Nikon did not produce many limited edition series of their cameras, and when they did the changes tended to favor function over form. The Nikon F3 Titanium for example replaced various plates of the camera with titanium, a metal that is as strong as steel but lighter and more resistant to corrosion.⁠

⁠The Nikon F3 Limited is a bit of form and function.  On one hand it is based on the F3 Press with its raised shutter speed dial, rubber-sealed shutter button, mechanical shutter lock switch, and titanium DE-5 prism with standard hot shoe.  All of these modifications were designed to assist photojournalists with the rugged and far-flung nature of their work.  The already sturdy Nikon F3 became even more durable and reliable.  In particular the raised shutter speed dial and soft touch nature of the shutter button are nice additions.  The ISO-type hot shoe on the DE-5 prism should not be overlooked though as it allowed even more variety with attached flashes without having to convert the F3's proprietary flash mount (though it is worth noting this hot shoe does not support TTL flash metering). ⁠

⁠If all that was the F3 Press, then the F3 Limited added some appeal to collectors with a custom set of boxes and "Nikon F3 Limited" camera strap.  It was also apparently only marketed in Japan.⁠

⁠This F3 Limited makes a pretty awesome camera when paired with the Nikkor 50mm f1.4. If you have longed for the HP version of the F3, then the F3 Limited is arguably even better with the Press modifications!

Want to talk about a roundabout way of getting Nikkor lenses on your Nikon camera?  Staff member, Arthur Ruckle, recently picked up a Nikon F to Bronica S lens adapter from Fotodiox.  Arthur has a Bronica C2 medium format camera that recently developed a shutter issue.  Never one to let a good Nikkor medium format lens go to waste, Arthur headed over to Fotodiox's website to check out their lens adapters.  He appreciated the symmetry of pairing his Bronica Nikkors up with his Nikon 35mm SLRs, especially since many of the autofocus Nikon cameras have focus confirmation that will also work with these lenses.  While Arthur awaits another Bronica C2 to arrive, he has been putting his collection of medium format Nikkor glass to good use, albeit in a slightly different format.⁠

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You may not move terribly fast lugging around this Topcor 300mm f/5.6 attached to a Nikon F3 but, given the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway sticker on the barrel of this lens, we are betting this rig has photographed some subjects that have moved quite fast indeed.⠀ ⠀

We love it when gear comes in with signs of its past life; wear and weathering and other little hints as to what it may have seen in its years.  Hold this camera and lens up to your face and what might you hear?  Perhaps the revving of engines and a whooshing of air...

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We have long loved the slightly asymmetrical design common to most 35mm SLRs.  There is something about how the prism sits a bit to the left, weighting the shutter and wind lever to the right.  It inspires a way of holding the camera that feels sublime (our apologies to left-handed photographers).  Thank you to this Nikon F3 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.4 for helping us illustrate this.  Symmetry can sometimes be just so uninteresting.⠀

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From one Nikon to another... we love you.  Whether you are an F, F2, F3, EL2, FM3a, life is just a bit better with the feeling of a Nikon SLR in hand.⠀ 

The Nikon F3 is a famous camera for many reasons.  One of those reasons is that users could combine it with the HP "High Eyepoint" finder.  This prism did two things.  First off, it gave better eye relief than the standard finder, which is important if you wear glasses and cannot get your eye as close to the eyepiece as those who do not wear glasses.  The second characteristic of this finder was that it offered 100% coverage.⠀ ⠀

Most SLR prisms offer less than 100% coverage, usually in the mid to upper 90 percentile.  This means that the viewfinder will show slightly less than what the negative will record.  Typically, this minor cropping isn't that big of a deal, especially since most cameras will be at 95-97%.  This coverage does matter, however, if you are doing highly exact work such as producing copy negatives or if you are fond of printing with zero cropping.  Interestingly enough, very few cameras out there give  the full 100% coverage.  The F3 does, but only with the HP finder.  It seems the Nikon F and F2 do as well.  There is conflicting information that the original Canon F-1 is 100%, and the Minolta Maxxum 9 and Contax RTSIII are also supposed to be 100%.  Compare that to a camera like the Nikon N55, which is about 89%, and you can see the difference in in-finder composition.  Tangentially, no SLR that we know of offers more than 100% coverage; meaning, you see more than the negative records.  This typically happens in rangefinder cameras.⠀ ⠀

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One of the many things that makes the Nikon F3 so noteworthy of a camera is the vast number of accessories that Nikon made for it.  Really, there are tons of them!  For example, how about the DW-3 which turns your F3 into a waist level camera, complete with a small pop-up magnifier for critical focusing. 

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A Nikon F3 showing off the incredible new 12mm f/2.8 lens from Laowa. 

Not only is this lens super wide, it is relatively fast, and it is rectilinear; meaning that the optics have been corrected, as much as possible, to keep straight lines looking straighter in your images!

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