The Nikon F3T is a titanium version of Nikon's famed F3 camera. Originally introduced as a "champagne" version in 1982, with its original titanium color, an all-black version was later added in 1984. The titanium-colored version was discontinued in 1985, making it slightly more rare than the black version and therefore slightly more expensive. The F3T comes with a titanium DE-4 HP finder.
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Nikon F3T with HP Finder
The Nikon F3 may just be the best film SLR Nikon every made. Put an HP finder on it and you have many a photographer's dream camera. But wait, what if that dream camera was also made from titanium? Then you'd have an F3T and, likely, the last 35mm SLR you'd ever need.
The use of titanium in Nikon camera bodies goes way back. The Nikon SP rangefinder used titanium for its shutter curtains, initiating a trend that would largely continue until the FM/FE series. Titanium has several benefits. It's extremely durable, corrosion-resistant and it's lightweight. In a shutter, this reduced weight and mass helped speed up the shutter curtains, allowing for faster shutter speeds. As a side note, the FM2/FE2 would eventually replace the titanium shutter with a honeycombed aluminum alloy to further reduce the metal curtain's mass, helping those cameras get up to their max 1/4000th second shutter speeds.
The catch with titanium - it is apparently very hard to work with - and, because of this, its use was restricted to specific applications within cameras. Nikon released a "Titan" model of their F2 but these are extremely rare and collectible. The F3T, by contrast, is still fairly rare but much less so. The F3T not only has its titanium shutter, but also titanium top and bottom plates, a titanium DE-4 HP finder, and a titanium back door. It keeps an already excellent camera excellent, but makes it a hair lighter and even more durable. If you are an F3 lover, keep an eye peeled for the F3T, it is a camera you will love using.