the Nikon F3 - Does it Live up to the Hype??
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- #nikonf3 #filmcamera #filmphotography
In this video I review the classic Nikon F3. This camera has a huge reputation behind it, and I wanted to share my thoughts and info on it so that you can decide it it lives up to its reputation.
For much more in depth info and more photos check out my written review
alysvintagecameraalley.com/2023/08/21/the-nikon-f3-greatest-legendary-classic/
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The Nikon F series of cameras were designed for photojournalists. Where speed is essential. My photojournalism career started with a Nikon FE2 and then I graduated to the F4, which is still my personal favorite Nikon F camera. I picked up an F3 about ten years ago. It is one of my favorite cameras to shoot with. Carrying spare batteries was just a part of the gig. I am glad that you enjoy the camera.
Thanks for sharing. That must’ve been such an exciting career
Nice job Aly. I agree with your assessment of the F3. It was the second 35mm camera I bought new, and I used it to shoot weddings and sports. When I retired from those gigs, I sold it to the full-time pro I worked with. Now that I shoot film strictly for my own pleasure, I use an F Apollo and F2 with mostly pre-Ai lenses.
Thank you! Ah the F Apollo is my favorite. And I just love my pre ai lenses too.
My dad was a pro photographer. He used Nikon F3s. He also ran a custom photo lab and used the F3 to make photo duplicates back in the late 80s. I inherited one of those cameras that probably shot hundred of thousands of frames. I used it all the time until my daughter one day asked me for a film camera because she was interested in film. Now she uses it all the time and loves it. The camera works perfectly and has never been serviced. It will probably be passed on to her children. Thanks to this, I decided to get another F3 for me and was lucky enough to find one unused and brand new in the original box. Now being put to good use.
This makes me so happy and is the reason I make these videos! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I bought an F3 about 6 years ago when they were really cheap because it was the camera I really wanted and couldn't afford when I was in college around 1980. I wish the meter in the view finder was easier to see. But besides that, it is the best.
Yes I agree with that. It’s the same issue as with the F2 I’ve had. The HP makes it a little easier but it seems to be positional
Great review of the F3; I had one for a while but ended up giving it away as I was more into the F5. I don't regret dumping the camera, but I have filled that void with the FE2. Also loving the elevated production here, especially the opening shots of the camera with the red lights.
Thanks Alex!
I have always wanted a Nikon FM3A, but it's a bit cost prohibitive and I found an insanely great condition F3 and couldn't pass it up. It's my second love to my Leica M3. But I have always been a Nikon (Knee-con) fan. One of the best experiences I have ever had was visiting the Nikon Museum in Japan, where you can actually hold and play with some of their top cameras ever made. Insane fun.
I’d love to visit the museum one day
I went from a Minolta X-700 to a Canon AE now to my Nikon F3 and I am stopping there! 🙌🏽 can’t wait to use it this weekend!
Awesome! Go get it!
Really cool video and review. Thanks!
Thank you!
Some great photos there at the end. FWIW I have an F3HP I originally got because I wanted the Zeiss Makro-Planars and didn't like the DSLR designs available at the time. I used it a fair bit but mostly preferred my OM-2SP. However, more recently I picked up a Zf and because Nikon is backwards from Olympus, I have just decided to use the F3. My feeling is that it really is the best 35mm film camera ever made, if your definition is "brute force implement that takes photographs". It's not an elegant design, but as you pointed out, it was the best anyone came up with for just taking photographs. A lot of them. Quickly and efficiently. It carried NatGeo, newspapers and other reportage for over a decade and I appreciate mine as a reliable way to put images to film rather than the beautiful object that my Leica M2 button rewind was.
Yea I agree
Nice honest review..
I’ve had mine since the 90’s, great camera and even though I not shooting much anymore when I do I always grab my F3.
Thank you
Thanks, valuable review
Finally after many years of using Nikons I also got an F3 hp and I completely agree it's a tool to be used and if you use it you have to love it. I never got the same feeling with the F2sb I owned where I had to tell myself what a great device it is but never warmed up to it. The F3 is so much more refined in the details, how one changes finders and screens, how every little thing feels and hamdles and not to forget the MD4 which removed all the quirkiness from using a fast film-advance compared to its predecessors.
Love the intro! I received an F3 HP as a graduation present in the mid 80's and used it for everything from family photos to concerts and mountain climbing expeditions. It was a near perfect camera. However I eventually started carrying an F5 on my mountaineering adventures as the matrix metering did a better job with snow and the auto (re)winder was particularly helpful when changing rolls while hanging off the side of a mountain.
I eventually sold the F5 when I went digital but still have the F3. I rarely shoot film now, but will never sell the F3. Maybe it is just sentimental, but the F3 is my favorite camera of all time.
Thanks so much! I put a lot of work into that intro.
I think to truly understand what made this camera so great rather than what makes it great or even relevant now is to have been using in an era where as a pro you demanded so much from a camera - I was an AP photographer for a while and took it into a few war zones - a few years laters used it to shoot fashion in my studio alongside the Hasselblad 500 - a friend of mine was a forensic photographer with one - and another colleague used one on a microscope - the thing about the F3 is that it just did everything - so modular - from the different finders including a waist level - to the biggest selection of lenses on the market at the time including the enormous 8mm fisheye which still has the one of the largest front elements ever - to the mighty zooms of the sports and wildlife photographers - and if all that wasn't enough there was the unmistakable sound of the motor-drive - anyone who has ever heard Duran Duran Girls On film will know - its a sound emulated by many smartphones and computers to this day. Is it great now? Probably not - the F4 which replaced it was more unreliable but faster- and the F5 which replaced that was better still but bigger, heavier used more battery power -- but now we see it through some rose tinted spectacles - the focusing was difficult compared to others - the ergonomics not that brilliant, the metering was as good as any other brand - but I believe it remains iconic mostly down to the people (a bit like me perhaps) who used it for twenty years or so and the images we captured with it. It was seen then and still is today as the choice of the Pro and with good reason.
Amazing career! I always love hearing from people like you about your experiences using it when it was in its heyday. That must’ve been so incredible. I remember when the Canon EOS Rebel G came out and I had to have it. Today it would be considered a boring camera because of all the things it can do, but it was amazing when I got it and basically the step before digital came for me.
I have been a Nikon user since 1998. I have almost every F model in the world, the F , F5, F100, F 90,80 and 70.
I have to admit that I have been sleeping on the F3 though. Not anymore, just acquired 1 this week and I love it! That shutter is so sweet.
Yes the shutter is definitely different from the previous F models!
FG, in 1986, I bought it new at Ft. Ord CA. It went to Korea 3 times, Germany, Bosnia.... It fell off my motorcycle in 2000, somewhere in Texas..... Replaced with a FE.... Got an F3 and gave my FE to my sister who wanted to learn film..... FE is still my favorite.....
I Haven’t tried the FE or FG. Those are the more compact ones arent they?
I always liked the way this camera looked and would love to own one. Great review.
Thank you 🙏
I have a F, F2, F3 and F4. It is so easy to shoot with the F3 and the batteries do indeed last for a very long time, so I haven't had any problems with shooting. I also have several extra batteries in my camera bag so there's that too. I do use my F3 in the aperture priority mode and have had very good results. Even if I'm using a handheld meter I look for the aperture I want first then see if the shutter speed is handhold able. Other than loading film my favorite is still the F. It is a brick. I do believe if it fell on a rock the rock would split in half and the camera would just keep on going.
Lol same for me. The F is always my favorite in the end.
In my 40+ years of photography I've shot with nearly every film camera at one time or another, and the only film camera I would never part with is my Nikon F3. For me it's the perfect camera that has everything I need and nothing I don't.
Nice review, and glad you came to your senses later into the video 🙂.
I was going to pull you up on a couple of things but then you rectified one of them later on when you said that the F3 IS compatible with pre-AI lenses. I too have some pre-AI lens favorites (most notably the 105mm f2.5 and 35mm f2.8) and I don't really find the stop down metering an issue as I usually shoot wide open or 1-2 stops down anyway?
The other thing is that you referred to the shutter speed range as 1/8 to 1/2000 a couple of times when it's actually 8 seconds to 1/2000?
You probably know this anyway and it was just a "slip of the tongue", but just thought I'd clarify for anyone watching who's new to the F3.
BTW the smooth film advance lever is because there are 11 (I think that's the correct figure) ball bearings underneath, just another example of the build quality and thought that went into creating this iconic camera.
Thank you for that correction! That’s a big slip up on my part. I was so tired I filmed this at midnight last night after my baby daughter finally went to bed lol
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley Well my daughter has her own two baby daughters so I know where you're coming from. If she complains about sleep deprivation I tell her it's just karma for all the sleepless nights she and her sister gave me 😆
The fact that you're able to function at all is a plus. It gets easier though🙂
@@thewildgoose7467 lol thank you
I have two Nikon 35mm cameras in my collection, a F and a F3. Of the two, I prefer the F. I love the 'dampened' (by SLR standards) shutter sound and the feel in hand. When I first started out with film photography, I was obsessed with metering the scene accurately. The F3's aperture priority and 80/20 meter really eased any and all concerns I had and played an essential role in my love for film. Fast-forward and several rolls later, I am less obsessed w/ metering scenes as I prefer to just take an initial reading and only make slight adjustments when I see lighting change. So it all boils down to the connection I have with the camera and the feel in hand, and that easily goes to the F.
I am the same way. It’s all about the way I feel when I hold the camera. It inspires me to take pictures.
Pick up a Nikon F3 from KEH shrsl.com/45l1m OR
From eBay ebay.us/pcDodm
Also I wanted to make a correction: the shutter speeds go down to 8 seconds not 1/8th of a second! I filmed this after my baby daughter finally went to sleep so I was running on fumes lol either way I wanted to make sure I corrected that.
A good, honest review. I have quite a few old Nicon SLR is, but this model evaded me. In around 1980, and the opportunity to get a hands-on view of it on a cross-channel ferry! I was quite impressed by it. It was quite nicely made and had a solid feel. A lot more compact than the Nikon F which I have. I appreciate the viewfinder as well over my Nikon FM, which I had of the time.
Thank you.
I agree! It is really well made and I love the HP viewfinder on mine.
I like the F3. I have 2. Each has the motor drive. I photographed my sons baseball games. I usually used digital slrs, but I would breakout the F3s and a couple of bricks of HP5 when I got digital camera burnout towards the end of every season. Now I am using them to photograph auto racing. If either of mine breaks beyond repair, I’m gonna replace it with another F3.
That’s great
To me my go to is the NikonFA, lighter, tighter package and great metering.
Ive never tried an FA. Thanks for the info!
Great video. I have this camera.
Thank you!
Great video Ally!! I pulled out my F3 a month ago to get my partner shooting. I'm embarrassed to say, but I can't understand the meter. There's a little minus in the LCD in the finder, for both underexposure and for overexposure, except on opposite sides of the shutter speed read out? Maybe the LCD has died in that one spot. I couldn't find an answer online as to metering, and I'm sure it's so simple it doesn't warrant great description, but do you know what I'm talking about? Does yours have a plus?
I’m not sure if yours is different from mine because I have the HP meter head, but mine show the -+ signs above the letter M and the shutter speed next to it. Mine will show the - sign for under exposing and then both signs when it’s correct. Is that what yours shows?
@AlysVintageCameraAlley ahhh good point, mine is not the HP meter head. Are this +- signs on the same side of the shutter speed? Right or left? Mine doesn't have an M. Definitely half of the first digit of the speed is faded out, so it may very well have done away with my + sign too
@@LieutenantLights yea I wonder if something came lose inside the meter head or if something burned out. Everything in mine in on the left side
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley that lcd is pretty old, I can't blame it for quitting 😝
I bought one new in the 80’s and shot some decent personal pics, some travel stuff, and also used it for things like my college annual. The shutter blackout was a nice feature given my interest in night photography; the ability to not affect exposure was nice to have. Despite the camera’s current hype level, it wasn’t my favorite. I kept it for a few years and remember making money when I sold it. It’s a sturdy workhorse for sure, but unless you need 36 exposures, head on over to something like a Yashica 6x6 or a Pentax 645 and go for a larger negative. For what it’s worth, I just snagged a couple of Nikonos IV-As for fun in the sun. They’re cheap, and they have some of that same Nikon DNA. I also bought a Nikonos V about the same time as the F3. Given the choice, I’d take the Nikonos over the F3. Whatever you shoot, be creative and make it pretty.
Yea at the end of the day, it’s whatever suits your style and makes your want to pick it up and use it.
The first still images of the Chernobyl disaster were captured with an F3, although many were ruined by the massive radiation. Apparently, the photographer (in a helicopter) died soon after. :(
Oh that’s interesting and sad. Thanks for sharing. I could only imagine some of the things these cameras have “witnessed”
On your Instagram account you asked about the scratches on the film from the Rolleicord. The film goes over the rollers not under them. The film was scratched by the camera body. So over not under the rollers.
Thanks. Yea I realized that. On my Rolleiflex it goes under so I guess that’s what threw me off
If you like pre-ai lenses and want a "modern" camera which doesn't force you to use stop-down metering try the F4. The F4 supports all metering modes, including matrix metering on all pre-ai lenses. Great review of the F3👍
I was thinking about that. I’m going to have to look into the f4 Thank you!
... have one standard and one press edition ... love them ... and your contend! Everything said! 😉 Christoph
Thanks!
It’s a great camera - not much to add. Thanks for a superb review
Thank you 🙏
I picked mine up (non HP) for 200$ CDN and that monster dedicated flash SB/SS16. Yikes. I was told by a researcher in the US Space programme that the F3 didn't make the cut for the programme I forget the exact reasons.
Oh really? I read that it was designed to go on the Columbia shuttle in 1981 but idk what happened after that.
This was in the early nineties. Sorry, I'm talking about the early eighties. I was a graphics' technician in Medicine at McGill University. I won't mention the researcher's name, McGill aerospace had a lot of studies going on, regarding balance and middle ear function/weightlessness. I was doing a lot of photography/copy work in anesthesia research next lab.@@AlysVintageCameraAlley
A fantastic, legendary camera. Drop a 3v lithium battery in it. They last forever.
The video is very dark, when you held it toward the camera It was too hard to see.
I’ve been trying out different lighting and learning how to use my new light. The close up shots where i demonstrated using the camera are well lit and I think that matters more. Will be adjusting lighting in future videos.
Aha, you've discovered the feature built into every camera ever made that's never included on a spec sheet: suitability to task!
A pro needs a camera he can rely on, first and foremost. It needs to have great optics, of course, but it also has to work in harsh environments and its controls have to be as simple and uncluttered as possible while performing the functions he needs. Amateurs and purists initially go for this, too, because, well, it's what the professionals use, right? Ah, but then along come special needs!
Before my children were born, I took most of my pictures with a Minolta XG-1. OK, that's not a pro camera, and I knew it wasn't one when I bought it, but its aperture-priority auto-exposure controls improved my ability to take outdoor action shots. It worked fine for me until my eldest child started crawling. Then, all of a sudden, it was too slow: Open the camera case, mount a lens, mount the flash, turn both on (ooooh, hope those batteries are ok...), aim, focus and... missed the shot! Even worse, I hadn't been taking as many pictures as I had before I got married, and it seemed that my focusing accuracy wasn't as good as it had once been. What I really needed at that point was - heaven forfend - a point-and-shoot! With some reluctance, I bought an Olympus Infinity Stylus. That might've cost me some of my photography enthusiast street cred, but I missed far fewer memories when all I had to do was grab the camera, open the sliding door to turn it on, aim and fire.
I think you just discovered something similar with your Nikon F3. It may not be much use without batteries, might not stand up to as much punishment as its predecessors and doesn't appeal to the purist in you, but if it enables you to keep up with your daughter while still getting awesome photos on film, that sounds like a win to me.
Exactly!
Still prefer the F2SB/F2AS. Always disliked the F3 due to its stupid child grip and shitty Meter readout.
The meter is very good though.
Lol like i said some love it and some hate it
I've got an F2AS with a 55mm f1.2 lens and I love it. I've never used an F3 though. I wonder how a comparison with the Canon F1n would compare to either.
It doesn’t live up to the hype 🫠 nice camera, but there are better!
That’s what’s great about film photography, there are so many cameras out there to shoot with and everyone can find one they love
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley It's true. Some excellent classics out there.
Also FYI the F3 can shoot pre AI, flip the tap on the mount up and it can work. Have to stop down meter though. I stuck with F, F2 and earlier to shoot pre AI. They're just so beautiful!
I do mention that later in the video when I talk about my experience with it.
@@AlysVintageCameraAlley You do, sorry I missed that part. I agree with you that it's a nice camera to shoot - but it's almost too easy, as to feel like any other auto shooting camera out there - albeit super smooth :)
I've swung back the other way from auto modes and into canon and soviet rangefinders with no meter haha
@@flowermaze___ I definitely see that side to it. I mentioned that as well. I can see how some won’t like it for those reasons