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About 5 months ago, I received an awesome F3 + MD-4 for my anniversary.

Shortly, it will be my 40th birthday and I was allowed to order part of my present early when I could find it. I found it - an excellent condition Nikon F2AS with MD-1 motor drive with MB-1 battery pack.

Here it is with its two brothers (not including the cousins: FE & F90x):







I think the nobs and dials on the back of the motor drive are cool.

It actually stands over the F3 and weighs in at 1.84 kg (body, drive, battery pack and batteries) compared to 1.4 kg for the F3 (drive and batteries).

[Gerry - the F2 is wearing your 105].

I also managed to get a Nikon 52mm red filter thrown in. Looking forward to loading up some Tri-X and running it through its paces.

I am a very happy camper.

nioce...looks like old stuff

Reschsmooth wrote:[Gerry - the F2 is wearing your 105].

and makes it so very respectable, like a pretty girl in a nice dress...!

Happy birthday in advance and loving the new additions.

Out of interest, what are your opinions about the FE? I was tossing up between the FE and the F3.

biggerry wrote:nioce...looks like old stuff

Yeah I think the memory cards for these things were those old cylindrical type ones...

Happy Birthday - only 40 - a young'un

PiroStitch wrote:Happy birthday in advance and loving the new additions.

Out of interest, what are your opinions about the FE? I was tossing up between the FE and the F3.

Thanks

The FE is great but the FE2 is reportedly much better (I think has higher flash sync speeds, etc). The F3 is a different beast - it is more of a system camera with interchangable prisms, backs, etc. It is more ruggedly built and is really nice to use.

Remorhaz wrote:

biggerry wrote:nioce...looks like old stuff

Yeah I think the memory cards for these things were those old cylindrical type ones...

Happy Birthday - only 40 - a young'un

Well, still only 39.

Reschsmooth wrote:The FE is great but the FE2 is reportedly much better (I think has higher flash sync speeds, etc).

Yes, 1/250s rather than 1/125s and also a faster top shutter speed (1/4000s instead of 1/1000s on the FE). For me the big huge main advantage however was its TTL flash metering ability. To my mind an FE2 combined with the MD12 motor drive is as close to a perfect film camera as it gets.

Some people prefer the FM2, which can use all shutter speeds without battery, the FE2 has only one battery-less shutter speed (1/250). I always found the FE2's match-needle meter vastly superior and more intuitive than the FM2's over/under LED display (which also couldn't be seen in bright light).

I don't think the F3, though tougher than a house brick, can hold a candle to either of these, capability-wise. It does provide pro features however, like interchangeable finders, longer shutter life etc.

Cheers
Steffen.

Steffen wrote:

Reschsmooth wrote:The FE is great but the FE2 is reportedly much better (I think has higher flash sync speeds, etc).

Yes, 1/250s rather than 1/125s and also a faster top shutter speed (1/4000s instead of 1/1000s on the FE). For me the big huge main advantage however was its TTL flash metering ability. To my mind an FE2 combined with the MD12 motor drive is as close to a perfect film camera as it gets.

Some people prefer the FM2, which can use all shutter speeds without battery, the FE2 has only one battery-less shutter speed (1/250). I always found the FE2's match-needle meter vastly superior and more intuitive than the FM2's over/under LED display (which also couldn't be seen in bright light).

I don't think the F3, though tougher than a house brick, can hold a candle to either of these, capability-wise. It does provide pro features however, like interchangeable finders, longer shutter life etc.

Cheers
Steffen.

You are correct - the F3 has a top speed of 1/2000 and flash sync of 1/80. It is an electronic camera but does have a mechanical shutter release at 1/60th. The F3 can work with non-AI lenses, not sure if the FE2 can (the FE can). Different metering pattern, different viewfinder (100% for the F3), smaller body on the FE2.

Reschsmooth wrote:The F3 can work with non-AI lenses, not sure if the FE2 can (the FE can).

You're right, I forgot about that. Unlike the FE the FE2 doesn't have that fold-away AI coupling tab, so pre-AI lenses can't be mounted. They can be converted by simply milling the aperture ring and cutting away a bit along the circumference. I believe in some cases an original AI ring can be fitted.

Cheers
Steffen.

That is a lovely collection you are putting together...

Some of the finest cameras ever made. Happy Birthday for when it comes.

Thanks for the info. More to ponder upon

Thanks chaps

Wayne, given you have the Leica M8 or 9, and therefore the associated lenses, you may want to look at one of the film Ms - more dollars/euros/francs/pounds (depending on location), but you can then take advantage of the lenses you have.

Thanks Patrick, I still have my Nikon kit. Is there such thing as too many cameras?

PiroStitch wrote:Thanks Patrick, I still have my Nikon kit. Is there such thing as too many cameras?

I don't understand the question. Do you mean "not enough" cameras?

In the lead up to my birthday, the presents keep coming. I can't wait to get some Tri-X in there. It has an exposure factor of 20, meaning that Tri-X 320 effectively has an ISO of 16!

That is a very nice addition to your kit...are you planning to feed it only Tri-X?

aim54x wrote:That is a very nice addition to your kit...are you planning to feed it only Tri-X?

I can see some trannies finding their way in that.

Reschsmooth wrote:I can see some trannies finding their way in that.

Much like Oxford street on a Friday night.