This is a long-term review. I bought the F55 in Singapore in 2002, when it was a few months old on the market. I have never been disappointed with it so far. Now, in 2010, hardly any consumer uses film cameras regularly, but I still like to buy film and shoot family photos with my F55. I also have a Canon Powershot digital camera, which I use more often.
The F55 is designed to be a beginner’s SLR, or more accurately, an SLR for those who want great picture quality but not a lot of manual settings. It lives up fully to its design objective. I must have shot some 60+ rolls with it in the 8 years I have had it. the frequency of use has declined in the past 2-3 years, however. Even though it is a light weight camera(compared to my Minolta 270N, for example), it is built solidly.
This camera is amazingly simple to use in the Auto mode. The auto focus works well(you can choose from 4 modes depending on what part of the frame your subject is), or just leave it in the default 3-point mode. It doesnt work well however, on fast moving objects. The included 28-80 lens does a great job, and I have added a polarising filter to increase picture sharpness. You can turn off auto-focussing by pushing a lever on the side of the lens, and focus the lens manually if that is what you prefer for some situations.
If you prefer to manually set the aperture or shutter speed, that works fine too. Of course most beginners wouldnt do this as it needs practice and understanding of what f-stops and shutters speeds do to the picture. The pop-up flash is reasonably powerful, and in the manual modes you need to press the flash button on the side to pop it up.
Battery life is excellent. I have replaced the battery only once in almost 8 years, and the second battery is still going strong. Given that the flash uses a lot of battery, that is really remarkable.
The only gripe I have with the camera’s durability is that the rubber coating on the hand-grip is now very sticky. I am thinking of wiping it off(to expose the metal body), with some paint thinner.
I am not sure if this model is still around, but if it is, it is even today a great buy for film camera lovers.