I looked through my list of cameras tested and realised there are surprisingly few Nikons on there. So, this post goes some way towards addressing that. I was recently hunting through some junk bins and came across two versions of the same series. The total price for both was $3.

Yipee! Of course, I bought both, then I went further and put the same kind of film in each, Fuji Acros 100. AND to go further I took both cameras out on the same kind of day…unfortunately dull, humid and rainy.

So the first film I finished was from the Nikon TW2D.

This camera came into production in 1987 and was Nikon’s first autofocus point and shoot. There is a button on top to switch between 35mm and 70mm. There is a slider on the front which turns on the camera and opens the shutter cover. As you can see there are also buttons to control the flash, continuous shooting and midroll rewind. On the side of the lens barrel is a slider for soft focus too. Unfortunately, the zoom motor for this example was faulty and struggled to control the lens barrel extension or retraction. The camera seemed to work fine in the 35mm position, but struggled to do anything if you tried to set it to 70mm. Anyway, here is my test roll.

Hmm, there are a couple of nice shots, but on the whole, these are seriously underexposed. Bless this little camera, it really tried hard, but it just didn’t work. BUT, if the exposure had worked it would be a great camera. I would recommend it if you can find a good example.

And on to the next, the Nikon TW20 AF.

This one was a bargain, $1 for the camera and case. This one was produced a couple of years after the TW2D from 1989. It also has a button to switch focal lengths, 35mm and 55mm. The former camera had the first autofocus, this one has the first red-eye reduction. For a point and shoot it isn’t the smallest camera I have ever tried, even a little ugly on which I agree with this great blog. But I love sliding lens covers so that redeems it in my book. The lens cover also protects a few other buttons such as the self-timer and flash suppression. But was it a bust like the $2 camera?

This camera is AWESOME! All the more for costing $1. Remember it was a very dull day and I was using 100ASA film. For the most part, the exposure is great, plus the focal length button worked well. I really enjoyed using it and would recommend it if you can get a good example.

Keep or Sell: The TW2D is in the bin, but I kept the TW20 for a while. Eventually, I sold it to reduce my collection.