.

I've also been pretty hard on this camera since I got it (Ritz has an optional replacement warranty, so I've not been too worried) - including getting it soaked on a boat trip. It's kept on going through everything I've thrown at it - very durable.

Pros:

-Can be used as a point-and-shoot when needed (or while learning)
-Has the ability to control every aspect of the picture taking process.
-Great built in flash
-Amazing 25 point 3D metering system
-Controls are all easily accesible while holding the camera
-In my opinion, it just feels sturdier and more comfortable in your hand than the Canon Rebel Ti - Canon's equivilant camera

Cons:
-Being an SLR, it's a little on the big side. It is, however, lighter than you might expect. Basically, you have to be making the commitment to carrying it around with you. For this, I'd highly recommend one of the lowepro bags - they're about the smallest you can get for this type of camera.

great camera!
So here's where I'm coming from: I'm big on photography enthusiasm (I would rate myself as a semi-serious to serious amateur), and very low on budget. I've owned a Pentax SLR camera before, as well as a few point-and-shoots.

I bought this camera last August after doing a lot of research both online and in magazines like Popular Photography. All the reviews raved about it, and boy, were they true! It's a wonderful camera for both the starting amateur (you can just set it on the Auto mode, and all you need to do then is point and shoot!) and the more serious amateur (you can make the camera all-manual by selecting the corresponding mode, or do speed-priority and aperture-priority). Still life and close-up enthusiasts will definitely enjoy the depth-of-field preview button, and everyone will benefit from Nikon's great series of lenses. One note there: this camera works with the Nikon "G" series lenses, which have no aperture ring -- aperture is set electronically from within the camera.

While I have exposed only a very few rolls of film with this camera yet, I have a friend who took hers to Norway, shooting in low-light conditions, from speeding boats, buses and what not, entirely in the point-and-shoot AUTO mode -- and the snaps look absolutely brilliant! Hats off to the light-metering system, which is better than on similar Canon Rebels etc.

There is one point to note however: while this SLR kit comes with the 28-80mm G nikkor lens, I bought a different kit, which had the 28-100mm G lens. I find the extra zoom of that lens makes it even better if you want to survive on a one-lens-only basis. The other lens I want to buy soon (since I'm somewhat interested in bird photography) is the 70-300mm nikkor G lens.

If you are considering digital cameras as well -- I decided to go for a manual SLR because there is no way you can get this quality of photos and this range of optical fiddling options at this low a budget in a digital camera. I would say that's easily two years away right now. I just get my photo lab guys to make me a Photo CD, so I can easily send the pictures I really like to all my friends to admire! ;)

In summary, I would say look no further -- Nikon's N75 is the best non-totally-professional SLR film camera out there for a price that fits everyone's pocket!