What year was my F3 made?

[Mick Fagan]

My 30+ year old F3 HP bought new has done a bucket load of work, in some extremely cold weather and some extremely hot weather, as well as in-between that kind of weather. It has had thousands and thousands of rolls of film through it and is starting to get rather tired, but still works very well.

The LCD in the viewfinder is sort of not working too well, in fact it only works in cool weather that isn't too bright. As soon as it is in bright light the screen blanks out, in really hot weather it also blanks out, in normal weather it works, sort of.

That camera is now semi retired and only used usually with a drive attached for portrait sessions, where exposure is decided by my Gossen Profi-Six meter anyway.

Now my go to 135 camera is my other F3 HP which is one year younger but has had reasonably few rolls of film and a reasonably small amount of work. Maybe a total of 2,000 rolls of film over that entire time.

The LCD in that camera is as bright and sparkling as a new one.

They obviously do wear out.

Mick.

 

[Xmas]

I've always kept it taped over to prevent damage. I prefer a hand held meter anyway..

I am thinking about either selling the camera or getting an HP finder.. I seldom use it..

Taping it over may be very risky best to leave them alone they fail if the seals fail or the electrical contacts are compromised otherwise they last forever, big temperature changes would be risky as well.