Nikon F3

Nikon F3 with Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AIS

I started taking pictures in high school. My father had gifted me a Canon TX, a manual 35mm camera and I believe it had a 50mm lens. I learned about shutter speeds, aperture and ASA/ISO. I used that camera to take pictures of my skateboarding friends, and it was so basic that I could set the exposure and focus, hand it to non-photography friends and they would take pictures of me too! My second camera was a Canon point and shoot that I used while in the Army. It was light weight, durable and took pretty good pictures. I hung it off my hang glider with a long bulb release and would take selfies of me soaring.

Once I was out of the Army, I made friends with photographers and almost all of them used Nikon 35mm cameras and Nikkor lenses. Their photographs where phenomenal and my photos were ok as I used a Pentax point and shoot camera at that time.

Recently I had about a hundred slides scanned and all those old images were shot with the Nikon F3. They were so good! It just blew me away even compared to today’s digital photography. A metal box of 25-year-old negatives sitting in an outdoor storage room, decades of summers in a plastic bin with 120-degree temps and the negatives survived and the scans looked great.

My F3 with the MD-4 motor drive (boat anchor)

I started talking with photographer friends (Chris and Brooks) you know who you are, and both said get the F3 or a FE2. I bought the FE2, ran a couple of rolls through it, got it CLA and ended up getting the aperture ring on the body repaired and now it takes excellent photographs as it should. 

I bought an F3 from a Japanese seller on eBay, and it arrived dead in the box. I approached locals with F3s, but they were just so dirty, and the LCD was fading, probably from being stored outside in the AZ heat. I finally found my copy from an honest gentleman and cleaned it up, took it to Tempe Camera to get checked out and now I have several rolls through it, and it is absolutely my favorite camera. 

Recently, I sent it to International Camera Technicians (Jim) to have the LCD light (red button) repaired. I want to take some night photos, and the light is too dim and the button too hard to push. I got my F3 back and here it is and right now, it’s clean, the LCD is brighter and the light works as it should. Since then, I’ve been dragging my Lowepro bag around with the F3 and my lenses through the North American Southwest taking pictures of petroglyphs and landscapes. In a couple of weeks, I’ll take it to the beach in Southern California and shoot seascapes there.

By far it’s my favorite camera, even more than my Nikon D780. The house is on fire? I’m grabbing one camera bag? The F3 with its 35mm f1.4 AIS everyday lens, and there are a few more lenses tucked in the bag.

Yeah, I love my F3 more than any other camera.

My D780 is the best, it does so much more but was twice as expensive and with its menus and sub menus and hidden features as well as the shutter count being low, I’m just not attached to it as I am the F3. I have this great feeling that the F3 is a forever camera where as the D780 has a limited lifespan. I do love both yet the F3 is probably the last 35mm film camera that I’ll own and operate. And that is comforting.

My Complete Nikon ~ Nikkor Lens Collection

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Resources

Ken Rockwell: Nikon F3 HP
MIR: Nikon F3

The Nikon F3: My Indestructible Travel Companion

35mm - The Professional Simplicity

Nikon F3 with 20mm f/2.8 AIS with HK-14 Lens Hood

Nikon F3 with Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 AIS