Important advances in the F5 included: Like all previous Nikon F series cameras, the F5 maintained a manual film rewind (with a rapid power rewind built in), high durability, exceptionally short shutter lag, interchangeable 100% coverage viewfinders (including a large-view Action Finder, Waist-Level Finder, and 6x High-Magnification Finder, in addition to the stock DP-30 multi-metering pentaprism), and support for a wide range of Nikon F-mount lenses.

Variants: Nikon introduced a very limited production anniversary edition of the F5 to celebrate 50 years of Nippon Kogaku (Japanese Optical).

It featured a titanium colored top plate, grey handgrip (vice red) and a special DP-30 metering prism with its historic "Nikon" font.

On a physical level they consisted of a Nikon F5 with the film transport equipment replaced with a custom-made Kodak digital back.

The digital back extended beneath the camera to house the battery and a pair of PCMCIA card slots.