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Holy Trinity of Manual Focus Nikon SLRs...

ic-racer

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Nikon F "Apollo," Nikon F2AS and Nikon F3:

 
Plain F2 Photomic: I prefer a needle in my light meter. Probably the best made SLR from Nikon, or perhaps by anybody. I'd prefer my F without any meter, as mine, like most, stopped working decades ago.No camer that requires removal of the back to load film makes any sense to me. This is not 1959. The F3 is a more functional camera than either, but it's a bit cheaply made. Anyone want mine?

On balance the F2 gets the most love. They are all larger and heavier than they need to be.
 
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What a beautiful trio. I picked the F3. I really like cameras with a basic AE-feature but don't tell my Leicas (IIIf, M3, M4). In addition the F3 handles very well and find it to be less top-heavy than the cameras with metered prisms (I used to have a F2Sb), especially with the more compact DE-2.
 
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My two Fs are a 1962 model with a plain finder and the selenium clip-on meter and a 1973 FTN. The earlier camera came with a 50/2 Nikkor-S. The FTN finder is brighter than the old plain finder. I have a number of F2s. The one I use most often has the DP-2 and it works well. The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that my eye has to be well centered to see everything properly. If you take a lens like a 200 and point it up at the top of a tall building, you will not see the same distortion in the finder of an F2 that you see with a Nikkormat. Still, I have many Nikkormats and like them. My F3 has the original prism finder and not the HP finder. I prefer the original finder. If I want to use something more modern and with more eye relief, I will use a N90S. I do not wear glasses when I focus through an SLR. What three Canons do I have and can compare to the three Nikons? The original F-1 of 1971, the F-1n of 1976 and the New F-1 of 1981. I have a fleet of these and for most purposes, I prefer them to the three Nikons but for me it's not an either/or proposition. I enjoy using all of them, and many others, at different times and for different subjects.
 
ic-racer said:
Nikon F "Apollo," Nikon F2AS and Nikon F3:

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I love this stuff! The black FTn "Apollo" is a real gem. My first Nikon was a new F2S, 1973. I learned to really hate the + and - LEDs. I have one of the silly EE aperture control units for the F2AS, it's in need of a tuning as all it does is go back and forth. It's really cool looking
 
Personally, and this is just me speaking, I would leave off the F--as it's the least ergonomic of your trio--and substitute the F4. Because even though it can certainly autofocus, it's possibly Nikon's best-ever manual focus camera, too, with its fantastically bright and big viewfinder, its focus confirmation dot, its interchangeable focus screens (I've got a P screen in mine), its matrix metering even with MF lenses, and its ability to use every single manual focus lens ever made by Nikon to the fullest possible capabilities (including those conferred by the AIS upgrade).

And while it is a big, heavy beast, it's a sexy big, heavy beast that is still the most fun SLR to shoot that I've ever owned.
 

On paper you're right but in real life the original F is a joy to use.
 
Cholentpot said:
On paper you're right but in real life the original F is a joy to use.
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I'll bow to you on that front. I've handled an F, but never shot one. It just felt a bit clunky in hand. Now the F4--that thing is a joy both to fondle and to shoot!
 
Yes, the OP didn’t mention ‘camera work s with out batteries’ but maybe I’ll mention it now.

Having written the above, the F4 is on my list of cameras to obtain.
 
rulnacco said:
I'll bow to you on that front. I've handled an F, but never shot one. It just felt a bit clunky in hand. Now the F4--that thing is a joy both to fondle and to shoot!
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I've never used a F4 nor held one. I would like to own one some day.
 
I had the F2AS and F3HP since they were new. When I got into photography the F was gone (1977). I didn't get an F4 new. I paid $550 for the F2AS and $460 for the F3HP. The F4S was $1700 or so I got a free used one around 2014 and I am glad I didn't get it back when it was new. I did get a new F5 in 2002. I like it but I like the F3HP more.
 
My first F2 with the DPI finder was a joy to use. Then I bought a lightly used F2AS and thought I was in Heaven. I could not believe that finders ability to meter in candle light. The F2AS was one of the few cameras that I nearly shed a tear when it sold. I still had some Nikon glass and a Nikkormat FT2 and FT3 when I stumbled onto a used F4. Dang, another winner by Nikon, but gave that to a relative later. The last two purchases were a F100 and a 8008S. Both cost me almost nothing. Believe it or not I preferred the 8008S over the F100. The F100 felt like a plastic toy compared to the 8008s. Now I'm down to just the Nikkormat FT2 and a small selection of lenses. The FT2 is no Nikon F2AS or F4, but it does all I need since I mostly now shoot medium format on up and my Zony ARII for backup.
 
I started as an Air Force Photographer with Nikon F, then bought a used F when I worked for the wires, upgraded to the F2, then F3P. The F3P was very functional, weather sealed, as there were no weather sealed lens so not as much as a benefit as it seemed at first glance. The F3 had a better motor drive, but I liked the F2. When I had my F3P serviced the Nikon service center in London told me he thought the F2 had a better build quality than F3P. I took him at his word, but the F3 was overall easy to use, with AIS lens some automation.
 
ic-racer said:
Yes, the OP didn’t mention ‘camera work s with out batteries’ but maybe I’ll mention it now.

Having written the above, the F4 is on my list of cameras to obtain.
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Well, the F and F2 will work just fine without batteries. But the F3 won't, except for a single manual shutter speed. Which is one reason so many photographers mistrusted it when it first came out. It's ironic that a camera which had a relatively slow uptake in the beginning had one of the longest production periods of any Nikon camera. It's a fine camera indeed though.

And yes, you'll enjoy the F4. It's hard to believe that such an advanced camera for its time--one that still feels enormously capable and advanced today--can easily be had for less than $300 in very good condition. The only two drawbacks are that most of them today have LCD bleed, and if one of the coreless motors goes out on you (except for the rewind motor and the AF motor, if you plan to use it in manual focus mode exclusively) goes out on you, you're pretty much screwed.
 
The F3 seems to be holding up pretty well, from what I read on various forums better than the Pentax LX. I used my F3P in the tropics, arctic, hot deserts, never had an issue. I have a F4, other than heavy and a bit fussy it works really well with MF lens, the focus confirmation is spot on.
 
I have the other end of the F series trio (chronologicaly): F3, F4 and F6. I like them all for different reasons, I'd consider the F4 the most versatile because it is so capable and works with every lens. I like all 3 of them because I can add motordrives/battery packs as needed, or remove them for lighter weight.

The F6's meter is a joy, it nails the exposure perfectly almost 100% of the time. Even with slide film, it's pretty much a point and shoot camera.

I've never understood the "I need a camera that works without batteries, so I'm not stuck with a dead camera if the battery fails" thing. You carry spare film don't you? It's a lot easier to go through 36 exposures than use up a battery. Check the battery before you want to use the camera, or replace it on a regular schedule and it's no problem. I'll take the accurate metering and shutter speeds of an electronic camera over no meter and iffy shutter accuracy of a mechanical camera.

In an F3 the silver oxide batteries last a long time, and for the F4 or F6 (with the MB40) AA batteries are available pretty much anywhere on the planet. I can't think of a more common battery than an AA.
 

Or get an FM3a that works with or without batteries.

And the unique FM3a would be my choice as the perfect Nikon SLR, followed purely on an aesthetic basis by a plain prism F and an F2. My FM3a gets more use than all my other Nikon's but my F100 runs it close. I have two each of the F and F2, one of each is a user and the other one is to fondle. My treasure is a perfect 1959 F with a low serial number and an enigmatic 'T' engraved on the rewind knob which isn't unique but differs from the usual 'EP' export engraving and even the experts aren't sure what it means, so if anybody here knows please let me know!
 
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