Nikon F3 'Limited'. Is it as good as they say? PLUS! a brand new film from Ferrania!

00:00 Intro
00:58 Japans Storage
01:45 Limited
08:58 Taking Pictures
10:01 Functions
12:45 Ferrania P33
14:19 Final Thought

In this video I feature the Nikon F3 Limited along with the new Ferrania P33 Film. Of course I had to research the F3 for which there is much online and here are a couple of good sources I found.

Youtube Video about the F2

Ferrania P33 Film from

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[mikeweathers]

I am a retired professional photographer. I still have an F3 and F4 in my camera bag. As a Nikon user, those were the two greatest joys to use I ever came across. The F3 has to be one of the best 35mm cameras ever built. My F3 with the MD4 will go with me to my grave.

[DavidReay-hjqe]

I started with an FE2 but added a standard F3/MD4 when I was at college and started doing some photojournalism. It was my workhorse for many years and was always a joy to use. I later upgraded to an F5, which was a beast. I now have a collection that includes the F (FTn), F2AS, F3, F5 and two FE2. All still work perfectly!

[FourIntoOne]

Been using my F3 hp since the 80's, I was its second owner. Been everywhere round the world with me (deserts, Jungles, high arctic circle stuff, weddings, stag nights, raves, concerts you name it.). Still works exactly as it did when I first got it, its like an actual extended part of me. Use it still, when I can actually afford film lol

[sophietucker]

The F3 HP like the Leica M6 just feels right in your hand. Thanks to covid I discovered eBay and have managed to collect the F, F2, F3 & F4. The F4 is a huge beast but still lots of fun to use. The F3 is indeed my favorite of the 4 I have. It just feels right. The F and F2 are just solid old bricks that just keep going on and on. Love them all.

[maltemalone]

I treated myself to a F3 (no hp, just the regular version) and it feel so good and is such a joy to shoot. The viewfinger is great and bright, the advance lever feels incredible and don't let me get started on the sound of the shutter... It's pure ASMR everytime I load a roll of film and shoot it!

[harlanchinn]

Back in the mid eighties, shooting for a major wire-service and newspaper. I had four F3s two with the High-eye Point finder and two with the titanium HP finder. Each was motor-driven with Ni-cad rechargeable battery packs. Each of the bodies had the accessory back that would auto-stop with the film leader out for quicker loading of the film onto the processing reels. I had season working credentials for every professional and collegiate team sport. I can recall shooting entire football games in the driving rain and not have any of the bodies quit or go dead. I don’t miss packing around suitcases with wet/dry darkrooms and drum image transmitters.

[quicksesh]

the mirror lock up was useful when using super-telephoto lenses as it stopped the vibration, but also Nikon used to have an insane fisheye lens where the rear element was mm away from the shutter curtain so you had to lock the mirror up.

[RetroCameraHouse]

I am a longtime professional Nikon photographer. I own and use the F2, the F3 and the F3p. The F3p is, mainly because of the looks and weather seals my favorite camera. Having said that I think the F5 is, from a technical standpoint, the best film camera Nikon has ever produced. I have taken the F5 with me all over the world from the deserts in the Gulf region to the jungle in Borneo. It has never let me down. These professional Nikons were really built like a tank! It 's a complete mystery to me why the F5 is underrated and on the current market far less expensive than the

[paulbonge]

My father's first F was in 1969, having used Contax III's for years and a family friend who was an API/UPI stringer and "Life" photographer said, try this, I think you'll like the "seeing eye dog" and the camera overall. My father was a Nikon man from then on. He kept using his 5x7, and 8x10 Deardorff field cameras for most of his work, nudes and landscapes, but for 35mm, Nikon was his go to. The F was and will always be the best camera ever made. It survived the rice paddies and tropical weather of Vietnam and all other theaters of journalistic endeavors again and again. The F was heavy, built with shutter rods/bars which were slower than Canon and Olympus using lightweight wires, but the F never failed, never jammed, never didn't come through in tight spots. The bronze skeleton and components made it heavy and durable, and its weight absorbed vibration (early VR?) It was the "Standard" and why I am still a Nikon man myself. I won't get into optics, but Nikon still leads there as well. I'm still using lenses I bought in the 70's. I've owned F3 HP's, my favorite, several FM2's, Nikkormat's and now Zed 7's and D800E's and D850's as ever reliable. Except for the F3's I've never gone for what is considered the flagship of Nikons. So, no D6's or F4's. I miss film but not the chemicals! I've gone digital and I'm NOT going back. Consider me someone who has left the daguerreotype, ambrotype and tintype behind and gone all in for the newest thing the glass/silver emulsion plate process. I'm a MODERN DUDE after all!

[nevardmedia]

I've an FE and FM - had them both since the 80s. With an Nikon MD12 drive attached you don't need to have the wind-on lever extended into your face/eye to operate the camera - which makes for a better experience. Classy vid!

[jamesmcn]

Japanese second hand camera shops are like little museums - or even shrines to camera brands. Walk around any shopping district and it's only a matter of time before you see the camera shop. Sometimes it's up a few flights of stairs, but it's always there. Inside, you will find the most pristine examples of substantially the entire history of the major camera brands.

Sometimes new camera stores have a second hand section as well. You can be walking through an ordinary mall, entire the camera shop and suddenly find yourself face to face with an array of pre-war Leicas.

[flyingo]

Like most other Nikon models, I have several F3s, which I really like, but if I were to be pressed to chose only one model, I’d have to stick with an F2 variant because of the fully mechanical nature of it. Battery operated functions are great until your battery gives up or you run out of them. Metering can always be done with sunny 16 rule and educated guessing. Another great video sir.

[ubeeh]

Back in the late 1980s and 1990s I had an FM2 and a single lens, the 50mm f1.4. I loved it, but then I sold it when I thought I needed something more modern. Today, I have an FM2n, a FM3A and, since yesterday, the F3 HP. I also have a F-301, but that one needs repairs.

[Kref]

The F3 is a wonderful camera. The smoothest camera I ever owned, lays in the hand perfectly, is not too heavy, has a wonderful viewfinder, great working AE, nice manual mode. But if you'd ask me to give up my F3 or to give up my F2AS, I'd smash the F3 with a sledgehammer in heartbeat.

[AnotherOtherMan]

The shutter sound test should be done with a lens or cap on it, as that does affect the sound signature.

Secondary note about sound, the mirror slapping is a bit more distinct than just the shutter. But in all likely hood it was kept as it's a simple mechanism to leave in and handy for impromptu low-light slow shutter speed scenarios.

Another reason for the removal of the other features is fairly simple, less to break and less places to weather seal.

[EElgar]

I can't believe you took the finder off, and put it in your pocket! The only problem I ever had with my F3 was dirt on the focusing screen, and it happened every single time I took the finder off. 😁

[smitbar]

I have an F3 bought in the 80's, it's the camera I dag out from retirement to get me shooting film again. It's ace, never let me down & batteries are easy to get. I did get a Nikkormat quite recently, its really nice and like an Olympus OM1 with the shutter speeds on a ring at the lens mount, built like a tank and all manual like the FM2 & 3

[Spuzzmacher]

I had an F2, replaced with an FM3a, which is such a stunner, felt guilty about having an old film camera that expensive, & got the FM2, but then on a lark tried an FA, the odd duck in Nikon history. Then got two of them, bc they're so nice, and have given a couple more as birthday presents. The FA's Matrix metering is the bees knees, the grip from the F3, unlimited long assposure, 4000, Ape mode, and all the bells & whistles of the FM2 and the FE2. But what really made me fall in love with it was the feel of its shutter. That is the nicest shutter feel of any camera I've ever used. It's so buttery smooth it's mesmerizing, like this long and there's 0 vibration in the body, like the shutter was just rolling past & took no notice of anything. I'm looking to add an F3 because I feel I must, but I admit I'm most likely just going to end up shooting with the FA's anyway bc they are pure pleasure.

[IkontaRacconta]

Fantastic. It's impressive to see this F3 that looks like it was bought in the store yesterday!

[Mennozo]

I have the F2. Don’t see a reason to switch to an F3. Both must be great camera’s that don’t go over the other, I guess. Just different ways of how the camera works internally. Nice to see you using the F3 and to hear some of the background story, Roger. Always a treat to see a new vid. Thanks for the work!