Vincent Peri
Member
I have more F3HPs than a person should be allowed to have. None of them has given me any trouble.
I have more F3HPs than a person should be allowed to have. None of them has given me any trouble.
Q: F2 or F3 ?
A: Yes, please.
The proper lens hood seems to be absent.
So just finished up a roll in the f3, shooting some flowers in our yard. The lcd screen was hard to read in the late summer sun (glare coming in the side of the viewfinder between my eye and the finder), viewfinder not the brightest (I was using a slow lens so didn't help things). Anyways, loaded up a roll in the f2 and went back out to shoot a few others. The screen was brighter making it easier to focus, the simple meter needle made it easier to read proper exposure and the confident shutter release just felt better. .
Display in the viewfinder.F2 is overall a better camera: Better viewfinder, better metering display, better built, more versatile with metering options (you can get full aperture metering with rabbit-ears pre-AI or with AI lenses).
The F3 is more ergonomic and lighter. Balances better. Has TTL flash too. But it has a lot of downsides, and for me #1 was the viewfinder. I tried the regular finder, also the HP finder (even the titanium HP finder for the F3P); i even tried other focusing screens -- it's no match for the quality of the F2 viewfinder. And the metering display on the F3 (tiny "+" and "-" symbols on the LED display) is a sick joke worthy of a sadist. For me the F3 is a great autoexposure camera. Of course, it is, until your little "AE lock" button decides to fall down.
And of course, the viewfinder illuminator is likely already broken in most F3 cameras out there. Also watch out for the film counter getting seized -- far too common.
And what about the glass FRE (functional resistance element) located just below the hot shoe, prone to get damaged if you knock the flash shoe? (which is possible if you have a dedicated flash attached...). On the F2 you can just change your prism head if metering fails.
Paradoxically the F3 shutter, mechanically, is better than the one on the F2. Smoother.
And what about the tiny viewfinder illuminator, the hard to move shutter lock and the tiny LCD display? Nikon should have NEVER EVER let a car design firm dictate how a film camera should be.
I prefer the F2 (some months ago I sold my F3, this is the 2nd F3 i'm letting go). But I prefer even more the Canon F-1 and New F-1. Canon did the viewfinder thing perfectly on the New F-1 -- excellent for manual metering and for AE too.
Display in the viewfinder.
That was my biggest complaint with the F3 and why i sold it.
Surely somebody at Nikon mentioned it.?
..........."It is kind of small, hard to see. Can we improve it".
Did Nikon think it was no big deal, i guess.?
I hate to think it was as simple as that.The triumph of FORM over FUNCTION. The downfall of Nikon.
I hate to think it was as simple as that.
But it could have been.
I am just a consumer, not a camera designer, but it is hard for me to think that Nikon thought their new, flag-ship, "Pro Cameras Body" had a Viewfinder Display that was pleasing to look at.![]()
A really bright viewfinder with a large apparent size (i.e., how big the subjective optics make it look) is one of the most expensive parts of any SLR. Maybe the F3 simply could not have been made profitable with the per unit cost of a better viewfinder.No, i'm using hyperbole.
But I really don't understand why Nikon went with that viewfinder, having had a really good viewfinder on the F2. And subsequent machines (i.e. N8008) had good viewfinders as well.
....The F2 focusing screens were of extreme quality and the prism finders had as high an apparent magnification as the chimney finders of a few generations before.
I'm not sure what you're talking about.
The DW-2 and DW-4 chimney finders each have 6x magnification. The standard F2 finders (DP-1, DP-2, Dp-3, DP-11, DP-12) all have 0.80 magnification.
..and If I remember correctly, the early, non-HP Nikon F3 finder (DE-2) magnification is something like 0.90 ? and the F3HP finder (DE-3) magnification is something like 0.75
Nikon apparently heard the complaints about F3 finder brightness and increased the F3 focus screen brightness. These brighter screens have a red dot on them and they do make a non-trivial difference.
I am no Nikon expert.Some of these reactions to the F3 are funny, as if it was a disaster for Nikon.
Nikon produced the F2 from 1971 to 1980, 9 years, selling 816,000 units.
Nikon produces the F3 from 1980 to 2001, 21 years, selling 751,000 units. It has to be noted that when the F2 was being sold, it was the only professional Nikon offered, whereas the Nikon F3 was sold later concurrently with the F4, and then the F5. It was so good that Nikon kept it in production through those other cameras production runs!
Yeah, the F3 sux.
I use both. They are different, and really what it comes down to is if you want to use an AE camera, then it is the F3. But if you prefer just manual exposure, get the F2.
and Minolta's SR-T'S were famous for the double jointed mirror that allowed a very bright (though not large) finder.
I'm not sure what you're talking about.
The DW-2 and DW-4 chimney finders each have 6x magnification. The standard F2 finders (DP-1, DP-2, Dp-3, DP-11, DP-12) all have 0.80 magnification..
Some of these reactions to the F3 are funny, as if it was a disaster for Nikon.
Nikon produced the F2 from 1971 to 1980, 9 years, selling 816,000 units.
Nikon produces the F3 from 1980 to 2001, 21 years, selling 751,000 units. It has to be noted that when the F2 was being sold, it was the only professional Nikon offered, whereas the Nikon F3 was sold later concurrently with the F4, and then the F5. It was so good that Nikon kept it in production through those other cameras production runs!
Yeah, the F3 sux.
I use both. They are different, and really what it comes down to is if you want to use an AE camera, then it is the F3. But if you prefer just manual exposure, get the F2.
The F3 is the only manual focus era SLR with a tolerable photo taking sound.
I have tried dozens of them in recent years, of all brands, and the sound they all make is as if something's broken inside. I am not talking loud, I am talking tinny, metallic, unrefined, and harsh. Even the latest FM3a (which I own) is like that.
It's a picture window for you if you wear glasses.
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