farlymac
PF McFarland
It's the little things one overlooks when checking out a newly acquired camera. I've recently taken in two F3s with MD-4 drives (got the second unit while pursuing lenses), and until this past weekend, had not had a chance to use either one.
I gave both of them the perfunctory tests like dry firing the shutter, seeing if the meters worked, looking for loose parts, those sort of things that really stand out in a well used unit.
Day of the shoot came, and it was decision time. Unit 1 has the DE-2 eye-level finder, and I got a MK-1 Firing Rate Adapter to put on the drive. Unit 2 has the DE-3 (HP, High eye-Point) finder. Both came with 1.4/50 AI-S Nikkors, but I wasn't thinking about using them in particular, as I would need some focal length to shoot the Highland Games from the rope lines. So I took the 35-105 and 80-200 Nikkors, along with the 3.5/28 Nikkor, and slipped one of the 50s in with the rest of the bag load.
I chose Unit 2 for the HP finder, and the fact the MK-1 was on unit 1, so it would weigh that much less, though having the extra shutter button might have come in handy. As it turned out, the MD-4 is pretty good handling anyway without the MK-1, but there were instances where it might been better to have it.
I had a great time shooting the camera, what with the fine view of the HP finder even with my glasses on. I set the shutter on Auto, as then I could control depth of field better, further isolating subjects in the telescopic lens.
And then it happened. The camera just stopped. I still had meter readings, it was showing 27 frames on the camera counter (I had the drive counter on neutral), and power to the drive, since the right indicator light was on. I tripped the manual shutter release on front of the camera, but still couldn't advance the film. I went into the shade, removed the drive, and tried advancing film then, but still no go, so I put the drive cap back on the camera, and manually rewound the film. I also noticed the meter was not coming on, so figuring it was a camera fault, and not having thought of packing the P7700 as back-up, went on home to diagnose the problem, as it was getting hot, and I was really frustrated about the camera jamming up like that. Missed getting photos of the Highlander Pipes and Drum Corp doing the official opening about an hour and a half after the games started. And the caber toss, my favorite.
So, putting the drive back on the camera at home, fired it up, and everything worked. Meter, frame counter on both units (running through a complete cycle to check the end-of-film cut-off), it all worked fine. That's when I noticed the counter on the camera still said 27. So I popped the back open again to check that the camera counter would reset to S, and it did. Reset the motor counter to 36, and fired away. Motor 36, camera 27. Ah ha! It was then I remembered that the right indicator on the motor being lit meant time to rewind. I had shot a complete roll, even though the camera said 27. And I had neglected to check for a battery in the camera, since the motor was supplying power, thus the dead camera syndrome when the drive was detached.
After these revelations, I gave unit 1 a thorough check, and found a problem with it. The motor cuts off about three frames past the end-of-roll indicator, so that could present a problem if it has enough torque to rip the film out of the canister. But the camera frame counter was working fine.
Now here comes the beauty of having a modular system camera. I'll use the HP finder from Unit 2, the Unit 1 body, the Unit 2 drive, and the MK-1 to make a good working set-up. That will let me work on the Unit 2 frame counter at my leisure, and to experiment with the Unit 1 drive to see if that over-run presents a problem.
Hopefully, I didn't ruin too many frames taking the drive off the camera, and my focusing was good. Last time I did the games, I was using a Canon Sure Shot 120 Classic P&S I had gotten from Goodwill, and every time I zoomed out to 120mm, it wouldn't focus, something you don't find out until you get the film back.
At least while everything was working fine, the F3 was a really nice camera to use.
PF
I gave both of them the perfunctory tests like dry firing the shutter, seeing if the meters worked, looking for loose parts, those sort of things that really stand out in a well used unit.
Day of the shoot came, and it was decision time. Unit 1 has the DE-2 eye-level finder, and I got a MK-1 Firing Rate Adapter to put on the drive. Unit 2 has the DE-3 (HP, High eye-Point) finder. Both came with 1.4/50 AI-S Nikkors, but I wasn't thinking about using them in particular, as I would need some focal length to shoot the Highland Games from the rope lines. So I took the 35-105 and 80-200 Nikkors, along with the 3.5/28 Nikkor, and slipped one of the 50s in with the rest of the bag load.
I chose Unit 2 for the HP finder, and the fact the MK-1 was on unit 1, so it would weigh that much less, though having the extra shutter button might have come in handy. As it turned out, the MD-4 is pretty good handling anyway without the MK-1, but there were instances where it might been better to have it.
I had a great time shooting the camera, what with the fine view of the HP finder even with my glasses on. I set the shutter on Auto, as then I could control depth of field better, further isolating subjects in the telescopic lens.
And then it happened. The camera just stopped. I still had meter readings, it was showing 27 frames on the camera counter (I had the drive counter on neutral), and power to the drive, since the right indicator light was on. I tripped the manual shutter release on front of the camera, but still couldn't advance the film. I went into the shade, removed the drive, and tried advancing film then, but still no go, so I put the drive cap back on the camera, and manually rewound the film. I also noticed the meter was not coming on, so figuring it was a camera fault, and not having thought of packing the P7700 as back-up, went on home to diagnose the problem, as it was getting hot, and I was really frustrated about the camera jamming up like that. Missed getting photos of the Highlander Pipes and Drum Corp doing the official opening about an hour and a half after the games started. And the caber toss, my favorite.
So, putting the drive back on the camera at home, fired it up, and everything worked. Meter, frame counter on both units (running through a complete cycle to check the end-of-film cut-off), it all worked fine. That's when I noticed the counter on the camera still said 27. So I popped the back open again to check that the camera counter would reset to S, and it did. Reset the motor counter to 36, and fired away. Motor 36, camera 27. Ah ha! It was then I remembered that the right indicator on the motor being lit meant time to rewind. I had shot a complete roll, even though the camera said 27. And I had neglected to check for a battery in the camera, since the motor was supplying power, thus the dead camera syndrome when the drive was detached.
After these revelations, I gave unit 1 a thorough check, and found a problem with it. The motor cuts off about three frames past the end-of-roll indicator, so that could present a problem if it has enough torque to rip the film out of the canister. But the camera frame counter was working fine.
Now here comes the beauty of having a modular system camera. I'll use the HP finder from Unit 2, the Unit 1 body, the Unit 2 drive, and the MK-1 to make a good working set-up. That will let me work on the Unit 2 frame counter at my leisure, and to experiment with the Unit 1 drive to see if that over-run presents a problem.
Hopefully, I didn't ruin too many frames taking the drive off the camera, and my focusing was good. Last time I did the games, I was using a Canon Sure Shot 120 Classic P&S I had gotten from Goodwill, and every time I zoomed out to 120mm, it wouldn't focus, something you don't find out until you get the film back.
At least while everything was working fine, the F3 was a really nice camera to use.
PF
flavio81
Well-known
At least your meter works.
My F3 worked perfectly until i just put it back on my camera bag. It sat for 2 or 3 months in my room, without usage. When i tried to use it again, the meter did not work (always showed "-"). My camera tech couldn't repair it.
Another friend of mine purchased a F3 that looked good, but also had a dead meter.
I sold the F3 due to that and another reason: The "+/-" display for manual focusing is tiny and ill-located. The F2 is so much better at this, that it shows there was some idiocy at Nikon these days: "Oh, the F3 has Auto mode so manual mode is not so important...". Also, the shutter release trigger point can't be felt, unlike the Nikon F2.
Now i stick to my F2 and F and feel confident. Or to my Canon New F1, the competitor of the F3 and overall a better camera in every respect except for the lack of TTL flash.
My F3 worked perfectly until i just put it back on my camera bag. It sat for 2 or 3 months in my room, without usage. When i tried to use it again, the meter did not work (always showed "-"). My camera tech couldn't repair it.
Another friend of mine purchased a F3 that looked good, but also had a dead meter.
I sold the F3 due to that and another reason: The "+/-" display for manual focusing is tiny and ill-located. The F2 is so much better at this, that it shows there was some idiocy at Nikon these days: "Oh, the F3 has Auto mode so manual mode is not so important...". Also, the shutter release trigger point can't be felt, unlike the Nikon F2.
Now i stick to my F2 and F and feel confident. Or to my Canon New F1, the competitor of the F3 and overall a better camera in every respect except for the lack of TTL flash.