Is there a Fm3a support group? ;D

A question for all of you FM3 fans.

I shot FM's, a Nikkormat, and -- especially -- FE2's for most of myphotographic life, before I dumped the lot of it for an M6. In paractical terms, what's the difference between the FM3 and the FE2, other than that FM3's go for 2-3x the price and have a few more shutter speeds when the battery dies (which it does exceedingly rarely with the FE2)?
 
vha said:
Suddenly the siren´s song reappeared, or lets say I stumbled in it ;)
Tomorrow there is a Leica R8 with winder and a 50 cron in the mail for me :D
And the best part? Cheap, at least according to Norwegian terms, half the price of what I was supposed to pay for the FM3a w/45mm nikkor p, and the R8 is in black finish.
Didn´t we agree black cameras too the best photos? ;)

vha
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Those R8's are a bizzare looking camera IMO ... but I have to confess that I've always liked the look! It's definitely a great way to use premium Leica glass without selling your body parts and I supect the camera has very well sorted ergonomics.

When you get it and have evaluated it ... how about starting a thread in the 'evil' forum with some pics of the camera, with the camera and Summicron and a general report of what you think of it.

I'd be interested!
 
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semilog said:
A question for all of you FM3 fans.

I shot FM's, a Nikkormat, and -- especially -- FE2's for most of myphotographic life, before I dumped the lot of it for an M6. In paractical terms, what's the difference between the FM3 and the FE2, other than that FM3's go for 2-3x the price and have a few more shutter speeds when the battery dies (which it does exceedingly rarely with the FE2)?
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From what I can work out it's all in the hybrid shutter ... apparently it was developed by Nikon for the FM3A specifically. There's plenty of cameras out there that offer AE through an electronic shutter but the Nikon is unique in having all its shutter speeds on call with no battery ... I can't think of any others?

It's actually very good in AE ... I don't use AE as a rule but I did try it the other day and was impressed!

Way too expensive though ... and because it's the last of the lineage I have to wonder if that crazy asking price for mint ones is going to change much in the future?
 
Thanks, Keith. That's as I thought.

I never had an FE2 fail on me in hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film, rain, dropped cameras, collisions at basketball games.... no reason why I should want or need an FM3a, then. An ex+ FE2 will do everything I want it to.
 
Semilog,
Not just a few more shutter speeds, the whole range of shutter speeds is available without batteries.
None of the FM series had TTL flash, the FM3a does.
FE2 does too...

Kiu
 
semilog said:
Thanks, Keith. That's as I thought.

I never had an FE2 fail on me in hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film, rain, dropped cameras, collisions at basketball games.... no reason why I should want or need an FM3a, then. An ex+ FE2 will do everything I want it to.
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There's a million and one stories like that in the 'Nikon City' ... and this is just another one of them! :D

But did you use it to drive in any nails? ;)
 
NIKON KIU said:
Semilog,
Not just a few more shutter speeds, the whole range of shutter speeds is available without batteries.Kiu
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Yes, I realize that. 1/250 is what you get with an FE2 when the batt. goes.

None of the FM series had TTL flash, the FM3a does.
FE2 does too...
Click to expand...

TTL flash is exactly why the FE2 was my mainstay for so long. FE2/HP5/85mm:

631643696_rv784-XL.jpg
 
The Nikon FM3A is an interchangeable lens, focal plane shutter, 35 mm film, single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. It was manufactured by Nikon Corporation in Japan, on small-volume assembly lines, from 2001 to 2006. The camera was available in two colours: all black, and satin chrome. The introductory US list price for the chrome body only (no lens) was $820.

The FM3A was the successor to the renowned Nikon FM2N camera of 1984 and was the last member of the successful, semi-professional line of Nikon compact 35 mm SLRs. The other members were the Nikon FM (released 1977), FE (1978), FM2 (1982) and FE2 (1983). They (and the Nikon FA) all used the superficially similar (but not identical) rugged copper aluminium alloy chassis and high-quality Nikon vertical bearing-mounted metal shutter and ball-bearing mounted film advance, but with improved feature levels, minor external controls and cosmetic differences. The newer low-budget Nikon FM10 and FE10, while named similarly, are completely different introductory-level cameras manufactured by Cosina.

The major improvements in the FM3A compared to the FM2N are the hybrid electro-mechanically controlled aluminium-bladed focal plane shutter, the aperture priority auto-exposure mode, the match-needle exposure control system and provision for through-the-lens (TTL) off-the-film (OTF) electronic flash automation. In other words, the FM3a merged the robust mechanical systems of the FM2N with the proven, reliable electronic exposure controls of the FE2
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Considering it was only made for five years and not in huge quantities by the sounds of it ... it may be destined to become one of the premium modern classics.

Buy one now I say while it's still a bargain! :D
 
Well I'm no 284124 so there's 84000 odd that we know exist!

That's not actually a whole lot of cameras considering the volume the Japanese can pump out when they need to for really popular models!
 
I have 279544, 298450, and 307528 :)
(I think those s/n's are right?)

Not a lot of cameras at all really. Especially when you consider that Nikon cranked out nearly a million each of the F, F2, and F3 (not sure about the FE/FM series).

I have it on very good authority that FM3A production stopped around 18 months before Nikon officially announced in January 2006 that the FM3A was discontinued.
 
And why does a person need three FM3A's pray tell?

At 113000 estimated cameras don't you think you're being a little greedy ... if my calculations serve me correctly this means you own .002654867 percent of the world's total supply of Nikon FM3A's!

:D
 
Hehe I guess I better fess up. One of the FM3A's actually belongs to my better half, so I only own 2/3 of .002654867 percent of production ;)

I never thought about it as a percentage ... if I owned the same percentage of Nikon F's I'd have almost 20 !!! :D
 
I'll check mine once at home... for the F6 I know I have 0006876 or 6786 or 6706 something like this.. for the fm3a I've never checked it
 
Found ! and it's the "oldest" of the bunch so far. For what I can read (despite the adverse angle) it should be 214xxx. Not sure if it's a reliable info but someone told me it was sold for its first time in 2007.

725914699_EU2Hw-X2.jpg
 
hehehe Keith it was the dust I found when I got it last summer. Actually I'm using it quite a lot so if any dust is found is "outside" dust. (But it might be also some reflections from flash)
 
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