Nikon F3 or F4

Yardbent

Yardbent

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if for some reason - explained in the future dear readers - you decided to pass on your mint F3, would you ...and if you only had a mint 50mm f2 Ai lens ....

buy another F3

or an F4........................:thinking:
 
1 F3 is enough, get an F4 and you can get a great workout while taking pics :D
 
F3 every time.

No hesitation.
None at all...

If I want buttons and dials and plasticky-nastiness I'll get my D3 out instead...
 
RaglanSurf said:
1 F3 is enough, get an F4 and you can get a great workout while taking pics :D
Click to expand...

hahaha - that was quick!

looking at a F4 on eBay PLUS a motor drive... :thinking:

so you imply the weight would put my back out..!
 
Arkady said:
F3 every time.
No hesitation.None at all...
If I want buttons and dials and plasticky-nastiness I'll get my D3 out instead...
Click to expand...

nuff said ....had the F3 out this evening . roll of B&W Neopan 400
and used the 50/1.8 E series

shot the whole bloody roll before i knew it - it aint digital is it ?

off to Tesco tomorrow
 
F3

the F4 is too plasticky, the grip changed shape and the thing just ain't as pretty with that change.
 
Yardbent said:
nuff said ....had the F3 out this evening . roll of B&W Neopan 400
and used the 50/1.8 E series

shot the whole bloody roll before i knew it - it aint digital is it ?

off to Tesco tomorrow
Click to expand...

You're....using it...? :( :'(

lol - it is addictive isn't it?

I actually find it takes me ages to get through a 36-exp roll as I never got out of the habit of frugality I learnt to begin with.
 
Arkady said:
You're....using it...? :( :'(

lol - it is addictive isn't it?

I actually find it takes me ages to get through a 36-exp roll as I never got out of the habit of frugality I learnt to begin with.
Click to expand...

well i had to see what all the fuss was about............:D

laugh really - i kept wondering why it wouldn't fire - then realized I'd forgotten to wind on......:bonk:

the shutter made an awesome clonk - several Highland cattle nearly wet themselves .....:lol:

and 36 taken in 30 mins -- no prob !
 
I used both an F3 and an F4 as a pro. The F4 wins hands down.

Actually it was an F4s complete with the motor. A very comfortable camera to use too.

Thinking back, I had a couple of FMs and an F2 as well. Long time ago though.:shake:
 
Coaster said:
I used both an F3 and an F4 as a pro. The F4 wins hands down.

Actually it was an F4s complete with the motor. A very comfortable camera to use too.

Thinking back, I had a couple of FMs and an F2 as well. Long time ago though.:shake:
Click to expand...

hi
so what do you think of this ..??......."link"
 
Arkady said:
You're....using it...? :( :'(

lol - it is addictive isn't it?

I actually find it takes me ages to get through a 36-exp roll as I never got out of the habit of frugality I learnt to begin with.
Click to expand...

I hate that I learnt on digi - 10 shots does not take long :(
 
Arkady said:
I actually find it takes me ages to get through a 36-exp roll as I never got out of the habit of frugality I learnt to begin with.
Click to expand...

I had to force myself to finish a roll yesterday when I was testing out an FD lens I'd bought on the forum with my Canon A-1.

Somehow it doesn't seem right.
 
Yardbent said:
hi
so what do you think of this ..??......."link"
Click to expand...

Looks good. I sold mine to a mate for £250 when I retired and went digital. The minor fault he describes is indeed minor. Let me know if you get it as I know where there is a Nikkor 35/70 F2.8 that would make a nice addition. Good as any prime lens.

Incidentally, the F4 is as tough as old boots. I was doing a progress shoot on a large building site years ago. It was freezing and started to snow. I pulled up the hood on my jacket and the camera strap came with it and the camera hit the ground pentaprism down. The pentaprism was badly cracked and a few bit of the casing were missing. I covered it with black electrical tape and finished the job. Got a new one on insurance but the old one still worked until the new one arrived. The camera was, otherwise, unaffected.
 
Yardbent said:
hahaha - that was quick!

looking at a F4 on eBay PLUS a motor drive... :thinking:

so you imply the weight would put my back out..!
Click to expand...

You certainly know you've got a camera in your hand, but it feels right, great piece of kit. And the F4s makes an awesome doorstop!
 
F3 has an emergency shutter mode if you run out of batteries. But if you want to use a camera without batteries the FM series of cameras are ones to get.

The 18-55 kit lens that the D50 came with doesn't really work well with the F4, your pictures will be vignetted. It won't well with G modes as you can't choose aperture on the F4.
 
That F4 looks to be in good nick, but I'm old-fashioned - I really hated that shiny plastic look they adopted for that roll-out...I skipped it and went to the F5 instead...

As Bob says (hi Bob BTW) the fault is minor and these cameras were perhaps better-made than they are now...possibly over-engineered, if anything...whereas now with all the computer-modelling done beforehand, they're perhaps only as tough as they need to be...
 
joxby said:
the F4 is too plasticky, the grip changed shape and the thing just ain't as pretty with that change.
Click to expand...

:shrug: You're joking right? The F4 is like a solid block of lead. Or are you talking about the shiny appearance? :cool:
 
It I wanted a camera to shoot landscapes and go travelling with with out a motordrive film wise then an F3 (I don't like the F3 with the MD4 drive it just bulks up so without much improvement handling wise).

If I wanted a rugged camera to use with fill in flash, easy and quick then the F4s, granted it is a little shiny but it handles very well. I had one for several years and didn't have single problem with it and batteries last ages - though I also like the F5
 
lol...next time I go to London I'll be using film...and just praying that a Security-Guard or PSCO asks to view the images...:D
 
The F4 was a good camera- I loved mine and it earned me a lotta dosh. The biggest issue with it was the smooth plastic outer casing which quickly became highly polished from contact with your hands/fingers. Consequently even the better versions you see today look tacky and shiny. Not really good enough for a body in that price bracket for the sake of a more durable textured finish.

The F5 was loads better in that respect - in fact it was loads better ...period.
 
A camera must be able to work without batteries. When the flashing lights die I still want be able to press the shutter.
 
Why must it?
Most batteries will last for about 5 years in these older cameras...are you seriously telling me your personal organisational skills are so poor you cannot find space for a couple of tiny Li-Ion cells...?
 
Arkady said:
...are you seriously telling me your personal organisational skills are so poor you cannot find space for a couple of tiny Li-Ion cells...?
Click to expand...
You've been looking in my camera bag.

Seriously, I never got close to 5 years unless a camera was unused. With on camera flash that could go down to three or four rolls of film. With mode proliferation cameras I rarely used more than two, maybe full program and aperture priority. It seemed sensible to go the whole hog and return to a manual camera.
Can't say I've missed the blinking numbers and on screen warnings of photographic apocalypse and the snaps are no worse.
 
Freester said:
:shrug: You're joking right? The F4 is like a solid block of lead. Or are you talking about the shiny appearance? :cool:
Click to expand...

Not the shiney appearance, the whole plastic experience, the shape the way it curves and moulds, it has a mass produced look the F3 and previous body's don't have.
It tries to be more ergonomic but just looks bulbous and uglier, designed by a balloon twister or something....just my opinion of course


:)
 
joxby said:
Not the shiney appearance, the whole plastic experience, the shape the way it curves and moulds, it has a mass produced look the F3 and previous body's don't have.
It tries to be more ergonomic but just looks bulbous and uglier, designed by a balloon twister or something....just my opinion of course


:)
Click to expand...
Agree on all counts.

It isn't just the F4 of course, most cameras went 'ergocomp' - a ficticious word made up by a colleague many years ago to describe any gratuitously curvy product that masqueraded under false egonomic credentials. I'd argue any genuinely hand friendly form involves sharp corners as well as jelly mould compound curves, and the aesthetics are almost always better.
 
joxby said:
Not the shiney appearance, the whole plastic experience, the shape the way it curves and moulds, it has a mass produced look the F3 and previous body's don't have.
It tries to be more ergonomic but just looks bulbous and uglier, designed by a balloon twister or something....just my opinion of course


:)
Click to expand...

Fair enough everyone is entitled to their opinion. :)

I just don't understand the 'plastic' description. First time I picked up an F4s it just felt nice and heavy in hand. Really pro feeling.

And if I didn't know what to do with it would always make a great piece of hardware for self defence. LOL.

Mind you I've no comparison as I've never seen or handled an F3 in the flesh. As it were.
 
colpepper said:
You've been looking in my camera bag.

Seriously, I never got close to 5 years unless a camera was unused. With on camera flash that could go down to three or four rolls of film. With mode proliferation cameras I rarely used more than two, maybe full program and aperture priority. It seemed sensible to go the whole hog and return to a manual camera.
Can't say I've missed the blinking numbers and on screen warnings of photographic apocalypse and the snaps are no worse.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I misunderstood.

The batteries on an FM2n (for example) will do about 2-5 years depending on use, as they just run the shutter and the light-meter.
So, exactly what you need...

Modern cameras with electronic-everything inc pop-up flash need 2 spare batteries in the bag at all times.
With my D1x I carried 6 batteries for each body - 12 in all as they were so rubbish - I could get through 3-4 batteries a day with those things.
At least with Nikon's new EN-EL4-series, they last a week or two, even with 'Pro-use'...
 
Arkady said:
With my D1x I carried 6 batteries for each body - 12 in all as they were so rubbish - I could get through 3-4 batteries a day with those things.
At least with Nikon's new EN-EL4-series, they last a week or two, even with 'Pro-use'...
Click to expand...

For my AF cameras I used to bulk buy batteries and they ran out at £4-5 a pop. A local photographic shops sold the same thing at £15 a go! That's a serious per-shot running cost to compete with film and development.

I've nothing against button cells that run a light meter but I still prefer the option to shoot when the battery dies.
 
A lot of cameras up to the early 80's could shoot on limited shutter speeds without batteries.

The Pentax ESII could go from 1/60 - 1/1000th without batteries on its mechanical shutter and later Pentax cameras such as the ME Super could shoot at 1/125 without batteries. Sadly this feature was lost with the next generation, the Super A and Program A.
 
Arkady said:
The batteries on an FM2n (for example) will do about 2-5 years depending on use, as they just run the shutter and the light-meter.
So, exactly what you need...

" cough "re read or its to the back of the class for you young Rob
:D
Click to expand...
 
donutagain said:
Arkady said:
The batteries on an FM2n (for example) will do about 2-5 years depending on use, as they just run the shutter and the light-meter.
So, exactly what you need...
Click to expand...

" cough "re read or its to the back of the class for you young Rob
:D
Click to expand...

:shrug:

Pretty sure the FM2n had an electronic shutter with speeds up to 8,000th sec, whereas the earlier FM had a mechanical one...it triggered a minor revolt amongst FM-fans who wanted a totally mechanical shutter...

FM-2n had a standby mechanical setting at 80th sec or something.
 
all the fm's are mechanical , ( exept for the fm3a with its hybrid mechanical / electronic shutter ) battery only works the light meter ( exept on the 3a )
 
lol...well you should know as you have one - I don't...
 
I had a couple of FMs. Great cameras in their day. The FM2 was known for shutter problems.
 
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