Behold the alluring beauty of the Nikon F65 film camera! The svelte, polycarbonate, turn-of-the-century stylings! The “champagne” silver!
The heart melts.
In 2002, I paid $500 for this camera when I was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Alberta in Edmonton—though I had absolutely no money at the time. And though the F65 featured at the bottom of Nikon’s lineup of amateur cameras, it was more “professional” than any camera I had ever before held, let alone owned. The Nikon F65, pictured above with the 28-80 mm f/3.3-5.6G kit lens, was my first serious camera, and I was overjoyed to make photographs with it. In those days, I carried it with me everywhere in the blue, Nikon-branded shoulder bag that I purchased at the same time, and which I still use everyday.
I have owned and used dozens of other cameras since buying the F65, most of them more “serious” and “professional,” not to mention much more valuable and collectible than the lowly Nikon. However, this little electromechanical marvel, despite its many weaknesses, occupies a special place in my heart and in my growth as a photographer—even as an artist—and for that reason, I’ve chosen to begin my new series of camera reviews with it.
