INTRODUCTION

The Nikon FM3A is a 35mm film SLR camera made in Japan by Nikon between 2001 and 2006. It is one of the best cameras ever made, period.

BEST SUITED FOR:

Events

Weddings

Art

Fun!

Street

Studio

Travel

PERSONAL NOTES

I had many Nikon cameras, big DSLRs like the Nikon D4 and D800E, I also have the whole professionnal film lineup : Nikon F, Nikon F2, Nikon F3 HP, Nikon F4s, Nikon F5, and Nikon F6. But, also, there are some smaller Nikon Cameras that are a lot of fun, especially when you are tired of brigning heavy cameras, I present to you the smaller lineup : Nikon FM2n, Nikon FE, Nikon FA, and probably the best Nikon camera ever, the Nikon FM3A.

This lineup of cameras is smaller, lighter but has no auto-focus capability. Using older lenses, it's usually cheaper, and if you do not need to cover sporting events, these cameras are really fun. In 2009, I still had a few customers who wanted me to use film for their weddings, So I used a few hasselblad, like the fantastic Hasselblad 500c/m, and I had a Nikon FE for quicker shots. I regularly use manual cameras, for jobs, but I'm a big fan of aperture priority, hence the FE. But the big drawback of the Nikon FE is that when it runs out of battery, it can only shoot one speed. On the other side, the Nikon FM, FM2, or Nikon FM2n is always able to shoot at any speed, but it does not have Aperture priority mode, it's only manual. The Nikon FA is a nice camera too, it's a bit like the Nikon FE, just add the shutter priority mode. It has the same drawback of not able to shoot at all when the battery is gone. Now, the Nikon FM3A is the best of both worlds : it has Aperture priority, but when the battery is gone, the aperture priority mode is gone, but it can still shoot at any speed you want. That is a great bonus !

On top of that, the FM3A is even lighter, sturdier, and what not...

CONCLUSION

The Nikon FM3A is my favorite Nikon camera, but it's not cheap. You can get a cheaper , FE or FA, they all are excellent.

PHOTO SAMPLES

VERDICT:

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