Quote Originally Posted by Viggi View Post
On and off I research various cameras on the internet, and I've GAS'ed over Nikon F4/F5 (and read up on F6 and F100) as well some high-end Contax (RX mainly). I have a few 35mm cameras and all except Nikon F80 and Hexar AF are manual focus and mechanical (like the Nikon FM2n). The F80 doesn't partner FM2n too well because the former won't support the older lenses. So, I might pick up an F100 instead or an F4. But in this digital age, why get these fast, automatic film cameras? I'm not going to fire an F5 off at 8fps. Just use digital kit for that. For those of us who use film, it seems it should be more of a thai-chi type photography, mainly in B&W; enjoying the feel of the camera, honing your skills and understanding of exposure, and getting that film look we love. The Nikon F6 should be in nowhere-land - not much nostalgia attached to it and truly superseded by the digital revolution. I can see why you'd like to use the more recent film cameras - they are most likely more reliable, but one could also pick up Nikon FM3a, which went out of production in 2006.

So why do you use F6, F5, or other high-end film cameras such Minolta 7, 9 or Canon equivalent?
I like my F3HP, it has all the features I need. Interchangable viewfinder, accurate viewfinder, 5fps film advance but like you said it's like 30 years old and may not be very reliable so I have my F5 it does pretty much the same as the F3 and it's much newer. As for the FM3a ?? I think it's way overpriced (although I did spend $2000 for the F5, still I think the FM3a is overpriced) and yet not having all the features I want. To me it's not as good as the F3 besides the fact that it's newer and not yet worn out.