The Winter Transition - or "Wow, I love my F3!"

copake_ham · Dec 12, 2006

With the leaves all gone and the "grey time" having arrived in Copake, this weekend I made the annual transition to shooting B&W.

The F5 has been temporarily "retired" (with a brief scheduled return on Xmas Day to shoot some of that new Porta) and the F3 has been dusted off and loaded with some B&W.

Now it's back to manual focus and feeling like I'm really "involved" in making the picture.

Don't know why I favor the F5 and AF for color and the F3 and MF for B&W, I just do.

Does anyone else have similar "split personalities"?

Mike Kovacs · Dec 12, 2006

Well, I don't own any AF SLRs but my F3 is one of my very few "go to cameras". It never disappoints - the camera is the perfect machine-human interface for me and wow, what a viewfinder!

bill schwab · Dec 12, 2006

In my commercial/editorial days my 2 F3's were my workhorses, Still are when the need arises. I love them and never even considered going to a 5. In nearly 20 years of hard service they never let me down once.

Bill

Dr David Hall · Dec 12, 2006

Me too

Have an F5 and love it for color as well but keep the F3 loaded with B&W. Thought it just my odd pattern. Also have two TLR's and one has B&W and one color, etc. The F3 is my favorite for B&W and what I tend to pick up to try to create something.

Curt · Dec 12, 2006

My son took my F3hp to France last year and is hanging onto it. When I ask about it he says "It's in my bedroom". It's a cameras camera, solid and a joy to use. I bought it for a biomed photography program I took. I had to get the 55 MicroNikkor lens for it. Purchased new and never regretted it. Hope to have it back but then he seems to have an attachment to it.

Curt

Jeffrey A. Steinberg · Dec 13, 2006

I love it even more with the "sports" finder--the large lumbering finder that is very vertical and meant to view the screen from even farther away than the HP finder. It makes it larger and heavier, but for me, I find it might larger and brighter and easier for my glasses.

Its amazing how many accessories they have for the thing. I can't stop buyiing them because I just love this camera and its handling, especially with an MD-3. I just found a brand new drive and its amazing with the F3.

Also found something for $50 (perfect condition) called a "fire rate converter" that esentially puts some intermediate steps in between "single" and "blast away."

I love my F3. I just hope the LCD doesn't go. anytime soon.

What's even better is occasionally taking out my F2 without winder ( I prefer the F3 with winder and the F2 without). I love the "kerlunk" sound the shutter mirror makes. Man, I really feel like I am "making a photo" with that thing.

I loved the F3 so much I have invested in a set of very fast lenses

105/1.7 (it may be 1.8)
85/1.4

Those two lenses make wonderful photos with nice blurry background.

{salivating, mindless ranting mode off} gotta sleep

kjsphoto · Dec 13, 2006

Can you still get the LCD repaired?

I have an F3 also and it was my first camera! When working as a journalist it was my favorite camera!!!! I think you guys inspired to take it out for a stroll and leave the LF gear at home!

zenrhino · Dec 13, 2006

Does anyone else have similar "split personalities"?

Count me in. Anymore for B/W I use (and I'm almost ashamed to say it) a Praktica m42, shooting Fomapan 400 and PanF+. For color I almost always use the Rolleicord III and use Portra NC160.

In the former case, it's because my best 35mm lenses are m42 Mamiya/Sekors -- a 28 f2.8, a 50 f2 and a 135 f2.8. If I get a manual focus Nikon body to go with the Nikor 105 f2.5 AIS I use on the digit*l, I might retire my Praktica. Maybe.

As far as Portra and the Rollei go, there's just something about the way that glass and that film work together to give me those skintones for portraits. I gave up trying to get that from digit*al a long time ago.

zenrhino · Dec 13, 2006

Jeffrey A. Steinberg said:
I love the "kerlunk" sound the shutter mirror makes. Man, I really feel like I am "making a photo" with that thing.

I think you might have hit it right on the head -- when I shoot a manual focus 35mm, it seems so much more a grounded, organic process; I focus and meter and hit the trigger. The mirror goes up exposing the film.

I guess all that automated filmwinding whizbang matrixmetering LCDs and blinkinglights etc kind of get between the photo and my mind's eye.

snegron · Dec 13, 2006

I too suffer from this split personality thing. I tend to use faster film with my AF cameras, slower film with my manual focus cameras. I recently started using slide film, and for some odd reason, it just feels better when I shoot it with my F2A or my F.

My F3HP is my "in between", all around, reliable camera. I load it with just about anything and it never dissapoints. It is very well balanced with the MD4, great to know that it is powered with readily available AA batteries. I haven't used my F3HP in over two weeks. I think I will load it with whatever film or slide film I find in my fridge and go shhoting tomorrow!

rpsawin · Dec 13, 2006

I have two Leica RF's...an M2 & and M6. The M2 is strictly b&w. If I shoot color it's with the M6. I can explain it as a mostly emotional response to the whole experience of shooting b&w film with the M2. I can best describe it as a "zone" or mind set.

Anyway, FWIW

Bob

willie_901 · Dec 19, 2006

zenrhino said:
In the former case, it's because my best 35mm lenses are m42 Mamiya/Sekors -- a 28 f2.8, a 50 f2 and a 135 f2.8.

Those Mamiya/Sekor M42s are wonderful. They are the sleepers of the M42 world. I have a 28/2.8, 35/2.8 and 50/2. While they may not have the most contrast of any lens I've used, they are certainly sharp. I use mine with a Mamiya/Sekor 500TL.

willie

salamandrine · Dec 19, 2006

I never use colour on my FM2, and i just use colour on my FE2.
I feel that the fully manual controls of the FM2 put me in the right mood for b&w.
with A mode, the shooting is faster.... can't explain.

But now, my F3HP arrived yesterday... i think i'm gonna have heartaches everytime i need to decide which one to carry out with my tri-x :S

nolanr66 · Dec 19, 2006

I tend to shoot certain films in different camera's. All my B/W is in medium format. I shoot fine grain color (Reala) in the FE2 and 400ASA color (FujiProH or KodakUC) in my F100.. It's seems good to me..

The Winter Transition - or "Wow, I love my F3!"

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