Nikon F3 Tribute

redisburning said:
every noct sample I've seen has been significantly worse outside of the center than the 50/1.2, though.
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The soft corners wide open you mention is an honest criticism of the rendering. No doubt that there are other lenses that have better corner sharpness wide open. The Noctilux for one has sharp cornes, but then again the Noctilux has mucho light fall off.

Cal
 
Cal,

I've seen you mention this a number of times:

"I also modded the F3P so that the light comes on to illuminate the metering LCD's whenever the mettering is turned on."

Can you explain how you went about doing this? I'd be really interested.

Best,
-Tim

PS:For everyone wanting to discuss the pros and cons of the Noct-Nikkor (a discussion I would love to follow), how about we take it over to the new thread that is just about the Noct-Nikkor and how it compares to other lenses, and leave this wonderful thread to discuss issues of the Nikon F3:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=143509

Thanks.
 
Timmyjoe said:
Cal,

I've seen you mention this a number of times:

"I also modded the F3P so that the light comes on to illuminate the metering LCD's whenever the mettering is turned on."

Can you explain how you went about doing this? I'd be really interested.

Best,
-Tim

PS:For everyone wanting to discuss the pros and cons of the Noct-Nikkor (a discussion I would love to follow), how about we take it over to the new thread that is just about the Noct-Nikkor and how it compares to other lenses, and leave this wonderful thread to discuss issues of the Nikon F3:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=143509

Thanks.
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Tim,

I posted this mod in the repair sticky a while back. The mod is easy to do if you do not have sausage fingers, but realize that you need the proper small jewler's screwdrivers and the real danger is loosing those tiny screws.

Basically you remove the prism and the screen and remove this front top part of the screen holder. There is part of a flexible circuit board that limits access, but you move this out of the way to shim the red button to be on all the time. I used a piece of a matchbook cover. Reassemble is the reverse.

In use the light comes on any time the meter is activated. I find that this eliminates the weak point of the F3's metering system that rightfully everyone complains about, but the penalty is that 10-12 rolls of film will kill a fresh battery. The workaround to this is use a MD-4 as your battery supply that has mucho capacity.

Realize that when you mount a MD-4 that the small base plate mounted battery does not get used, and the small unused battery should be removed as not to become a leaky battery somewhere in the future if forgotten.

I find that the light allows easier reading of the LCD even in good light, and that I can set an exposure manually at night because I can clearly read the LCD's in darkness.

The mod is easy to undo by simply removing the cardboard shim. I posted that mod a long time ago. I'll try to find the posting number in that Repair "sticky" but if you could create a link for others it would be great.

Cal

P.S. The moderators seemed to have deleted the old sticky I mentioned above. I'll refresh my memory by looking at a F3 tonight. I do remember that this mod was a lot harder to perform on my F3P because of the weather sealing. In many ways the F3P is a very highly moddified F3 and it is different in many-many ways.
 
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jwicaksana said:
Cal, sorry about your friend. Please stay safe, I remember you saying you got quite some muscle around the neck and arm area, so that should help alert wannabe attackers. :)

Gil, nice to see you enjoying the 50 1.2, tonight I will try to develop some films I shot with 18mm f/4 :)

Another note, my 35 f/2 AF-D is acting up again. This is the earlier model made in Japan with notorious oily blade. Apparently it like to lay down on its sides and not sitting on its bottom or doing a headstand. If I store it sitting on its caps, the oil will appear after a few days. I hate it as it overexposed my pics. Thinking about replacing it, I know choices are slim for AF-D lenses in that focal length, but please fire away. :)
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Jonathan,

Something about my past gets reminded in these disheveled areas for me. I lived Greenpoint Brooklyn 15 years ago in a a Polish immigrant community where an Asian dude with a ponytail was not welcomed and lived there as an outsider. Not very different from my upbringing being Chinese and growing up out in the suburbs of Long Island in the 1960's and 1970's. BTW the first thing I learned in school in kindergarden was how to fight. By third grade I was rather good at it.

I lived on the Southside of Williamsburg before it was conquuered by hipsters and it was still a forsaken area. I lived in part of Long Island City that was really too unpopulated to be called a community, and now I live in Spanish Harlem the worse neighborhood in Madhattan.

In my work (photography) overall there is a sense of abandonment and homelessness in my landscapes, but this gets balanced by all the life in my street shooting. As we see the gentrification going on in the city, I have been part of the gentrification, and also have experienced the displacement that is part of the process. Somehow I am compelled to explore these issues and it comes out in my work in a profound way. One day I will edit and print, but realize that since 2007 when the housing crisis bubbled and popped that I have inadvertantly been documenting a dramatically changing NYC using small and medium format and a Leica Monochrom.

Yesterday I went to shoot the Domino Sugar Refinery from above from the Williamsburg Bridge that now is being dismantled. I have earlier shots when it was just abandoned, but know that when I lived nearby on South third Street that the sugar refinery was still operating. Know that living one block from a working sugar refinery is rather dangerous, because sugar refineries are known to sometimes explode. The fine powder sometimes ignights and the top of the Domino placarded tower is made of glass that is meant to blow out so as not to take down the entire building. I lived perhaps 150 feet away.

Back on topic. I shot a Plaubel 69 W that effectively is a 6x9 with a 21mm FOV and a F3HP with a 45/2.8 P. On the northside of the Williamsburg Bridge there is an opening that provides a panoramic areal view along the East River. These shots are rather dramatic, especially when you see the changes, but will especially be profound because some of the tallest buildings in Williamsburg will eventually be built right along the waterfront on the East River right where the Domino refinery use to be. The F3HP with 45/2.8P was is a really fun rig and it is so compact.

Cal
 
Gil

thanks for the tip, I like that "asking the pet owner to photograph her/his pet".

Also thanks for pointing out your framing strategy.

David
 
Hi Cal, thanks for sharing your story. I hope you and your family enjoy a lot better condition than it was when you were growing up.

I have sold the FE2 and decided to stick with the F3HP. In fact I miss it so much I will take it out this weekend. Have a nice weekend folks.
 
UPDATE: A friend yesterday gave me an update on Ron's condition. Good news is that he has regained some sight in his damaged eye. This is a good sign.

Cal
 
Well, after a few false starts I finally took the plunge. Looked at lots of F3's and following some good advice, I searched for one that was the latest serial number, hoping the LCD won't be too faded/lacking in contrast. Found an F3T at KEH from 1996, and their shop says the, "metering and shutter speeds are spot on." The body is fairly worn, but I figure with the titanium coverings, it should be pretty tough. Which is good because it's going to be on a rough journey the week after I get it.

Thanks for everyone's sharing of info on this thread, and thanks particularly to John for his advice. Looking forward to using it.

Best,
-Tim
 
I bought 25/2.8, 35/2, MP50/2, 85/1.4 and MP 100/2 when they came out a few years ago, thinking I'd use them with digital. Then I ditched digital and discovered the Leicas, so they got shelved for a few years, but lately I am rediscovering close up photography - not the usual stuff of leaves and bugs, but close up street photography - I find it quite interesting, and with these lenses you can focus as close as it gets. This one was taken with the F3 and 25/2.8:

20142517 by mfogiel, on Flickr

and this with 35/2


20142514 by mfogiel, on Flickr
 
Well that didn't work out so well. My F3T arrived yesterday morning and when I put in a battery, the LCD was nice and contrasty. The camera was filthy, so I wiped it down and loaded a roll of film. Turns out the shutter was frozen. Nice blank roll of Tri-X with one evenly spaced streak for each frame. So that's going back.

One more false start. But the F3 feels really good in the hands, and I like the viewfinder and the shutter advance is really smooth. I will keep searching.

Best,
-Tim
 
Must have been hard. Waiting a long time for an F3T, finally getting it, and then finding out it didn't work as advertised. Bummer.
 
Tim--there are thousands of great, ready-to-use F3s out there. Check out the kehoutlet.com website--they have them up for sale frequently, and the ones I've seen were guaranteed fully functional. I haven't seen an F3T, though..
You might also want to check out the plain F3--not HP cameras. Excellent viewfinder.
Keep looking--the F3 is definitely worth it!
Paul
 
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