It's the THIRD TIME I've bought this 35mm film camera!

[@kurocamera]

I have been using Leica for over 10 years now, and never looked elsewhere…then just last month I offered my wife the FM3A after her Contax TVS broke down, and I was blown away by how great the camera was…and I purchased a FM2 on top of that for me :D I never enjoyed SLRs…too big, too heavy, didn’t like the focus VS rangefinder…but the FM2 / FM3A wow…makes me even wonder if I need a Leica anymore…with a 50mm the FM2/3 viewfinder just looks beautiful and is even more enjoyable than a Leica.

[@richardsimms251]

Very, very good video. Thank you. RS. Canada

[@thevalleyofdisappointment]

Great camera. But is it it worth the premium over the FM2n? Also that needle exposure meter is a nightmare in low light. Save yourself 7-800 and get the FM2n

[@JoeLopez]

So nice. I love those classic car photos!

[@stevebarnett5048]

The Nikon F is my most bought and sold camera, followed by the Leica M3. But I’ve recently got a FM3a and I fully agree it is a jewel of a camera.

[@aanastasiadi]

I bought new fm3a in 2005, sold in 2008 and bought again in 2013. I was lucky enough and found like new camera

[@Bayshore958]

FE2 and FA recently now looking for an FM3a to go with my D700, Z6 and Z8. I developed a camera sickness.

[@jeziel675]

I've had a Nikon FM, FE2 and now I am on my second Nikon FA. I love how the FA has the matrix metering with the manual lens chops and handling of the FE/FM but I miss the relative simplicity of just going Aperture priority with the FE. I would definitely spring for the FM3a if I could find at the right price. It has the handling of the FE with the manual mode of the FM while also having modern comfort features like DX coding reader and film window so you can remember what's in the camera if you've put it down for a while mid-roll. Alas, I will stick with my trusty FA for the time-being.

[@milesian1]

The FA is a fabulous camera. It’s my all-time favourite manual focus camera, and I’ve bought two of them.

[@Sylvester414]

Mine is the FM2, I also sold my m6 and kept it. I was using the 35mm f2d initially on it like you. Image quality is great but the feel of it is lacking (focussing etc) If you keep the FM3 can I recommend the Voigtlander ultron 40mm f2 slii original pancake version. It feels great, is tiny and is brighter through the viewfinder.

[@ayenoppa4717]

I bought Fm3a over 10 years ago and still have it. dropped once but still works but honestly can beat M6 simple and easy to use.

[@mickturner9201]

Mate, I've lost count on how many Nikon F4s I've had over the years. Currently have two in the camera bag. The FM3a is one I've been after for a while.

[@chenyang5448]

Nikon Fm3a is a great camera. Having used the Fm2n for a few years , my experience with it has been wonderful. The camera is well built, reliable and I have collected a few great lenses. When a near mint Fm3a turned up last week, I jumped into it and received the camera this morning. When the camera is in my hand , it feels even more perfect. I can't wait to use it and try the new features. The price here in Europe is quite high now. Many sellers ask above €1,000 and if you see one around €700 you shouldn't wait. When I put both cameras side by side, a silver FM3a and a brassy black Fm2n, it is a beautiful sight. I promise myself I will still give some love to the FM2n, the older sibling.

[@H2o3G2a]

I bought two fm3as as part of a deal and was going to sell one of them but decided against it. I now have a beat up body and a mint one which I just started messing with as well. I took them to the desert in Egypt, water falls, in snow and it has never let me down. I can confirm that they can handle a beating, don't be afraid of abusing them I use the the ultron 40mm and the nikkor 45mm. Both are beautiful lenses and I like the lens hoods they come with. Highly recommended

[@richardt1792]

Have a bunch of Nikons from the F,, the Fphotomic, F2AS, F3, F4, &F5. I've done good at finding great cameras on the cheap but never, ever have I found a deal on the FM3a. They're basically all over $1000 U.S. I've never spent that much on a camera.

[@ChristopherVisser]

I’m on my 4th Olympus XA. It’s a beast of a little camera and I love it being an actual rangefinder with selectable aperture settings. I’ll use them constantly for several y months and then when I decide to do a camera purge it will end up in the outgoing gear. Six months will go by and then someone will be selling one and I’ll need to grab it again. Thankfully even though it’s been several years, I’ve never pairs than a 125 USD for any of them. But I think (I hope!) this latest copy is for keeps.

[@thedarkslide]

There's nothing like a fully mechanical camera with butter smooth gear motions. I love my Leica M3 and MP, I look at them as the benchmark as to what a fully mechanical camera needs to deliver - I never bought into a Nikon SLR system though.

[@hellatightdude]

Do it, you won’t regret it. Pairing a Nikon FM3a with my MP allows me to comfortably shoot in low light conditions thanks to minimal shutter vibrations with the MP with being able to shoot at wider apertures in bright daylight with the FM3a’s 1/4000th max shutter. Add to it the economy of Nikon glass plus ability to look through the lens with longer focal lengths and the FM3a + MP pretty much cover everything I could ever want to do with mechanical film cameras. Then I have a Nikon F6 and Contax G2 to cover my film autofocus needs.

[@andrewrothman7805]

Lol, I know the feeling. I am on my 4th Leica M3, my second Nikon F3, my second F2AS, my second Mamiya C330, my second Mamiya M645 1000s, and my second Voigtlander Vitessa. It's an incurable ailment. I still have my original black FM3A, though. I've thought about selling it, but I always resist.

[@Jayysam95]

I bought and sold an FM3A twice deciding my FM2n and F3 are better value, now I’m eyeing a chrome one for $1000 locally. It’s the smoothest SLR I’ve ever used.

[@ljubisapesic2387]

Over the years I bought and sold many cameras, I had fm and fm2 but not fm3a but of all the film and digital cameras i owned and there were really a lot of them, the only camera that I regret selling it a long time ago is the Nikon F2 Titan. Perfection and in my opinion the best 35mm of all.

[@Raffnunez]

I’ve bought and sold the Nikon f3 twice already. The fm3a has always been in my radar but I always tend to lean towards the fm3a. I think this was actually the last time owning a f3, some sense came into my head that I need a mechanical camera, something that will last forever.

[@segzeeman7356]

I don’t know if it’s a AU/CDN dollar parity thing, but when I first learned about the FM3a maybe 2-3 years ago, it was selling for around $400-500 on eBay. Now it’s around $1000-1200 CDN. The FM2/3a are out of my price range and what i feel I want to spend on a film camera. But, I figure if people can simp over Leicas with max 1/1000 shutter speeds, I can do fine with a FM 😅

[@shootswithcoops]

I think you may have been lucky, 2-3 years ago the ones I was seeing were still $900

[@kevlarnegative]

Fm3a is a beast, sold it for the M6. Not sure if I did the right thing since the light meter died on my Leica. Not going back though, wife wouldn't let me anyway 😜

[@johnpeschke7723]

i wish i'd not sold my Nikon F2A and my non-AI lenses...just sentimental but the F2 was unbeatable.

[@JonnyEnglish-gu1cs]

FM3a is on my wish list saving for one now I already have the FM2n and F3 and FE2 like the black version

[@JonnyEnglish-gu1cs]

@@shootswithcoops I think you have your replies around the wrong way but I read the other one 2 nd f3 I went with the HP version as I wear glasses I love it

[@JammiYork]

Pentax K1000 about four times.

[@studiosnch]

I have two of these, one in black and another in chrome. One way of knowing which is which other than the colour is their shutter sound: the black one has a lower timbre and the chrome one has it higher.

[@rickhauser9698]

Sold F3 to buy FM3a. Kept FM and bought two F3s, one HP.

[@timcarlson6065]

Just picked up my 3rd Canon AF35ML point and shoot. Bought the first from a thrift store and it was my first point and shoot that I actually liked. Sold it, like a moron, and then bought the second hoping to bring back the feelings, only to not get the 1000 iso version and decided to sell due to prices ticking up. Got lucky with the third and will probably hold onto it.

[@anthonymorrison2779]

My FM3A is my favorite 35mm SLR I've ever had!

[@davidhunt9692]

For me it's the leica m6. I've had 3 in the last 6 years or so. Always sold to jump back into medium format

[@brandonlavoie4364]

oddly enough, the x100F, but made the switch to a leica q2 reporter last year and would be remiss if I said I'd ever get rid of it.

[@eesuuorundide3967]

for me so far it's been the Leica R4. I've probably owned 4 now. I invested in a 50mm lens and a 90mm lens, both of which I love. My experience has been that something always goes wrong with the bodies. They're cheap so I just replaced the first couple, then I thought it smarter to just invest in having one body serviced to perfection... and the shutter is jamming again... maybe I'll stop being cheap and upgrade to the R6.

[@baladino]

Yo Coop what film stock did you use for those images of the car ? Say it aint FP4 ! I’ve never sold a film camear apart from the Contax G2. A quality film camera if maintained lasts indefinitely at least for 10 years or more if serviced now and then barring any replacement of parts etc. I’m a rangefinder type of guy who recently purchased a Nikon FM2n.

[@shootswithcoops]

Yeah was FP4, you know it hahaha

[@sdhute]

Shooting at Pentax mx1 and looking for something better fm3 or just drive straight into a Leica ma

[@tallaganda83]

I don’t have such a camera but I did promise I’d never shoot film again but am contemplating picking up another film camera.

[@BeingWolfy]

I wish the FM3A film advance didn't have to be pulled out in order to take a picture. I'm a left eye shooter, and I feel that thing would stick into my right eye or forehead.

[@BeingWolfy]

Btw, I'm on my 2nd F3. :-) Bought, sold, rebought. Lol!

[@shootswithcoops]

I feel you on that one, I’m lucky I’m able use both eye, the advance lever in your face is no fun

[@Roman_4x5]

That is true. I cannot focus well in my right eye, so shooting with left eye is not very comfortable. But who buys these cameras for comfort? ;)

[@poniatowski3547]

hell yeah I feel that pain!. I'd love the F3 advance on it.

[@tonyhayes9827]

I'm a left eye shooter as well. Its fine.

[@paulmcivor9994]

Pentax MZ-S twice K-1000 three times Pentacon 6 twice Leica M7 twice It's a problem, I know...😮

[@the_last_rangefinder_society]

Similar, couldn’t recover from how good the metering is in the F5 so I rebought it then added another in case anything happened to the first one but like you I guess this has left me searching for AF-D lenses in good nick that can be used on the F5s and my remaining FM (which is much much older than your 3a but seems incredibly good value these days for 120£-140£ here in the UK (feb 23)…..seems bizarre that you can get a reasonable F5 for 350£ yet plastic compacts and high end point and shoots (Contax T2) go for hundreds more…………

[@H2o3G2a]

I also want to say that the camera's price has almost been the same since release... That can't be said about almost any camera ever.

[@terrywbreedlove]

I have been shooting my F3hp for about 8 year now. It just keeps shooting and shooting. I can't remember when i changed the batteries last . They live on forever it seems. It is like my Hasselblad 503 CW. Once you get the right camera you don't sell the thing. You buy more film.

[@jamesmallard9336]

The Nikon F it’s the third time I’ve bought that camera .

[@hgrgrnd1206]

Nikon f4 bought and sold 3 x and will probably buy again 😂

[@silvestersze9968]

Hey man, sell it again and get a Nikon FM instead. That’s an original design and materials for no plastic parts replaced interiorly and exteriorly. No cutting corners in the build on saving costs of production. All metal gears ⚙️ inside the body. They took away the metal Ai adapter ring with a switchable metal tab by the lens mount for the use of non-Ai lenses. The new replacement is a non-movable plastic tab which can be used only on Ai lenses and onward. Also, if you compare the Film rewind crank on the FM3A to the FM, FM2 and the FM2N you can see the craftsmanship on it (cut corners for less labor. 😢

[@Roman_4x5]

I payed $957.63 because I had to have it... But for usability, is not better than FM2n with upgraded type-K focusing screen, which I also own. I find the aperture priority cumbersome. The EL button is not ergonomically located. Perhaps, one day I will try using flash with the TTL and the flash fill button and it will justify the price... maybe.

[@wylie_photo]

Leica MP, silver, keep buying, keep selling; it's a love / hate thing (I still have it). The only film camera that has survived for me is my Nikon F3. My favourite camera, bar none, I'll never sell it - well, probably not...! 😉

[@silvestersze9968]

I would get a Leica R5 instead with that kind of money. FM3A is over priced IMOP Leitz glasses are just amazingly good! 🎉

[@Bayshore958]

Nikon D700 2x

[@shootswithcoops]

Great colours

[@MrShanePhoto]

Kept every camera i bought. 😅

[@tompaste387]

Hasselblad XPAN. Twice. Hasselblad 503 Twice. Nikon F2a. Twice. Nikkormat FTn. Thrice

[@lst141]

Wanna sell your FM3a? 😂 I’m a taker!

[@tomislavmiletic_]

Resist the sale. Resist. You can do it. 🤣 For me, I'll never ever sell any of my mechanical cameras ever agin. Last time I've done that my FM2 got in the hand of a man who shortly after boarded an special flight. He died in a plane crash with that camera on him. Call me superstitious, IDK...

[@vangstr]

My story is…. (5) Olympus stylus epics, (4) Nikon F2, (6) Nikon L35AF, (3) Nikon F, (4) Nikon F3, (4) Yashica T4/T5, (3) Canon Ftb, (4) Canon A1, (3) Minolta X700, (2) Yashica Mat 120G, (3) Mamiya C330 S/F, (2) Leica M3 😢