Review & Photos by Patricio Murphy. © 2006.



Under production from 1991 through 1998, this camera is still one of the best buys for a serious amateur or semi-pro. I entered the Nikon system (after years of shooting an old manual Pentax) with a F50, which I soon traded for a used F601. While I liked the F50 (I could even live with the weird and much debated interface), I find the F601 is a lot more camera. I think this also applies to the F/N60. Let's see why.

Overview

The F601/N6006 is an integral motor 35mm SLR. You get:
- Three film advance modes: Single frame, Continuous @2 fps and Continuous @1,2 fps.
- Five exposure modes (Aperture or Shutter priority, Manual, and two Program modes)
- Three metering modes: 5 Segment Matrix, 75/25 Centre-weighted and Spot.
- Three focus modes: Single Servo AF, Continuous Servo AF and Manual.
- Built in flash, slow & rear curtain sync and flash exposure compensation.
- Exposure compensation, auto-bracketing, DX override, AE/AF lock, one and two shot self timer, standard remote release.



AF

The F601 uses the same AM200 module found in the F4, F801s/N8008s, F50/N50 and F60/N60. In Single Servo, you lock the focus when you slightly press the shutter. In Continuous Servo the AF follows a moving subject, theoretically keeping it in focus. In practice it takes a little work to take advantage of it, but under certain conditions it works. AF is OK for most uses, but hunts a bit under low contrast or low light situations, depending on the lens. When working in Manual Focus mode, you still get an in-focus indicator. It's worth to be noted that this may be the noisiest Nikon ever, but that's not a problem unless you plan to shoot at, say, theatre plays.

Metering

As mentioned, you get three metering patterns: 5 segment matrix, 75/25 centre-weighted and spot. While it can be fooled by backlit subjects, I found Matrix to be very reliable and very useful for casual shooting. The spot meter concentrates the metering in a 3,5 mm circle, while centre-weighted puts 75% of the metering power into a 12 mm circle. You can work under any lightning condition with this three meters.

Flash

The built in flash covers down to 28 mm, and has a guide number of 13 (ISO 100, in meters). It does eat a lot of batteries (CRP2 lithiums, which may not be available everywhere), so you should use it carefully. You have control over the flash output (-1/+3 EV), slow sync and rear curtain sync. Having this features built into the body means that you don't need a fully dedicated flash in order to get those functions.

Handling

I found both the feel and the interface a joy to use. The information displayed in the viewfinder is: exposure mode, shutter speed, f/stop, in-focus and over/under-exposure indicators, exposure compensation. You can set exposure and flash compensation, ISO, and self timer delay without taking your eye from the viewfinder. I would have liked Nikon to include the metering pattern in the viewfinder information. You change settings by pressing the relevant button (there's eight of them, nicely laid up) and rotating the command dial. One of these buttons serves as a "shift" key for controlling the flash functions. The information you can't see in the viewfinder is displayed in the LCD panel. The camera weights 650 gr.

Other features

- Auto-bracketting - 3 or 5 shots with 1/3, 2/3 or 1 full stop compensation. Auto-bracketting works on both film advance modes, which means you can shoot an entire sequence with just one press of the shutter release.
- The camera provides (in adition to aperture and shutter priority and manual) two program modes: a normal Program which chooses shutter speed and aperture in a stantard fashion and a Multi Program that takes into account focal length and maximum aperture of the lens in use. In either mode, if you turn the command dial the camera changes aperture and shutter speed accordingly.
- AE-lock - Right near to where your right thumb falls there's the AE-lock switch. When you press ir, the exposure is locked, so yuo can re-compose your shot without affecting the meter. You can set this switch to lock AF too in Continuous Servo AF mode.
- Exposure compensation can be set from -5/+5 EV in 1/3 stop increments.
- You can set the self timer to shoot 1 shot with from 2 to 30 seconds of delay, or two shots at preset 10 and 5 seconds for the first and second shots respectively.
- You can use manual focus lenses with this camera without losing the meter (unlike the F/N50 and F/N60).



What I don't like

I don't like the fact that the F601 doesn't have a battery life indicator of any kind (you have to look at the viewfinder when you set power to on, see if the LCD is lit for about 8 seconds...). As mentioned before, it's rather noisy, which means you'll feel like you're bothering in certain situations, and don't dream of passing unnoticed... Two VERY minor complaints, you see. I sure do like this camera.

Summary

As already mentioned, this camera was discontinued in 1998, at the time the F/N60 was replacing the F/N50. Supposedly, it was going to be replaced by the F/N70, but was kept under production for four years more. I wonder why didn't Nikon just upgrade the AF and the noisy motor and ship it as the F601s or something like that. If you compare it with the F/N60, the newest Nikon model which falls into the same price range, you get a lot more: spot meter, built-in flash functions, auto-bracketting, DX override, you can use MF lenses! In conclusion, 9 years after its introduction, I don't think you can't get a better Nikon for the money.

Patricio Murphy murphy@cvtci.com.ar

For a detalied comparison of the F601/N6006 with the F/N50, F/N60 and F/N70 visit www.photo.net/photo under the Nikon section.

More info on this and other Nikon cameras at www.nikonusers.org

Both pictures attached shot with F601 & Tokina 28-105 f/3.5-4.5.