IN THE FIELD
Launched in March 1980, the Nikon F3 remained in production until 2001, establishing itself as a robust, adaptable and reliable professional camera. John Gilbey looks back at this enduring system
The Nikon F3 was my first truly professional camera, and it impressed me so much that I still use it. Building on the success of the Nikon F and F2 cameras as professional workhorses, the F3 had a lot to prove. While the F and F2 were wholly mechanical, apart from optional metering viewfinder heads, the F3 needed batteries – apair of LR44 button cells – to make it fully operational. Dependence on batteries was viewed with some scepticism by professional photographers at the time, and Nikon went to significant lengths to ensure that the newly introduced electronics did not risk the excellent reputation of its pro-SLR family.
Controls and handling
For those who came late to film photography, the innovative yet oddly traditional Nikon F3 offers a few surprises. Open the metal back of the camera, using a two-stage process which helps avoid it opening accidentally, and the interior looks slightly sparse. This is due in part to the lack of DX contacts to read the ISO rating of the film from the cassette. The F3 is old school: you have to set the film speed yourself, using the lift-and-drop dial below the film rewind crank. The power switch is an inconspicuous tab in front of the shutter release, you have to know it’s there. As you load the film and fire off some blank shots to get to frame one, you might notice that the shutter fires at 1/80th of a second. This elegant feature reduces shutter delay if the camera is on auto with the lens cap on. Winding on the film meets with very little resistance, as the system is set in ball bearing races to make the film transport as smooth as possible. The mirror is air-damped to reduce noise and vibration, and this works very effectively.
The shutter of the F3 demonstrates the target audience of the camera very effectively. The shutter curtains are made of titanium foil, which combines lightness and strength, and the system is clearly designed for hard labour. The curtains run horizontally and provide electromagnetically controlled shutter speeds. Manually selectable speeds run between 1/2000sec and 8 seconds, while the aperturepriority automatic settings are stepless within the same range. An undocumented feature is that the automatic exposure system will run for much longer than 8 seconds if required to get the correct exposure – with timings of up to a couple of minutes being possible. This is a real boon for nocturnal landscape pho
