Everything

Not fully manual

This is the best camera on the market for the money you spend. The performance is as good as the bigger brother Nikon N 80. They have the same auto focus mechanism and more.
If you want real performance, get the 28-105 nikkor lens. It is a big difference from 28-80.
Complete the package with skylight filter and Fujicolor NPH 400 film and your pictures will be amazing!!!!!! Good luck to everybody with this system!

Similar Products Used:

Canon rebel 2000
Canon elan 7
Nikon N 80

reasonably good build (metal mount),
precise and quick AF (5 point),
excelent metering,
great pictures with AF28-80G,
SENSITIVE autofocus but not too sensitive,
light to carry

a bit small, but with optional MB17 fits perfect in my hands (and looks better)

This is a perfect beginer/advance camera. You can go manual or fully automatic (or something between), pictures are always great. The new standard G-tipe zoom works great with this camera. Compared to Canon EOS 300 it is much better built. 5 stars

Customer Service

not need it yet

Similar Products Used:

canon EOS 300
nikon n/f80

weight, price and quality

AF seems to get confused in dark circumstances

I've bought it in july and started shooting as much as I could. My pictures from Spain (Holiday in and around Barcelona) were firstclass! For years my wife refused to grab a SLR-camera because she couldn't get to unstand the way the work but the N65 is as simple as it can be. Select, point, choose composition, a light push until the dot shines and bang! A 5 year old kid is able to handle it. Chapeau Nikon !

Customer Service

Not used until now

Similar Products Used:

Canon EOS 300

This is my first SLR. Up until now I have always used point and shoot cameras; sometimes my pictures came out good, sometimes not; so I wanted a camera that offered me more flexibility and consistency with the ability to learn the finer details of photography, such as learning to set shutter speeds and f-stops. I've had this camera for about 2 months and I love it!! The pictures are clear and sharp, the camera is comfortable to hold, not too big, it is attractive and all the features are pretty simple to learn. It can be either fully manual or fully auto focus. The auto focus is wonderful!! I really got this camera so I could take action shots of my niece who shows/jumps horses. My action shots are great! In fact, at one recent show they had a semi-professional photogragher there to take pictures---for the most part my pictures were just as good, they were every bit as clear/sharp ,although she did have a few that filled the frame better than mine. I did get the "cheap" lenses that were offered as part of a package. One is a 28-80 and the other is 70-300, both Quantaray. I know these don't get the best reviews from people who are really into photography, but I have been extremely happy with them for my purposes at this time. I just take causal pictures--family get togethers, pictures of my dogs,etc. I've shot several rolls with great, consistent good quality results.

None

In summary, the camera is great! I would recommend this to a beginner/causal user because it's easy to use, the results are wonderful and it has features for us to learn more photography skills in the future.

Customer Service

Staff at Ritz Camera have been so helpful answering my questions about my camera and general photography questions---I stop in about 1x a week with a question. No problems yet with my camera.

Similar Products Used:

My last camera was a Pentax IQ Zoom (point
& shoot--a good little camera)

Weight.Fully featured low-end model.
Very responsive AF with low-light assist sensor that produced sharp photos.
Separate battery for date imprinting (D model)

Price.
Clarity of display.
Metering for older lenses.

I've used heavier bodies before and have always appreciated the steady hold of a lighter one. The only lighter model to date is the new Minolta Maxxum 5 at 12 oz.

I like the features Nikon included. Many of the features such as dummy (auto modes) and manual overrides is easy to set. A couple of buttons as the one for exposure compensation, multi-exposure mode and 5 point AF settings I have to lookup on the manual.

I particularly like using the DOF preview button (not available on many brands of SLR) to fine-tune my compositions though I missed the on-demand grid-lines feature available for the N80 and the interchangeable focus screen with grid-lines I have already in my FM2.

The only feature I have available on my FM2 that is not available here is the 1/4000 shutter speed and the 1/250 flash sync speed. I hardly ever taken any picture requiring that kind of speed anyway.

I took the camera to a local tennis tournament. It was quite a a thrill to use my Tokina ATX 80-400 lens and I found out how responsive the AF was both in the auto (closest subject preference) and the AF point at the center. As the player leave the court for autographs, I had a chance for close-up faces including Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams. The auto AF (closest subject preference) doesn't work well when subject is close-by and can easily be fooled by other objects also in proximity that I have to switch to a single point AF.
Continuous shooting at 2.5fps isn't what I expected. When the tennis players move back and forth on the court, his/her distance changes and the camera has to re-focus before taking another shot.

Many people may think that having a separate feature for the date imprinting is an added cost. I've use the Canon EOS 88 where the time and date settings at the back uses the same battery as the camera. When the camera is not in use, the main battery that operate both the data back and the shutter continue to drain. But with the Nikon system, when your date and time goes, your shutter can still operate.

(On the flip side of the coin)
Many people suggested price is an asset. I still find Nikon should have included a basic zoom lens with my purchase that I have the choice to exchange for something better if needed. A friend who bought an FM10 a few years back only got a 35-70mm f3.5-5.6 lens but still better than no lens at all. The Canon EOS I used before included a 28-80 lens. Now Canon came up with a 28-90 f3.5-5.6 as the basic lens. For the FM2 and N65 I paid for at the place I bought it I got just the body, no lens. If Nikon included a lens then many of us wouldn't have settled for cheaper Sigma or Tamron substitutes.

The display with the eye adjust may be a handy addition but not as good as the earlier circular eye piece that you screw in over the viewfinder (started with the Nikkormat and continued onto the FM, FM2 and FEs). At least you have the option to customize special screw in eye piece if your eye-sight does not match the settings allowed with the up and down lever. The first time looking into the viewfinder, found it not as clear as I expected.

What I particularly missed is metering for older lenses. The manual specifically say that you can use older lenses if you set the f-stop manually but the meter won't work. I do find this a nuissance since I do purchase and trade older lenses from time to time because new Nikon lenses are so much more expensive. The only way I can get an accuate reading is with a lens that supports the auto features and then switch back to the one I need without the auto features or use a hand-held meter.
I have a zoom lens that use a screw-mount adapter. I used it on the Canon EOS and the meter actually gave me an acceptable shutter speed setting for the f-stop I was using. Put the same lens on a Nikon mount on an N65, can't get a reading. If you are a bird-watcher or into astronomy, you can fit the camera onto a scope with an adapter but you won't get a meter reading.

Another lens that Nikon came up with equivalent to my Tokina 80-400 except for the VR (vibration reduction) feature. I found that the VR feature only work with certain Nikon models and certainly not my N65 body...

Customer Service

So far none - only 2 months in use.

Similar Products Used:

Canon EOS 88 (bought in Asia). The equivalent in North America is probably the Rebal G.

Easy operation
Metal lens mount
Light-weight
Excellent metering
Fast and Precise auto-focus
Lots of advanced features(e.g., automatic bracketing, depth of field preview,etc...)

No manual asa/iso settings
No Auto-exposure lock

My first camera i had ever used was a Minolta XG-1 which only had Aperture Priority mode and manual mode which kept the camera very simple to operate and learn on. I recently upgraded to the Nikon N65 and am very happy with the camera. Its got just the right amount of features for someone whos wants to expand their horizons in photography but dont wish to spend too much money and/or want a too advanced camera. The Nikon N65 overall is an excellent camera.

Customer Service

No need for it yet

Similar Products Used:

Canon Rebel G
Nikon N70
Pentax ZX-30

General easy of use.
# of advanced features (e.g., auto bracketing, depth preview, etc.).
Accuracy of autoexposure.

No autoexposure lock.
No spotmeter (a reasonable exclusion for the price).

I have been very pleased with this camera. Very easy to use but full featured enough to allow for creativity on the part of the photographer. The light weight nature of the camera is a plus if you plan to carry it on hiking trips (as I do). The feature I miss the most is the autoexposure lock. However, I have been generally pleased with the autoexposure decisions of the camera. Great camera for an amature photographer. I chose this over the N80 since the N80 is a bit more expensive and also lacks a spotmeter.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

Canon Rebel 2000
Older Konica SLRs