Nikon Cameras F-301

1985

The Nikon F-301 (sold in the United States as the N2000) is a manual focus, 35 mm SLR camera sold by the Nikon Corporation beginning in 1985. It replaced the FG. It is functionally very similar to the Nikon F-501 (sold in North America as the N2020), but without autofocus.

The F-301 is the first consumer-level Nikon SLR with an integral motor drive. The motor advances the film at a rate of 2.5 frames a second in continuous exposure mode. Although the F-301's motor can automatically load film, the camera still requires the user to manually rewind the film at the end of a roll. On a physical level the F-301 is also the first Nikon to make extensive use of polycarbonates.

The F-301 is the first Nikon SLR to feature DX film decoding. It is also one of only four Nikon SLRs with native support for the advanced exposure modes of Nikon's contemporary AI-S lenses, along with the Nikon FA, Nikon F-501, and Nikon F4. As a consequence the exposure modes include program and high-speed program autoexposure.

A standard hotshoe flash mount sits above the viewfinder. The F-301 has native support for the automatic TTL with the Nikon Speedlight SB-16B. The Nikon F-301 does not feature a built-in pop-up flash (the F-401 was the first Nikon SLR to have this feature).

This camera is powered by four AAA batteries, loaded from below, necessitating removal of the baseplate. A MB-3 battery pack can be used instead of the standard MB-4 enabling AA batteries to be used instead. The placement of the batteries means that the tripod bush on the baseplate is extremely offset from the centre of the camera. The AH-3 tripod adapter can be used to rectify this though it adds extra bulk to the camera.

The F-301 can be manually preset for film speeds from ISO 12 to ISO 3200, or this can be left to the camera through the DX feature.