Everything you wanted to have in a mechanical camera is here. All bases covered, well nearly. Nice to see Nikon is not abandoning the mechanical/manual focus users out there.

Metal casing will melt in a nuclear explosion.

Mechanical cameras are here to stay. This baby will still be very well used long after the electronics and LCDs of today's whiz bang do everything robotic cameras are used as landfill.

Customer Service

Very good service support in Australia.

Similar Products Used:

Canon F1, F1n, F1N, Nikon F, F2, F3, F4

see for yourself on the spec or other's reviews

compared with FE2: non-stainless steel lens mount, less secure camera back lock, less choice on the manual shutter speed, non-coated eye-piece, non-honeycomb shutter blades

This is definitely a camera that can last out your life, rugged and carefree, almost. If I could only own one camera, this is it. You can never go wrong with it.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

FE2, F70

- Solid metal construction
- Full manual control with option to use auto AE
- Beautiful design and layout for hands and eye
- TTL flash
- TTL flash compensation
- 1/250 flash sync
- 1/4000 top shutter speed
- access to super Nikkor optics

None that are worth mentioning.

I have a Nikon FE2 which I thought was already a perfect camera. Well ... Nikon brought it back to life and made it even better in the FM3A. Improvements I noted over the FE2 are: better AE lock mechanisn, TTL exposure compensation for fill-in flash, brighter viewfinder, film window in back, all shutter speeds available without a battery.

The FM3A is a superbly beautiful camera. Way to go Nikon! If you want a rugged and tremendously crafted camera that puts you in complete control ... this is the one for you! It is light, easy to handle and a joy to use!

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Have owned: Nikkormat, Nikon F, Pentax 67, Hasselblad, Nikon FE2

a BODY of FM2 + FE2

I can hardly see the light meter when in low light. It's Hard to turn the Exposure
compensation.

seems not for professional.

Similar Products Used:

FM2, FM10, FE2

Build Quality
Excellent handling
Small, Light and robust
Bright View Finder
Film window at the back
Smooth mechanical operations
DOF lever is placed exactly where it should be
I can my existing lenses

Exposure needle difficult to locate in dim light

The best manual camera body one can buy new. You can feel the quality of the craftsmanship as soon as you hold the camera. All controls are nicely placed and operations are silky smooth.

The built-in light meter is very accurate. I have double checked the exposure with hand held light meter and found the readings to be very accurate.

This surely is not for casual snap shooters as you have to think about shutter speed and apperture settings. There are two indicators in the view finder one tells the current shutter speed setting and the other needle tells you what the correct shutter speed should be. So you can quicky find out how correct/icorrect your setting is. This is great help when you deliberately want to over/under expose the picture.

If you want to learn basics of photography or want a reliable Nikon body that can give you years of trouble free service, this is for you.

There may be minor weeknesses but these can be easily ignored. The camera has everything you can get from an manual SLR.

Customer Service

Excellent service from local Nikon dealers (Grand Stores)

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F50, F90
Olympus OM2000

1. Light and very well built
2. Mirror Lock Up when Timer is On.
3. Accurate meter.
4. 1/3 stop exposure compensation.

1. Eyepoint to Low
2. Cocking Lever gets in the way of forehead when handled in a vertical format.

A wonderful manual camera. Reminds me of the good old days of my Yashica Fx3. My first roll showed that the meter is very accurate. Have yet to test the flash on it. Viewfinder is bright and clear. I got this camera to go back to basics.

Customer Service

Nikon Singapore...Not too bad!!!

Similar Products Used:

1. Yashica Fx3
2. Nikon FM2

All good points inherited from FM2 and FE2, TTL flash...

Still the viewfinder not good for one who wear glasses

Good handling as FM2, exposure compensate and exposure lock are a bit hard to use, but I always manually set compensation by the needle exposure meter display instead. Since I'm wearing glasses, the low eyepoint viewfinder as not very comfortable as the FM2. Anyway it's a superb product. I think owner of FM2 or FE2, anybody love classic feel should buy one. Also good for serious beginner. I bought it in Hong Kong and seems the price is a lot cheaper than other places.

Customer Service

Not experienced yet

Similar Products Used:

FM2n, Minotla 700si

A very solid easy to work (small in size)SLR (compaired to my AF/monsters)
AE Exposure Lock and the ability to keep working with my Nikon existing gear is what made me purchase this camera.

I wish it had a mirror lock up but... I can get it with the self-timer. For what I intend to use this camera is fine.

I don't know why but I love photographing with manual cameras. I bought this camera because I had a very old Nikon FM with a few fine prime lenses. For some reason when I am photographing with my Nikon cameras I feel I am not noticable maybe it is just my idea but I like that feeling.

The FM3a is a very fine camera which forces you to use your photographic skils and at the same time it allows you to AE. I recommed it to anyone who wants to learn photography and still be able to use its lens investment with other AF and Digital Nikon SLR's.

Similar Products Used:

EOS 620,EOS 5, EOS 7e, Nikon FM, and Mamyia 7II