What do you guys prefer a Leica M3 or a Nikon F?

Vsanzbajo · Aug 30, 2011

Which one do you think is a better camera overall. If you had to pick one for a trip.
Thanks in advance.

brucemuir · Aug 30, 2011

What kind of a trip?

The Nikon would be way more versatile due to the entire system but if you needed to travel light may not be the right answer.

BillBingham2 · Aug 30, 2011

A lot depends upon what glass you have for each. If you have a good 50mm and say a great 25mm with a bright line finder for her I'd say Leica. If you have a kit for the Nikon wroth say a 28/2.8 AIs, 85/1.8, 300/4.5 ED-IF then that might be my choice.

Depends on your style, what you want to shoot, and what you got. Both cameras rock and do not need backup. Either kit would serve you well but I'm not sure what glass you have. I would be fine wroth either, not sure about others.

B2

Les Sarile · Aug 30, 2011

You can travel much lighter and smaller with the Pentax MX - here shown with the Takumar fisheye. Wait till you see the biggest full display viewfinder in any SLR!

BradS · Aug 30, 2011

I would choose whichever one I felt most comfortable with and whichever one I was most confident would survive the trip.

put another way...what camera does not matter anywhere near as much as who is using it.

Newt_on_Swings · Aug 31, 2011

I say, pick the one you are most comfortable with, it will the be the one you will get the best images with.

Some people may say choose the one that would be more rugged, and be easiest and quickest to repair, so incase something does go wrong, you can be back in action quickly.

Some may say to choose the least flashiest, expensive cameras are a target in many countries. You cant take any photos if you dont have a camera, or worse injured if mugged.

Or just bring both, its good to have a backup.

removed account4 · Aug 31, 2011

bring the m3 with only the 50mm lens ..
have fun
john

Marc B. · Aug 31, 2011

This is a bit like comparing Apples n' Oranges; rangefinder Leica vs the SLR Nikon.
Budget, and personal preferences aside, if you're unfamiliar to either camera,
then neither would be my first choice for you.
Maybe a camera in the point n' shoot category would suit you better for a trip,
which could tip the favor to the rangefinder Leica, for the purpose of answering your question.

Pumalite · Aug 31, 2011

For a trip; I'd take the Leica with a 50mm lens

darkosaric · Aug 31, 2011

Everybody has favorite combination , here is mine: Leica M3 + 50mm and Nikon F(3) + 105mm.

budrichard · Aug 31, 2011

Two totally different cameras and systems.
I have both.
You wouldn't take an M3 for a safari and you wouldn't take a Nikon F nightclubbing if an M3 were available.
Decide first, on what you are going to photograph and how you want to do it, then decide on the system.-Dick

Jim Jones · Aug 31, 2011

I liked a M4 with 4 lenses for travel photography. In the great American west a Nikon outfit with longer lenses was better. Zoom lenses would have made the Nikon the best choice more often. As others have noted, it's a matter of shooting style, camera and lens availability, and familiarity with whatever you choose.

Uncle Bill · Sep 3, 2011

How good is your physical conditioning? I own both two Nikon Fs (one with the Tn meter head and the other with the eye level prism) and a DS Leica M3. If you are going to pack a F and a couple of pre Ai Nikkor lenses, be prepared to to deal with a lot of weight. It creeps up pretty fast if you through say four lenses, a body and a meter into the bag and if you plan to do a lot of walking, you might regret your choice of system for the trip.

The M3 with say a couple of Leica lenses (provided you are not hauling a 90 f2 Summicron with you) is a pretty light kit. It all depends what you plan to take pictures of, where you are going, the kind of camera bag you are using and your state of physical conditioning.

Now if you have your heart set on taking the F then just go with two lenses, the Nikkor O 35 f2 and the P 105 f2.5 which is my de facto street kit.

Uncle Bill · Sep 3, 2011

Les Sarile said:
You can travel much lighter and smaller with the Pentax MX - here shown with the Takumar fisheye. Wait till you see the biggest full display viewfinder in any SLR!

Actually my personal choice for travel is the Olympus OM-1n but I like where you are headed with this. I have a Spotmatic kit with a bunch of SMC Takumar glass and always thought in the back of my mind, get a MX put an adapter permanently on and just run with M-42 lenses.

Les Sarile · Sep 3, 2011

The OM-1 is an excellent SLR and certainly set the trend. The MX was the most successful execution of that with a slightly larger full info VF. The advantage of being able to use a world of lenses - M42 and K mount offers a lot of options!

Ian Grant · Sep 3, 2011

Despite being an SLR user since the late 1960's I would use my M3, this quickly became my main 35mm camera within weeks of buyin it in the late 1980's.

If I ndidn't take a Leica I'd use a Pentax MX, perhaps and older Spotmatic F. There's no way i'd take a Nikon F, but an FM/FM2 woulod be a good choice in terms of weight & size.

Ian

leicarfcam · Sep 3, 2011

Overall I would have to say I prefer my M3 over my Nikon F.

I much prefer the rangefinder cameras..

Pumalite · Sep 3, 2011

It's not the man in the fight; but, the fight in the man.

narsuitus · Sep 3, 2011

Vsanzbajo said:
Which one do you think is a better camera overall. If you had to pick one for a trip.

Both are worthy of being selected for a trip; however, as others have said, it depends on the type of trip.

If I needed to travel with one lens and one 35mm film body, either the Leica M3 or the Nikon F body with a 50mm f/1.4 or a 35mm f/1.4 would work for me.

If I could travel with two lenses, either body plus the following two lenses would work for me:
35mm f/1.4
85mm or 90mm f/1.4

If I needed to shoot with long lenses, I would take the Nikon F and the following Nikon lenses from my inventory:
Long telephoto lens (400mm f/5.6)
Medium telephoto lens (80-200mm f/2.8 or 180mm f/2.8)
Wide lens (20-35mm f/2.8 or 35mm f/1.4)

On the other hand, if I were going to be scuba diving or shooting around salt water, I would leave both at home and take my Nikonos III underwater camera instead.

Nicholas Lindan · Sep 3, 2011

budrichard said:
... wouldn't take an M3 for a safari ...

Standard safari issue was an M3 with a Visoflex and an enormous [for the day] Telyt, all bolted to the door of a Land Rover. Went out of style in the early 60's, I'm sure.

waynecrider · Sep 3, 2011

I don't take to rangefinders so the F would be my pick. I much prefer the slr focusing.

Vilk · Sep 3, 2011

in some of my travels i only had an M+50 on me, in others nothing but an F+50. a few years later, i have no idea which pictures came from which camera...

T42 · Sep 4, 2011

F or M3 for a trip ...

Interesting question. I have both F and M3.

For any occasion where the shooting requirement matches the capability set of the M3, I would leave the SLR at home. The M3 is a joy to use, and it travels well. People don't seem to notice it so much, nor do they take it so seriously.

If I needed to do things that a rangefinder cannot do as well, then I would take the F instead. It is far more flexible, if somewhat more cumbersome.

It might be a good idea to visualize the images which must be gotten and decide which gear is the best match for getting them in the can.

BrianL · Sep 4, 2011

Get an Olympus FTV kit. Light weight, great lenses and easy to use. Yeah, I know I am a majority of one. I actually agree that it depends on where you are going and what you are shooting. But, I generally find unless you need a long tele, both will do the same job provided you know how to use the camera. An M3 with a 50 and 135 makes for a good kit. I'd prefer a M4 as I prefer 35mm vs 50 as my standard shooting lens. I thn can use the 35, 50 and 90 lenses. 135 mm is not a length I generally use. The F is a heavy camera for me and its only advantage would be the metered prism though when I used one, I prefered the WLF. Also, I found indexing the lens to the meter when in a hurry can be a bit frustrating but, then again, I was not an owner, only tried one out for a few days. Decided the Spotmatic and even an Exacta was the better way for me. The F is a workhorse but, for most of my shooting did not do anything that I could not get out of a Leica. To be honest, I also found no advantage of an M series over the CL and the CL is my camera of choice with the 40mm (close to the 35mm) and 90.

Sirius Glass · Sep 4, 2011

Both are great cameras.

Can you only take one?
Which one are you more comfortable with?
Is space or weight a problem?

I like both camera, but I like a slr better than a rangefinder. But, heck, this is not about me and what I would do, what will you do?

What do you guys prefer a Leica M3 or a Nikon F?

Advertiser

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency