
nikon F5 powerful beast
Wolfgang Bleier
Austria, May 2010

Haptic and perception
Without doubt, the F5 was made for professionals, uncompromising and highly durable especially for press, wildlife and sports photography. Soon it was clear to me that such camera in the hands of an amateur is somewhat of an exaggeration. Before the F5 I have used Nikon's F3HP for many years, and I still love taking photographs with the F3.

If there is a perfect exposure meter, it's the one of the F5. It' handles even the worst light conditions, say from very well to perfect. The F5's RGB matrix meter has more than 1.000 segment, it can predict the subject and choose the correct metering algorithm far more accurate than any other camera of its time. Should there be a situation requiring classic exposure metering or more creative techniques, the F5 can be quickly changed to (programmable) center weighted metering or spot metering. Its oscillator-controlled shutter provides speeds from 1/8000s to 30s and performs a self-diagnostic routine at every exposure.

Features & Specifications
The list of features and specifications of the F5 is impressive. It is long, very long. Just to think of it to write down all of its (first-rate) data gives me kind of frustration. I could fill pages about this excellent camera, and still not be complete. Instead to wear my fingers to the bone, I have linked a well illustrated F5 brochure published by Nikon in April 2002. This brochure explains the F5 in greater detail and better than I ever could do.

With Nikon's revolutionary 3D color matrix exposure meter it has come to a point that it is almost impossible to get a badly exposed image. The few variables in the simple equation of Shutter Speed + Aperture = Exposure were the main areas where all camera manufacturers have focused their technological progress on, and improved every segment of it during the last 20 years. The outcome is perfect exposure meters that have evolved from this simple equation, but only few people realise the fact that such level of perfection results from just minor differences within an exposure of about 1/3 to 1/2 stop. Combined with a fast autofocus tracking rate of 8 fps managed by the F5, the success rate in action photography has considerably improved in comparison with the performance of professional SLR cameras from the eighties and early nineties. For sports, news or wild life photography it makes a tremendous difference.
To sum up, here are the major attributes I selected for the F5:
domain: action strength: performance quality: exceptional value: reliability
Specifications | |
Model |
Nikon F5 |
Camera type |
Integral-motor AF 35mm single-lens reflex camera |
Focus control |
Auto focus (single and continuous AF) and manual focus |
AF area modes |
Single area AF and Dynamic AF selectable from 5 focus areas |
Viewfinder |
Large high-eyepoint pentaprism type, 100% frame coverage. Interchangeable Multimeter, 0,70% magnification, eye-point: 20,5 mm, integrated metering system selector, diopter adjustment knob, eyepiece shutter lever. |
Exposure metering |
TTL, 3 built-in exposure meters: 3D color matrix, center weighted (programmable) and spot meter. |
Exposure modes |
Programmed Auto, Shutter-Priority Auto, Aperture-Priority Auto and Manual exposure control. |
Exposure compensation |
+/- 5EV in 1/3 steps |
Auto exposure memory lock |
yes (by pressing AE-L/AF-L button) |
Shutter |
Electromagnetically controlled, vertical-travel metal focal-plane shutter. |
Shutter speeds |
Oscillator-controlled, 30s to 1/8000s (in 1/3 steps). Bulb for long time exposures. |
Film speed range |
DX coded: ISO 25 to ISO 5000, Manual: ISO 6 to ISO 6400 |
Film speed setting |
DX coding, manual ISO setting |
Film loading |
Film automatically advances to first frame. |
Film advance modes |
Motorized Single Frame shooting (S) Motorized Continuous High shooting mode (CH) up to 8 fps Motorized Continuous Low shooting mode (CL) 3 fps Motorized Continuous Silent shooting mode (CS) 1 fps Shooting rates are programmable. Actual shooting rates depend on battery type. |
Film rewind |
Motorized rewind within 4s, Manual film rewind crank |
Viewfinder display |
Focus indication, LCD shows metering system, exposure mode, shutter speed, aperture, electronic analog exposure display (M), frame counter, exposure compensation value and compensation mark, exposure level indicators, LED flash ready light, aperture direct readout, focus indicators and highlighted focus area indicators |
Flash unit connection |
Standard ISO-type accessory hot-shoe |
Flash synchronization |
In P or A mode: from 1/250s to 1/60s in normal sync or 1/250s to 1/30s in slow sync. In S or M mode: synchronization at speed set, or at 1/250s if speed is set between 1/250s and 1/8000s. |
Flash exposure metering |
3D multi-sensor balanced fill flash with Nikkor AF-D lenses and corresponding Speedlight. Monitor pre-flash with Nikkor AF lenses and corresponding Speedlight. |
Flash sync modes |
Synchronization with front curtain (standard), Slow sync and synchronization with rear-curtain built-in. |
Mirror lock-up |
yes |
Depth of field preview |
electromagnetically controlled |
Self timer |
Electronically controlled, 10 sec. |
Multiple exposure |
yes |
Power |
8 AA-type 1,5V batteries, or Ni-MH re-chargeable Battery Unit MN-30 |
Other features |
Auto focus detection, auto focus tracking, Auto focus and exposure value lock, Metering range: EV0 to EV20 in 3D color matrix metering, Self-diagnostic featuring Nikon's shutter monitor, 14 interchangeable focusing screens available, Top and Rear LCD information panel, Easy, intuitive operation with front and rear command dial, Custom settings of 24 functions in 2 groups, Personal Computer interface, Weight: 1.210 g |



