Nikon 35mm cameras

Monkey Sampan

Hello

I've a friend asking me to help buy her a Nikon 35mm camera with kit lens.

I'm traditionally a Canon, Pre K series Pentax and oddball medium format user so my knowledge of Nikon products is very limited as I always found their model nomenclature a bit confusing for the non Nikon user/enthusiast.

I've been doing a little bit of research, so a few questions:



Apart form the Pro models, Are the F90 and F100 the best all round ones?

Are the F75 and F80 the best compromise if the above two are too expensive?

I've seen mentioned that the F70 had odd controls, any feedback? (worth buying?)

And are the F50, F60 and F65 best avoided? (lack of features, build quality)



From what I've been reading on MIR and Ken Rockwell's site, the AF-G lens from her D3300 will work in shutter priority but without VR.

Will the aperture be stuck at it's minimum? (f22-f36 depending on focal length)

Has anyone been successful in doing so?


Apologies for all the questions but I'm a little apprehensive of buying used film cameras for myself or others as I've had a few cheapo K mount Pentax, Vivitar and Phenix cameras suffer from various fatal malfunctions. And most recently a Canon T90 which someone had stored away thinking that not using it was the best way to preserve it.

Thanks

DaireQuinlan

Just get an F100, it's one of the best cameras made by Nikon, surpassed by the F6, and probably outclassed by the F5 but the F5 is the size and weight of a small car.

F100 will work perfectly with a G lens, VR and all, BUT if it's a DX lens it probably won't cover the frame, they're designed for APS format digital cameras. It -might- at certain focal lengths, you have to see, and everything else will work just fine, including G lenses in aperture priority mode.

As a smaller lighter manual alternative, get an FE-2, it won't work at all with a G lens, but it gives you the option of heading down the AIS rabbit hole :-D

I have both the above, an F100 and an FE-2 (And an F4 for good measure). Both are fine cameras.

Lyaiera

Daire covered it all, but I'm adding my name to the F100 love.