New manual-focus 35mm SLR combines battery-free shutter speeds to 1/4000 and flash sync to 1/250 with aperture-priority AE and TTL flash Nikon's venerable FM2 has enjoyed a two-decade span as a popular camera with 35mm photographers who want a solid, reliable SLR and like to control all aspects of shooting. In fact, I almost bought one back in 1983. I actually walked into the camera store fully intending to buy an FM2, but at the last minute bought an F3 instead. Why? Mainly because the F3 offered aperture-priority AE, and I figured the speed and convenience of that would be a big help in my aerial and action photography. (It was.)
Well, Nikon has just introduced the FM3a, which retains its predecessor's fine features—including battery-free mechanical shutter speeds from one second to 1/4000 (plus B), flash sync up to 1/250, solid metal construction, interchangeable focusing screens, depth-of-field preview, multiple-exposure capability and simple direct-dial operation—and adds aperture-priority AE (with stepless electronic shutter speeds from 8 seconds to 1/4000), TTL flash capability, auto-DX as well as manual film-speed setting and a film-ID window on the back. Mechanical and electronic shutter speeds in the same camera? You betcha!
Like its predecessor, the FM3a is rugged and durable. Its die-cast body of copper silumin aluminum resists metal fatigue, corrosion and the effects of temperature and humidity, yet is quite light. Textured gripping surfaces on the front and back are attractive and functional. The lens mount and tripod socket are metal, and the metal shutter features aluminum-alloy curtains. This is a solid shooting machine.
Focusing
Focusing is quite simple. There are no focusing modes to sort through and select. Just rotate the focusing ring on the lens until the image looks sharp in the viewfinder. There's no focus-confirmation LED as there is in an AF SLR, but the central split-image surrounded by microprism collar makes focusing by eye easier than with the AF models. Focusing is more difficult when using slow lenses in dim light, because the image is harder to see—but such conditions give AF systems trouble, too.
Exposure
With the FM3a's 60/40 center-weighted metering (retained from the FM2), 60% of the emphasis is placed on the area inside the 12mm-diameter circle in center of the viewfinder, the other 40% on the surrounding area. This isn't as foolproof as the amazing 3D Matrix metering used in Nikon's current AF 35mm SLR cameras (or as specific as the 75/25 center-weighted metering these cameras also provide), but it gets the job done—and learning to use it will teach you things about metering that point-and-shooters will never know.
The FM3a provides two exposure modes: aperture-priority AE (A on the shutter-speed dial), and metered manual. In A mode, you set the aperture you want to use by rotating the lens's focusing ring to the desired f-number, and the camera automatically and near-instantly sets the corresponding shutter speed for correct exposure (based on the 60/40 meter reading). This provides you with the speed and convenience of automation, plus direct control over the aperture (and thus indirect control over the shutter speed). For convenience, a windowat the top of the viewfinder display shows the set aperture, while a black needle at the left points to the camera-set shutter speed (of course, you can also read the aperture off the aperture ring, and the shutter speed off the shutter-speed dial). Aperture-priority AE has been my favorite shooting mode since my F3 days (I've since switched to a pro AF 35mm SLR, but still use aperture-priority AE for most of my shooting)—for aerial work, I just set the lens's widest aperture, and the camera automatically gives me the fastest possible shutter speed for the light conditions (when your subject is at least 500 feet away, depth of field isn't a major concern); if I want more depth of field, or a slow shutter speed to pan-blur an action subject, I just set a smaller aperture.
You can set ±2 stops of exposure compensation, in 1/3-stop increments, by pressing the exposure-compensation lock button and rotating the compensation dial to the desired setting. A red +/- symbol glows in the viewfinder to alert you that compensation is in use, but the viewfinder doesn't indicate the amount—you read that directly from the dial. You can also lock the exposure at any time simply by pressing the AEL button by your right thumb. If you'd like to set the film speed yourself, just lift the ISO ring up and rotate it to the desired speed (from ISO 12-6400)—or you can rotate the ring to DX for automatic setting of film speeds from ISO 25-5000 with DX-coded cassettes. (Note: When you set the ISO dial to DX, you just have to trust that the camera has set the correct film speed—there's no way to confirm it.)
In manual mode, you set both the shutter speed and the aperture yourself. When I use manual mode, it's generally in conjunction with a hand-held spot meter, but the FM3a's viewfinder display will tell you when its metering system thinks you've set the correct exposure. If you want to shoot at a specific shutter speed, rotate the shutter-speed dial to that, then rotate the lens aperture ring until the black needle on the left side of the viewfinder aligns with the set shutter speed (which is highlighted in blue, for easy reference). If you want to shoot at a specific aperture, rotate the aperture ring to that, then rotate the shutter-speed dial until the blue highlighter aligns with the black shutter-speed needle.
