The Amazing and Beautiful Nikon F3/T

First, let me say that I haven’t used my F3 for a while now – maybe a couple years. When I recently decided to use it – to try it out again, I was very surprised how much fun it was. I remembered exactly why I love using it so much.

It’s funny because if you asked me what my favorite film camera is, I would have a hard time giving you just one name. I love my Olympus OM cameras, I love my Canon F-1 (all versions) and I love my medium format film cameras… but whenever I come back to the Nikon F3/T I remember all over again what makes it special.

I’m not sure everyone that has tried an F3 feels the same way. I know there are a lot of people that love them, but maybe not everyone – in fact there are probably some people that just don’t like Nikon cameras in general. I don’t use modern Nikon cameras, but I still love the film cameras they made during the 1970s and early 1980s.

So, just to review, here’s a few things I like about using the F3/T.

• The “T” version is slightly lighter than the regular version.
• I like the champaign colored bodies – like I do with most film cameras – because they stand out and I like when people recognize that I’m using a film camera. Some of the black bodies don’t really look much different than newer digital cameras.
• I love the smooth operation of the shutter – and you know (maybe because I grew up using this king of camera) there’s something satisfying and fun about advancing the film after each shot.
• This camera feels good in my hand – maybe it’s not just right for everyone (depending on your hand size) but it feels just right to me.
• I know some people complain about the hot shoe (or absence of one) but I’m not really using a flash. I’m mostly shooting outdoors and just choose not to use one. I actually think this camera without a hot shoe looks very nice. I leave the hot shoe off my Olympus OM-1 for the same reason – I think it looks better without.
• The focusing screen on the F3 is bright and easy to see and focus with – it’s just a bit different than other cameras of the same time – just seems easier to focus. I actually like these old split-prism focusing screens. I guess it just depends on what one gets used to.
• Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the light meter works in the F3 bodies. They use a center weighted type of average metering that just works really well for its age. Not as good or accurate as modern metering systems – but pretty good for most scenes.

Here’s a few shots from my most recent test with this body. These scans are a bit bright – but I think it’s just how the lab does these quick scans when they process my negatives. When I get the actual negatives back, I’ll try to rescan myself and see if they look a little better. I’m not patient enough to wait until I get them back to publish this post.

So, there’s some of my thoughts about the F3/T and how it performs, and how it feels to use. Leave me a comment if you’ve used one and like it as well. I always wanted a Nikon F2 or F3 when I was studying photography back in the late 70s – now, since they aren’t too expensive to find used, I finally have one!