My poor man's Nikon F3 (F-301/N2000)

nerwin · Mar 19, 2024

I just recently picked up this Nikon N2000 from eBay for $37 because I just discovered this camera earlier this month and I never heard about this camera model. Apparently it's the first Nikon film camera to do without the manual film advance/shutter charging lever as it has automatic film advancing with built in 2.5fps motor drive yet you have to manual rewind the film like a traditional film camera, despite it having some modern advancements, it doesn't have auto focus and fully utilizes Ai/Ai-s lenses and some other lenses too. Even will automatically select an aperture on some new AF lenses as well which is pretty interesting to me. It's also the first Nikon camera to incorporate DX encoding although, I'd probably just manual set it anyways. I do have a spent film cartridge with DX encoding and my copy reads it just fine.

The reason I bought this camera was an article I read about it being the "Poor Man's F3" as it has a lot of similarities to the infamous F3 including the beautiful K2 focus screen which was an option for the F3 but came standard on the N2000. The cameras even look similar sharing some of the same buttons and dials or at least similar in design...and of course having a HUGE selection of lenses to choose from is a big plus since Yashica is so limited in that regard. Some people think the camera is ugly, but I on the other hand disagree. To me it has both a retro film camera design with a touch of modern mid 80s design and I think that is super cool!

It was in pretty good shape despite it's low price. Everything was fully functional, but it needed to be cleaned up. The leatherette needed to be treated a little bit but not bad and unfortunately there are some stress cracks around the screws on the camera that the seller didn't mention. I probably wouldn't have bought it but the camera came from Nevada so it doesn't surprise me. I don't think its a big deal, they are not BAD but worries me that they'll spread eventually. So I might try to glue them hoping CA glue might absorb down into the hairline cracks and I have some very very fine sandpaper that I will sand it down and polish the plastic after hoping that will at least prevent them from getting worse. They may never get worse. At the end of the day, it's a cheap camera! And I'm having fun tinkering with it.

I did go ahead and replace the seals in the camera but they were probably bad and almost looks like they have already been replaced at one point but they seem like it wasn't light proof foam, just regular fabric store foam so I replaced them with some better stuff.

I have some good stuff for plastic that helps treat the plastic, makes it look like new and hopefully stops it from drying it out but doesn't leave any oily residue. If it can stop plastic dashboards in vintage cars from cracking it should help this! Luckily the camera is fully metal under its exterior. It's quite a tough camera and feels nice and solid in the hands!

Others might say the camera is loud, I honestly really think it sounds awesome. Brings me back to the 90s hearing cameras like this as a child. Yup, people will know you've taken photo but I'll be doing it with a smile on my face! I paired it with another bargain of a lens Nikkor AI 28mm f/3.5 that I got for $60 in pretty much like new condition.

I hope you all enjoyed my little write up on this camera and I'm excited to shoot with it. I have a roll of HP5 waiting for it once the weather gets ummm less depressing.

wobe · Mar 20, 2024

Hopefully a nice find that performs well, have not heard of this model either - will be interested to see the first pics!

Nikon photographer · Mar 20, 2024

There great little cameras, often under looked, I was lucky enough to find a very nice unused and boxed one a few years ago, I've since found the later F-501 AF version to add to my collection.

nerwin · Mar 20, 2024

Nikon photographer said:
There great little cameras, often under looked, I was lucky enough to find a very nice unused and boxed one a few years ago, I've since found the later F-501 AF version to add to my collection.

Awesome! I much prefer the F-301 logo over the N2000 but it is what it is since those were sold in different countries.

Nikon photographer · Mar 22, 2024

nerwin said:
Awesome! I much prefer the F-301 logo over the N2000 but it is what it is since those were sold in different countries.

I'd love to add some of the North American versions to my collection, they do pop in from time to time on eBay, but not in the condition I'm after.

Thomas V · Mar 28, 2024

Yup, you have a good example there! My Nikon's keep going and going.

Thomas V · Mar 28, 2024

nerwin said:
I just recently picked up this Nikon N2000 from eBay for $37 because I just discovered this camera earlier this month and I never heard about this camera model. Apparently it's the first Nikon film camera to do without the manual film advance/shutter charging lever as it has automatic film advancing with built in 2.5fps motor drive yet you have to manual rewind the film like a traditional film camera, despite it having some modern advancements, it doesn't have auto focus and fully utilizes Ai/Ai-s lenses and some other lenses too. Even will automatically select an aperture on some new AF lenses as well which is pretty interesting to me. It's also the first Nikon camera to incorporate DX encoding although, I'd probably just manual set it anyways. I do have a spent film cartridge with DX encoding and my copy reads it just fine.

The reason I bought this camera was an article I read about it being the "Poor Man's F3" as it has a lot of similarities to the infamous F3 including the beautiful K2 focus screen which was an option for the F3 but came standard on the N2000. The cameras even look similar sharing some of the same buttons and dials or at least similar in design...and of course having a HUGE selection of lenses to choose from is a big plus since Yashica is so limited in that regard. Some people think the camera is ugly, but I on the other hand disagree. To me it has both a retro film camera design with a touch of modern mid 80s design and I think that is super cool!

View attachment 272652

It was in pretty good shape despite it's low price. Everything was fully functional, but it needed to be cleaned up. The leatherette needed to be treated a little bit but not bad and unfortunately there are some stress cracks around the screws on the camera that the seller didn't mention. I probably wouldn't have bought it but the camera came from Nevada so it doesn't surprise me. I don't think its a big deal, they are not BAD but worries me that they'll spread eventually. So I might try to glue them hoping CA glue might absorb down into the hairline cracks and I have some very very fine sandpaper that I will sand it down and polish the plastic after hoping that will at least prevent them from getting worse. They may never get worse. At the end of the day, it's a cheap camera! And I'm having fun tinkering with it.

I did go ahead and replace the seals in the camera but they were probably bad and almost looks like they have already been replaced at one point but they seem like it wasn't light proof foam, just regular fabric store foam so I replaced them with some better stuff.

View attachment 272654

View attachment 272655

I have some good stuff for plastic that helps treat the plastic, makes it look like new and hopefully stops it from drying it out but doesn't leave any oily residue. If it can stop plastic dashboards in vintage cars from cracking it should help this! Luckily the camera is fully metal under its exterior. It's quite a tough camera and feels nice and solid in the hands!

Others might say the camera is loud, I honestly really think it sounds awesome. Brings me back to the 90s hearing cameras like this as a child. Yup, people will know you've taken photo but I'll be doing it with a smile on my face! I paired it with another bargain of a lens Nikkor AI 28mm f/3.5 that I got for $60 in pretty much like new condition.

I hope you all enjoyed my little write up on this camera and I'm excited to shoot with it. I have a roll of HP5 waiting for it once the weather gets ummm less depressing.

Essentially your's is brand new!

greybeard · Mar 28, 2024

very cool

ClintLloyd · Mar 28, 2024

Awesome! Cool design, I like that as well. It must have looked really modern in it's day and quite small by the looks of it too.

nerwin · Mar 28, 2024

ClintLloyd said:
Awesome! Cool design, I like that as well. It must have looked really modern in it's day and quite small by the looks of it too.

ehhh I wouldn't necessarily say its small.

ClintLloyd · Mar 28, 2024

nerwin said:
ehhh I wouldn't necessarily say its small.

View attachment 272952 View attachment 272953

Ah yeah! You guys have got me looking at film cameras now..!

nerwin · Mar 28, 2024

Almost finished the roll from the N2000. Hopefully there are photos on it..will find out soon in a couple weeks. I feel kind of bad that I am neglecting my Nikon Z6II.

nerwin · Apr 30, 2024

I got my film scans back recently that I've taken with this camera and I must say I'm impressed. The film used is Kodak Ultramax 400. I used the camera in all modes for testing purposes so that includes, manual exposure, aperture priority and program auto modes which can automatically control the aperture of the AIS lenses. I wanted to use the camera in variety of lighting conditions. I must say its metering system is pretty good for a 1985 film camera. I mean not as good as Nikon's F100.

I did have one little screw up...when I was photographing the white truck, I was an idiot and held on the rewind knob when it advanced and well the camera didn't like that, only advanced the frame partially so I got this weird double exposure on the next two frames but glad nothing bad happened. Make sure your hands are clear of the rewind knob lol.

Over all this camera was a joy to shoot with and while its loud, its satisfying in a way. The camera just works..for $40 or whatever I paid..this is a damn nice reliable film camera that I can pick up, easily load a roll of film and go shoot and not have to worry about anything.