Other Features The FM3a will accept all Nikkor lenses, manual and autofocus, except IX and G-types (they lack aperture rings), and old non-AI lenses (the FM3a doesn't have a meter-coupling-lever release button)—AI, AI-S, AF-D, AF-S, and P lenses all work fine in auto and manual modes (but without autofocusing, of course).
Unlike the FM2, the FM3a provides TTL flash exposure control (when a Nikon SB-series Speedlight is attached to its hot-shoe or connected via a Nikon dedicated off-camera flash cord). A threaded PC terminal lets you use studio flash systems. Maximum flash-sync shutter speed is the same with shoe-mount and PC-connected flashes: a very fast 1/250. The camera's TTL sensor reads both flash and ambient illumination for nicely balanced results, and there's a fill-flash button just above the lens-release button that reduces the flash output by about one stop for a nice fill effect. The flash-ready light in the viewfinder glows when the flash is ready to fire, but you have to remember to set the proper flash-sync shutter speed (1/250 or slower)—the camera won't automatically correct it if you set a speed that's too fast as the AF SLRs do.
There's a simple mechanical self-timer. To use it, just push the self-timer lever down, then press the shutter button. Depending on how far down you pressed the lever, the camera will fire 4 to 10 seconds later. To cancel the self-timer, just push the lever back to its starting position. There's a depth-of-field preview (press the preview button) and multiple-exposure capability (make the first shot, then move the multiple-exposure lever aft and cock the shutter; repeat as many times as you wish), but no mirror prelock (however, the camera's quick-return reflex mirror uses a special control gear and wheel mechanism that minimizes mirror bounce).
If you want to imprint data on the film (or just want a very accurate quartz-timed LCD clock), you can easily remove the standard camera back and attach the optional Data Back MF-16 (the same one the FM2 uses), which lets you record year/month/day, day/hour/minute or any two-digit code number on the lower right corner of the image.
In Use
This isn't a camera for point-and-shooters. While it offers aperture-priority AE, you do have to select an aperture—and you have to focus the lens manually, thread the film leader onto the take-up spool properly, cock the shutter after each shot and manually rewind the film after the last exposure on the roll (you know you've reached that point when the advance lever won't move anymore—when that happens, press the little rewind button on the camera bottom, flip up the rewind crank, and rotate it in the direction of the arrow until you feel the film leader detach from the take-up spool). But doing all of this is good discipline...and for many, a small price to pay for freedom from dependence on batteries.
As is often the case with new cameras, our test FM3a came without an instruction manual. But it was simple to figure out everything (except that little black button with a flash symbol on it that reduces the flash output from a shoe-mount dedicated Nikon Speedlight by one stop) without a manual.
Our test camera performed very well in A mode, delivering accurate exposures in most situations—as mentioned earlier, 60/40 center-weighted metering isn't quite as "foolproof" as the 3D Matrix metering used in Nikon's AF SLRs, but you quickly learn when to override it. (That's one thing that separates photographers from snapshooters—photographers know when to override the automation, while snapshooters blindly depend on it.)
Folks used to shooting with AF SLRs will have to acquire a new mind-set to use the FM3a. You have to remember to cock the camera after each shot, and to pull the cocking lever out to the "on" position before trying to shoot (the camera won't fire until you pull the lever out from the body—that's the "on/off" switch). And you have to remember to focus! But the benefits are great. Manual focusing and the depth-of-field preview make selective-focus shooting and close-up work a snap. You can't waste a frame because you accidentally pressed the shutter button too far down when you only meant to autofocus on the scene—or waste two or three frames because you didn't let go of the shutter button quickly enough in continuous-advance mode. You don't have to rotate a master dial while pressing the proper button while referring to an LCD panel just to change the aperture. And the feel of a nice, solid, metal camera can be quite reassuring.
No, this isn't a camera for point-and-shooters. But it's a great choice for photography students who want a camera that'll last them a long time and take them as far into 35mm photography as they want to go (and who like being able to use lots of great Nikkor lenses!), for shooters who like to control things themselves—and for anyone who's ever missed a shot because the camera battery died.
