This has got to be the most thorough Nikon F3 & accessories review that I've seen. Thank you so much! Keep up the great work.

The confidence he has in this video make me feel like I can shoot anything with this F3

This is definitely the best Nikon F3 video on all KZfaq, very informative, great tempo and fun!

Thanks for the great review of the F3. I found a guy on Craigslist that was trading an F3 with a Nikon 50mm and 24mm lens, Nikon flash, gadget bag, adapters, ect for a leather jacket. I had a leather jacket that I had long outgrown so it was heading to Goodwill anyway. I was thrilled with my trade. Yours is beautiful, its rare to see these professional cameras in mint condition.

This is the most interesting and most elaborate review of F3 in whole internet. Thanks for this review!

The rig that owned the 80s. It was a beauty and that is coming from a Canon (F1AE) shooter. During that decade, I was tempted to switch as most of my colleagues were shooting F3s, FM2s etc. At the end of the day, however, I stuck it out with Canon. The 90s, would be far more Canon friendly.

I absolutely love it and am convinced that I must have this camera. This is probably the greatest camera review of all time. Thank you sir!

8 min exposure is insane! I had no idea the meter would go this far! This I will have to try out for myself!

I just got one of these today and it’s so nice. The first thing I did when I got it to the car was to get on EBay and order a HP prism.

The 1/80 sec shutter speed until frame 1 is so that the camera in A mode may not choose a long shutter speed which would slow down the time until you are able to take the first picture.

Owned one in the 80’s, miss it

Just want to say; THANK YOU! I'm sure that I am one of many thousands of viewers who have watched and enjoyed your fine, instructive videos! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

So glad I stumbled across your channel, it's a pleasure to watch, and of course very informative. Thank you.

I have owned a couple of F3HP bodies and it is a beautifully designed, well and made reliable camera. Would be a great place to start for anyone wanting to try film or go back to shooting film. Brilliant review, well done.

Back then, I waited until digitals were good enough to actually work with in a non-professional setup because I absolutely did not want to mess with developing film, so I watch these videos for intellectual enrichment, and they never fail me. It is amazing how much of a working tool this camera was, which means both a tool for working and a tool that is working, how well thought out and how long it -lasted- _lasts._ There are modern cameras (like the D3) that are of similar value, but yeah, cameras like the F3 really are “it”. Thank you for that amazing and enriching video. Made me weep a bit for my old Df, though 😉

Thanks for a great review, I bought mine in 89 and after your sharing the attributes of your's at this date, I'm glad I haven't sold it, you relit the joy of having it .

I just purchased a Nikon F3 from a seller on Facebook Marketplace yesterday. When I got home, I cleaned the dust off on and inside the camera as well. Today, I will go to the B&H camera to pick up the MD-4 motor drive, neck strap, and batteries. This is one of the best Nikons that I have owned (I used to own an FM)

Damn you love that camera lol. Your video is definitely the most in-depth out there. Very few others even show inside the viewfinder. So thanks!

Got one left from my dad. Thanks for walking me through!

Love the review. Thanks!

Excellent video, very thorough and informative. Love this camera

Nice overview! The F3 is the favorite out of my entire collection, and most used as well. For me it's like the perfect SLR.

Thank you for an excellent review of this camera. I recently aquired one and was looking for some information. I stubled on this channel and now I am not leaving!. I have been using the Minolta family of film cameras along with the Olympus film cameras. But I see this will surpass all of those based on this review. I cannot wait to take this camera out and run through some rolls of film. Again thank for a wonderful review of the F3.

Beautiful explanation of a very complex camera. You covered every facet, what film are you using at the moment. One of the best technical write-ups I have ever seen.

I bought one when they came out in 1980 and used it until the F5 came out. It still works great. I still have it and have owned 11 Nikon cameras.

Excellent review. Thank you.

Great review thank you

Great in depth video looking for one at the moment I had FMs and FEs currently have F4 & F90x for film and a couple of Nikon digital cameras I love the sound of the shutter I can’t get my head around the issues with batteries they last for months carry a couple of spares cheap and light

And you Sir! are my main dude for anything film, thanks!

Great information !

Great and informative review! Thanks!

Thanks for the video.

I'm 49 yrs. old. I've always been an F3 fan. I now have three Nikon cameras. A D-750 which is my main camera. with a Sigma ART 24-125. A Nikon P-1000 which for the price,has given me some great shots. I also have a small Coolpix infrared that takes some great I.F. shots... I Love em all. But now, I can afford an F3 hp. But going back 30 years... I gotta go back to my favorites. The F-3. I'm kinda getting excited to get into 35 again.. Thank's for the video my friend!

best nikon f3 vid… love the expertise

Actually, it's important not to lose the motor drive cover if you want to use the F3 without the motor drive. The cover (or motor drive itself) is needed to keep light from leaking in to the camera. Without the cover film can fog due to light leaks.

Nice job on the F3 System video Eric! I've got 2 of 'em - I bought my first F3, lenses and motordrive in 1981 from Ken Hansen Photo in New York City and flew with it on the Air France Concorde to Paris - I shot that camera all over the world and it survived a motorcycle crash with me - looks beat up but still works. Recently I bought a clean body and more lenses for very reasonable price. Best wishes, keep up the good work, JH

Your videos are so enjoyable.

Well done. I am waiting for my F3 which I will get in a week or two. This made the wait much harder 😉

Yes, the F3 is on the short list for me. Right after a FM2.

Great Video and.....GREAT CAMERA! The F3 is my absolute all time favorite film camera bar none. I walked away from it for many years but one day, for some reason, dusted it off and my love for the F3 and my amazing couple of AI/S lenses exploded and there's been no looking back! Keep up the good work! Love the videos.

The light on the F3HP is to illuminate the LCD panel that shows shutter speed and metering not to light up the aperture numbers. I have two F3HP’s that I used for over 25 years.

Awesome video Thank you. Cheers from Norway

Thank you for another detailed camera explanation ! I use the Nikon F3 hp with 50mm 1.2 asi and 35 mm 1.4 asi lenses. For digital picture making I use the d850 with 58mm 1.4. I truly enjoy these cameras.

Great video, a nice person speaking about it, I just bought the body of it, I ordered a level eye viewfinder for it, I am looking forward to rebuilding the camera,

The three frames at 1/80th of a second, are the ones you would waste anyway loading the film. According to the manual, once the frame counter gets to 1, then the camera will shoot at any set speed. Great review I really enjoyed it. Very informative and great description of some of the accessories.

Wow, what a great video!

Best F-3 review I've seen

Fantastic and very comprehensive review. My sentiments too owned mine since 1990. The mirror lockup is good for shutter speeds around 1/4 second. For long exposure I use the T setting uses no battery at all, to cancel it move the shutter dial to anything else. The two contacts on the back are For the film back MF-6 and MF-6B they stop the MD-4 from winding the end of the film all the way into the film canister, useful if you develop your own films, or developing films on location!. Overall the best review on the internet, many thanks

Excellent review1 thanks!

Very very good video. Thank you

Wonderfully informative. I just pulled the trigger on a mint condition F3HP with a 50mm 1.4 (also mint) thanks, in large part, to your video (plus a childhood dream). It wasn’t quite as cheap as you mentioned, but prices have been going up a lot lately. I know it’ll be worth it. It arrives in approximately two weeks. Thanks so much.

Love my F3, learned a Buch from you. Thanks

Good evening to you. Sorry for the delay? Hospital appointment. Your every welcome. Your review of the F6,and this Superb Nikon are the best ive ever seen. The F3 is a workhorse of a Camera. It's one of the Old School Photography Camera's which along with the FM2N are fantastic Cameras! I learned the Art of Photography on Manual Cameras when, at the age of 18 years young. I actually startled out with Prakticas ,solid camera's. Then after much saving i actually Graduated too Nikon. After I had enough money, i purchased The Nikon FM2n ! Wow, now i was in with the Big boys. I'm 69 years young now with the aches and pains of Arthritis. I have to limit myself to just One Body and 2/3 Nikkor Nikon lenses a 50mm f/ 1.8 or 4 a 28mm f/ 2.8 and a 135mm f/ 2.8 all AIS. As you rightly point out, these Lovely lenses can be used on Manual Mode on The F6 . I'm much obliged to you for your absolutely First Class Videos. Please keep your wonderful videos coming. Many thanks and Kind regards Colyn.

thats probably my all time favorite 35mm camera

Love my F3 HP and just ordered a 135mm F2 AIS from KEH for it. Actually thinking about picking up the original F do go with it.

Great video! I have been using the F3 for almost a year now, and I wasn't aware of some of the features you've mentioned. I also wasn't aware of the DW-3 viewfinder... I am definitely going to buy one!

Merci ! très bonne vidéo __;)

I love the F3, it is really a joy to shoot. I would like to get this kind of user interface and feel in a digital body. Fuji may be as close as you can get for the money.

great video, after watching this i'm going to try and find one of those waist level view finders , i know ebay has them but so far only from Japan i have not found any here in the UK .

Nice review.

This is the most beautiful of the F series. Unfortunately, the price is more like tripled since your video. Thanks a lot for the detailed go through.

Very informative and very timely. I just picked up a minty F3. The camera came with the 50mm f1.4 and the sb-17 flash unit. The camera has been dormant for a while, which might explain the inaccurate slow shutter speeds (1/8th to 8 sec) . I've been exercising the shutter release daily and it seems to be improving. Will definitely pick up the waist view finder, and possibly one of the non-split focus screens to match as my F3 came with the K glass. I'd love to see you do a comprehensive tutorial on the flash unit and the different settings (ttl/m/a/md) as there's not much out there for us newbies.... Thanks for your time.

I bought the F3 new when it came out, paying for it with quarters I saved for tips as a pizza delivery driver. I shot horse races on the "A" setting by cranking the lens wide open, pre-focusing on the finish line, and letting the camera give me the highest possible shutter speed for the light available. Almost always, hooves off the ground! Conversely, I'd drop to f22, and do time exposures off streets lasting minutes....all perfectly exposed. It got stolen on me, and I went to my Nikkormats as back-ups until the auto-focus bodies started appearing. I'm totally digital now, and I'm STILL using the lenses I bought in the 70s and 80s on my latest DSLRs! Can any of the OTHER manufacturers do that? I THINK NOT!

I think these are more difficult to get your hands on now. In the UK I bought one for £250 but saw plenty of others going for £300-£500 not sure what it’s like elsewhere

Very cool setup! And interesting video. Thanks for sharing. I was surprised by that burst shot with the flash. I thought that flash had a recycle time of 6 seconds. Anyway, I'm just getting into film photography. I wish I could get one of these F3. But I went for a much cheaper and still clean FE2. You mentioned that when using the flash with bounce you had to compensate. Can you explain that more? Were you referring to using TTL? And were you compensating by increasing the exposure compensation on the flash by 1.5 stops?

One of Nikons' best - I still have a couple and one unused in the box along with the mega back and all the finders, backs and drives etc. But I never liked the flash attachment.

By the way, was not at all aware of the DW-3...absolutely going to get one.

Nice video- have an F3 on the way from Japan.

Merci Monsieur pour cette très belle vidéo de ce Merveilleux F3 qui a marqué son avance sur son temps et qui ai toujours à là mode aujourd'hui . Merci

Great video. Any advice on the a good affordable flash mount for the f3?

One thing most F3 users didn’t realize is for closeup work all you need to do is flip the SB17 flash180 degrees and aim the flash tube up (down) and illuminates as close as 7” in front of the lens.

A well informed interesting video. Regarding the first three frames.... On the FE's and FG's the meter doesn't work either and they only shoot in manual for the first few frames. I think the idea is to stop you taking important shots on the first few frames in case you had loaded the film poorly and fogged those frames? Another feature worth mentioning on the F3. It has a tiny silver button on the lens mount (at 2 o'clock) which when pressed lets you to flip the aperture tab out of the way allowing pre-Ai lenses to be used (with stop down metering). The FM and FE also had this feature but not the FM2 or FE2.

Comprehensive. I HAD a Canon AE1 purchased new in 1983 but loaned it to my daughter who went through a domestic so I lost it, have since purchased a Nikon F3 and realised all these years I should have purchased a F3 in 1983. Nice camera.

I have an F3 and it's criminally under used. I had no idea I could use it as a waist finder camera with a DW-3! Vivian Maier here we go. Cheers!

As of June 2021, the Nikon MK-1 Firing Rate Converter he references at 16:16 costs approximately $200 (if you can find it used).

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 OG you could teach a class on this camera 😂😂

i think my favorite advance is on a minolta srt

For sure the Nikon F3 is a great camera, but I prefer the Canon F1 New, much more reliable to my point of view and experience. I own both..My favorite camera is still the Canon T90..that I use more often.

I wonderful camera. I've held a few, but I've owned one. I have 13 Nikon film cameras in the collection, and my favourite is the F2. I think it's tougher than the F3, and doesn't need a battery to be almost 100% functional. Mine looks like it's been dumped off a cliff, and it's still working.

Great channel and your reviews are very helpful. I had a CoolPix era photography friend whom I loved to talk with because she talked tech cameras, scanning, and film developing. Great photographer! I am a fluid paint artist and art school student who needs a rugged, light, reliable DSLR Nikon probably -- to take both botanical reference photos and a few landscape and portrait photos for drawing references. That means photos need to show highlights, shadows, and some of the background. I need a ready to go/shoot DSLR so I can download to tablet or computer from a HS HD SD card, and then, crop etc with Paint/other illustration/drawing apps and then proceed to draw and paint. Any thoughts on a good fit off the used market? Thx in advance.

Best Camera Nikon F3

Thank you for a great review. 5y later and mint F3's are $600++😢😂

Thanks speedy response. Now leaning toward buying F3 since advance lever not an issue. Tuff choice between 3 and 3HP. Don’t wear glasses(for now).which makes 3 attractive but F3HP probably newer and better for long haul. Of course, the 3 less costly Any thoughts on quandary?

Amazing camera but the Nikon FA for me is the best

Left eye shooter query: Maybe missed it but does the film advance lever have to be extended to activate meter and to shoot? Thanks & neat video -again.

What is it with Nikon and Canon naming ? F - Nikon F1 - Canon F2 - Nikon F3 - Nikon F4 - Nikon Didn't they know that there are other letters in the alphabet? On top of that, Canon had the F-1, then a F-1n, then a "New" F-1 sometimes called the F-1N (note the capital) although officially they were all called "F-1". Presumably they kept calling the revisions F-1 because the next numbers were already taken by Nikon. Actually, Nikon was first with the "F".

Hey Eric, Thanks for the video. When I set my ISO to the exact number of the film. Must it line up with the middle dot out of the three dots under the number?

subbed! excellent video! Can you tell me which eye cup you are using? I'm terrified of scratching my glasses on the raised metal lip as the original cup is missing.

02:44 actually the non HP finder is bigger AND brighter :) The reason why its on an 1/80th of a second before the first frame is so that when you let it on A and want to wind it up to frame 1 it doesnt put out 30min exposures in case you've got the lens cap on, which would basically freeze the camera

Great video! The F3 will shoot at 1/80 until the film counter reaches "1".

I have a Pentax LX and you could almost use the same words to review that. I greatly admire the Nikon F3 and regard it and the LX as both out ahead of the Canon New F1 - the only other remotely comparable. There are minor ups and downs betwen the F3 and the LX - the LX has no exposure lock but it has mechanical back-up at sync _and_ all speeds above. I don't like that hot shoe; and maybe I misunderstood you about allowing extra exposure for bounce flash. I thought the Nikon TTL flash was like the LX - the camera takes control of a dedicated flash unit and so it does not matter whether it is bounced or what the lens aperture is - the camera tells the flash unit to keep on blazing until the film has received the light it needs.

Thinking of grabbing one of these. Though the range seems to be anywhere from $150 to close to $300. Any concerns I should ask about or anything you would suggest when looking to get one used? Good video, thanks. :)

Are the F3 shutters all loud, or is it just mine? Mirror bumper foam looks good, and it’s not loud at all when the mirror goes up, but when it returns and the shutter closes it’s really loud.

Great Review! How do you scan your film?

I was a pro news agency photographer for more 0than twenty years and have used Nikon F3s for about four years, but I disagree,I think The Canon New New F1- AE is a better professional 35mm S.L.R

I know im a few years late lol, how do you like the ap priority mode? I didnt know it had this function HAHA

Nice gallery u have. My Nikon f3 reads two stops over as compared with the external light metre.I don't know how to fix it . Do u think all the Nikon f3 is like that? Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Any experience with a Nikon fm3a? If so, what are your thoughts compared to this?

Nice. I have a SB-15 and adapter for my F3, but flash photos have dark area on the top/or bottom of each picture. For this reason, I use my FE way more than the F3. F3 Manual said something about using manual shutter release for sync with Nikon flashes other than SB-16. Have not tried this yet. Do you know anything about this? Note: SB-15 works fine on a FA I have also. Good review.... : )

The three 1/80th frames are for waste frames. That way you can keep the cap on and not get a long exposure since the cap is on.