I do not use cameras that function on a battery source. Exceptions are my 1969 Nikon F Photomic, the 1971 Nikon F2, and the 1980 Olympus OM. In all three cases, the batteries are only for the light meter, which I rarely use.
In 1984 I bought a 1982 Nikon F3 HP to see if I can discover the “wonders of electronic cameras.” It was a truly professional camera but on a trip to Asia, something happened with the circuitry and that marvelous machine became a paperweight. I always travel with a fully mechanical camera, so the 1950s Canon L1 rangefinder saved the day. However, I put the F3 on the shelve and forgot to have it checked. That was more than 20 years ago.
A month ago, I saw a box full of old camera parts in an antiques store. Looking through it I recognized the MD-4 winder made for the F3, with corrosion-free AA battery carrier inserted. I asked the lady if the winder works. She laughed:
“This is an antiques store, things are for collection only.”
The price was ridiculously low, so I thought I would mount it on my F3 to enhance its “antique” appearance.
Then, I recalled that the power supply from the winder was supposed to bypass the battery circuitry of the camera and make it run on the 6 AA batteries of the winder. A true genius of Nikon engineers perhaps anticipating a malfunction in the field that can be remedied by the winder.
So, 6 AA batteries and that sweet melody of the F3 shutter took me back decades.
… This weekend there was the Holiday Parade in Prescott, and I decided to test if my F3, sporting the venerable Nikkor 105mm 2.5 will perform again. I took photos using the camera as a manual one by setting the shutter speed and aperture (even though the shutter is triggered via battery power) and also by switching to the 40 year old technology of the Aperture Priority where I set the aperture and the camera’s digital brain chooses the “best” shutter speed.
Here is my 1982 Nikon F3 HP with the winder:
As for the negative development and printing process, I developed using my usual development/stop bath/fixer times, but when printing under the enlarger I overexposed the paper by 2 seconds. I always did so when using the Nikkor 105 for portraiture – I get a pronounced contrast of black, gray and white helping to create a more mysterious portrait even when taken in a studio.
Here are a few photos:
First, the one at the outset shows an outlier among the parade participants. Wearing formal attire, his high wheeler gave a unique moment to my Nikkor 105. The overexposure under the enlarger accentuated the shades making him stand out as I had imagined when tripping the shutter.
This woman almost posed for me. I thought she might have noticed my old camera and perhaps that brought back memories of her F3 – not sure, but again it is an unscripted moment in the parade.
It is difficult to talk about Prescott, the cowboy city, without mentioning horses.
This photo followed a test of the Aperture Priority function of the F3. On a very bright and sunny day, I opened the lens to f5.6 and the shutter was set to 1/1000 sec. I like the marriage of opaque and translucidity. If nothing, the trainer of these young women who were twirling flags should be happy – their synchronization was excellent!
So it was a pleasant experience seeing how my 41 year old Nikon F3 HP came back to like with a winder I found in an antiques shop. Next time I will use a 50mm lens to have more framing latitude.
December 3, 2023
©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023
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