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The Nikon F3 is the best 35mm ever!

I really enjoyed reading this old (2004) post again. Who would have thought the Nikon F3 would still arouse so many new responses.

What ever happened to the original poster, Ara Ghajanian? I have not seen any recent posts.
 
Chan Tran said:
I think the light switch is a decorative element like the red stripe. I think it works very well for that function.
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That's the problem, in the F3 they thought that FORM was more important than FUNCTION in cameras. Bad!! They hired the Giugaro design studio to mess with the camera.

Fortunately the F4 returns to function...
 
The F3 was produced for 21 years. There was a market for it along the F4 and F5 cameras.
 

That's what made me unload my F3. I could not stand the lack of precision with the manual metered read out. Bizarre design choice by Nikon, it's as if they wanted you to just shoot in Auto mode.
 
Many people prefer the analog readout of the FE2 or FM3a: a meter needle showing the camera's chosen speed and a blue needle showing the selected speed (if not A). Without directly looking at it, the analog position of the needle gives one a feel for what the shutter speed is and how to adjust. A digital readout does not. Even "glass cockpits" on aircraft simulate analog gauges for this reason.
 
All the cognoscenti know that the Canon New F1 is the best professional 35mm film S.L.R. ever manufactured .
 
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flavio81 said:
That's the problem, in the F3 they thought that FORM was more important than FUNCTION in cameras. Bad!! They hired the Giugaro design studio to mess with the camera.

Fortunately the F4 returns to function...
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I actually like it that way.
 
The F4s has just the right amount of refinements to place above the F3
 
I'll be at the Supercross in SLC this Saturday. I'll be bringing a camera (or two ).

If you are there and see a Pentax LX, that will almost certainly be me. I need the ability to change screens and maybe viewfinders.

Probably the only LX in the crowd.

It may even be the only film camera in the crowd.
 
 
I owned the competition, a Canon F-1 for over 30 years. I handled a Nikon F3 and it's a very nice camera. An Italian guy is the designer so it's a piece of art.
 
I think the other contender was the T90, I owned one along with a few lens for about a year, sold the set as I have too many cameras and was buying Minolta Af, also designed by an Italian designer. Lots to like, integrated motor drive, good metering, rugged design, only lacking interchangeable viewfinders. I have read that the core electronics were in cooperated into the first Canon EOS bodies.
 
I've been using my F3HP for about 2 years now. Pretty heavy use. It's a perfect camera except for the dangum LCD and the lack of a hotshoe.

The F3 and a Canon A2 sit in the front of my stable. When I need a fast camera that does it all I take the Canon. For all else that is serious it's the F3.
 
How a Canon A2 faster than the F3?
 
Chan Tran said:
How a Canon A2 faster than the F3?
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I agree with Cholentpot's assessment, having owned the EOS 5 (aka "EOS A2") and the Nikon F3.

The EOS 5 has auto-focus, eye-controlled focus, fast 5 frames/sec integrated film advance, program mode (in addition to the other auto modes), easy exposure lock, and matrix metering. Ah, and exposure compensation is set with your thumb, without having to change your shooting hand position.

The combination of all this makes it a faster camera. Indeed an extremely fast camera to operate.

I sold my EOS 5 because i did not use it more. I use more my 'older' cameras, which have none of such advanced features.
 
Don't you just love it when someone posts that their particular camera is the best and then everyone else jumps in and champions their cameras? Why bother to start such threads when we all know that the only choice for best is Hasselblad. The rest of you really need to get over yourselves and your crappy cameras. Jus' sayin'

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Sirius Glass said:
Why bother to start such threads when we all know that the only choice for best is Hasselblad. The rest of you really need to get over yourselves and your crappy cameras.
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Sirius...

Perhaps if you read the thread title...

:The Nikon F3 is the best 35mm ever!"

What part of 35mm do you not understand?

- Leigh
 

Yay! Hooray for Hasselblad!!
 
Leigh B said:
Sirius...

Perhaps if you read the thread title...

:The Nikon F3 is the best 35mm ever!"

What part of 35mm do you not understand?

- Leigh
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I already posted about my Nikon N75 and Nikon F100, so I did my part in forcing my choices on the innocent readers.
 
Chan Tran said:
How a Canon A2 faster than the F3?
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Leigh B said:
Define please "fast".

- Leigh
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With the F3 you need to manually wind the film, focus and compensate if the situation calls for it. A2 goes up to eye and shoot the photo. DSLRs are just now passing up the the FPS of the later EOS cameras. I can blow through a roll of 36 in seconds. Even with an MD on the F3 it is slower to use. Using an F3 for sports pales in comparison to using a mid or top level autofocus EOS camera.

That being said I usually get more keepers from the F3 than the EOS. The lenses are generally more affordable for my Canon these days though.
 
The Hasselblad Xpan is the best 35mm camera ...


... that Hasselblad has made.
 
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