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Nikon F3

I think the LCE price is good. You can get a cheaper one from Japan, but after you pay tax and shipping its a wash.
I wear glasses and prefer the DE2 finder (non HP finder) for its higher magnification, which helps for focusing. The eye relief is still fine.

A good accessory is the CF-22 or CF-20 case. I only use the bottom part (otherwise it becomes a never-ready case). It is beautifully made and will keep your F3 in mint condition. Nikon really lavished attention on the eveready cases for the flagship cameras, the quality is amazing.

I found my mint F3 from a seller in germany who used it for copy-stand use. He used it with a DW-3 finder, which I kept as a novelty but have never used for shooting. I then bought a mint DE-2 from japan. I also have an HP so I have three of the five available finders. Maybe I should get the other two to complete the collection. The red dot K screen is the best I have tried so far, but some people like the H screens (I haven't tried one).
 
Grays looks like a brilliant place to buy a used Nikon if you are an oligarch or a Tory trough feeder. I suppose rent in Westminster is not exactly cheap. £15k for a Nikon F2SB! It would lose £14.2k value as soon as you shot the first frame.
 
If you want a simple bomb-proof manual Nikon but without the collector price-tag of a F or F2 consider a Nikkormat FTn:

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Here’s mine. It dates from the late-60s, so F2 era with much the same build quality, but without the fancy removable prism etc. It’s a great camera if you don’t mind really heavy and a bit angular. The unusual thing is the shutter speed is concentric with the lens like an Olympus OM1 rather than in the normal Nikon place on top.
 
I've used a LOT of the cameras mentioned. Any of the film Nikons are built like a tank frankly and my FM2n had been up mountains, in sub zero for weeks and across 2 deserts without a blink. It's lighter than the F's by a way, but no eye relief, as pointed out above. I'm thinking about going back too, and will get an F3HP if I do because I wear specs and the HP makes that a tad easier. Look on ebay for japan based ones. They know their stuff out there and even have some 'open box, never used' examples from reputable traders.
As to lenses since it's all manual focus, you just want the newest glass that has an aperture ring.
Have a look on the 'Grays of Westminster' website. Prices are steep but they are well known for service and quality and the best advice in the UK is then a phone call away.

https://www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/welcome.php

I've bought from Grays. The shop is a jewel, the service and knowledge second to none. Prices used to be high, but on new cameras at least they are now often the cheapest UK source. I actually bought my first F3 from them 30 odd years ago, and several lenses since.

Someone upstream mentioned Japan. I bought a Pentax 645n from a Japanese ebay dealer this year, and had it in my hands within a week. Condition is customarily better than described. You'll take a duty/VAT hit though. I had to find a further £93 on top of the £360 price.
 
I recently read that the otherwise wonderful Pentax LX is prone to a sticky shutter and can require a service.
Regrettably, yes. But it's a fairly easy fix, which I have been meaning to do to my LX. I remember fondly why I bought the LX. I used to attend motorcycle rallies and needed a camera that would work in extreme cold (Brass Monkey). The LX has fully mechanical speeds up to 1/2000s, and proper OTF metering for super accurate exposures (above freezing).
 
Grays looks like a brilliant place to buy a used Nikon if you are an oligarch or a Tory trough feeder. I suppose rent in Westminster is not exactly cheap. £15k for a Nikon F2SB! It would lose £14.2k value as soon as you shot the first frame.
I’m neither and not rich either. If you visit there one day you’ll see why they’ve won Nikon’s dealer of the year award countless times. Staff are endlessly helpful and knowledgable and you are valued and looked after as a photographer and Nikon enthusiast whether you are rich man, poor man, beggarman or thief.
 
If you're not after a rare or absolutely mint condition classic Nikon camera, the prices — at least around here — are between ~$50 to $400 Cdn, depending on model and condition. That's as much as I'd ever consider spending on an old camera that's getting harder and harder to service.

I recently saw a Nikon F2AS in good condition for $300 Cdn, but I need another camera like I need another hole in my head.

Joe
 
If you want a simple bomb-proof manual Nikon but without the collector price-tag of a F or F2 consider a Nikkormat FTn:



Here’s mine. It dates from the late-60s, so F2 era with much the same build quality, but without the fancy removable prism etc. It’s a great camera if you don’t mind really heavy and a bit angular. The unusual thing is the shutter speed is concentric with the lens like an Olympus OM1 rather than in the normal Nikon place on top.

The location of the shutter speed dial is due to the use of the Copal Square metal shutter. Another odd feature is that the Copal focal plane shutter moved vertically instead of the usual horizontal action.
 
I’m neither and not rich either. If you visit there one day you’ll see why they’ve won Nikon’s dealer of the year award countless times. Staff are endlessly helpful and knowledgable and you are valued and looked after as a photographer and Nikon enthusiast whether you are rich man, poor man, beggarman or thief.


I am sure they are the nicest guys in the world, and I would certainly like to go in and browse one day. However I am not prepared to pay 2-3 the price available elsewhere for used cameras (based on the used listing on their web site). You can buy a mint F2 from ebay and then get it sent to Sover Wong for a full strip-down and rebuild for less than what Grays are selling for.
 
It's a good point Andrew, but I believe that Grays only sell immaculate products that have been through their own workshops and fully serviced. I don't know Sover Wong, but Grays' service dept are world known and a Nikon part is a Nikon part, so you should really compare prices of your mint buy + Sover W service to Grays prices and then factor in the post service warranty, the customer service and the on call attention, plus the huge range available etc. If that isn't important to you then that's your decision. OFC there are cheaper goods. It's just a matter of how you value peace of mind and quality product and service I suppose, but actually, I never found Grays prices excessive. About average market prices for a specialist store in the UK I think.
 
Am I right in remembering that up to the F2 it was all mechanical, but that the F3 needed a battery to work?
 
It dates from the late-60s, so F2 era with much the same build quality, but without the fancy removable prism etc.

Just correcting my own post; the FTn is Nikon F-era, not F2. The F2 wasn’t released until 1971!

I’m certain the F, F2 and Nikkormats up to the FTn only use a battery to power the meter, everything functions mechanically otherwise. The F and F2 functionality obviously depending on what finder unit is fitted. After a while there were two concurrent Nikkormat ranges, the FT* and EL*, the latter having electronic functionality to some degree.
 
Paul,

Am I right in remembering that up to the F2 it was all mechanical, but that the F3 needed a battery to work?

Mostly. The F3 had *one* mechanical shutter speed — 1/60th of a sec — that you could use if the battery died.

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Joe
 
For me, that would be a very good reason for going for an F/F1/F2 rather than an F3. But perhaps a psychological rather than practical issue.
 
The F3 was one of the first pro-grade electronic cameras, and they put a lot of engineering into making sure it was ultra-reliable. The exposure readout in the viewfinder uses a tiny LCD that drains a miniscule amount of power. The batteries literally last years. The quartz timed shutter is far more accurate than a mechanical shutter which will require regular servicing to keep it within spec. If you forget to turn off the power on an F2 by fully closing the wind-on lever, it will drain your lithium battery in a day. I found this out the hard way.

All of the F cameras are awesome, and you won’t go wrong with any choice. Fs and F2s are >40 years old and will almost certainly require a service. There are different levels of servicing but for a thorough job you are looking at £300-£400. My mint F3 only required a £50 service. New foam seals and a check of the meter and shutter speeds. Both were in spec.
 
The thing to remember (or learn, depending on your age) is that a film camera body has almost no influence on the image quality you will achieve - some meters are better than others, but why not just use a hand held meter - my Weston lasted me through my whole film career, though in later years only to check the meter accuracy of new cameras. So, my Contax RX (my all time favourite camera) took no better pictures than my 167mt, despite it's amazing engineering. Some cameras had issues with shutter speed accuracy (my 167mt would over expose by a stop on the fastest shutter speed, so I either compensated or just didn't use it) - everything else was lens quality - so if you want to get into, say, the Nikon world of analogue photography, get a nicely preserve Nikkormat body and a couple of decent lenses from that era. The 'big boys' like Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Zeiss etc, hadn't discovered the cheap 'kit' lens, so the branded lenses were all pretty good - unlike today...
 
Another super nice camera from the same era is the Canon New F1. Even more tank-like build and a better metering display in the viewfinder.

Never had a Nikon but my Canon F1N was great camera. I traded it in as I wasn't using it and couldn't see myself ever returning to film. As @andrewd says great viewfinder and clear metering. I had the AE viewfinder and a couple of view screens.
 
I always wanted a Nikon F or F2 as they are just so damn cool/iconic. Just a total design classic IMHO. Best of breed being a silver finish F with the really simple eye-level prism viewfinder and fitted with a Nippon Kogaku 55mm/f1.2. If anyone says ‘SLR’ that is the image that pops into my mind.
 
Whatever Mr. Spock is using is cool by me. Given the position of the shutter release — a position no unbroken finger can comfortably assume — I’d say an F.

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Joe
 


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