Is there a Fm3a support group? ;D

Riverman said:
Nice shot Dino. I'm really enjoying my FM3a but am coming dangerously close to replacing it with an F6. I've shot 35mm since 1998 on 2 cameras - a Minolta X700 and my FM3a but: (a) I've never bought a new 35mm camera and some spare cash is burning a hole in my pocket; and (b) I've never shot autofocus or had a camera with matrix metering.

Any of you FM/FE shooters out there also shoot any autofocus bodies?
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If you want a new F6, you'd better act quickly because I don't know how many more there are going to be. Before posting this, I checked Adorama and B&H for F6s. Adorama doesn't even seem to list it anymore, but B7H says they have some in stock, which surprised the heck out of me.

But as to your question, the F6 rocks, and if you can't get along with matrix metering, you can always change it. Mine has an alternate split ring focusing screen that makes using manual focus lenses a snap.
 
dogberryjr said:
If you want a new F6, you'd better act quickly because I don't know how many more there are going to be. Before posting this, I checked Adorama and B&H for F6s. Adorama doesn't even seem to list it anymore, but B7H says they have some in stock, which surprised the heck out of me.

But as to your question, the F6 rocks, and if you can't get along with matrix metering, you can always change it. Mine has an alternate split ring focusing screen that makes using manual focus lenses a snap.
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I also lust for an F6 and probably even more so now that I've bought a D700 .... I would see the F6 as the perfect film counterpart to my D700.
 
Guys
I've an F6 and despite the quite intensive use of the FM3A, I still prefer it over also the D700. If you can get it, do it, period. As I said many times (having also tried the F100) if the F5/F100 were the "Ferrari / Lamborghini" of autofocus cameras (their focusing speed and sheer performances were simply stunning and I heard my 50 mm squeaking when mounted on the F100 so brutal was its af) the F6 is more like an Aston Martin / Maserati, classier kind of car, sporty but with white gloves if you know what I mean, and I could distinguish its "click" like a metallic lash from everyone else of the cameras I had.
 
italy74 said:
Guys
I've an F6 and despite the quite intensive use of the FM3A, I still prefer it over also the D700. If you can get it, do it, period. As I said many times (having also tried the F100) if the F5/F100 were the "Ferrari / Lamborghini" of autofocus cameras (their focusing speed and sheer performances were simply stunning and I heard my 50 mm squeaking when mounted on the F100 so brutal was its af) the F6 is more like an Aston Martin / Maserati, classier kind of car, sporty but with white gloves if you know what I mean, and I could distinguish its "click" like a metallic lash from everyone else of the cameras I had.
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I agree 100% with you, Dino! The F6 is pure class 🙂

The FM3A and D700 are waaaay up there (maybe just edged out by the F and F2), but my favourite two Nikons of all time are these two below 😀

 
Careful guys. You're fuelling my longing for an F6! One of the key draws seems to be its meter. Normally when I shoot slide I wander round with my handheld incident meter but by all accounts the F6 meter is just awesome - even in tricky light. I love the idea of dropping in a roll of Astia and shooting away.
 
The F6 seems like the pinnacle of 35mm AF SLRs. All my Nikon lenses are manual though. If I get an F6 I daresay I'd still shoot my manual lenses on it but I want to try autofocus and the 35mm f2 looks like a great little lens.
 
Riverman said:
The F6 seems like the pinnacle of 35mm AF SLRs. All my Nikon lenses are manual though. If I get an F6 I daresay I'd still shoot my manual lenses on it but I want to try autofocus and the 35mm f2 looks like a great little lens.
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I bought a 'fantastic plastic' 35mm f2 AFD the other day ... less than $400.00 new and it's impressive. It will be shared around a D700, FM3A and N90s.

To be hones it looks and feels like a piece of crap but it's performance for the price can't be disputed. With this lens on the D700 with matrix metering and millisecond autofocusing ... if I miss a shot it would obviously be because I'm a complete idiot! 😀
 
Keith said:
I bought a 'fantastic plastic' 35mm f2 AFD the other day ... less than $400.00 new and it's impressive. It will be shared around a D700, FM3A and N90s.

To be hones it looks and feels like a piece of crap but it's performance for the price can't be disputed. With this lens on the D700 with matrix metering and millisecond autofocusing ... if I miss a shot it would obviously be because I'm a complete idiot! 😀
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The lens seems good value and I like your description of it - I guess the AF plastics don't have the heft of the older manual lenses! How do you find the D700? In my quest for an AF body I did think about a D700 but I enjoy film too much and I get pretty good files from my Coolscan. Given that my introduction to photography back in 1998 was a 35mm SLR, I'd love to own an F6 before it goes out of production.
 
Riverman said:
The lens seems good value and I like your description of it - I guess the AF plastics don't have the heft of the older manual lenses! How do you find the D700? In my quest for an AF body I did think about a D700 but I enjoy film too much and I get pretty good files from my Coolscan. Given that my introduction to photography back in 1998 was a 35mm SLR, I'd love to own an F6 before it goes out of production.
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I bought the D700 for the odd paid gig I get photographing gallery openings ... the M8 was realy struggling in the very low light where I'm not permitted to use flash and I wanted a camera that could deliver the goods at 3200 ISO or higher.

That said it's a brilliant camera and I can't recommend it highly enough ... the files it produces at high ISO's are very film like to me and although I'm far more into film than digital this camera has really impressed in the short time I've had it!

The main reason I bought the 'fantastic plastic' was so I can wander into a gloomy gallery with the D700 on AF at 3200 or 6400 ISO with the lens set on f2 and know I won't miss much. My keeper rate with my M8 was about one in three in this environment and then hours of agonising post processing to try and make images acceptable for the powers that be!
 
D700 / FM3a + 35mm F2 AFD is one of my favorite combo too. And the advantage of the D700 and its 12mp his you don't need a $2000 lens to get something good.
One of my friend has a 5DmkII and the images he get with the 35mm f2 and 50mm f1.8 aren't as sharp as the one I get with my D700.
 
I had a FM3A back in 06 for a short time, picked it up for $300 (black) and sold it for the same... i had been regretting it ever since, so i just picked up another Black FM3A, with box and everything, for $500... which is about $499 more than my wife wanted me to spend on a camera, and honestly more than i wanted to spend on any camera at this time too lol...

but man, with the 35/1.4 or 50/1.2, it is a dream to use! 🙂
 
I enjoy the 50 1.2 on my FM3a too. Bokeh is very pleasant. Interesting that you're coveting a Leica. I've felt that urge before but decided that Nikon SLR is the way for me in 35mm. For the tons of money that folk sink into Leica glass, you're still left with a 35mm frame at the end of the day. Immaculate image quality and razor sharp lenses are not what it's about for me when it comes to 35mm. When IQ really counts I reach for my Mamiya 6 or LF gear. The Leica body is clearly a design classic but the thing that really put me off in the end was the tiny viewfinder - what a miserable experience after the large vf in the Mamiya rangefinder.

Ever put any Zeiss ZF lenses on your Nikons? I've been curious to try them.

Your stuff on Flickr is great by the way.
 
Riverman said:
Nice shot Dino. I'm really enjoying my FM3a but am coming dangerously close to replacing it with an F6. I've shot 35mm since 1998 on 2 cameras - a Minolta X700 and my FM3a but: (a) I've never bought a new 35mm camera and some spare cash is burning a hole in my pocket; and (b) I've never shot autofocus or had a camera with matrix metering.

Any of you FM/FE shooters out there also shoot any autofocus bodies?
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If you like the smaller Nikon manual focus bodies, but want one with Matrix Metering, you might consider an FA. Wonderful camera with all the features a serious photographer needs, and you can get one for a few hundred dollars from KEH.
 
Riverman said:
Ever put any Zeiss ZF lenses on your Nikons? I've been curious to try them.

Your stuff on Flickr is great by the way.
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I've never really beein interested in the ZF glass, as i have every focal length i want covered by great Nikkors- 18/2.8, 35/1.4, 50/1.2, 85/1.4, 105/2.5, 135/2.8.... I also am not fond of the Zeiss/Cosina look.

Thanks for the flickr love 🙂
 
Damn. The itch became unbearable. I just ordered a new F6 plus 35mm AF f2. Twelve years of shooting 35mm and this is the first new camera I've bought. Arrives Tuesday....
 
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