Is the light in your F3 finder not working?

[Ariston]

I'm such a cheapskate. I bought an "as-is" F3. It actually works, but the meter is a little off, and the light in the finder doesn't work.

I found these instructions via DuckDuckGo, but didn't think it would work for me because it didn't feel like my button depressed at all. I tried it anyway and, surprise surprise, it worked! It's really easy, if you want to give it a try:

http://www.realphotographersforum.c...finder-illumination-light-in-a-nikon-f3.1818/

 

[BrianShaw]

Mine still works but... The light was never a good or useful feature.

 

[Ariston]

It is pretty dim - It's my first time seeing it.

 

[BrianShaw]

... and I’m glad that the DIY repair worked for you. I really like photographing with my F-3. You will too.

 

[flavio81]

I had two F3 cameras (now only 1 of them) and the little light never worked...

 

[Nitroplait]

That illuminator button is not implemented very convincingly, but I’ve seen a couple of instances where owners didn’t realize that power needs to be turned on, and the shutter button needs to be half depressed just before pressing the fiddly little button.

 

[mshchem]

My epiphany was after using my F3 for 5 years I finally read the damn instructions, the light meter didn't work until you had advanced to frame 1. Something that was eliminated with the Nikon F3P. It's a beautiful camera, but definitely rather effeminate after the F and F2. MHO, don't bother to argue I'm going to Netflix.