Of all the reasons to shoot Canon, this is by far the best I’ve ever heard 🤗. You’re right, the Nikon FM-line is magical. I’ve used Olympus from 1973 or so, all the way to 2006, but I can’t count how many times I picked up a Nikon FM- or FE-model and was tempted. Get well soon, Hugh.
Hope you are recovered by now. I was down with COVID for a month, earlier this year. “It is no joke.“ This brought back fond memories of my favorite camera I’ve owned - a fully manual, Pentax MX around 1980. I used it in Europe for a year, shooting architecture as part of my college studies.
I had the great good fortune to come upon one of these which I bought. Not since an M6 have I been so thrilled with a film camera. It feels like utter perfection in one's hands but also magical, like an M. By today's digital standards it still looks contemporary. Actually, like the M6, it looks and feels like a timeless masterpiece. A footnote: returning to film is like coming home after decades away. Film is like mother whereas digital is like the lodger.
I love my FM3a. I owned it and the Leica M7 concurrently, and I always felt the Nikon was everything the Leica was trying to be, but just did it all better. I’ve since sold the M7…the FM3 remains. At this point, it’s like an old friend. Hope you feel much better soon!
Funny. I feel the same and I've only had it for two days. I also have and M3 which is the dream M and, having to use a light meter, a Pentax spot meter in my case, is all that one needs from an M. M stands for 'magic' and the FM3A has that in bucket loads.
Great video! Thanks for making. The only three film SLRs I kept when switching to mirrorless are the F2, F3 and FM3A. They are a joy to use, even periodically. They just get out of the way so easily. Recently settled on L-Mount after owning both L-Mount and Z-Systems over several years for the same reason. Kind of a like wearing an automatic watch I have to wind vs a smartwatch. Helps me slow down and take better pictures. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Early 1980s I opted for (could afford) an Olympus OM1 and some time later an OM2. I must have hankered after a Nikon as I still have an F3 brochure ... and picked up a mint F3 in July this year - it's great fun :) Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!
As you got the virus from Wetzlar: Gute Besserung, Hugh! Unfortunately I never met a Canon girl so I started out with Nikon, back in the 1980s when you had to pay extra for the black «Pro» bodies. And pros loved them, Steve McCurry shot his Afghan Girl on an FM2. Nikon will send me an Zƒ next week, with the Z 135mm F1.8 S 'Plena'. I will put one of my olde 50/2 Nikkors on it and shoot Berlin Streetlife in black and white. And I will get a refresher shot like you did. After three inoculations covid caught up twice with me, in January 22 and March 23. Take care!
Got my BP FM3A brand new with the tiny 45AiP f2.8 Pancake kit lens back in 2001/2. Still has the original battery and the needle meter still works. Leicas have come and gone as have many Nikon digital cameras, but this FM3A is the GOAT. As much as my Leica MP is Mechanical Perfection, the FM3A has that much more, except for a quiet shutter sound.
Get well soon Hugh, best wishes. I bought an FE2 NOS in 2019 and three ais prime lenses, 50 f1.2, 35 f1.4 and 28 f2. For me this was the camera I could never afford as a lad, making do with a Cosina 35mm. I love it to bits.
My FM3a (silver) is my favorite film Nikon! And I have a few dating back to my youth, including FE2 and a FM2. The ZF is now my favorite EDC, still looking for the 40mm voightlander to pair it with.
Love it! I bought a Minolta SRT 202 as a young pup in summer 1975. I wanted a Nikon but the Minolta was the affordable option as I recall. While I enjoy the great results I achieve with my mirrorless system it somehow feels like I’m lazy when compared to my time spent in the darkroom. Glad to hear you successfully weathered Covid. I had it in July and it sucked. Unfortunately it’s here to stay. Rest up!
Have you ever thought to make a video of the most expensive prints ever sold? If you haven't thought to, please take a look. I think its an eye opener that most of those images simply aren't super clear, clean, sharp, crispy images. They're mostly dirty, flawed, ragged, but, all share something. Each has incredible composition and or a story in time.
Hi Hugh, best wishes for a speedy recovery! Got a black FM3A as well, together with three Nikkor Ai-S manual focus lenses: the 28mm f/2.8, the 50mm f/1.2 and the "Afghan Girl" 105mm f/2.5. Hard to beat such a a kit... The 50mm f/1.2 is a bit on the heavy side, though; I'd rather have the pancake 50mm f/1.8 Ai-S, but the Japanese-market version of the lens (which is better built and focuses closer) is giving me a hard time to find here in Brazil... Just a small comment: although you can use Nikkor AF-S lenses on the FM3A, not only do you (obviously) lose AF (no big deal here, sure) but you can only shoot wide open because they don't have an aperture ring and the aperture is controlled by the camera body. For E type lenses such as the marvellous 105mm f/1.4 you've mentioned (which I also have, on my D850), the aperture is even controlled fully electronically, with no mechanical linkages.
I have a lovely black Nikon F with plain prism my father gave me about 1981 and a like-new FM3a I bought in 2001 because I didn't want to put wear on the F because of its value, but now I think the FM3a is worth more than the F. I also have a great M6 I bought used in 2004 and at a great price compared to now when I got into rangefinders. So I keep thinking about selling one of the Nikons - probably the FM3a, but I just can't. I wonder if all three will really just keep growing in re-sell value or will the bottom fall out? I also have to add that for actually doing photography, especially anything important, the FM3a is an ideal tool, but it simply isn't the tank that the Nikon F is, and while weight isn't a plus when working a lot, it is indeed awe inspiring.
Hey Hugh👋! I hope you will feel much better very soon💪😉✌️! I own a FE2 and I am always amazed by the build quality of this camera. It’s definitely not worse than the built of my Leica M6 or M7. Still, there are two things that are a little annoying: First, if you screw on a lens to the Nikon or when you want to change the aperture on the lens - both is going in the “wrong” direction (from the perspective of someone who’s shooting mainly Leica). Second, to me it is easier to focus with the rangefinder of a Leica than with the split screen indicator of the Nikon. But that’s maybe because I am more used to the rangefinder. But, anyway, I really like the FE2. The new Zf appeared to me very tempting when it was announced. But when I look at it now it seems that Nikon couldn’t decide if this camera should follow the PASM logic or the - let’s say - Fuji logic where most of the exposure triangle settings take place on an aperture ring on the lens and the adjustment wheels on the body, and on all three of them you find a “A” setting for “auto”. This is missing on the Zf, and the hybrid “user interface” appears to me a little irritating. But the Zf itself looks really cool (well, maybe a little too many buttons on the back😉).
Thank you for mentioning COVID. So many content creators, mainstream media, film industry, etc. seem to live in an alternative reality where this novel airborne pathogen simply doesn't exist. All the while many people get sick and die due to poor public health programs. Hope you recover fully and soon! Great video, too! Would love me a FM3a. Will keep an eye on KEH's inventory. Something good might pop up. Thanks again!
Sorry you had a bad encounter with Covid. Feel better. I am so glad you had your covid inoculation. For those who doubt, it does work. Thank you for a look in the way back machine. I am so glad manufacturers are still producing film stock. I remember using film. I choose not to any more. Too much futzing for me. I am glad other fellow photographers can contribute using this technique. I is good having choices. Amazing how inexpensive the old film gear is. They are still capable of producing great images if the photographer knows what they are doing. Just like digital photographers. It is hard to believe that so many photographers, in the day, produced so many great images without the aids we have become accustomed to using digital gear. Might HCB, Ernst Haas, or Saul Leiter amongst others have produced better images using digital gear if it was available to them? Of course the artist creates the art not the gear they use. It seems to me that film bodies are more similar than different. A dark space to place and focus your film. The biggest differences between the film bodies are the lenses you attach to the front of the light box and what is attached ~12” behind the light box. A little different from today when inside the light box are computers and other do dads that allow the photographer to create images. Remember Nietzsche. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Feel better and get stronger. Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)
First thing, get well soon. Second thing - I still use the very F3 my dad bought new in 1984, and that emotional attachment has so far held the GAS at bay. I do find myself pushing HP5+ pretty regularly, and boy would I love to have another stop of shutter speed available. Firing up SLR production again would be great, but not enough. I'd love if that came with a new Coolscan so we dont have to choose between the few 3/5 average customer rating film scanners still being sold. Darkroom printing is awesome but digital files is just how it is now.
Thanks for keeping strong with masking and precautions, you've probably saved someone a lot of pain or worse by now. Realistically more than one someone. It's been reassuring to see B-Roll with you masked in public over the years
This was a truly great camera - the very last of its kind before the introduction of the F5 and the FM10 -which were very electronic we had these as our candid catchers when we shot weddings on film with the Mamiya RZ - later we turned to the F90x also known as the N90S AF with power grips. These FM's were true workhorses and good for anything you could point them at. Nice memo thanks Hugh
Hope you are fully recovered now, and yes, the FM3a must be pure perfection and among the best Nikons in history. My FM2 is still my top choice closely followed by Pentax MX and Oly OM1, but Nikon's quality makes me give it the gold medal.
I hope you’re gonna be okay, Hugh. I started my career with an FE2 and F3. I just bought a very clean FE2 with drive. When my five rolls of obscenely expensive Portra 400 arrive, it’ll be the first time I’ve shot film in 20 years. Take care of yourself, mate. You’re a real treasure.
Building on this are you going to look at the zf or even the zfc I own both having owned an fe2 and are amazing cameras based on the same design as the fe, fm and fm3a
@@3BMEP just watched great video the zf is a brilliant camera I’m also a big fan of the zfc while crop and not as well built it has a lot of the same benefits as the zf
The FM3a is, indeed, a wonderful SLR. My first SLR was a Canon DSLR, but I had previously used a compact 35mm point-and-shoot film camera. My wife was a dedicated Nikon DSLR shooter, by that time, so, I bought pre-owned AI-S lenses, a Novoflex EOS/NIK adapter, to enable using Nikkors on the Canon DSLR, and, a pre-owned FM3a. My wife and I both love nicely compact manual-focus Nikkor lenses. When I added the Leica M system, I started with an M10, and then began to dream of adding an MP, but, realistically, for my budget, the FM3a will suffice, for the occasional 35mm manual-focus experience.
Hi Hugh, I got COVID in Germany as well...first time ever and similar to you, it hit me very hard and tested positive for 10 days. I'm glad you're ok. I'm anxiously awaiting your review of the Zf!
Hope you’re feeling better soon, Hugh. 👍🏽 By the way, my FM3a will be in my possession until I’m no longer around. It’s been my favorite film camera since forever. (Well, since 2002). 😁
I thought for sure I would get Covid last year when I visited Milan, people in the Plane were coughing up a storm and most had no masks lol. I didnt get it til this year, twice so far but Thanks to Paxlovid It wasnt as bad as your case. Hope you dont get it again. Regarding the Fm3a, its one of the last ones I need for my Collection.
Hope you are feeling better Hugh. I have had the covid thing. Not pleasant at all. Before going digital my Nikon FM3a was my favourite camera. I bought it new when Nikon first released the model. It is as you say one hell of a camera. I took some of my best photos ever using transparency film with the FM3a. I still have it in absolute mint condition. I looked after it because it was an expensive purchase for me back in those days with 4 children. Recently I decked myself out with a new Sony A7RV with a selection of lenses to handle everything from macro to wildlife. The A7RV takes images better than a medium format film camera. In fact it is difficult to get an exposure that cannot be fixed in post when shooting RAW. It’s almost too good with its auto focus that rarely misses the target. I have images printed to A1 size and they are so detailed except for the telltale dimensions you would think I used a 4X5. For some reason I didn’t feel like I was actually being creative. I would fire off 300 plus shots in a shoot and there would be some pretty good ones but a lot of average shots. I purchased a new Leica MP (I know you are an M6 man - same difference) 35mm with a Sumicron f/2 35 mm lens. The Leica took me back to when the world seemed less frantic and every shot counted. Now I have the FM3a back out of storage and the Sony is only used when I can’t find an excuse to use the MP or FM3a. The joy of manual exposure with just an aperture ring and shutter dial to get that magic shot on film is liberating. There is something magical about film and lately I have found it easier purchase. I am setting up to do my own black and white negative processing and will probably use a scanner to make prints. Not as good as a full darkroom but it’s halfway there. Thanks for all your great videos. Hope you have fully recovered.
Thanks for checking in and sharing your perspective. I am indeed full recovered, spared pretty much everything save for a one night feverish blip. I was fortunate.
Love your reason for shooting Canon - I got an education degree also to impress a girl (didn’t pan out with her). Youthful adoration makes us do funny things.
As an owner of the 2022 M6 and FM3A I couldn’t agree more. This Nikon is one of the best 35mm cameras ever built. Price will only go up in future, so the best time is to get one now.
Don't mention long COVID if you live in the UK, as I'm 3 yrs 4 months out of ICU and still living with oxygen SATS still in between 88 - 93 % ... The new norm. Great video
Do you think Nikon ZF ignites that nostalgia. The PASM should be implemented like Fuji while turning the knob. That’s my gripe. It’s beautiful but needs more vintage style lens with aperture ring. Think 40 f2 with aperture ring, weather resistant.
I shot with a Nikkormat (which I got 2nd hand rather late) until the early 1990’s when it was stolen at Milan airport. (Along with lenses, flash and exposed film from a press conference(ouch!): I had to beg and borrow from fellow photographers to make my unsympathetic editor happy again. I couldn’t even report it until I got back to London: everyone in the airport polizia office had left for a very, very long lunch. I loved everything about that camera, especially its match needle exposure meter and how simple (and fast) it was to use. No, it wasn’t insured: in those days a journo was put in the same class as an F1 driver (!) and the insurance p.a. was more than they replacement.) I don’t think I ever had a wrongly exposed snap. (Though as my first 35mm camera as an 11 yr old had no meter, one learned about exposure from a calculator card and practice, which probably helped.) It was (is) a lovely camera to hold and balance, too, even with a long heavy tele lens of the period. They were prone to shutter curtain failures though after a time: two friends had theirs fail on them, though mine didn’t, though it was older than both and had actually been through a war (but not with me!) with a dented prism housing and a few scrapes to prove it. . . .😮
Crazy you don't have a Zf. I figure the people that prefer your reviews are exactly the type of people interested in the Zf, including this guy who had an FM, FM2, and FE, who think art, image, and process first, and not the shiny object pushers like so many other You Tubers.
Nothing to do with performance, but I also really like the aesthetics of the FM3. Loved my F5, especially the sound of the shutter. Little thing but the shutter on my D850 is ridiculously lame and sounds clunky to boot. Thanks again for another insightful review Hugh.
I own it since 2002. I used it for a long time and then my interest for photography slowly decreased across years. I took it again some months ago, and the pleasure in using it is the same than the first roll I shoot.
2:51 I bought the Bordeaux Red version of the Z f and have been using it for a while now. When you get yours, can you comment on these issues in your review please? Build Quality: 1. The threaded shutter release button on the Z f is purely cosmetic. You CANNOT connect a threaded shutter release cable to fire the camera. VERY disappointing. 2. While the top plate is metal and the top plate dials are brass, the bottom plate is plastic (and feels cheap) and the front and rear control wheel dials are plastic that feels cheap, and the dials are stiff to turn. 3. The hinge of the rear display protrudes outwards quite a bit. It's fully made of plastic and feels very cheap and low quality to the touch. 4. The SE lenses that go with the Z f are an insult, there is no other way to put it. Fully made of plastic, including no metal lens mount. The only metal parts with these lenses are the screws. While Nikon claims these lenses have weather sealing to some extent, there is no sign of ANY gaskets on the lens mount, so I very much doubt Nikon's claim holds any value. Be careful. While I would give the Z f a 5 out of 10 on the build quality and appeal of the camera in comparison to what they tried to establish as the brand value proposition (evergreen classic camera with high build quality), the SE lenses won't even get a 1/10 in my book. The 40mm is reasonably sharp though - but clearly overpriced for what it is and an embarrassment to what Nikon is trying to project with the Z f. 5. The grip may be an optional accessory, but it is required, without the grip you will have to operation the camera with bonds hands 100% of the time, even with the small SE lenses. Using bigger or heavier lenses than the SE lenses makes the additional add-on grip a must have item. Overall, it shows that Nikon cut many corners to meet the demand for a facade of a classic camera, without actually delivering one so they could get to a USD2000 price point. In my opinion, Nikon would have been better advised to go all in with build quality and sell it for USD500 more. It would still have been a huge success. This is my main disappointment with this camera. In comparison, the 2016 and MUCH cheaper Olympus Pen F had a MUCH higher build quality and feel to it (absolutely NO cheap plastic anywhere other than the battery door, no visible screws) - and the threaded shutter release button on the Pen F actually works with a threaded release cable. Photography: 1. The auto-ISO settings are confusing AF and poorly explained in the manual. The implementation is poor and there are so many wasted opportunities to what it could have been. Why does Auto-ISO apply globally? Why can't I set auto-ISO only for P,A,S but not M? 2. The default setting of electronic first curtain shutter is a poor choice. In artificial light, it is VERY easy to end up with banding in your images. The sensor readout speed must be very low (and indeed, video recording can easily show rolling shutter issues). My advice to Z f owners is to change the shutter mode to fully electronic shutter and leave it there. By the way, there is no dedicated electronic shutter mode setting - even though the pixel shift mode will use fully electronic shutter. Curious. 3. The pixel shift frames end up on the SD card with the same naming scheme and file extension as all the other raw files, so importing everything from your SD card into Lightroom can be an issue. The Good: Image quality is outstanding. The Z f works very well with the Fringer EF to Z adapter and autofocus works very well even on behemoth lenses like the Canon EF 50mm f1.2 L. Non-stabilized Canon lenses benefit from IBIS.
The FM3a was an incredible camera - I have mine and it is sitting on the shelf. But I just can't bring my self to sell it. It is the best of a breed. Having said that - The Niko Zf -- well this camera will be hailed as the classic of the mirror less cameras -- right up there with the D700! In fact - the Zf makes the mighty FM3a redundant. The Zf -- autofocus of the Z8/Z9, tactile feel/operation of the FM3a, and the best manual focusing implantation in the digital world. Will work with ANY lens. And has a dedicated B&W mode. Hope for a speed recovery!
Couple things would make the Zf that much better. Firstly, and not a gimmick, but a dummy advance lever that would serve as an On/Off switch and a thumb rest for better ergonomics. This was a brilliant addition by Leica to the M10-D. I have one and it’s truly brilliant. Secondly, the Zf should have 36 Mpx rather than the 24. Hold that thought…A third is fewer buttons on the back.
@@ofeykalakar1 Take it one stop further while we are dreaming - use that crank to generate enough charge to take one shot. No screens, no displays, just fstop, shutter, aperture dials and store the image on an sd card. Imagine it - no batteries EVER.
Some would call it a 'nick pick' but as someone who is left eye dominant, I grew to HATE the fact that you have to have flim advance lever half open to unlock the shutter and turn on the meter on the FM series - that design choice always baffled me. Not nice to be poked in the eye when you are trying to taka a shot :). Ok, I am exaggerating, but I prefer the F3 for this reason.
Ah, it was a girl. It's always a girl...😅 Been social media poor (only got a Twitter account that is) I'll tag you in a thread containing my FM2. The FM3, along with the Olympus OM4, remain my two last items in my wishlist... Glad I finally sat down to see one of your videos😊
Simply put, the greatest SLR ever made. It is not one the best mechanical cameras, it's is the best mchanical camera, SLR and Some may argue 35mm camera in general. If it wasn't for leica's rangfinders, the FM3a would take the lead
Now, you just have to worry about future heart issues and other health problems from the jab. Which are now affecting multiple family members of mine and my wifes family. Get regular heart scans and checkups i highly recommend. That said, a damn epic camera that is still just as gorgeous and takes great photos.
How do you know they wouldn’t have got similar heart issues, or worse, from the actual virus, sans vaccine? Something the Anti Vax people never seem to mention even as a possibility.
Hope you recover from COVID quickly, Hugh. Just a quick addendum re the FM3A. It’s actually not a fully mechanical camera, as it uses electronically governed shutter speeds and has aperture priority automation. The batteries are needed for both the meter and to use the shutter speeds at all settings.
I'm sorry to say that the FM3A is not a fully mechanical camera since it has electronic exposure controls. the FM3A is the result of the marriage between FM2 mechanical system and FE2 electronic system.
Of all the reasons to shoot Canon, this is by far the best I’ve ever heard 🤗. You’re right, the Nikon FM-line is magical. I’ve used Olympus from 1973 or so, all the way to 2006, but I can’t count how many times I picked up a Nikon FM- or FE-model and was tempted. Get well soon, Hugh.
Hope you are recovered by now. I was down with COVID for a month, earlier this year. “It is no joke.“ This brought back fond memories of my favorite camera I’ve owned - a fully manual, Pentax MX around 1980. I used it in Europe for a year, shooting architecture as part of my college studies.
Thanks Hugh!! This post nudged me into shooting and developing film again!❤
I had the great good fortune to come upon one of these which I bought. Not since an M6 have I been so thrilled with a film camera. It feels like utter perfection in one's hands but also magical, like an M. By today's digital standards it still looks contemporary. Actually, like the M6, it looks and feels like a timeless masterpiece. A footnote: returning to film is like coming home after decades away. Film is like mother whereas digital is like the lodger.
I had a Nikon FM3a, and now I have the greatest kamera from all time, the Olympus OM-3Ti.
I love my FM3a. I owned it and the Leica M7 concurrently, and I always felt the Nikon was everything the Leica was trying to be, but just did it all better. I’ve since sold the M7…the FM3 remains. At this point, it’s like an old friend.
Hope you feel much better soon!
Funny. I feel the same and I've only had it for two days. I also have and M3 which is the dream M and, having to use a light meter, a Pentax spot meter in my case, is all that one needs from an M. M stands for 'magic' and the FM3A has that in bucket loads.
I've used so much hand sanitizer that when I pee, I clean the toilet....
Fell better soon!
Can’t wait for your ZF review. Get well soon Hugh. Love from South Africa 🇿🇦
Almost thought it was a Z f video but respect to the classic.
Always respect the classic
When Nikon was King, I used an FM2 and the FE2 as my work horses, superb Bodies and always superb lenses.
Get better.... Just received my Nikon Zf... love it
Great video! Thanks for making. The only three film SLRs I kept when switching to mirrorless are the F2, F3 and FM3A. They are a joy to use, even periodically. They just get out of the way so easily. Recently settled on L-Mount after owning both L-Mount and Z-Systems over several years for the same reason. Kind of a like wearing an automatic watch I have to wind vs a smartwatch. Helps me slow down and take better pictures. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Early 1980s I opted for (could afford) an Olympus OM1 and some time later an OM2. I must have hankered after a Nikon as I still have an F3 brochure ... and picked up a mint F3 in July this year - it's great fun :)
Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!
All the best Hugh and a speedy recovery. Looking forward to your thoughts on the Zf. 👍
I also love my FM3a!! More importantly, hope you are feeling better each day. Take care, and thank you for everything you and Claudia do.
As you got the virus from Wetzlar: Gute Besserung, Hugh! Unfortunately I never met a Canon girl so I started out with Nikon, back in the 1980s when you had to pay extra for the black «Pro» bodies. And pros loved them, Steve McCurry shot his Afghan Girl on an FM2. Nikon will send me an Zƒ next week, with the Z 135mm F1.8 S 'Plena'. I will put one of my olde 50/2 Nikkors on it and shoot Berlin Streetlife in black and white. And I will get a refresher shot like you did. After three inoculations covid caught up twice with me, in January 22 and March 23. Take care!
Got my BP FM3A brand new with the tiny 45AiP f2.8 Pancake kit lens back in 2001/2. Still has the original battery and the needle meter still works. Leicas have come and gone as have many Nikon digital cameras, but this FM3A is the GOAT. As much as my Leica MP is Mechanical Perfection, the FM3A has that much more, except for a quiet shutter sound.
Shot with a FM2 for years with a motor grip. Loved it!
Get well soon Hugh, best wishes. I bought an FE2 NOS in 2019 and three ais prime lenses, 50 f1.2, 35 f1.4 and 28 f2. For me this was the camera I could never afford as a lad, making do with a Cosina 35mm. I love it to bits.
My FM3a (silver) is my favorite film Nikon! And I have a few dating back to my youth, including FE2 and a FM2. The ZF is now my favorite EDC, still looking for the 40mm voightlander to pair it with.
Love it! I bought a Minolta SRT 202 as a young pup in summer 1975. I wanted a Nikon but the Minolta was the affordable option as I recall. While I enjoy the great results I achieve with my mirrorless system it somehow feels like I’m lazy when compared to my time spent in the darkroom. Glad to hear you successfully weathered Covid. I had it in July and it sucked. Unfortunately it’s here to stay. Rest up!
Thanks for this
Have you ever thought to make a video of the most expensive prints ever sold?
If you haven't thought to, please take a look. I think its an eye opener that most of those images simply aren't super clear, clean, sharp, crispy images. They're mostly dirty, flawed, ragged, but, all share something. Each has incredible composition and or a story in time.
Always enjoy your videos. I hope you are feeling better.
Back in the saddle, thanks! 🙏🏻 🖖🏻
Hi Hugh, best wishes for a speedy recovery! Got a black FM3A as well, together with three Nikkor Ai-S manual focus lenses: the 28mm f/2.8, the 50mm f/1.2 and the "Afghan Girl" 105mm f/2.5. Hard to beat such a a kit... The 50mm f/1.2 is a bit on the heavy side, though; I'd rather have the pancake 50mm f/1.8 Ai-S, but the Japanese-market version of the lens (which is better built and focuses closer) is giving me a hard time to find here in Brazil...
Just a small comment: although you can use Nikkor AF-S lenses on the FM3A, not only do you (obviously) lose AF (no big deal here, sure) but you can only shoot wide open because they don't have an aperture ring and the aperture is controlled by the camera body. For E type lenses such as the marvellous 105mm f/1.4 you've mentioned (which I also have, on my D850), the aperture is even controlled fully electronically, with no mechanical linkages.
I have a lovely black Nikon F with plain prism my father gave me about 1981 and a like-new FM3a I bought in 2001 because I didn't want to put wear on the F because of its value, but now I think the FM3a is worth more than the F. I also have a great M6 I bought used in 2004 and at a great price compared to now when I got into rangefinders. So I keep thinking about selling one of the Nikons - probably the FM3a, but I just can't. I wonder if all three will really just keep growing in re-sell value or will the bottom fall out? I also have to add that for actually doing photography, especially anything important, the FM3a is an ideal tool, but it simply isn't the tank that the Nikon F is, and while weight isn't a plus when working a lot, it is indeed awe inspiring.
Hey Hugh👋! I hope you will feel much better very soon💪😉✌️! I own a FE2 and I am always amazed by the build quality of this camera. It’s definitely not worse than the built of my Leica M6 or M7. Still, there are two things that are a little annoying: First, if you screw on a lens to the Nikon or when you want to change the aperture on the lens - both is going in the “wrong” direction (from the perspective of someone who’s shooting mainly Leica). Second, to me it is easier to focus with the rangefinder of a Leica than with the split screen indicator of the Nikon. But that’s maybe because I am more used to the rangefinder. But, anyway, I really like the FE2.
The new Zf appeared to me very tempting when it was announced. But when I look at it now it seems that Nikon couldn’t decide if this camera should follow the PASM logic or the - let’s say - Fuji logic where most of the exposure triangle settings take place on an aperture ring on the lens and the adjustment wheels on the body, and on all three of them you find a “A” setting for “auto”. This is missing on the Zf, and the hybrid “user interface” appears to me a little irritating. But the Zf itself looks really cool (well, maybe a little too many buttons on the back😉).
Thank you for mentioning COVID. So many content creators, mainstream media, film industry, etc. seem to live in an alternative reality where this novel airborne pathogen simply doesn't exist. All the while many people get sick and die due to poor public health programs. Hope you recover fully and soon!
Great video, too! Would love me a FM3a. Will keep an eye on KEH's inventory. Something good might pop up. Thanks again!
Sorry you had a bad encounter with Covid. Feel better. I am so glad you had your covid inoculation. For those who doubt, it does work.
Thank you for a look in the way back machine. I am so glad manufacturers are still producing film stock. I remember using film. I choose not to any more. Too much futzing for me. I am glad other fellow photographers can contribute using this technique. I is good having choices.
Amazing how inexpensive the old film gear is. They are still capable of producing great images if the photographer knows what they are doing. Just like digital photographers. It is hard to believe that so many photographers, in the day, produced so many great images without the aids we have become accustomed to using digital gear. Might HCB, Ernst Haas, or Saul Leiter amongst others have produced better images using digital gear if it was available to them? Of course the artist creates the art not the gear they use.
It seems to me that film bodies are more similar than different. A dark space to place and focus your film. The biggest differences between the film bodies are the lenses you attach to the front of the light box and what is attached ~12” behind the light box. A little different from today when inside the light box are computers and other do dads that allow the photographer to create images.
Remember Nietzsche. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Feel better and get stronger.
Mask On Nurse Marty (Ret)
First thing, get well soon. Second thing - I still use the very F3 my dad bought new in 1984, and that emotional attachment has so far held the GAS at bay. I do find myself pushing HP5+ pretty regularly, and boy would I love to have another stop of shutter speed available.
Firing up SLR production again would be great, but not enough. I'd love if that came with a new Coolscan so we dont have to choose between the few 3/5 average customer rating film scanners still being sold. Darkroom printing is awesome but digital files is just how it is now.
Thanks for keeping strong with masking and precautions, you've probably saved someone a lot of pain or worse by now. Realistically more than one someone. It's been reassuring to see B-Roll with you masked in public over the years
Appreciated. Logic, probability and expected value calculations sealed it. 😊🖖🏻
Hope you feel better soon. Owner of a F3P and my back.up was a FM2 T. I Understand your words and share your opinion. Take care
Gotta love the post Paxlovid rebound. Glad you're doing better!
This was a truly great camera - the very last of its kind before the introduction of the F5 and the FM10 -which were very electronic we had these as our candid catchers when we shot weddings on film with the Mamiya RZ - later we turned to the F90x also known as the N90S AF with power grips. These FM's were true workhorses and good for anything you could point them at. Nice memo thanks Hugh
Was? Still is!
@@thedarkslide Toot toot too troo - my bad
Hi! I (from Germany) have a Leica R6.2 (with Summicron 2.0 50 and Apo 3.4 180) - I think that's part of it!
Get well soon. Looks lovely with the 40mm black nose Voigtlander.
I mostly use Olympus (1n, 4ti and Pen FV), but the idea of a Nikon FM3a reissue just made me screech like a Beatles fan (on the inside anyway)
Hope you are fully recovered now, and yes, the FM3a must be pure perfection and among the best Nikons in history. My FM2 is still my top choice closely followed by Pentax MX and Oly OM1, but Nikon's quality makes me give it the gold medal.
I like the brass body that would show patina over time just like my Leica MP
I still use one regularly. My favourite camera.
I hope you’re gonna be okay, Hugh. I started my career with an FE2 and F3. I just bought a very clean FE2 with drive. When my five rolls of obscenely expensive Portra 400 arrive, it’ll be the first time I’ve shot film in 20 years. Take care of yourself, mate. You’re a real treasure.
Building on this are you going to look at the zf or even the zfc I own both having owned an fe2 and are amazing cameras based on the same design as the fe, fm and fm3a
Just dropped the Zf review today!
@@3BMEP just watched great video the zf is a brilliant camera I’m also a big fan of the zfc while crop and not as well built it has a lot of the same benefits as the zf
One day I’ll pick one of these up. For now, I’ll make do with having a FE2 and FM2.
Hope you feel better Seem to own all the Nikon film bodies hard choice between the FM3 and the F3
Amen to reissue.
The FM3a is, indeed, a wonderful SLR. My first SLR was a Canon DSLR, but I had previously used a compact 35mm point-and-shoot film camera. My wife was a dedicated Nikon DSLR shooter, by that time, so, I bought pre-owned AI-S lenses, a Novoflex EOS/NIK adapter, to enable using Nikkors on the Canon DSLR, and, a pre-owned FM3a. My wife and I both love nicely compact manual-focus Nikkor lenses. When I added the Leica M system, I started with an M10, and then began to dream of adding an MP, but, realistically, for my budget, the FM3a will suffice, for the occasional 35mm manual-focus experience.
I bought a Canon Ftb QL with 50mm 1.4 at a yard sale a couple years ago for $20. Just to have back MY first camera for the shelf.
Some years ago I could take some pictures with one and a 40mm lens
Hi Hugh, I got COVID in Germany as well...first time ever and similar to you, it hit me very hard and tested positive for 10 days. I'm glad you're ok. I'm anxiously awaiting your review of the Zf!
Sorry to learn of your COVID experience. But: Zf en route to the bat cave!
@@3BMEP thank you... and can't wait to hear!!
Glad you are getting well. I have all my vaccines as most people should. I still have my Nikon FM which still works well.
That’s your opinion and gladly we’re free to choose if we want so or not.
@@peetje28021970 Fine do what you want I don't really care.
Hope you’re feeling better soon, Hugh. 👍🏽
By the way, my FM3a will be in my possession until I’m no longer around. It’s been my favorite film camera since forever. (Well, since 2002). 😁
I thought for sure I would get Covid last year when I visited Milan, people in the Plane were coughing up a storm and most had no masks lol. I didnt get it til this year, twice so far but Thanks to Paxlovid It wasnt as bad as your case. Hope you dont get it again. Regarding the Fm3a, its one of the last ones I need for my Collection.
Hope you are feeling better Hugh. I have had the covid thing. Not pleasant at all. Before going digital my Nikon FM3a was my favourite camera. I bought it new when Nikon first released the model. It is as you say one hell of a camera. I took some of my best photos ever using transparency film with the FM3a. I still have it in absolute mint condition. I looked after it because it was an expensive purchase for me back in those days with 4 children. Recently I decked myself out with a new Sony A7RV with a selection of lenses to handle everything from macro to wildlife. The A7RV takes images better than a medium format film camera. In fact it is difficult to get an exposure that cannot be fixed in post when shooting RAW. It’s almost too good with its auto focus that rarely misses the target. I have images printed to A1 size and they are so detailed except for the telltale dimensions you would think I used a 4X5. For some reason I didn’t feel like I was actually being creative. I would fire off 300 plus shots in a shoot and there would be some pretty good ones but a lot of average shots. I purchased a new Leica MP (I know you are an M6 man - same difference) 35mm with a Sumicron f/2 35 mm lens. The Leica took me back to when the world seemed less frantic and every shot counted. Now I have the FM3a back out of storage and the Sony is only used when I can’t find an excuse to use the MP or FM3a. The joy of manual exposure with just an aperture ring and shutter dial to get that magic shot on film is liberating. There is something magical about film and lately I have found it easier purchase. I am setting up to do my own black and white negative processing and will probably use a scanner to make prints. Not as good as a full darkroom but it’s halfway there. Thanks for all your great videos. Hope you have fully recovered.
Thanks for checking in and sharing your perspective. I am indeed full recovered, spared pretty much everything save for a one night feverish blip. I was fortunate.
Love your reason for shooting Canon - I got an education degree also to impress a girl (didn’t pan out with her). Youthful adoration makes us do funny things.
As an owner of the 2022 M6 and FM3A I couldn’t agree more. This Nikon is one of the best 35mm cameras ever built. Price will only go up in future, so the best time is to get one now.
Hey, I am glad you pulled through Covid. It's no joke!
Yeah, those jabs works a treat. 😂
Holy Crap the German Covid :( :( :( Hope You feel Better Soon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) Never got rid of my NIKON FM or FE and LENSES :) :)
Don't mention long COVID if you live in the UK, as I'm 3 yrs 4 months out of ICU and still living with oxygen SATS still in between 88 - 93 % ... The new norm.
Great video
😳😔
I take my FM2N and FE2 out together to give me the equivalent of an FM3A! Then again, combining them together in one camera would be easier 😊
Do you think Nikon ZF ignites that nostalgia. The PASM should be implemented like Fuji while turning the knob. That’s my gripe. It’s beautiful but needs more vintage style lens with aperture ring. Think 40 f2 with aperture ring, weather resistant.
I shot with a Nikkormat (which I got 2nd hand rather late) until the early 1990’s when it was stolen at Milan airport. (Along with lenses, flash and exposed film from a press conference(ouch!): I had to beg and borrow from fellow photographers to make my unsympathetic editor happy again. I couldn’t even report it until I got back to London: everyone in the airport polizia office had left for a very, very long lunch. I loved everything about that camera, especially its match needle exposure meter and how simple (and fast) it was to use. No, it wasn’t insured: in those days a journo was put in the same class as an F1 driver (!) and the insurance p.a. was more than they replacement.) I don’t think I ever had a wrongly exposed snap. (Though as my first 35mm camera as an 11 yr old had no meter, one learned about exposure from a calculator card and practice, which probably helped.) It was (is) a lovely camera to hold and balance, too, even with a long heavy tele lens of the period. They were prone to shutter curtain failures though after a time: two friends had theirs fail on them, though mine didn’t, though it was older than both and had actually been through a war (but not with me!) with a dented prism housing and a few scrapes to prove it. . . .😮
Crazy you don't have a Zf. I figure the people that prefer your reviews are exactly the type of people interested in the Zf, including this guy who had an FM, FM2, and FE, who think art, image, and process first, and not the shiny object pushers like so many other You Tubers.
Feel better
Be well and thanks for the reminder, have the latest vaccines going into Fall
Nothing to do with performance, but I also really like the aesthetics of the FM3. Loved my F5, especially the sound of the shutter. Little thing but the shutter on my D850 is ridiculously lame and sounds clunky to boot. Thanks again for another insightful review Hugh.
Get well soon.
I own it since 2002. I used it for a long time and then my interest for photography slowly decreased across years. I took it again some months ago, and the pleasure in using it is the same than the first roll I shoot.
2:51 I bought the Bordeaux Red version of the Z f and have been using it for a while now.
When you get yours, can you comment on these issues in your review please?
Build Quality:
1. The threaded shutter release button on the Z f is purely cosmetic. You CANNOT connect a threaded shutter release cable to fire the camera. VERY disappointing.
2. While the top plate is metal and the top plate dials are brass, the bottom plate is plastic (and feels cheap) and the front and rear control wheel dials are plastic that feels cheap, and the dials are stiff to turn.
3. The hinge of the rear display protrudes outwards quite a bit. It's fully made of plastic and feels very cheap and low quality to the touch.
4. The SE lenses that go with the Z f are an insult, there is no other way to put it. Fully made of plastic, including no metal lens mount. The only metal parts with these lenses are the screws. While Nikon claims these lenses have weather sealing to some extent, there is no sign of ANY gaskets on the lens mount, so I very much doubt Nikon's claim holds any value. Be careful. While I would give the Z f a 5 out of 10 on the build quality and appeal of the camera in comparison to what they tried to establish as the brand value proposition (evergreen classic camera with high build quality), the SE lenses won't even get a 1/10 in my book. The 40mm is reasonably sharp though - but clearly overpriced for what it is and an embarrassment to what Nikon is trying to project with the Z f.
5. The grip may be an optional accessory, but it is required, without the grip you will have to operation the camera with bonds hands 100% of the time, even with the small SE lenses. Using bigger or heavier lenses than the SE lenses makes the additional add-on grip a must have item.
Overall, it shows that Nikon cut many corners to meet the demand for a facade of a classic camera, without actually delivering one so they could get to a USD2000 price point. In my opinion, Nikon would have been better advised to go all in with build quality and sell it for USD500 more. It would still have been a huge success. This is my main disappointment with this camera. In comparison, the 2016 and MUCH cheaper Olympus Pen F had a MUCH higher build quality and feel to it (absolutely NO cheap plastic anywhere other than the battery door, no visible screws) - and the threaded shutter release button on the Pen F actually works with a threaded release cable.
Photography:
1. The auto-ISO settings are confusing AF and poorly explained in the manual. The implementation is poor and there are so many wasted opportunities to what it could have been. Why does Auto-ISO apply globally? Why can't I set auto-ISO only for P,A,S but not M?
2. The default setting of electronic first curtain shutter is a poor choice. In artificial light, it is VERY easy to end up with banding in your images. The sensor readout speed must be very low (and indeed, video recording can easily show rolling shutter issues). My advice to Z f owners is to change the shutter mode to fully electronic shutter and leave it there. By the way, there is no dedicated electronic shutter mode setting - even though the pixel shift mode will use fully electronic shutter. Curious.
3. The pixel shift frames end up on the SD card with the same naming scheme and file extension as all the other raw files, so importing everything from your SD card into Lightroom can be an issue.
The Good:
Image quality is outstanding.
The Z f works very well with the Fringer EF to Z adapter and autofocus works very well even on behemoth lenses like the Canon EF 50mm f1.2 L. Non-stabilized Canon lenses benefit from IBIS.
The FM3a was an incredible camera - I have mine and it is sitting on the shelf. But I just can't bring my self to sell it. It is the best of a breed. Having said that - The Niko Zf -- well this camera will be hailed as the classic of the mirror less cameras -- right up there with the D700! In fact - the Zf makes the mighty FM3a redundant. The Zf -- autofocus of the Z8/Z9, tactile feel/operation of the FM3a, and the best manual focusing implantation in the digital world. Will work with ANY lens. And has a dedicated B&W mode. Hope for a speed recovery!
Couple things would make the Zf that much better. Firstly, and not a gimmick, but a dummy advance lever that would serve as an On/Off switch and a thumb rest for better ergonomics. This was a brilliant addition by Leica to the M10-D. I have one and it’s truly brilliant. Secondly, the Zf should have 36 Mpx rather than the 24. Hold that thought…A third is fewer buttons on the back.
@ofeykalakar1 I like it!
@@ofeykalakar1 Take it one stop further while we are dreaming - use that crank to generate enough charge to take one shot. No screens, no displays, just fstop, shutter, aperture dials and store the image on an sd card. Imagine it - no batteries EVER.
Some would call it a 'nick pick' but as someone who is left eye dominant, I grew to HATE the fact that you have to have flim advance lever half open to unlock the shutter and turn on the meter on the FM series - that design choice always baffled me. Not nice to be poked in the eye when you are trying to taka a shot :). Ok, I am exaggerating, but I prefer the F3 for this reason.
"She used a Canon". 'nuf said. 🙂. (glad you are on the mend)
I preferred the F5.
I had to look twice to see who made this video. Hugh? 😊 side note get better!
Ah, it was a girl. It's always a girl...😅
Been social media poor (only got a Twitter account that is) I'll tag you in a thread containing my FM2.
The FM3, along with the Olympus OM4, remain my two last items in my wishlist...
Glad I finally sat down to see one of your videos😊
I always love your content but you must agree this one is just a giant ad for KEH (even if it’s a great store)
Nice , but I’ll stick to my F2
Fm3a won't work with pre ai lenses unless they are adapted.
Simply put, the greatest SLR ever made. It is not one the best mechanical cameras, it's is the best mchanical camera, SLR and Some may argue 35mm camera in general. If it wasn't for leica's rangfinders, the FM3a would take the lead
Now, you just have to worry about future heart issues and other health problems from the jab. Which are now affecting multiple family members of mine and my wifes family. Get regular heart scans and checkups i highly recommend.
That said, a damn epic camera that is still just as gorgeous and takes great photos.
How do you know they wouldn’t have got similar heart issues, or worse, from the actual virus, sans vaccine? Something the Anti Vax people never seem to mention even as a possibility.
Hope you recover from COVID quickly, Hugh.
Just a quick addendum re the FM3A. It’s actually not a fully mechanical camera, as it uses electronically governed shutter speeds and has aperture priority automation. The batteries are needed for both the meter and to use the shutter speeds at all settings.
Stop with the Covid bullshit already.
I'm sorry to say that the FM3A is not a fully mechanical camera since it has electronic exposure controls. the FM3A is the result of the marriage between FM2 mechanical system and FE2 electronic system.