Nikon F3 Tribute

[Calzone]

Dirk,

You have great taste. The 105/1.8 AIS is a favorite of mine also. Really balances well on a F3 with MD-4. It looks like the camera has a dose of steroids. The optics are stunning. Very under rated lens. I once owned an 85/1.4 AIS and the 105/2.5 AIS and a 105/1.8 AIS. all are now gone, but out of the three the 105/1.8 AIS was the last one standing out of the three.

The 50/1.8 AIS is a great lens also. Nice and compact. If I did not own a 45/2.8P that definately would be my compact 50.

Cal

 

[menos]

Hey Cal, you are so right about that 105/1.8.
Unfortunately like with some of the more exotic lenses I love most, I listened to voices on the net, talking these lenses down as low performing and impractical.

With the 105/1.8 Ai-S you can read all over the net how bad a lens it is, how low contrast and flare will ruin images at large aperture, how it's weight and size is too much to carry and how the more svelte 105/2.5 is a much, much better buy.

105 f1.8 Ai-S Nikkor with 60 f2.8 Micro-Nikkor and F3HP+MD4 by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

I will keep this lens on the F3 now ;-)

 

[noisycheese]

The F3 is one hell of a good camera - one of the best film SLRs ever made. I am down to one F3hp at present, but it is pretty well outfitted. I have the MD-4 for it with the MR-3 shutter release and the DW-3 chimney finder, along with the original DE-2 finder.

One of the benefits of the digital revolution is that cameras like the F3 are dirt cheap these days. I remember back in the pre-digital days when the F3 was still in production, they were selling for $1000 USD with the MD-4 going for somewhere in the $450-500 USD range.

 

[GarageBoy]

There's also the 135 F2

 

[Calzone]

There's also the 135 F2

Agreed. The F2 is another "Pro" Nikon SLR that costs no money and is a legend.

Cal

 

[menos]

Hehe - Cal, I think GarageBoy is referring to the 135 f2 Nikkor lens - a Godzilla of a lens it is!
I have the 135/2 DC version and sadly never bonded with that focal length.

This is why I fell head over heels in love with the 105mm - it seems just to be the perfect focal length.

Gotta dig that 135mm out again (it works also nicely on the F3 as it still has all the proper manual controls unlike the new lenses nowadays.

 

[menos]

The F3 is one hell of a good camera - one of the best film SLRs ever made. I am down to one F3hp at present, but it is pretty well outfitted. I have the MD-4 for it with the MR-3 shutter release and the DW-3 chimney finder, along with the original DE-2 finder.

One of the benefits of the digital revolution is that cameras like the F3 are dirt cheap these days. I remember back in the pre-digital days when the F3 was still in production, they were selling for $1000 USD with the MD-4 going for somewhere in the $450-500 USD range.

Maybe I am looking in all the wrong places, but around here (local shops) and on the usual websites, Nikon F3 stuff really seems to pick up in asking prices (apart from beaten and still perfectly well working samples that is).
I just paid more for a gizmo to be able to shoot the F3 with a vertical shutter release than I paid for the entire F3HP + MD4, extra screen AND a 50mm lens only a few years ago (and feel slightly embarrassed about it 😱 )

 

[Calzone]

Hehe - Cal, I think GarageBoy is referring to the 135 f2 Nikkor lens - a Godzilla of a lens it is!
I have the 135/2 DC version and sadly never bonded with that focal length.

This is why I fell head over heels in love with the 105mm - it seems just to be the perfect focal length.

Gotta dig that 135mm out again (it works also nicely on the F3 as it still has all the proper manual controls unlike the new lenses nowadays.

Dirk,

Knee jerk reaction to another great camera. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Maybe I am looking in all the wrong places, but around here (local shops) and on the usual websites, Nikon F3 stuff really seems to pick up in asking prices (apart from beaten and still perfectly well working samples that is).
I just paid more for a gizmo to be able to shoot the F3 with a vertical shutter release than I paid for the entire F3HP + MD4, extra screen AND a 50mm lens only a few years ago (and feel slightly embarrassed about it 😱 )

Dirk,

About 2 years ago I found a "like new" F3HP at Adorama for only $150.00. I had to change the foam seals, and then I recovered it in Italian Goat leather that I bought as a sample in Madhattan's garment district. Some people said that I upgraded my F3HP into a F3"P" where the "P" stands for "Prada."

I have also bought good unhammered users for as little as $75.00. At one time at Adorama alone the had over 100 in stock I was told by my salesman. It was literally raining F3's for know money.

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

Oh, great...a new TV show called "Pimp my Nikon!"

 

[Calzone]

Oh, great...a new TV show called "Pimp my Nikon!"

This is the original "Tribute" thread, kinda like how the first reality show created many others. Mucho views and kinda popular.

I don't post, but imagine a moderately brassed in Nikon F3P that was a real "Press" camera that partook in "Operation Desert Storm" with an Olympus 24/3.5 shift lens, MD-4 motordrive, AH-4 handstrap, and a two-way bubble level in the prism hot shoe.

What a deadly fast shooter.

Also know that I kinda sponsor the camera competitions held once a year in February at the NYC Meet-Up. The first year started out as "The Leica M-body Beauty Contest" over six years ago; then it became a "Beauty Pagent," Then a "Gearfest," then a "Parade," then a "Convention..."

Cal

 

[Huss]

For those interested, JCH has a Nikon F3 HP w/50mm f1.2 Ais currently for sale on his website

Wow that was expensive! About $200-$300 more than I would pay for that set up in the US.

 

[menos]

Cal, I think times are over for these bargains.

@ Huss, Bellamy has to make a living - you can't run a business without profit, can you ;-)

Apart from that, F3 stuff here in Asia is more expensive as in the US ever was, as the huge supply on dumped press gear simply did not happen around here to extend it did in the US.
My MK-1 entered Chinese mainland yesterday, now waiting for customs to ignore my parcel and have it on the camera by the weekend hopefully ;-)

 

[Calzone]

Cal, I think times are over for these bargains.

@ Huss, Bellamy has to make a living - you can't run a business without profit, can you ;-)

Apart from that, F3 stuff here in Asia is more expensive as in the US ever was, as the huge supply on dumped press gear simply did not happen around here to extend it did in the US.
My MK-1 entered Chinese mainland yesterday, now waiting for customs to ignore my parcel and have it on the camera by the weekend hopefully ;-)

Dirk,

I agree the time was a few years ago for almost free "Pro" cameras.

This is an old thread that has gotten big.

Cal

 

[menos]

The MK-1 has arrived - I was sceptic as of adding more bulk or weight to the already mighty F3 with motor, but this little thingy is fantastic! A must have - it's a featherweight yet as heavily built as the rest of the camera and it's ergonomics are almost perfect!

One caveat for AE shooters: you can't reach the exposure lock button when using the vertical shutter release :-(

Back to manual exposure then…

Nikon F3 + MD-4 + MK-1 + Noct-Nikkor by teknopunk.com, on Flickr

Why I added the much more pricey (nowadays) MK-1 instead of a MD-3?
The very only reason is that I read that the MD-3 does not wake the meter with a half button press as does the shutter release button on the camera, on the MD-4 and on the MK-1.
Can somebody confirm?

I might have a look into finding a MD-3 anyway to add to the MD-12 to use on the FM3a …

Now if only Leica would have made some cool gizmo like the MK-1 for the Motor-M to be used on the M7 😀

 

[robert blu]

@menos: this is a beauty! congrats!
robert
PS: Iìm afraid too heavy for my taste...and age 🙂

 

[menos]

Robert, thanks.

I think with a 50/1.8 or any other of the nice small and light lenses, Nikon made this one will not be heavier than a TLR ;-)

Too bad, while the MK-1 has been slipped by Japan Post through the secret backdoor into Shanghai, the MF-6b I bought the same day has found a nice, cozy, warm place in Chinese Customs today :-(

So I will be rewinding the weekends film by hand again … while the customs will figure how much this will cost me - unlike with German customs the calculation of duty fees seems entirely arbitrary around here - hehe.

 

[Calzone]

UPDATE: I'm getting my Noct-Nikkor back. I flat traded it for a boxed 35 Lux ASPH Pre-FLE, and now years later I'm flat trading it back. Moral of the story here is only sell or trade your Noct-Nikkor to a good friend.

Also I decided to post here an easy repair that made my F3P feel more solid. It seems that on a few occassions a lens would get unlocked on my F3P, and fortunately I have never crashed a lens, but I've come close. I took off the mounting flange off my F3P by loosening the 4 screws and retensioned the semi-circular springs. The result is now the mounting is very solid. I guess that over the decades from constant continuous pressure these springs flatten. I no longer have the play/wiggle with the locking pin that I once had.

Hope this helps keep your F3 going strong.

Cal

 

[menos]

Cal, I am happy you could get it back in such a nice fashion!

I am a huge fan of both lenses involved in your trade (I bought my 35/1.4 ASPH new a few weeks after the FLE was announced and despite paying full price never once regretted it).

Both lenses are usually traded at similar value, but the Noct is MUCH harder to find in nice condition, … and as the saying goes: You NEVER sell a NOCT-Nikkor ;-)

Have fun with your new/old lens!

 

[Calzone]

Cal, I am happy you could get it back in such a nice fashion!

I am a huge fan of both lenses involved in your trade (I bought my 35/1.4 ASPH new a few weeks after the FLE was announced and despite paying full price never once regretted it).

Both lenses are usually traded at similar value, but the Noct is MUCH harder to find in nice condition, … and as the saying goes: You NEVER sell a NOCT-Nikkor ;-)

Have fun with your new/old lens!

Dirk,

I now feel complete again. LOL.

Cal