the plain honest truth, a sort of confession.....

[Chris101]

Too bad you're not a member of the elite cognoscenti who own M Leicas.

One day, you'll be out walking, and some hot, sexy teenage girl will pull out her M3 and take a photo, and some distinguished looking journalist wearing a Rolex Submariner and riding a classic BMW motorcycle will take out HIS Leica M4.

The girl and the journalist will look at YOU, with your miserable, laughable Nikon F3.

"MMMM....MMM...My Leica is in the shop..." you'll sputter.

'HA HA HA HAHA HA HA!!" THEY know better. You're just a pissant with his pathetic sissy camera. Obviously broke.

"Get a REAL camera" says the girl, as she rides off with the other guy.

I'd pray that this day of impending shame does not arrive too soon.

Damn. That happens to me all the time. My car looks like crap too.

Oh wait! I have a Leica. It must be my breath.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Well said!.....my sentiments too!!
Dave.

Totally agree with you and the OP. There are many fine cameras out there.

Bob

 

[xayraa33]

I like making photos with my Zorki

 

[Roger Vadim]

Can't go wrong with a F3! Great camera with a lovely viewfinder and excellent build quality. check out the stunning 2.5/105mm or the lovely 2.8/28mm. That plus your 50 - all one ever need in photography (well almost...)

have fun and keep posting

 

[johnastovall]

well, as much as i wanted to, i ended up not buying a leica. i joined RFF to do a little research.

after going through a choosing what would be best for my shooting and picking out what i wanted, going back and forth between different m's for price and condition, then looking at lenses and then looking at my bank account, and it just didn't happen.

i had an m2 years ago which i saved for for a long time, and it had a faulty shutter, speeding up near the end of the shutter operation so my negs were underexposed on one third of the frame, had it fixed and then the problem crept back up and i sold it for a bit less than what i paid.

i would love nothing more than to have $5k to drop so i know i'm getting something good, but alas i don't, but not to worry.

i got a nikon f3 hp with a 50mm ai lens for about $350, and it's working out great! now all that extra dough is going towards film and printing costs.

not in the club, but what the hell, i'm out shooting. thanks for listening. maybe one day.....

So, Why didn't you the the Leica fixed. Sounds like you need a better Leica tech not a nikon.

 

[mojobebop]

nikon

nikon

f3's are great cameras.
back when i bought mine, i paid about $1000.
now they are very affordable.
i used one for over a decade. still have it.

 

[kemal_mumcu]

I've always had a hankering for a Nikon of my own. My family has an old nikkormat and I love the rock solid feel of the thing. Almost industrial strong compared to the refined strength in an M. I love the way the shutter has that confident snap... but then again I would be crossing my fingers that no one would hear me.

Enjoy your new camera. There is always a future for $5000 on a new setup.

 

[AgentX]

You don't need anything for photography other than a camera of some kind; you've got one of the best.

If you want to try rangefinders again someday to see if they suit you more than the F3, there are also less expensive options than a Leica. Older fixed-lens/folders, new Bessas, Russian jobs, an original Olympus XA, whatever.

 

[BillBingham2]

Do not worry about not having a Leica. When you feel you want to go RF look into a good Nikon S2. Gives you the Nikon F/FTn feel with a RF viewfinder. I sold off my Leicas and Bessas and how have a Nikon S3-2000 and could not be happier. Focus and aperture move the same directions as the Nikon SLRs. Several great lenses for them from Nikon and CV and a few others.

You will find the Nikon RFs every bit as robust as any Leica, but not as refined. In many cases you in their day Nikon was ahead of Leica (e.g. motors, automatic parallax adjustment)

B2 (;->

 

[dovevadar]

f3hp is a fantastic camera! I was planning to obtain a Nikon slr system. The FM2 shutter are the best sounding so far. If you watch news, you will know this shutter sound. fantastic system but a shame I wouldnt have the time to use them. One day maybe...

Funny thing is, the grass is always greener on the other side. Thats the case for both of us at least!

 

[former member]

The F3 is a great camera- just keep a some spare batteries with it. They do go dead when you do not expect it, not often- but it recently happened on mine. I tend towards the F2AS and F2SB when using an SLR. They are louder than a Leica.

There are some incredible bargains on Nikon lenses out there. The older ones can be used with stop-down metering, and can be converted to AI. I keep a factory-converted 50/1.4 Nikkor-SC on mine. I rarely use the Auto-focus feature on my 1983 F3...

 

[David Hughes]

The Rolex problem is that you'll never find one for £2 in a charity shop, but there's some really great cameras there for £2 or £3 (and the odd Omega Genève Automatic).

Regards, David