Best wind-up/manual Nikon for me?

<p>Hey guys,<br>

So long story short I miss my old photography class days where everyone used a film camera with manual winding and manual focusing. Gave me alot more thought into pictures.<br>

Anyways, I really want a Nikon, but I want to make sure I get a nice solid camera.<br>

Basically I want:<br>

-BUILT IN LIGHT METER <- most important, a year ago I bought a MF camera with no light meter and I lost all initiative because it made workflow really annoying, along with parallax, exposure compensation and all that, but that's another story.<br>

-Solid build (if possible not a tiny camera, I had a Canon Digital Rebel XT and it was so small that it actually inhibited how I held the camera)<br>

-Manual focus<br>

-Manual winding<br>

-hopefully aperture priority, shutter priority selections if possible, just a hopeful request.</p>

<p>Can anyone tell me the best old Nikon that meets this criteria?<br>

Thanks!</p>

 

<p>I guess I might as well add, the larger the viewfinder the better since I wear glasses.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>hopefully aperture priority, shutter priority selections if possible, just a hopeful request.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The FA would fill that bill.<br>

All manual - you just can't beat the FM2.</p>

Or an F3...

<p>F2AS for the manual option. FM3a for aperture priority.</p>

<p>F3HP fits the bill pretty close.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>F3 or FM2n<br>

Both well designed bodies and even cheap now .... I paid $150 and $100 resp for each of my immaculate black bodies.<br>

The F3 even comes apart if you get the urge to see how they work. The viewfinder aperture mark illumination can be a little tricky on the F3 - it is a bit of a knack pressing the little red square on the pentaprism. The F3 even has a variation on the detachable prism in the HP version which is popular with people who wear glasses. 8-)<br>

There is no shortage of good info in the net. A first place to look is www.mir.com.my</p>

<p>Thinks ..... must learn to type faster and not talk myself thru a sentance :-)<br>

The FM3a may be unnecessarily expensive though?</p>

<p>04:51 p.m.<br>

04:52 p.m.<br>

04:53 p.m.<br>

04:54 p.m.</p>

<p>Jordan, you can't say we ignore you!</p>

<p>Earlier when I was googling <a href="http://www.mir.com.my">www.mir.com.my</a> seems to not work, but cameraquest helped a bit.<br>

It said the F2 and FM3A were highly regarded but I'm trying to get some more opinions. It seems like a few cameras fit the bill but I'm trying to widdle it down to the best suited.</p>

<p>Before reading this I was thinking about the F2 because of cameraquest's opinion of it, my only gripe is that it looks like the metering might be on the top of the camera, rather than through the viewfinder, but then again I've never used one on the top so it could be preferrable?</p>

<p>I'm gonna have to check out your guys' recommendations.</p>

<p>The only manual-focus Nikons with program or shutter priority mode are the FA and FG. Of those, the FA is somewhat larger, so if you aren't into "tiny cameras", you might prefer it over the FG.</p>

<p>If aperture priority and manual will suffice, then the FE and FE2 would be good choices.</p>

<p>Since you wear glasses, if you can afford a bit more, the F3HP would probably be best. "HP" stands for "high (eye)point", meaning it's designed to be viewed with the eye a little farther away, as it would be when wearing glasses.</p>

<p>Re your questions about the F2: The F2's metering is built into the viewfinder (which is why it's a bit bulky on top) but metering is TTL. The F2 is a superb camera, but it's manual only -- no AE of any kind.</p>

<p>The F2 has metering in the viewfinder, if you have the right viewfinder, but it has no aperture priority option. I think you have three choices for manual with the electronic features: the F3 (HP or not: HP is fantastic if you wear glasses); the FA as mentioned earlier, which has matrix metering; and, my personal favorite for what you're talking about: the FE2, which I'm surprised no one has mentioned. The F3 is bigger and heavier and more solid, and it is thought by many including me to be the best manual focus mechanical camera Nikon ever made. But if you want to spend less, you get a lot of camera in the FE2. I've never used the FA so cannot testify.</p>

<p>Cool thanks Vince, I'll compare those out and see if any float my boat. Having the choices laid out like that makes things easier :D<br>

I appreciate all the suggestions so far guys</p>

<p>And let's not forget: lenses. My choices would be the 20mm f/2.8 (or f/3.5 for budget - both are excellent); the 35mm f/2; the 50/1.4 AIS; and the 105/2.5 AIS (THE essential Nikon lens, shockingly beautiful). For longer work you have some great choices: cheap and great are the Ai 80-200mm f/4.5 (final version) or the 200mm f/4. If you want some real weight, switch that last for the very substantial 180 f/2.8 ED -- stunning sharpness, much more $$ -- or the 300mm f/4.5 ED, which is purely for the tripod. Back at the wide end, some would switch 20mm for 24mm -- really an inexplicable matter of taste in how wide you want wide to be. I love 20/21mm lenses myself. If you want to merge your wides into one, 28mm is the way to go, eradicating the need both for 20/24 AND 35mm: if so, the AIS 28mm f/2.8 is a famed Nikon masterpiece. Be sure not get the earlier and different Ai version. Anyway, for starters, a wide, a 50/1.4 or 1.8, and the 105/2.5 will do everything you need.</p>

<p>I still have my two FE's (1 all back for B&W film, the other with silver trim for color film). Aperture priority and manual. Compact. Mostly used with my 50/1.4 or my 24/2.8 Nikkor lenses. Used for 30 years. Just purchased some batteries last week to run some film through them for nostalgia's sake.</p>

<p>The easiest way to find nikon stuff on mir.com is a google search like " mir nikon f3" without the quotes, Seems google has that site down pat. Replace the f3 with any nikon model number, lens parameters, or words like extension tube, bellows, etc. </p>

<p>You can't go wrong with a F3 in good shape, I really like the one I have, and keh.com have an endless supply of goodies for it. :)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have used the FA and if you can put up with an electronic camera, it's the Swiss Army Knife of the amateur line. I am not totally enamored with the VF layout (my Minolta XD-11 made much more sense to me), but I can put up with it, and it can be used with the inexpensive when found used MD-12 motor drive (the drive made for the FA, the MD-15, is not as cheap). The FG is not a bad camera and is very inexpensive, but also all-electronic with more plastic, lower top shutter and flash sync speeds, no shutter priority, and the MD-14 motor drive isn't as easy to find if you want one. They both have the same flash system (the FE2 does also) which allows off-the-film plane control with the correct flash. I only have experience with those cameras and the FM/FM2, so I can't say anything about the FE line.</p>

<p>P.S. Invest in lenses over bodies, you'll be happier you did.</p>

<p>Normally I'd say FA because you want more than one autoexposure mode, but since small DSLRs are too small for you and you wear glasses, F3HP would be my choice. I have one and wear glasses, and it does work well with the eye a bit away from the finder. It's also pretty substantial, though not really that large by current standards. It's smaller than an F100 and feels smaller to me than a D7000.</p>

<p>You know what they should make? A D700HP.</p>

<p>Nikon F3hp might be Nikon's best camera ever. They do carry a bit of a price premium though.<br>

Kent in SD</p>

<p>Buy an F3 body from KEH for around $150. You don't need to worry about solid with an F3.</p>

<p>I've got it narrowed down to either the F3HP, or the FE2.<br>

I have a feeling it'd be hard to find a good F2, and it's nice to have AE if I want it.</p>

<p>Now it comes down to how much I can find each for..ebay didn't have many good results for good condition/price. I've never checked out KEH though. Any other sites a Canadian should browse?</p>

<p>Local camera shops, Henry's have some used stuff, BHPhoto and Adorama do as well.</p>

<p>Just adding another voice to the choir here - if you're a glasses wearer (as I am), the F3HP is without equal, IMO. Although larger than the FE/FMs, it is by no means a bulky camera - the body is merely substantial - it fills the hand nicely and the controls are large (with a couple of famously misguided exceptions*) and straightforward. The film wind is silky smooth (ball bearings), and if you're eventually in the mood for a motordrive, the MD-4 is arguably the best bolt-on MD ever made - it melds seamlessly with the camera body to become a single solid slab (and the MD-4 powers the camera, saving the onboard silver cells). The F3HP ties with the Olympus OM-4T as my favorite SLR - simply magnificent. It's not for nothing that Nikon continued to make and sell the F3 right through the succeeding F4 period and well into the reign of the F5 - 21 years, I think - the camera is that good.<br>

*I think the design team were hung over or suffering from food poisoning the day they came up with the viewfinder illuminator and the ISO dial.</p>

<p>I would pick the F3HP over the FE2 because the viewfinder is nicer. It's more accurate. There are more choices of focusing screen so that I can pick the screen without any focusing aid. The meter does not protrude into the image viewing area. Film winding is much smoother.<br>

But it's me because I have never used shutter speed above 1/1000 second. I don't use flash in broad daylight so higher flash sync speed is not and issue. </p>

<p>Just to get this straight, the F3HP uses the LED light meter system, whereas the FE2 uses the needle right?<br /> I've heard that the needle is preferred, wonder if it's that big of a deal.</p>

<p>I'm also assuming that if the battery runs out on the FE2, that you can't run it manually like the F3HP, correct?</p>

<p>Also, I'm a little afraid of overpaying since I see you guys have got better deals that what I'm finding on ebay/locally.</p>

<p>What should the F3HP body go for in decent condition?<br>

What should the FE2 body go for in decent condition?</p>