Comments on: Nikon F3 Series Resource Site - Professional Film SLR http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/ Nikon F3, F3HP, F3/T, F3AF, F3P, F3H 35mm SLR Camera Info Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:05:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Alfredo Montalvo-Rivera http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-3254 Alfredo Montalvo-Rivera Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:08:41 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-3254 My grandson is nearly 21. I bought a Nikon F3 to photograph my son's, his father, wedding. Although I have used the F3 personally and professionally a great deal since, it still is in mint condition both visually and electromechanically. I bought my first Nikon, an S2 Rangefinder with a 50mm f/1.4, when it first came on the market during the 50’s, and used it both at home in the U.S. as well as abroad. I moved on to an SLR F in '59, selling the S2 to help pay for it, something that I’ve regretted ever since. I've bought and used virtually every model in the Nikon F line since, holding on to a few of for many years past their prime if for no other reason but sentiment, as I have with the F3. I’ve never been able to warm up to digital photography all that much, resisting the switchover from film. I do admit that lately I’ve been tempted by the D700. Oh, I own several amateur-level but nevertheless quality P & S digital cameras for everyday personal use, but I have never been able to take them seriously other than for the convenience of inexpensive digital technology for snapshots. For serious photography, I shoot Adox 35 mm B & W negative film with my Nikons (Nikkormat EL, F, F3, F100 and F5) as well as 120 film with a C 503 Hasselblad with Zeiss lenses, glass - primes and zooms - which I‘ve handpicked over the years. I develop B & W negative film exclusively in Rodinal, using a 100 + year old formula I was introduced to in the mid '50's by a German lab technician while I was serving in a military photographic unit in Europe. Today, I typically scan my 35mm negatives to digital myself on an older but excellent Nikon CoolScanner, but then only those images I deem worth printing in B & W. I have the 120 film scanned professionally. By this means, I end up with just about the same image resolution as a 20 + megapixel digital SLR camera with a full frame sensor and very good and expensive glass would have yielded, all this for a fraction of the otherwise required initial investment for digital equipment. Of course, I cannot argue with the several and distinct advantages digital technology affords the serious photographer, especially in post shooting image handling, manipulating and reproduction. Time does indeed march on. However, there is something distinctly satisfying I feel results from the direct and classic hands on analog/chemical photographic routines and processes that I engage in that I don't think I could get out of those digital. Call it tradition or call it stubbornness. I call it worthwhile! Nikons have been serving me reliably for now nearly sixty years. I fully appreciate and respect Nikon’s technological leaps and bounds in the digital sphere. However, I value loyalty and would not be all that comfortable turning my back on a faithful old and very dear friend: film. If I were to show you some of the results that I get from film through digital reproduction methods but assured you that I used a digital process throughout, you would probably believe me. If I then told you that the images originated on film, you would doubt me. However, you would not be able to tell the difference for certain. A well exposed film image taken by a talented and sensitive photographer with superior cameras through exceptional glass is and, for a very long time, will continue to be a very powerful means of expressing the human condition! My grandson is nearly 21. I bought a Nikon F3 to photograph my son’s, his father, wedding. Although I have used the F3 personally and professionally a great deal since, it still is in mint condition both visually and electromechanically. I bought my first Nikon, an S2 Rangefinder with a 50mm f/1.4, when it first came on the market during the 50’s, and used it both at home in the U.S. as well as abroad. I moved on to an SLR F in ‘59, selling the S2 to help pay for it, something that I’ve regretted ever since.
I’ve bought and used virtually every model in the Nikon F line since, holding on to a few of for many years past their prime if for no other reason but sentiment, as I have with the F3. I’ve never been able to warm up to digital photography all that much, resisting the switchover from film. I do admit that lately I’ve been tempted by the D700. Oh, I own several amateur-level but nevertheless quality P & S digital cameras for everyday personal use, but I have never been able to take them seriously other than for the convenience of inexpensive digital technology for snapshots. For serious photography, I shoot Adox 35 mm B & W negative film with my Nikons (Nikkormat EL, F, F3, F100 and F5) as well as 120 film with a C 503 Hasselblad with Zeiss lenses, glass - primes and zooms - which I‘ve handpicked over the years.
I develop B & W negative film exclusively in Rodinal, using a 100 + year old formula I was introduced to in the mid ’50’s by a German lab technician while I was serving in a military photographic unit in Europe. Today, I typically scan my 35mm negatives to digital myself on an older but excellent Nikon CoolScanner, but then only those images I deem worth printing in B & W. I have the 120 film scanned professionally. By this means, I end up with just about the same image resolution as a 20 + megapixel digital SLR camera with a full frame sensor and very good and expensive glass would have yielded, all this for a fraction of the otherwise required initial investment for digital equipment.
Of course, I cannot argue with the several and distinct advantages digital technology affords the serious photographer, especially in post shooting image handling, manipulating and reproduction. Time does indeed march on. However, there is something distinctly satisfying I feel results from the direct and classic hands on analog/chemical photographic routines and processes that I engage in that I don’t think I could get out of those digital. Call it tradition or call it stubbornness. I call it worthwhile! Nikons have been serving me reliably for now nearly sixty years. I fully appreciate and respect Nikon’s technological leaps and bounds in the digital sphere. However, I value loyalty and would not be all that comfortable turning my back on a faithful old and very dear friend: film.
If I were to show you some of the results that I get from film through digital reproduction methods but assured you that I used a digital process throughout, you would probably believe me. If I then told you that the images originated on film, you would doubt me. However, you would not be able to tell the difference for certain. A well exposed film image taken by a talented and sensitive photographer with superior cameras through exceptional glass is and, for a very long time, will continue to be a very powerful means of expressing the human condition!

]]> By: ndroo http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-3250 ndroo Wed, 02 Jun 2010 06:16:51 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-3250 Great site! Will be back often. Thanks. I've just picked up a F3 from a local seller and can't wait to get home to try it. I've been using a FA for a while and just can't resist this solid black F3 when I saw it. :D Great site! Will be back often. Thanks. I’ve just picked up a F3 from a local seller and can’t wait to get home to try it. I’ve been using a FA for a while and just can’t resist this solid black F3 when I saw it. :D

]]> By: jpal http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-3197 jpal Tue, 11 May 2010 17:52:57 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-3197 Iam Trying to use the f3 and changing the batteries I realised that it does not work and I am suspecting that the reason is the batteries. IS that True? The reason I am asking is that the shutter release button does not operate and I am wondering. Also looking in the viewfinder Ican not see the shutter speed which means the batt do not work. Iam Trying to use the f3 and changing the batteries I realised that it does not work and I am suspecting that the reason is the batteries. IS that True? The reason I am asking is that the shutter release button does not operate and I am wondering. Also looking in the viewfinder Ican not see the shutter speed which means the batt do not work.

]]> By: William http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-3074 William Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:14:57 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-3074 I just bought a pretty much new F3HP today (03/31/2010) along with a 105 f2.8 Micro and a 28-80 f3.5-4.5 and a PK-13 Auto Extension Ring. My friend had purchased a whole F3HP set up approx. 20 years ago and has only ran 10 or less rolls through it because he traveled so much that he never had the time to use it. Now I'm buying the system off of him piece by piece for pennies on the dollar! What a find! Everything looks "new" out of the box. This has been one of my main dream cameras since my teen years in the early 1980s! I look forward to checking back in on this site frequently. Thanks for setting it up - I hope its very successful! William I just bought a pretty much new F3HP today (03/31/2010) along with a 105 f2.8 Micro and a 28-80 f3.5-4.5 and a PK-13 Auto Extension Ring. My friend had purchased a whole F3HP set up approx. 20 years ago and has only ran 10 or less rolls through it because he traveled so much that he never had the time to use it. Now I’m buying the system off of him piece by piece for pennies on the dollar! What a find! Everything looks “new” out of the box. This has been one of my main dream cameras since my teen years in the early 1980s!

I look forward to checking back in on this site frequently. Thanks for setting it up - I hope its very successful!

William

]]> By: Hamdani http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-3039 Hamdani Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:31:56 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-3039 I just bought F3HP today. And I am planning to use it on my next trip to Snowy Mountain, Australia. I just bought F3HP today. And I am planning to use it on my next trip to Snowy Mountain, Australia.

]]> By: Joe eskille http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-3022 Joe eskille Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:44:46 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-3022 Appreciate the manuals! Appreciate the manuals!

]]> By: Alan http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-2855 Alan Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:56:11 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-2855 I recently purchased an F3 with the DE-2 eyepiece and MD4 drive from a local second hand store. The solid feel and ergonomics are great! I really like that I don't have to pull the film advance lever out to shoot like on my FM3A. I'm looking for a waist-level finder because I've found it's easier to take animal pictures than with an eye-level finder - they don't think you're looking at them. I use more film than digital, so my f3 will be working hard for a while yet. Thanks for this site - I hope it gets better & better. Alan I recently purchased an F3 with the DE-2 eyepiece and MD4 drive from a local second hand store. The solid feel and ergonomics are great! I really like that I don’t have to pull the film advance lever out to shoot like on my FM3A. I’m looking for a waist-level finder because I’ve found it’s easier to take animal pictures than with an eye-level finder - they don’t think you’re looking at them. I use more film than digital, so my f3 will be working hard for a while yet. Thanks for this site - I hope it gets better & better.
Alan

]]> By: Silent Lucidity http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-2776 Silent Lucidity Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:46:08 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-2776 The more I use the F6 the more I appreciate as a refined version of the F3 :) The F6 is one under appreciated camera! The more I use the F6 the more I appreciate as a refined version of the F3 :)

The F6 is one under appreciated camera!

]]> By: Agnes http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-2772 Agnes Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:57:22 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-2772 Dwight, your granddaughter is lucky, does she know it? I am a female amateur photographing basicly my kids. Its wonderful to work with film and the F3 is actually one of few that is easily handled even by lefthanders like me. Take care of your cameras, Agnes Dwight, your granddaughter is lucky, does she know it?
I am a female amateur photographing basicly my kids. Its wonderful to work with film and the F3 is actually one of few that is easily handled even by lefthanders like me.

Take care of your cameras,
Agnes

]]> By: Dwight http://www.nikonf3.com/2008/08/01/welcome-to-the-nikon-f3-site/#comment-2570 Dwight Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:06:35 +0000 http://www.nikonf3.com/?p=3#comment-2570 In the late 70s and early 80s I was a professional photographer with a private studio doing weddings and portraits and commercial photography. I just gave my 15 year old granddaughter my F3 and my Mamiya 645 1000s. She has a keen photographers eye and has made some excellent compositions with just her cell phone camera. Both cameras are in top notch condition (after all these years) and she will be blessed immensely with the quality and duriability of both cameras. So, after over 30 years, these two cameras will have yet another life. Just a bit of trivia. In the late 70s and early 80s I was a professional photographer with a private studio doing weddings and portraits and commercial photography. I just gave my 15 year old granddaughter my F3 and my Mamiya 645 1000s. She has a keen photographers eye and has made some excellent compositions with just her cell phone camera. Both cameras are in top notch condition (after all these years) and she will be blessed immensely with the quality and duriability of both cameras. So, after over 30 years, these two cameras will have yet another life. Just a bit of trivia.

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