 |
Why would I associate the F3P with F3Limited so closely ? Other than cosmetic, packing (They even provide a custom made broad base neck strap with name "F3 Limited"), a "Limited" word behind the F3 logo and a "L XXXXXX" serial numbering and came without a MF-6B film back as standard, it is essentially an F3P. Probably, Nikon has to entertain the pro-spec F3P which has strong potential for viable commercial appeal and also satisfied collectors' interest and repackaged the F3P as F3 Limited. |
As
with the F3P, the top panel of the F3LE is virtually identical between two models.
Note the contacting pins on the right with the DE-5 removed. Also note the DE-5
prism has only one additional flash contact for viewfinder ready light. Thus, TTL
flash is not possible. However, you may still use the regular F3's accessory shoe
to perform TTL OTF flash photography.
Note: DX-1 finder of F3AF for electronic rangefinder is not usable on this model.
 |
 |
Credit: All images of F3 Limited appeared in this site are courtesy of Mr. Edward Ngoh. Photo taken by: MCLau. |
 |
 |
The DE-5, with a distinctive (And 'odd looking' for a regular F3 body) ISO-type accessory shoe was made to be part of a prism. It opens up compatibility with many cheaper, highly portable third party flash units such as those made by Vivitar, Sunpak, Metz etc. could well have been bought long before the F3 was introduced (Nikon has solution for that with AS-4 or AS-7 flash couplers). |
 |
Anyway, for whatever the reasons those pros presented, Nikon designed the F3 P and F3 LE with a new DE-5 that will not have TTL flash exposure control and with the contacting pin rearranged for auto flash/manual functions with these models (The later F3H also has a DE-5 as standard prism). |
 |
 |
Serial number starts from an alphabet "L" and with a "Limited" word behind the F3's logo in front of the camera. |
Update: Another set which "surfaced" recently was in the || Free Trade Zone || section in MIR site and was quickly being snapped up. Fortunately, I managed to email the seller (Mr Huy Lan Phan from Canada) and managed to get his permission to use some of the images in this site. |
|
|
| | | Back to Index of Nikon F3 Models Back to Pictorial History of Nikon SLRs |
|
|||||
|
|||||||
| Back to Main
Index page
of Nikon F3 Site
|
| Back to Pictorial History Site |
| Back | to Pictorial History of Nikon SLR / rangefinders / Nikonos / digital cameras.
|
About this photographic site |
Contributions and Credits |
 |
Home - Photography in Malaysia |