The Nikon F5 is a 35 mm film-based single-lens reflex camera body manufactured by

Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...

from 1996 through 2004. It was the fifth in

's professional film camera line, which began in 1959 with the

Nikon F The Nikon F camera, introduced in April 1959, was Nikon's first SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although many of the concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it was revolutionary in that it was the firs ...

. It followed the

Nikon F4 The Nikon F4 is a 35 mm autofocus (AF) single lens reflex (SLR) film camera, introduced in 1988 as the next generation in Nikon's line of F series professional cameras. With industrial design by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the F4 was the first pro ...

of 1988, which had introduced in-body

autofocus An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system ...

to Nikon's professional line. The F5 was in turn succeeded by the

Nikon F6 The Nikon F6 is a 35 mm film single-lens reflex camera body manufactured by Nikon between 2004 and 2020. It is the sixth top-of-the-line professional film camera in Nikon's line. The Nikon F6 is designed by Nikon and was manufactured at their Se ...

, as well as Nikon's parallel range of professional digital SLRs, beginning with the

Nikon D1 The Nikon D1 is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) made by Nikon Corporation introduced on June 15, 1999. It featured a 2.7-megapixel image sensor, 4.5-frames-per-second continuous shooting, and accepted the full range of Nikon F-mount l ...

Design

Important advances in the F5 included: * Nikon 3-D color matrix meter (the F4 had introduced multi-segment matrix metering to the F series, but color sensing was new). * A self-diagnostic and self-adjusting shutter. * A mirror-balance system that reduced camera shake. * Electronically controlled exposure times from 1/8000 second to 30 seconds. * Built-in 8 frame per second motor drive (up from 5.7 frame/s on the F4). * 1/300 second flash sync (up from 1/250 on the F4). However, at 1/300 second, flash units could not use their full capacity. * Full support for

Nikkor Nikkor is the brand of lenses produced by Nikon Corporation, including camera lenses for the Nikon F-mount. Nikko parent company brand, from which the Nikkor brand evolved. The ''Nikkor'' brand was introduced in 1932, a Westernised rendering of ...

AF-S and G designated lenses (the F4 could not use G lenses in aperture-priority or full manual modes). * Support for the

Vibration Reduction Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure. Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pi ...

(VR) image stabilization feature of newer Nikkor lenses. * Five focus points for the autofocus sensor (up from one on the F4) with intelligent dynamic autofocus mode. * A new industrial design by

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

(also designer of the F3 and F4). * An integral vertical/battery grip with additional shutter release and adjustment wheel controls (previous Nikon F models had used a range of removable battery grips). Like all previous

series cameras, the F5 maintained a manual film rewind (with a rapid power rewind built in), high durability, exceptionally short shutter lag, interchangeable 100% coverage viewfinders (including a large-view Action Finder, Waist-Level Finder, and 6x High-Magnification Finder, in addition to the stock DP-30 multi-metering pentaprism), and support for a wide range of

Nikon F-mount The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35mm format single-lens reflex cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three-lug bayonet mount with a 44mm thro ...

lenses. In common with the F3 and F4 it relied upon battery power in order to function, either from eight

AA batteries AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * '' America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * D ...

or an optional rechargeable

NiMH NIMH may refer to: *Nickel–metal hydride battery (NiMH), a type of electrical battery *National Institute of Mental Health, an agency of the United States government *National Institute of Medical Herbalists, a professional organisation in the Un ...

battery pack. Variants: Nikon introduced a very limited production anniversary edition of the F5 to celebrate 50 years of Nippon Kogaku (Japanese Optical). It featured a titanium colored top plate, grey handgrip (vice red) and a special DP-30 metering prism with its historic "Nikon" font. On the reverse is found the original Nippon Kogaku trademark logo and a stylized "50" beneath it. Approximately 3000 were made for the global market. They were quickly snatched up around the world by collectors who saw the F5 as the last of the true professional grade film SLRs by Nikon. It was discontinued in 2004 as it was facing tough competition from its competitors.

Kodak digital camera conversions

During the late 1990s, Nikon and

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

collaborated on a range of professional digital SLRs which combined Nikon bodies with Kodak digital sensors and electronics. The initial range was based around the semi-professional

Nikon F90 The Nikon F90 (known as the N90 in the United States) is a 35mm SLR camera manufactured between 1992 and 2001 and replaced the earlier Nikon F-801 (N8008 in the U.S.). At the time of its release it was noted for its fast autofocus speed compared ...

, but the later Kodak DCS 600 and DCS 700 models were based on the Nikon F5. On a physical level they consisted of a Nikon F5 with the film transport equipment replaced with a custom-made Kodak digital back. The digital back extended beneath the camera to house the battery and a pair of PCMCIA card slots. The Kodak DCS 600 series was launched in 1999, and initially consisted of the 2 megapixel Kodak DCS 620 and the 6 megapixel DCS 660, which had an initial launch price of $29,995. The DCS 600 series was continued in 2000 with the Kodak DCS 620x, a high-sensitivity model with an upgraded

indium tin oxide Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a ternary composition of indium, tin and oxygen in varying proportions. Depending on the oxygen content, it can be described as either a ceramic or an alloy. Indium tin oxide is typically encountered as an oxygen-saturated ...

sensor and a cyan-magenta-yellow

Bayer filter A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for arranging RGB color filters on a square grid of photosensors. Its particular arrangement of color filters is used in most single-chip digital image sensors used in digital cameras, cam ...

, which had a then-unique top ISO setting of ISO 6400. Kodak replaced the 600 series with the upgraded DCS 700 series in 2001, which consisted of the high-sensitivity DCS 720x and the 6 megapixel DCS 760. By 2001 Kodak faced competition from the popular

and Nikon D1x,Digital Photography Review: Kodak DCS 760 Review, July 2001
/ref> which were physically smaller and cheaper. The DCS 760's initial list price was $8,000.

References

External links

Comprehensive Nikon F5 site (Photography in Malaysia)
{{Nikon 35mm Film SLR Cameras F005 F005