Nikon F3 — First Impressions
I've never before owned a professional grade Nikon camera. The closest I've come is the Nikon F100. Recently though, via Craigslist, I came upon an F3HP body which was in nearly perfect condition. It was hardly used or the owner took very good care of it. So, now I have a professional grade (for the 1980's) Nikon camera.
The first thing that is very noticeable about the F3HP is that the body has a very solid feel. Although the F3HP was the first electronically controlled F series camera from Nikon, there is no sense of cheapness or plastic feel. The HP viewfinder is great. While the magnification is nothing special, it has a 100% view where you can see the whole frame and more without any trouble. This is especially nice for someone who wears glasses.
The film advance is very smooth, although not much more so than the already smooth action of the FM2, FE2, or FA. Still, it helps with giving the impression of a very high quality instrument. One thing I like better about the F3 film advance action compared to the FM2/FE2/FA is that it doesn't click as it advances. This is an advantage in quiet environments.
The depth of field preview button is very convenient and easy to activate. This is in contrast to some older cameras where the DOF preview can be inconvenient or difficult to activate.
The meter is heavily weighted 80/20 toward a small portion at the center of the screen. It's sort of like a large spot meter or a small average meter. I haven't yet had a chance to evaluate how well this works for me, but it certainly will require a little more thought when taking a meter reading.
Other nice things about the F3 include the ability to use non AI lenses. Non AI lenses are fairly cheap compared to the AI and AIS lenses which can be used on modern digital bodies. Given the good luck I've had with old lenses, I think there's a KEH lens order in the near future. Here are some recent photos from my first roll through the F3. I was shooting with a Micro Nikkor 55mm f2.8 lens.
