Nikon F3HP: Worth the hype?

[Les Sarile]

I have an XK with the much better Herman Munster prism. Otherwise known as the AE prism. The slightly smaller prism is the AE-S. The S was meant to be better but I much preferred the original one as you could see all the shutter speeds in the VF at once, the S version had this weird design where you had to flip a switch to see the speeds below 1/30 sec IIRC. And the needle in the original was much easier to see than the leds in the S - which were too dim in daylight, but too bright in the evening!
The original also had a cool exp comp lever, gone in the S. The S had quicker reacting spd cells vs cds, but it lost the awesome contrast comparison metering which basically was a fore runner of matrix.

Currently the Minolta 58 1.2 is attached to it (most recent version) which just melts away the background like nothing else. See attached.

If you really are interested in getting an XK, let me know…

Nothing like a fast lens when you need to melt the background . . .

Selection 39 by Les DMess, on Flickr

 

[Huss]

Muster prism. Yep. That's the one.

Any day now Huss and you'll open the box with a query about how cheap you'll pawn the monster off on 'lil 'ol me.

F3HP with a 24 2.8 and some 250D

250d looks really good!

 

[Huss]

I've only worked on a couple of models for very simple issues like shutter is locked up. Interestingly similar to how mechanical slot machines operate but much smaller. Otherwise I have yet to do a tear down rebuild which may come soon enough. However, I do have the teardown evaluations conducted on Modern and Popular photography magazines for these and there are no complaints on the LX. Topnotch as they say. I can understand that as a business one may not work on an item for any number of reasons - technical and/or philosophical. I used to repair electronic products before but I encountered some people who obviously did not know how to repair them - since they sent them to me, and would turn around and say that because of my work that something completely unrelated is now broken. I suppose that in this age of the net, those same folks may have gotten louder . . .

There were no complaints when they did the tear downs because they were new cameras. They had no idea how they would suffer w age, and the LX clearly did not age as well as the F3.
Even the Leica R5 - which is of the same era as the LX - is a much more solid camera today!

 

[Huss]

Nothing like a fast lens when you need to melt the background . . .

Selection 39 by Les DMess, on Flickr

There is a certain magic to the Minolta 58 1.2 though. Perhaps it is because of the extra focal length, but my Nikkor 1.2s did not have it. The Leica 1.4s definitely do but they are at a whole ‘nuther price point!

 

[albireo]

As for F4 vs N8008 (or whatever plastic one was mentioned), there is a little hype but the F4 is so much more enjoyable to use, and so much more intuitive with its wonderful, large, ergonomic dials that for me the question is why would you get the NXxxx if you can afford an excellent F4.

I don't own an F4 but have never been tempted to buy one. My F801s is way more compact and lighter. My F90X is fine too, though it's the biggest and heaviest 35mm camera I would carry.

The F4 seems to me too big, too bulky. I don't have any use for all that mass in a 35mm camera. There is a certain weight/bulk limit over which I will always prefer to pack one of my 6x6 TLRs over a SLR, or my Fuji GA645i.

So even if one can afford a big bulky "pro" 35mm other considerations come in, for me the most important being the the frame size/weight ratio.

 

[Les Sarile]

There were no complaints when they did the tear downs because they were new cameras. They had no idea how they would suffer w age, and the LX clearly did not age as well as the F3.
Even the Leica R5 - which is of the same era as the LX - is a much more solid camera today!

The comments made were quality parts were used. Since both my LX are 100%, that must be true. And of course a good working LX is better than many other good working cameras . . .

 

[Huss]

I don't own an F4 but have never been tempted to buy one. My F801s is way more compact and lighter. My F90X is fine too, though it's the biggest and heaviest 35mm camera I would carry.

The F4 seems to me too big, too bulky. I don't have any use for all that mass in a 35mm camera. There is a certain weight/bulk limit over which I will always prefer to pack one of my 6x6 TLRs over a SLR, or my Fuji GA645i.

So even if one can afford a big bulky "pro" 35mm other considerations come in, for me the most important being the the frame size/weight ratio.

You would like an F70.

 

[Huss]

The comments made were quality parts were used. Since both my LX are 100%, that must be true. And of course a good working LX is better than many other good working cameras . . .

News flash! Magazine reliant on advertising dollars praises advertisers’ products!
I am glad though that you have the last two good working LXs.

 

[Cholentpot]

250d looks really good!

It's the baking soda.

 

[Ben_Hardy]

Nikon F3HP is quite amazing in capturing day light pictures. I m using this camera but i want to upgrade it. so can anyone help me to select better camera than Nikon F3HP ???

 

[Chan Tran]

The F3 is my favorite camera. I said that in comparison to the others that I have used mostly 35mm SLR like Nikon F2AS, F4S, F5, FM, FE, Minolta XK, XD11...
There is no hype about it. When it was released people thought it might not be as reliable as the F2 as it has electronically controlled shutter. But it has proved to be reliable.
I like the red button although using it is a bit difficult but all that I have used work.
It doesn't bother me at all with the hotshoe on the rewind crank. I have the Nikon SB-16A with the right foot. I have the Metz 45-CT4 and 60-CT4 with the right module that would provide TTL with that hot shoe.

 

[Huss]

Nikon F3HP is quite amazing in capturing day light pictures. I m using this camera but i want to upgrade it. so can anyone help me to select better camera than Nikon F3HP ???

Leica R9

 

[BradS]

If you go on Instagram, the F3's waist-level viewfinder is plastered literally everywhere. Might be a newer generation thing, as it says you joined Photrio before I was born.

I guess I don't think of that kind of post as hype so much as "look at me! I'm super special because I bought a 30 year old camera! Look at me, I'm special, Look at me!" Hype is more like the Leica snobs saying idiotic things like, "Leica optics are quite simply the finest available".... gimme a break! How dumb does one have to be to believe this crap?

The Nikon F3HP is a good, reliable camera. Here are some things that I really like about it....

• ergonomics - it feels good in my hands (highly subjective)
• Accurate and reliable center weighted light metering
• Excellent (amazing!) TTL flash with the Nikon SB-16a
• Accurate and reliable electronically controlled shutter speeds
• Full manual control with available aperture priority auto exposure
• Fabulous view finder
• camera settings visible in view finder
• works with every Nikon AI lens ever made

Nikon F3HP with SB-16A


Janna by Brad S, on Flickr

 

[Les Sarile]

Nikon F3HP is quite amazing in capturing day light pictures. I m using this camera but i want to upgrade it. so can anyone help me to select better camera than Nikon F3HP ???

Of course it will all depend on what you want/need that the F3 doesn't do for you now. Do you want less battery dependence then perhaps the FM3A. Do you want more features then perhaps the FA. Do you want AF then perhaps the F4.

 

[bring_back_pro400h]

250d looks really good!

Funny enough, I picked up an F3 because I stumbled across a ton of bulk 250D. All said and done, I have over 20+ rolls of +/- 35 exp 250D that cost around $4.55 a roll, and I have more bulk reels I haven't rerolled. More and more film labs (I use Brooktree Studios) are offering ECN-2 processing or at least humor the Remjet layer in development.

This is just some random picture I found on the internet, but apparently, maybe, just maybe it could be that 250D shares its emulsion with Portra 400. I'm not one to trust the internet much but not many trolls see a whole lot of reward in pranking film shooters. Portra 400 stock shares very similar roots to 250D, the colors are splendid on 250D regardless. So I will be shooting it along with a 500T roll I have yet to roll into 35mm canisters at my university's dark room. This is a much more affordable way for me to shoot film and eliminates the hassle to go out and source more rolls whenever my freezer gets depleted. Besides, a 5-pack of Portra 400 is $70+. That's just insane.

 

[Cholentpot]

Funny enough, I picked up an F3 because I stumbled across a ton of bulk 250D. All said and done, I have over 20+ rolls of +/- 35 exp 250D that cost around $4.55 a roll, and I have more bulk reels I haven't rerolled. More and more film labs (I use Brooktree Studios) are offering ECN-2 processing or at least humor the Remjet layer in development.

This is just some random picture I found on the internet, but apparently, maybe, just maybe it could be that 250D shares its emulsion with Portra 400. I'm not one to trust the internet much but not many trolls see a whole lot of reward in pranking film shooters. Portra 400 stock shares very similar roots to 250D, the colors are splendid on 250D regardless. So I will be shooting it along with a 500T roll I have yet to roll into 35mm canisters at my university's dark room. This is a much more affordable way for me to shoot film and eliminates the hassle to go out and source more rolls whenever my freezer gets depleted. Besides, a 5-pack of Portra 400 is $70+. That's just insane.

I've not had much luck getting good colors out of 500T. I keep trying though.

 

[bring_back_pro400h]

I've not had much luck getting good colors out of 500T. I keep trying though.

In my crappy, damaged coating Minolta lens that I thrifted, it produced some crazy highlights when overexposed + wide open. 500T is the same thing as Cinestill 800T, and that's all the rage for tungsten light night photography now. These photos are quite bad but exhibit the colors from the test roll of 500T that I shot.

 

[Cholentpot]

In my crappy, damaged coating Minolta lens that I thrifted, it produced some crazy highlights when overexposed + wide open. 500T is the same thing as Cinestill 800T, and that's all the rage for tungsten light night photography now. These photos are quite bad but exhibit the colors from the test roll of 500T that I shot.

I think maybe 500T works better in native ECN-II chemistry.

 

[bring_back_pro400h]

I think maybe 500T works better in native ECN-II chemistry.

Definitely, but for cost purposes, I'll learn to deal with 500T as it is with the labs available.

 

[Cholentpot]

Definitely, but for cost purposes, I'll learn to deal with 500T as it is with the labs available.

The 250D seems to get along great with C-41, and to a lesser extent the 50D does too.

 

[MattKing]

This is just some random picture I found on the internet, but apparently, maybe, just maybe it could be that 250D shares its emulsion with Portra 400.

Not the case.
The two films are designed for different contrast, and designed to be developed in different developers, which rely on different developing agents.
They share some technological roots - the source of the fine grain - but not a lot else.

 

[Huss]

In my crappy, damaged coating Minolta lens that I thrifted, it produced some crazy highlights when overexposed + wide open. 500T is the same thing as Cinestill 800T, and that's all the rage for tungsten light night photography now. These photos are quite bad but exhibit the colors from the test roll of 500T that I shot.

I like the first pic. The funniest comment I read about Cinestill 800 is that you have to take at least one pic of a gas station at night.

 

[Moose22]

I like the first pic. The funniest comment I read about Cinestill 800 is that you have to take at least one pic of a gas station at night.

My first roll:

Rules are rules.

 

[Huss]

My first roll:

Rules are rules.

There you go!

 

[Cholentpot]

My first roll:

Rules are rules.

Mmm that light bloom.