wasn't planning on this but I got one for a disgustingly low price. Marketed as the "F5 Junior" it doesn't feel like a 30 year old camera. Buy the F80 if you want a lighter alternative, can tolerate more expensive batteries, and narrower lens compatibility. In my mind the allure of AF is in shooting with modern zooms and high-speed primes at max aperture, both for the same reason. Cameras like the F100 open up options for shooting more and focusing easier in low light. Zooms are convenient. What a far cry from the limitations of brass-bodied manual focusing where I rarely shot wide open.

it's surprisingly light despite having an modern magnesium body. It uses AA batteries with the standard grip. Common failures are rewind forks, battery compartments, and film doors breaking. The latter can be fixed with a $50 ebay kit. I wish it had a secondary manual film advance but that's because I'm a sicko.

Ergonomically it's fine. It's still a kg+ around your neck. The front dial is surprisingly hard to reach, I was expecting too much after getting acclimated to holding cameras sized like blocks of cheese. variable aperture lenses are also fine. There's 1 menu of options, how refreshing. Otherwise it does whatever you expect from a modern camera besides image stabilization.

Visually I think it's the most handsome Nikon AF SLR ever made, looking like a pumped up bicep. While later DSLR bodies defaulted to the F80 the lines of the prism is just leagues more attractive to me.

So far I've shot with a 28-105D, 28-80G, and 35-70D. Practically speaking I can't see myself using AF lenses on older film cameras and vice versa. The lenses are like a tungsten cube in comparison but more versatile and sharper when shot wide open. Couldn't be more different.

I love the 28-80G. You can shoot with both eyes open at 80mm and take pictures of your trash-filled hovel at 28. At 200g it's disgustingly light, only primes like the 50mm 1.8 are lighter. It's cheap, sharp, lightweight, and at f/3.3 even slightly brighter than comparable zooms. Unless you want an aperture ring the 28-80 3.5-5.6, 35-70 3.5, and 28-70 3.5-4.5D get mogged on all fronts. The 24-85G is a logical upgrade around the same zoom range but it's double the weight.

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