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in reply to @mifune's post:
If you don’t mind a gear question how do you like the F3? I’ve been reading about it a bunch this last week or so to stave off boredom at work lol
Let me preface with that it’s a fine camera and a good copy will do it’s job. I haven’t been disappointed by the results.
But it’s also not the most exciting camera I own. It’s not the challenge of the manual rangefinders, nor the resolution of a medium format camera. It automates exposure, which is nice, but doesn’t do autofocus or auto film advance. It’s this weird middle ground, making it not the first camera I’d grab.
If you already have Nikon glass and want to move from digital to film it’s a good first camera. But maybe not as a third or fourth one.
Fair enough! I'm personally not in the market as I try to keep my collection only to what I know I'll use consistently and I have a Nikon FM3A that I use as my 35mm system/ professional manual focus camera of choice. But I've often seen people speak of their F3s with such reverence that it definitely makes me curious!
I don't think I'd ever buy one but it's on the list of cameras I'd love to try out someday.
It was made for two decades, and I can see why. It operates very smoothly and feels reliable, like a professional tool should. It tries to not get in the way as far as possible with 80s technology. That's why I think people like it.
It also makes it a bit unexciting, and depending on your photographic process that's either good or bad.
It’s certainly a great looking camera, and I’ve heard time and time again that it has an especially smooth shutter advance action. But it’s true that looking at its list of features there’s nothing that sets it apart, especially if you aren’t using its library of accessories.
For myself I’ve always preferred smaller and lighter manual focus SLRs for my primary camera of choice. The FM3A offers the smaller and lighter body I’m looking for compared to the F3, along with a fairly impressive party trick of having both a fully mechanical shutter system and electronic one for aperture priority.
But still! It seems like it would be worth playing with one of these days! People seem to love them.