Though shot (Nikon F3)

The other day I posted about some of the cameras I would like to own. Well, I can cross one off the list. I managed to find a very affordable Nikon F3 on the net a while ago. It came with a Nikkor 28-85 zoom and the motordrive cover was missing. I've replaced the zoom with a fast 50mm prime, found a new cover, and was ready to roll earlier this week.

First impression: I already have a Canon A-1, and at first I couldn't help but noticing that the Nikon is in no way as refined as the A-1. The biggest problem I have with the Nikon is how hard it is to read the info in the finder. It's ok in broad daylight, but really sucks in low light situations. There is a light to illuminate the info in the finder, but it's highly impractical and hardly gives enough light. Nowhere near the Canon in this department.
Then there's the flash mount. There's some weird Nikon specific flash connector on the rewind knob. Why?!
The camera also feels heavier than the A-1, and I definitely feel that the Canon (with action grip mounted) is nicer to handle. Furthermore I'm left-eyed, and the advance lever pokes in my face when I try to get my left-eye to the finder.

However after shooting my first roll, I had already started to like the F3. It's coarse alright, but it also feels rock-solid. Just like the body, the 50mm is built like a tank. It has heavy metal adjusting rings and looks and feels though as nails, and focussing is super smooth after all these years.
With the F3 it's a bit like in that Rambo movie. They offer him a whole arsenal of all the most advanced technical weapons and he gets mad and insists that he wants a Kalashnikov AK-47. Cause that is the weapon all the poor bad guys in the jungle have, because AK-47's are indestructible and heavy reliable, and everybody in the jungle should have one. The F3 is like that.

If Rambo had been a photographer, he would have had a F3.