Did this Nikon F3 have a fixed focusing screen?

[Huss]

Nikon F3 Ltd

https://www.cameraquest.com/nff3ltd.htm

"The only differences to the F3P that I noticed were ..... the fixed B screen instead of interchangeable focusing screen"

Is this accurate? Why would Nikon do that considering it is essentially an F3P?

 

[sevo]

A fixed screen F3 version would have been popular among press photographers early on - holding the F/F2 with prism removed upside down to get a periscope peek through the finder above a crowd was a common trick, and the F3 (which omitted their button lock) was prone to shedding the screen when used that way. I remember some older agency photographers holding on to their F2 for that reason (or having the screen somehow locked/glued down by service). But odd they did not do it until the LTD, which came much too late to be targeted at press photographers. Or was the fixed (or rather, service interchangeable) screen already a feature in the F3P?

 

[Huss]

Curious, no? Because the standard (apparently fixed) screen is the B which is just a matte field. I like the option of being able to change, especially since matte screens are not very good for wide angle lenses.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

We locked down B screens in US Navy F3s issued to pilots. We also locked focus on the 105mm Micro-Nikkors we issued them with. Drilled holes and sank a machine screw through the focusing barrel of the lenses. Similar but slightly more delicate procedure with the F3. Epoxied some of the shutter dials on A so they wouldn't move. We stopped doing that to excellent shooter F3 bodies and modified 6006s instead. The metering was better for the pilots anyways. They still got that locked focus 105mm micro though.

Phil Forrest

 

[Huss]

Well, I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough.

🙂

 

[Huss]

Got it today. Not sure where the miss-information came from but the focusing screen is removable, just like normal F3 cameras.
Cool.

 

[JoeLopez]

Got it today. Not sure where the miss-information came from but the focusing screen is removable, just like normal F3 cameras.
Cool.

Good to hear, thanks for the follow up. Love those F3 cameras 🙂