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There a lot of info here – what did you find most interesting?
The fact that they work without transistors.
Technology Connections did a couple episodes on the ingeniously simple tech in a couple old cameras.
Holy cow that first camera is just so full of genius engineering.
I’m always astounded at what 19th century engineers could do with just mechanical stuff.
Hell yeah. They pulled off some impressive shit in the 20th as well. Automatic transmissions are amazing. That’s why nobody can actually fix one. BMW pulled off fuselage-mounted machine guns that fired between the spinning blades of the propeller in WWI. Hence the brag in their emblem.
It is funny how all this old stuff that don’t have any kind of electronics are seen now. I have a gramophone that feels like black magic, specially with how loud that thing can be.
I have an F3 which was 2 generations after the F. It is hands down, the best looking, the best feeling and the best sounding camera I have.
The camera was so successful it was in production for 20 years from 1980 - 2000. That kind of a run is unheard of in today’s tech environment. In fact, it’s successor, the F4, was released while the F3 was still being sold (1988) and was discontinued (1997) before the F3.
If you’re interested in this stuff this website is a treasure trove of information: https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/htmls/slrmain5979.htm
I miss my old Pentax ME Supers
Seeing things like this makes me wish there was a digital “film” canister that had a battery and MicroSD card and a full frame image sensor board that plus into it. You would be able to load it in any old SLR body and shoot digital full manual as film.
They do. It’s expensive.
Most of the ones you’ll find today have the Photomic finder, which is mechanically connected to the aperture ring and shutter speed dial, but uses electronics for meter reading without opening/closing the aperture.
I have an F2, which was a high school graduation present, and it’s my go-to 35mm camera. It’s an improved F with an improved Photomic finder but still mechanically connected. The whole F series were designed for professional use and with some care will last for generations to come.
