My 2 year experience with the Nikon F3

October 1, 2023

The Nikon F3 was first introduced in the market in 1980, marketed as the first Nikon professional SLR with aperture exposure control (Nikon F and F2 were fully manual). Manufactured by Nippon Kogaku and styled by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The camera can shoot a maximum 1/2,000, weigh-in around 700 gr the body only and if we add the lens on top it can weigh around 900gr, it is definitely not a light camera to carry around!

Why the Nikon F3 has become my go-to camera for street photography?

The best camera is the one that is with you whenever you go out and shoot, the perfect camera doesn't exist. I would love to get hold a Leica M6 in mint condition with a Summicron-M 35mm f/2, would this camera be the best camera for me?

Probably not, I would still take the Nikon F3 for an unplanned shooting session, why though? It is really hard to explain but for me the Nikon F3 is a really easy camera to use with the semi-automatic exposure control and the exposure compensation options. People often complain regarding the weight, but in my experience the Nikon F3 offers a really good balance with the Nikkor 35mm or 50mm. One of my favourite features of the camera is the option of shooting with different finders, currently I own the DE-2 (standard prism) and a DW-3 for waist-level shooting days.

Since I acquired the Nikon F3 2 years ago it has always been my go-to camera, it's difficult to say why but maybe my favourite film photos where taken with this camera, maybe is the way it looks or maybe it's the whole experience of shooting with its soft lever (only Nikon F3 shooters would know what I mean). I like to think that is all of the above and what it has provided me in terms of photography and joy.

Below you can see some of my recent photos taken with the Nikon F3:

Film used:

kodak Ultramax 400
Ilford HP5
Kodak Portra 400

I would like to know which camera is your go-to? Do you have a favourite camera?

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Comments

Over the years I have had so many favourite cameras. The seven that I use the most are, the Konica IIa, Leica M3, Kodak Retina 1B, Rolleiflex T, Asahi Pentax K, Olympus Pen D3 and Olympus OM2n. Others that I have and love are the Nikon F, FE, Leica IIIg, Pentax MX, Pentax ME and Olympus OM1n. I do like my Canon P but the winder needs lubricating.
I did have a Nikon F3 in mint condition and loved it’s feel and ‘presence’ but I was very disappointed with the wind-on mechanism. It was completely different to that of my Nikon FE which has the best wind-on action and sound of all my SLR’s. Of all the cameras I have the very best wind-on action and sound is the Kodak Retina 1B – pure German excellence from 1959.

Great article Sam, I am a Nikon user myself and would love to get a F3HP at some point. For the time being I will stick with the Nikon FE2 which is in it’s own a great camera