Sell the flash, buy the F3?

mikebarger said:

If I were backing up from an f3 I'd have to go to a Nikkormat or F, never liked the balance of the F2 with motor.

Mike

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But the sound from an MD-2 is classic.

True, I used one for some time, but the F3 HP just balances better for me.

The F with F36 balanced well, but reloading that camera with a motor drive was a pain.

Nikkormats, I'd go with the EL2 every time.

Mike

Iwagoshi said:

But the sound from an MD-2 is classic.

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I agree...That click-clack and whirrrrr of the MD2 motor is hard to miss.

For the non-pro Nikons, I typically skip the EL series altogether and just go with an FE or FE2, if I want aperture-priority. By the time the 3rd generation "EL" (aka the FE) bodies came out, Nikon got things right, even though the mirror lockup went away, as did the full compatibility with bulb flash. For manual exposure, anything from the FTn on up through the FM2n is good.

F2 motor drive-wise, I typically prefer the MD-1, in that it doesn't develop the duck quacking sound that the later MD-2's do, due to the nylon gears that fail in those drives.

-J

F3HP all the way. I have 3 for years and have never failed me. I use an SB-24 with the adaptor. Great pictures. Exposures are dead on all the time. All of them with an MD-4

Love my F3s as stated before. I have 3 with a combination of DE-2 and DE-3 VFs. All presently outfitted with 20/2.8, 24/2.8, and 28/2.0 lenses w/ 35/2.0 and 50/1.4 getting use occasionally as well.

Stupid things on the F3: The on-switch and the illumination for the meter (dumb design). Other than that they're great.

I love the F3, if you can dump a mediocre flash and get a superb camera in return, what's to lose? You can pick up a mighty Metz CT45 for very little these days since the old version was produced in the thousands and is not digital compatible so they're being sold off widely. With the right SCA adaptor you can even use it TTL on the F3.

F3hp is the way to go, I have 2, both bought new in the mid 80's. Both have had literally thousands of rolls run through them, I use either an SB16 or metz 60CT-2's and TTL is typically dead on everytime.

clayne said:

...Stupid things on the F3: The on-switch and the illumination for the meter (dumb design). Other than that they're great.

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It is a shame that the switch on the F3 isn't like the one on (my) F4s...VERY easy to use, and very positive...And it lights up the viewfinder VERY well.

Another "stupid" thing with the F3 is the fairly slow flash synch...It makes fill-flash outdoors pretty tough.

Other than those 2 quirks, I love my pair of F3HP almost as much as I love my F4s...Almost....