Anyone still loving their F3

<p>The Nikon F3 was at rue classic. I always use a MD-4 on mine these pictures are with the 50mm F2.0 AI and the Ektar 100.<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HoEf84cEvSw/TkO_7_BSBWI/AAAAAAAAAGo/sEGzj6MRDt8/s1600/09330012.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="597" /><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P7TEOBtu21k/TkJpJ1NykVI/AAAAAAAAAGg/GF_F_yOumDM/s1600/web.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I'm still loving my F and my F2. I haven't got as far as the F3 yet.</p>

<p>I'm just starting to love my F3.<br>

I was just a boy when the F3 was introduced. It was the camera that was most prominently pictured in all of the instructional photography books and textbooks when I was growing up and heading off to school to be a filmmaker.<br>

I finally splurged on a "bgn" F3HP from KEH. It arrived in beautiful condition, and it immediately felt at home in my hands. I know the electronic metering puts it in the "modern camera" group, but the F3 really is a mechanical work of art. Each knob, dial and button is sculpted and substantial. As for the viewfinder -- wow. The best I have EVER seen on any 35mm camera.<br>

I added a kit of AI lenses (28/2.8, 50/1.8 and 105/2.5) and am really looking forward to putting a lot of film through this camera.</p>

<p>How can anybody who owns an F3 not love it...it was the most versatile (configurable) of the F series. Mine has never failed me, and it is a terrific camera, although I prefer my F4 as it is a little better in the ergonomics..</p>

<p>MY F3HP is at my sisters flat in london. I do miss it here ,but its nice having a great film camera already there when I come to visit. There is nothing as smooth as cocking a F3. I don't ever use a motor on mine , because I like the sensation of smooth, well machined gears.</p>

<p>I have both a High Eypoint and a regular finder on mine. I sold my first one off and missed it so much that I went back and bought another. I have used the F, F2, F4 and F5 and the F3 is my favorite.</p>

<p>Nice shots.</p>

<p>Heck, I just "upgraded" to an F2, and I'm not sure I could remember to always trip that coupling tab on the F3 body for my old pre-AI lenses.<br /> Actually, my favorite Nikon shooter is still my <a href="../modern-film-cameras-forum/00Yekz">Nikkormat EL</a>, much as I appreciate the minimalist beauty of the F with the plain prism. I did get what I hope is a working meter head for the F2.</p>

<p>I absolutely love my F3HP. I don't use my MD-4 because I love the action of the film advance lever and the sound of the shutter. What an amazing camera!</p>

<p>Count me in as well. Had mine CLA'd by John Hawley camera repair in California.....shoots and meters like new. I do not have an HP finder on mine. My F2/50mm ais Nikkor lives on this body with the MD-4. Can't imagine photography without it!</p>

<p>I just recently purchased mine. A friend had bought one new when his children were small, but he traveled so much that it didn't get used. He estimated that he only put about 10 rolls through it. I was SO excited to be able to purchase a mint version of my boyhood dream camera! I've only put one roll through it so far, but the experience was incredible! I kept remarking that it felt like a Mercedes of cameras. I use mine with the MD4 as well.</p>

<p>Yes I do love my F3. I have used 3 F3's and they are all F3HP.<br>

I started out back in 77 with the F2AS and so when the F3 was introduced I, like many people at that time. didn't think it's worthy of being Nikon top of the line because it has an electronically control shutter. But I always wanted a motor drive for my F2AS but the motor drive MD-2 and its MB-1 battery pack was over $800. So in 83 I bought the F3HP and the MD-4 motor drive for a mere $700 and use it as a motor driven camera. The F3 grew on me, I started to fall in love with its smoothness and it's very good ergonomically.<br>

In 87, my F2AS was stolen and I also fell on hard time so I sold all my photo gears along with all the darkroom stuff. Fast forward to 2002, I wanted to do photography again and had a hard time decide whether I should buy the F3HP+MD-4 again or an F5. In 2002 I could buy either brand new and the cost were about the same. Out of curiousity as I want to know what Nikon had come up with in 20 years, I bought the F5. While I do like the F5 in many ways, a lot of the hype about it doesn't really work. AF while it's fast and accurate, it only focus on a point and the point may or may not where I want to focus. I would have to resort to the technique of focus, recompose then shoot. I didn't have to do that with a manual focus camera, I can focus on any part of the screen or actually several part of the screen at the same time to compare which points is the sharpest. Spotmetering on the F5 is good but it's not as good as a handheld meter. The centerweighted meter is about the same as before with a bit different in the percentage. The highly hyped about Matrix meter didn't work for me at all as I shoot mainly color negative films. I found it's great for slides and digital but for color negative film the way it determines exposure is not to my liking. The new wheel type controls are slow to operate and I understand why it has to be that way because the new cameras are now can be set in 1/3 stops increment and conventional shutter speed dial would be too crowded. But the wheels are slow to operate. I tried out P mode and didn't like. I do not like the S mode. I do use A mode with both the F5 and F3 but I often use M mode.<br>

The new TTL flash system of the F5 favor fill flash which I don't do often and thus it underexpose normal flash shot. I had no problem with the F3 TTL flash system ( I am surprised to find out that many with the F3 never use TTL flash because of the non standard hot shoe).<br>

So I bought a used F3HP with the MD-4 and then another shortly. The F3HP's are now my favorite cameras.</p>

<p>It's one of my favorite Nikon's. I have the F3HP and it allows me to see the full frame with my glasses like no other camera. There is a lot to like about this camera but the ability to see the whole frame at once...priceless. I have the motor but never use it, I just don't shoot that fast and I hate humping a heavy camera around anymore. Besides the film advance is so smooth it's like my thumb is in love.</p>

<p>I hated the damn things....back in the day, I owned 3 of them with motors, just so I could usually have one that worked properly. We were covering CKC kennel club approved shows in these days, and there was never time to do anything but switch cameras if,(when), a malfunction would occur.</p>

<p>I love F4!</p>

<p>i prefer my F. The film advance lever is the smoothest on any camera,way ahead of any Leica-M, has a travel distance half way round the globe! i do not want the motor. It is already as heavy as a small Pentax SLR System.<br>

Mine bought a mere 2 years ago. Little heavy on batteries.. i use the 5 for a $1. Uses at least 2 every 9 months.This problem has been "corrected" in Digital. Where once one carried extra rolls of film, one now carries extra battery and chargers and cables..<br>

Focus screen is darker than my F.<br>

The F3 is perhaps one of the best cameras ever built.<br>

The push tab out of way for non-Ai lenses a minor task.</p>

<p>sold it and bought another within a year, that sums up how much i enjoy the f3. or f3hp in my case.</p>

<p>I love my F3, which I've only had for a few years. It feels new to me after many years with F's. I still love the F's too, but the F3 is pretty hard to beat. </p>

<p>I decided to forego the task of remembering to flip the tab on mine, and converted most of my old lenses. I was not forgetting to flip it up, but forgetting to flip it back later.</p>

<p>Owned a couple of them. Loved it but just don't shoot enough film to keep it. Sold it for a small profit. Still have the Nikon FE2 and the Nikon F100, which are both worth less than the F3 that I sold. Like them better too, overall.</p>

<p>I've always ran with Nikon because that's what Uncle Sam used back in the days in Uniform. Always had a pair of F2's or F3's and five primes within an arm's reach. Still use 'em. Back in the late 90's when digital was making a real dent on film photography I decided to supplement my film gear as everyone was dumping their film gear for pennies on the dollar. Don't get me wrong, I love my digital gear. But I still put my soul in film. Anyhow, a repair shop is going out of business, I buy a couple of boxes of F2 and F3 parts. Buy a ton of factory assemblies too. Had the techs make as many as possible. I now have a fleet of 8 F2s and 9 F3hp's including motors for each and four to spare. All for less than 1300 dollars! Got many spare parts to cover a lifetime. Mind you the bodies are brassy as are the prism housings as well as the motor housings. But they all got complete new innards from wind to take-up including mirror and shutter mechanisms. And I pumped a few paychecks into very nice and fast Nikon glass! Count me in on loving my f3's. I rotate bodies and glass continously. There's something to be said about looking at my slides (copies, of course) on a living room wall as opposed to a monitor with great music to the ears! What a drug! During the Lebanese civil war I used the F3 for the first time, and love at first use it was! Still have that body and motor today. Has yet to see the doctor after such use. When not on the job I'll show up at a local event with my Analog Image Capturing Devices and have fun. You'd be surprised at how many digital shooters have asked about film-based photography. I scout locations using my trusty weather resistant K10d's with the 2.8 DA* zooms, eye the results on the PC. When able I return and commit to film. I no longer have to shoot for a living, I shoot for myself. I also play with the Pentax 67's and the RB's. Always come back to my first love, the venerable Nikon F3. </p>

<p>I've always ran with Nikon because that's what Uncle Sam used back in the days in Uniform. Always had a pair of F2's or F3's and five primes within an arm's reach. Still use 'em. Back in the late 90's when digital was making a real dent on film photography I decided to supplement my film gear as everyone was dumping their film gear for pennies on the dollar. Don't get me wrong, I love my digital gear. But I still put my soul in film. Anyhow, a repair shop is going out of business, I buy a couple of boxes of F2 and F3 parts. Buy a ton of factory assemblies too. Had the techs make as many as possible. I now have a fleet of 8 F2s and 9 F3hp's including motors for each and four to spare. All for less than 1300 dollars! Got many spare parts to cover a lifetime. Mind you the bodies are brassy as are the prism housings as well as the motor housings. But they all got complete new innards from wind to take-up including mirror and shutter mechanisms. And I pumped a few paychecks into very nice and fast Nikon glass! Count me in on loving my f3's. I rotate bodies and glass continously. There's something to be said about looking at my slides (copies, of course) on a living room wall as opposed to a monitor with great music to the ears! What a drug! During the Lebanese civil war I used the F3 for the first time, and love at first use it was! Still have that body and motor today. Has yet to see the doctor after such use. When not on the job I'll show up at a local event with my Analog Image Capturing Devices and have fun. You'd be surprised at how many digital shooters have asked about film-based photography. I scout locations using my trusty weather resistant K10d's with the 2.8 DA* zooms, eye the results on the PC. When able I return and commit to film. I no longer have to shoot for a living, I shoot for myself. I also play with the Pentax 67's and the RB's. Always come back to my first love, the venerable Nikon F3. </p>

<p>I still love mine. Purchased used, but in nice shape about 8 or 9 years ago. No MD, but it doesn't seem necessary for the type of photo I do with it. Like virtually everyone who's ever used it, though, I sure wish they'd done a better job of how the viewfinder illumination is activated! No problems with the mechanics or electronics, and I agree with everyone else's positive comments.</p><div></div>