SLR-Camera Reviews

My experience with this camera has been so totally positive that I can find no way to write a "balanced sounding" review with all sorts of "tut-tutting" about the lack of mirror lock-up or the plastic back. I'm in love and the pictures are great. This camera gets used more than my F5 due to my hard to define feel for it. A Rolls- Royce!

This is a truly masterpiece!! I've had the Nikon FE, FE2, F-601, F90s and now I have the F100 and it's the top of the line!!
What can I say more.. The only bad thing is that the camera back is made of plastic, why not metal, Nikon??
Greetings to all Nikonians around the world!!
The Best picture is waiting to be taken of You!! With the F100!!

I still shoot a lot of film, being a bit of a purist and throwback - I like the satisfaction and anticipation of waiting for prints. I've used a lot of Nikon SLRs to include the FM, FM2, N2002, N5005, N8008s, and this is my current workhorse. It performs extremely well for everything I shoot from macro to 600mm zoom. I think this will be the last film camera Nikon makes in this range and I've been looking hard at the fantastic new D2H and upcoming D70 with excitement, but I think I will always have a film camera.

I have one comment to make about the doofus who posted in an earlier review that the camera has a critical mirror defect in that the mirror does not lock up and the camera may break accordingly. Hogwash. I've traveled with mine all over the world and it hasn't even flinched in the travel and varying conditions. I packed it in a Pelican case with all of my lenses and didn't have a single problem. I've dropped it once and it didn't even dent.

Great SLR - the best I've ever used.

i took a beginning b&w photo class in college a year ago and this was the camera they had in the lab to lend out to people who didnt own a slr of their own. at first i was scared on how to use the thing, it seems complicated but its really not. once you get the hang of it, i loved it. its all manual which is great for control purposes. now that ive got some cash, im gonna buy the nikon fm10 slr for myself to use.

This is the best camera ever, when compared to others the FM10 blew it away, the FM was much more durable and takes better pictures (my friend has one of the competitors) and now that she's seen mine, she is very jealous! The pictures are outstanding. Built to last and if you're a beginner to a pro I think you'll be pleased! I was just starting out as a photographer and now after 2 years I still can't put it down. If you're thinking about buying this camera, don't, just get it!!

this is an excellent phone. it is basic, but works extremely well.

Very light and compact. This makes a great "traveling" lens. I take about 15% of my pictures with this lens, mostly out on hikes where I don't want to haul around my expensive & heavy 70-200 f/2.8 L. This lens paired with an EF 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM or EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM will give you a compact, light-weight package that you can take along on trips or nature hikes, and cover all of the useful focal lengths.

Much better image quality than Canon's EF 75-300 lenses. Ring USM for fast auto-focus, but no image stabilization. Good build quality for the money spent.

Sharpness drops off noticably past 200mm or so, with some flaws around the edges, but images are still acceptable for the most part. Great lens for 10D/Rebel/300D digital cameras, since the 1.6x cropping will eliminate the flaws at the egdes of the picture at the longer focal lengths, and make this lens effetively a 150-450mm.

Best used stopped down to f/8 or f/11, in good light or with fast film (or digital camera set at ISO 400+). Not recommended for low-light situations, but could be useful for indoor flash close-up portraits.

For the $250-$300 price range, this lens can't be beat. To get noticeably better image quality, you would have to spend twice as much. If you're inclined to do so, check out the Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L.

I love this camera! My husband gave it to be for Christmas last year. It is easier to use than my compact 35-mm camera is. Very, very easy to use. Just took it on vacation and pictures came out fabulous. When on vacation, I had several people comment on the camera and ask how I liked it. When I was purchasing souveniers at one vacation spot, I was asked if I was a professional photography. I had a good laugh over that one. So far have only used it in the totally automatic mode and have not been disappointed. Tested it this summer with close-ups to see what it could do and was not disappointed there either. I think I'll ask for the 300 mm lense this Christmas.

This lens is very good. Picture is very sharp with 100-200 mm. and it's perfect for head&body portrait. I love this lens. In 300 mm area you can see softness but it's not much.

And I compared with 28-105,this one is sharper at 100 than28-105 @105, and it shows much less distortion.

Compared with 75-300mm USM, this one seems sharper than 75-300, with the focus speed almost the same.

Of course, there are other better ones(like 70-200 f2.8L or other fixed focal telephoto lenses), but look what you pay for, it's really a good deal for amateur photographers.

We bought this camera for amateur photos from our wedding in 2002. It is a solid piece with simple, easy to understand controls. Some of the shots from this camera looked better than the professional ones. We also took this camera to Paris for our honeymoon. Our photos were absolutely beautiful in both indoor and outdoor settings. I highly recommend this camera.

I love this camera! I have barely taken any bad pictures. I only wish that the auto focus worked better, although I prefer manual focus anyway.

Although I have never owned an SLR camera before this one, I have found it incredibly easy to use and to capture beautiful pictures. After looking at many other models and planning to purchase one myself, I was surprised to recieve this camera for Christmas. Though I am only a beginner and have only used the camera for a short time, I am already beginning to learn the basics of expert photography and am even starting to take advantage of the creative genius my camera allows me to possess, while still producing an expert, clear, crisp photograph. The instruction manual is clear and precise, the design fully functional and ergonomic, and the LCD panel a helpful addition to an already excellent model. I recommend this camera to any beginner looking for an inexpensive, high quality SLR camera.

This camera does have a self-timer.

i have had this camera for about a year and i am yet to take a bad picture with it. it does lack a flash though and the lense that mine came with did not have auto-focus, so it is a camera for those who are into serious photography. it does have many automatic settings though, so it is easy to use overall. i hope that other people enjoy this camera as much as i have.

The ZX-M is a solid camera with almost every feature you will need. I've owned it for almost 2 years and the only complaint I have is that it needs a flash or it is almost useless indoors, so be prepared to buy one and carry it around. It also lacks date imprinting if you're into that. It is a great camera though and is otherwise pert-near perfect!

I really love this camera! Why do I then just rate it as a 4? Although I think this camera deserved to be SLR of the year when it came, it lacks some of the flexibility that would be nessessary for a 5 rating. The manual shutter speeds are to few and too far apart. The shortest shutter speed is 1/2000 and the longest 2 seconds, which somewhat limits your ability for different light situations. Otherwise, the handling of the camera makes it easy and logical to work with. No need to spend ours reading the manual to be able to take advantage of the different exposure modes.

My first camera was a Pentax ME which I wore out. Because I had such good luck with the ME, I purchased this camera as a replacement. I found it very easy to use and the built in flash with the red-eye flash to be very helpful. My only complaint is that if you use the built in flash the batteries in the camera do not last as long. Also the built in flash does not light large areas very well. I like the fact that the camera will not take a picture if there is not enough light.

I grew up in a photography family and my Dad gave me a Pentax MX when I was pretty young. It was great for high school yearbook photos and photography class, then later on in college for more photo classes. I ended up with a Minolta Maxxum for a little while (4si, I believe) and ended up finding every little limitation it had and being very annoyed with it in the long run. Then it occurred to me that that wonderful "brick" MX that I had had for so long was still great, so why not try a modern Pentax. After great debate as to which model to purchase, I settled on the ZX-5 (the predecessor to the ZX-5n...the same without one or two little options). The reason I chose it was because the layout of the controls was so intuitive, as the MX was...I could switch easily from one to the other with no difficulty whatsoever. I am a semi-professional photographer and have done everything from private model photo shoots to wedding photography and have loved every minute with my ZX-5 and have come out with some great results! I highly recommend this to any photographer who is in classes due to the fact that it has a full manual mode, to the amateur who just wants better quality photos than the little point and shoots produce, or even the professional due to the many settings on the camera and accessories that are readily available for this model. If you are looking for something similar in Nikon, Canon, or Minolta, then check this one out and I bet you 9 times out of 10 that the Pentax has a better price...same for the accessories!

I've owned 2 previous SLR's, an Olympus and a Canon Rebel. Both of these cameras produced great photos. The Nikon N55 has surpassed every expectation. An instruction book is finally written in plain english. I did a lot of research and believe me the N55 is worth more than its retail price. The photos produced in the auto modes are exceptional. I was willing to invest as much as $500 in an SLR, but after researching I found that no camera was worth the additional money. The cost-benefit of the N55 is tremendous. I can't express how happy I am with this camera.

It's easy to use. It's light weight. It takes great pictures too! At first,I was disappointed because of the plastic body, but I later enjoyed the fact that this is a light weight camera. I also enjoy the automatic focusing and the easy film loading. The 55N has a built in flash that pops up automatically when the light is not sufficient or if extra light is needed to soften a picture. I would recommend the additonal purchase of a "circular polaring filter" because it greatly enhances your photos. You can find one on Amazon. This is a sofisticated camera that is easy to use and has made me a better photographer. I highly recommend this camera.

I have a digital camera I love to pieces. And now that I've mastered that I thought I'd try an SLR camera. The camera has a auto mode on it for beginners and as you learn more you can try other things, like shutter speed, apature settings and all kinds of new things. You can even do multiple exposure to create pictures that look like ghost like images. Also it's 28-80 mm. lens, unlike most of your camera's- like Canon which is 35-80 mm. And it's light and is easy to use! I'd recommend this for anyone looking into buying an SLR camera.

Having a Konica Minolta DiMage X with which I am very happy, I decided to get this camera when I wanted an 8MP camera with better zoom capability. At first I was unpleasantly surprised with the amount of noise (color specks) showing in the pictures. Later I discovered that by putting the ISO setting on 64 instead of Auto, the noise is greatly reduced. Now I'm basically happy with the camera, but it seems that they should mention this in the documentation. Pictures at the highest ISO settings (400 and 800) are really bad - I guess these settings are there only for extreme low-light situations.

The electronic viewfinder is amazing. I'm nearsighted and have trouble with the LCD display, but I can easily see everything in the viewfinder (including menus and playback of pictures). I just keep the LCD off all the time.

I HAVE PARKINSON'S DESEASE, THIS CAMERA GETS THE SHAKE OUT, AND THE QUAILITY IS GREAT. THE PHOTOS ARE CRISP AND CLEAR. OPERATION IS SIMPLE. WAIT TIL YOU TRY THE VIDEO, THE SOUND AND FILMING IS SIMPLE. LOVE THIS CAMERA!.

If you are interested in taking black-and-white photographs for creative photography, A2 is the perfect choice! As compared to other competitors at the similar price and resolution (8 MP), A2 has the following good features. 1. It has a black-and-white mode. 2. The file can be saved as TIFF for artistic editing without losing resolution after repeated saving. 3. The battery function is satisfied. 4. A2 has a rapid focusing and antishake device.

I bought this camera about a year ago and LOVE it. I now have three lenses for it (just added a wide-angle) and the picture quality is still as sharp as day one.

If you are a novice/amateur, just turn it on and shoot away while letting the camera do all the work. But if you are a little more advanced, you can play with the settings for aperture, exposure, etc. as much as you want. This is THE BEST Minolta on the market, as far as I am concerned!

I am always crazy about Minolta Cameras and lenses as they are THE BEST. Earlier I had a Minolta Freedom Zoom and I was looking for the SLR camera which is a dream for evry1 who loves photography. When I looked into XTSI, I felt that evrything I want in a SLR is there.And that too with a Silver Zoom lens.

Last long week end We all went to LA and believe me I shot 9 film rolls. Especially Fire works at disney land and Dolphin show at Sandiego were too good. (...)

It is a camera which is affordable but with excellant features. Just Dont MISS it.

I love this camera. It is easy to use, the photo quality is outstanding, and the telephoto lens is a Blessing for taking shots of wild animals. I bought this camera 2 months ago and have never been disappointed. I've also owned a canon rebel g, and a samsung 4000 SLR. But this camera is the best!

My Minolta Maxxum 5 didn't make it through 1 roll of film. It wouldn't work with the 5400HS flash or the wireless remote as advertised. ...`

The Minolta Maxxum 5, at a first glance seems to be the consummate budget SLR - small, compact, and seemingly devoid of the "Star Wars" features packed on the more advanced and higher end cameras. This little Maxxum will surprise, time and time again. It has unique features associated with Maxxum cameras, such as the eye start function - a feature that starts the camera autofocus and camera operation the moment your eye looks through the viewfinder. The camera's functions and important operations are very simple and easy to use - Minolta placed the buttons and dials in places where you can reach the important functions without EVER having to take your eyes off the viewfinder. The camera has 6 Modes to pick from, other than the obvious Manual mode - where you pick the f-stop and shutter speeds - There's Program - which is your basic jack of all trades, pretty reliable in all situations. Portrait - the camera selects a "soft" f-stop to give your subject a pleasing feel and look. Landscape, Action, Nature, and Night.. night scene is probably the most feature extensive, since it illuminates the flash for longer exposures to bring out the background behind your subject during night shots. Of course, you can set the camera for aperature and shutter priority functions. My only real gripe with the camera itself was the fact that it uses it's two CR2 batteries far too quickly, running through about 14 to 19 rolls of 36 exposure film - depending on if the camera uses it's built in flash often or not. The flash is good for fill situations, but it would be a much better option to pick a dedicated flash unit to save battery power and give your portraits more "pop" - something with a guide number of ASA 100 is just about right for this kind of camera. The autofocus is fabulous - the camera can focus flawlessly in near dark situations, but it does take SOME time - about a second or two.. but in fully bright situations, the autofocus rivals some of the top-end SLR's, right up there with the Minolta Maxxum 7's and 9's. All in all, this is a great budget SLR to start out with that will continue to give the serious amateur/beginner room to grow.

Lots of nice features, I especially like the depth of focus preview. The nice thing about this camera is that it can be totally manually adjusted, totally automated (focus, fstop, etc.) or many places in between. I can do what I want manually while someone who doesn't really know much about photography can still take great pictures without having to worry about adjusting anything. I haven't even scratched the surface on most of the features, but what I've used so far is intuitive and functional.