C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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slr-35mm
The F3 (1980) is Nikon's first electronically governed pro body — quartz-timed shutter, silicon meter, center-weighted aperture-priority AE mode in addition to manual. Giorgetto Giugiaro designed the body (and the iconic red stripe on the grip). It keeps the F-series interchangeable finder/screen system and the F mount, drops the all-mechanical shutter for an electronic one, but adds a *mechanical fallback at 1/60s* via a small black lever near the shutter button — fire that with a dead battery and you still get a frame.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
The first electronic Nikon F. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, sold for 21 years, the longest production run of any pro SLR.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Nikon F (AI / AIS) |
| Years | 1980–2001 |
| Shutter | 8s – 1/2000s, electronic horizontal titanium |
| Flash sync | 1/80s |
| Meter | TTL center-weighted silicon, 80/20 weighting |
| Modes | Manual, aperture-priority |
| Weight | 715 g |
| Battery | 2× SR44 / LR44 |
Launched 1980, intended as a 5-year flagship. It outran every plan. Variants:
Production ran continuously from 1980 to 2001. NASA used custom F3 bodies on Space Shuttle missions.
The F3 was the working pro Nikon for two decades. Newsrooms still ran F3s in 2000 because they were better than any film camera Nikon had introduced since (the F4 was bigger and battery-hungry; the F5 huge; the F6 came too late). It was the body of choice for National Geographic, sports photographers, and anyone who wanted aperture priority without losing manual.
The Giugiaro design language — angular plastic top plate, red grip stripe, oversized shutter button — became the visual template for every subsequent pro Nikon, from the FE2 to the F4 to the digital D-series.
F-mount AI/AIS Nikkors meter directly. Pre-AI lenses can be mounted with body-side switch; non-AI metering. AF Nikkors mount and shoot in manual focus. MD-4 motor drive (5.5 fps with 8 AAs). Interchangeable finders: DE-2 (eye-level standard), DE-3 (HP, high eyepoint), DA-2 (sport finder), DW-3 (waist-level), DW-4 (6× magnifier). MF-6 / MF-14 / MF-23 data backs.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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