My one gripe with the F3HP

Depth · Feb 23, 2010

Anyone else find the button to turn on the LCD light to be way too small? Majority of the time I can't press the button while looking through the VF.

Paul Goutiere · Feb 23, 2010

Depth said:
Anyone else find the button to turn on the LCD light to be way too small? Majority of the time I can't press the button while looking through the VF.

Welcome to the world of the Nikon F3. I have heard of no explanation why such a otherwise beautiful camera would have such a thing. I even looks plastic and cheap.

The rest of the camera more than makes up for it, in my opinion.

fotch · Feb 23, 2010

Never gave it a thought so doesn't bother me. Just average size hands, fit in a L or XL glove.

YMMV

Depth · Feb 23, 2010

Paul Goutiere said:
Welcome to the world of the Nikon F3. I have heard of no explanation why such a otherwise beautiful camera would have such a thing. I even looks plastic and cheap.

The rest of the camera more than makes up for it, in my opinion.

I definitely agree, it's a fantastic camera and I'm glad I got it instead of an OM-4Ti (OM-4 I got from B&H had a dying shutter). Just surprised that Nikon overlooked it and never fixed it in the other variations.

Russ - SVP · Feb 24, 2010

Let us not forget the paltry 1/80 flash sync. :-(

Christiaan Phleger · Feb 24, 2010

I don't mind the flash, that's what an F4 is for. The viewfinder illuminator button is and always has been a joke. Maybe Sover Wong can devise an LED replacement.

Christiaan Phleger · Feb 24, 2010

Don't forget about the flash, 1/80th is almost to 1/125, which if you were using either Plus-X, Kodachrome 25 or Pan-x, you could do a daylight sync without much trouble. I used to do it with the Vivitar 283, set on Blue if I recall...

clayne · Feb 24, 2010

Depth said:
Anyone else find the button to turn on the LCD light to be way too small? Majority of the time I can't press the button while looking through the VF.

Yep. It's everyone's gripe really. It requires a fingernail and it's flaky in operation. I never use it. At night where I'd need it I'm usually 1/30 and below, wide-open.

epatsellis · Feb 24, 2010

All of my LCD buttons stopped working years ago, quite likely a simple fix, but for low light and/or flash work, I use the F4 as well. The F3's have served me well, but they're far from my primary film camera now.

Mark Layne · Feb 24, 2010

Go back to an F2 - none of these problems
Mark

pesphoto · Feb 24, 2010

ive got one in the classifieds right now if any interest...w lenses

jphendren · Feb 24, 2010

I find it humerous; the first thing that came to mind when I read read your thread title is that annoying little red button for turning on the viewfinder illumination. That was my biggest gripe about an otherwise very nice camera. My F5 and F6 have very easy to turn on LCD backlighting.

Jared

Paul Goutiere · Feb 24, 2010

Mark Layne said:
Go back to an F2 - none of these problems
Mark

This is very true. I have two nice old F2s, one with a DP-11 and the other with a DP-1. Neither have the jumpy needle syndrome (yet). Since I don't use flash the 1/80th flash sync and the weird flash attachment don't bother me.

I like to be able to adjust the meter on these cameras by looking down at the meter window on the top of the camera without putting the camera to my eye.

The versatility, battery independence and reliability of these old cameras is awesome.

The F3HP is a really nice camera too, however. It looks nice, the finder is bright and I like the way it fits my hand.

Pumal · Feb 24, 2010

Never used it.

Ihmemies · Feb 24, 2010

I wish F3 had same kind of switch like in F4. The button is so very useless.

lxdude · Feb 24, 2010

I like the F3, and have one, but I've always found the tiny button's size, location, lack of feel and frequent refusal to function properly, irritating to the point of being insulting. I mean, people paid a lot of money for that machine and they were expected to just accept that inadequate afterthought.
It's always amazed me that Nikon allowed that "feature" to make it to production, it's so bad. That they never saw a need to fix it is beyond me.
Did no one in the top ranks see it would have been better to leave it off than include such a lousy design?

clayne · Feb 24, 2010

Alright relax, it's a simple LCD illumination button. It's not a deal breaker by any means. Do what the rest of us do: ignore it.

lxdude · Feb 24, 2010

clayne said:
Alright relax, it's a simple LCD illumination button. It's not a deal breaker by any means. Do what the rest of us do: ignore it.

Sorry, we all have our pet peeves. I just get annoyed by stooopid design, especially from companies that should know better. Like you said, just ignore it. I ignored it, and it went away. That is, it stopped working at all.

unclemack · Feb 24, 2010

First one of mine that stopped working I took the top plate off to clean the switch. I was a repairer at the time so knew perfectly well how to do the job but it started acting up again within 18 months.
So I used a white chip led from a mobile phone & modified the circuit a lttle so that the light comes on and goes off with the meter. Never got around to doing the other bodies though... maybe one day.
It's quite easy, any repairer should be able to do the job for you - I think Nikon used to offer a similar mod. but without the led.

Shawn Rahman · Feb 24, 2010

I'll take a different position on this: both the light and the LCD still work on my nearly 30-year old F3HP. The light may be awkward and rarely used, but it still going strong, so something must be right with it.

Mick Fagan · Feb 25, 2010

I just checked both of my F3HP bodies, both lights work perfectly.

However I cannot remember the last time I used a light to see the reading, maybe 20 years ago, maybe longer.

I don't think it was a stupid design, it was cutting edge when it was released, especially for a conservative company.

Mick.

Chan Tran · Feb 25, 2010

back when I first got it in 82 I did use it and found quite difficult to use. Nowaday, it's a nice decorating element, not functioning. My F2AS was stolen in 84 and I can't remember where the button was, it did have such a button

Nikon Collector · Mar 3, 2010

Mark Layne said:
Go back to an F2 - none of these problems
Mark

So very very true, I've never found anything about my F2 that I didn't like

steven_e007 · Mar 3, 2010

I've only recently aquired an F3 for pictorial photograohy - and I find it to be... lacking in the "intuitive" department!

Either you know where the right button is... or you don't. Most other cameras I've used it is obvious... but not the F3.

I also played with an F5 the other day - also knobs all over the place and no obvious sense or reason.

I say "aquired for pictorial photography" because for the last 13 years I have used Nikon cameras as part of my job as film recording devices. Nothing comes close. We have tried many other 35mm cameras and absolutely nothing... NOTHING came close to the reliability and longevity of Nikon cameras. When the F3 was discontinued we switched to Leica SLRs... good, but they had a shorter life as everyone went digital so we were not able to make a real comparison. My hunch is that Nikon would have still been supreme.

But yes... that little red button drives me NUTS!

Curt · Mar 3, 2010

When I bought mine, new, I was told it was the model that is "drugged though the mud all over the World by Journalists". I guess they never use some of the features on the camera. I do love this camera and the 55mm Micro Nikkor lens is the cats **s for sharpness.

My one gripe with the F3HP

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