@@thinkpadx60 Just out of curiosity... why bother with the FM2n when you have an FM3a? Your 3a can do everything the 2n can do... and in a pinch if you just need to quickly catch a shot you can throw it into aperture priority.
I own an FM3a, an F3 and an F2AS. I like them all a lot, but the FM3a is only second best behind a shared first place of F2 and F3. And that is only because I enjoy them more due to the look, the haptics and the sound of the cameras - qualities that really have nothing to do with the capability of the camera to take pictures. Nerdy as it might sound: The brutish, mechanical CLACK of the F2 and its equally brutish look with its meterin prism and (even more nerdy) the butter smooth feel of the advance lever of the F3 combined with its 80s angular look make them somehow more of an event compared to the rather small, unobtrusive FM3a. That being said: If I want to go with only one camera and one lens, I almost always grab the FM3a, because it just works perfectly well, the AE always is on spot and the match needle really is a nice meter visualisation. But if I had to sell two cameras, I would throw a dice between F2 and F3 and sell the FM3a without thinking much. After thinking about it, I would also sell the F3, because in the really long run I trust a mechanical camera most.
The FM3a is on bucket list I am a proud owner of the FM2N and FE2 and F3hp and a few other Nikons I really don’t want to sell any of them to fund my FM3a so just have to wait a little longer 🤞
I'm lucky to own two of these, one in black (with a nice patina after use) and one in chrome. Both have non-functioning light meters and are cosmetically poor, but these beauties give a lot of joy with amazing images. Using them and owning them is a charm, as they are the most beautiful (to me) of all the Nikkormat/FM/FE series cameras and the most technologically best (being made in the 2000s is also a benefit to their build quality and mechanical youth, especially that this was a "handicraft" project by the staff at Mito Nikon, who even rehired retired engineers to build this camera). I also feel myself more comfortable using these cameras compared to my Leicas and other cameras, probably because growing up I consider this model as my "dream" camera.
I mean... it looks like an FM or FE no? I would say the one cosmetic difference that's noticeable is the Nikon logo... which is worse. The newer logo is inferior design-wise and makes it look like any number of their cheesier plastic looking cameras that took over after the all metal glory days of manual focus cameras.
My FM2ns have a 4000th shutter speed. I've long wanted an FM3a for their rarity, but it turns out that a a Fm2n + an FE2 provides the same features albeit with two bodies saving about 3 to 400 dollars.
I’m curious if you ever managed to do research on replacing the mount with the fe mount like you mentioned here: 10:18 @japanvintagecamera I’m now an fm3a user and would be curious if it’s possible at all
I've had the worst luck with my Nikon FE2 suffering all kinds of shutter mech, film lever advancing and mirror lock up issues. I really wanted to love the camera because of the way it handled, the metering interface and it was cosmetically in amazing shape too. I only managed to get three rolls of films through it in a one year span and it has been a pain. Sometimes the shutter would fire before the film advance sequence was completed. It was wild! I took it into the shop to get fixed, but the issues returned about a month or two later. It was just a major lemon of a camera. Was it just bad luck? Should I give the FE2 another chance, or would it be worth investing in a Nikon FM3a considering it's somewhat newer'ish? I ended up selling my Nikon FE2 for parts. So sad..
You can buy a mint FA for less than the cost of fixing the FE2, and get all the extra functionality of ze teknocamera! But then the troublesome old cameras sitting on the shelf just call to you and you end up fixing them anyway, and then you have too many cameras. What can you do.
Sorry for nitpicking, but it would be more correct to say that the meter always assumes that whatever it is looking at is 18% gray. That's why the exposure compensation must be used in cases where that assumption is not correct, like in the snow.
@@furiouzzzz yeah, I know. In my case, as a french speaking person, I would naturally pronounce it properly since ni is pronounced as you mentioned above, nee. But when I speak in English, tend to prononce like Jeffrey, bad habit.i guess.
Maybe but when that FE2 battery dies and you don’t have any extras, you’re stuck with 1/250. or when the electronics fail, you’re left with a paperweight. The FM3a will just keep going, no batteries needed. It’s also only 20 years old max, whereas any FE2 is 35 years old minimum.
Sorry but there is so much wrong and incomplete in this review... The FM2 does have 1/4000 sec shutter, there is no distinction between the fm2 or the fm2n. Further more ais means that the aperture lever is standardised so that the follow-up models can use it for Programm. The main feature of the FM3a is the hybrid shutter. Mechanical controled in the shutterspeed mode and electronicly controled in the A modus. Further more the FM3a uses the modern day ttl flash system, it even has a flash compensation button next to the lens. You can use the latest generation flashes! The ai coupling is not retractable because Nikon has defaulted that years before the Nikon FM3a... It is a beautiful camera, but it makes a horrible release sound compared to the FM and FE. But that is the only thing not to like about it...
Perhaps it's worth remembering that he's just using this channel to sell cameras from his stores. Encyclopedic knowledge of every model he's currently selling probably isn't his priority.
