F3HP: did I pay a good price? + need info on a lens

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Hello. I just bought a Nikon F3HP in beautiful condition (the only spot on it is a small ding in the finder)which came with an MD-4 motor drive and a Carl Zeiss Jena II 24mm lens with the word 'Macro' on it. I paid US$647.28 for all of it; can anyone tell me if this is a good price for what I got? (It's a fantastic camera; I love it!)

Also, can anyone tell me anything about this lens, the Carl Zeiss Jena II 24mm lens with the word 'Macro' which I mentioned above? Specifically: what does 'Macro' mean? Is it a good lens? Is it expensive/cheap? And anything else that might be worthy of note. Thanks to all,

Ken

-- Ken M (Kenm12000@yahoo.com), August 20, 2001

Answers

Well, You could have scored a great deal or you could have been burned. The lens is East german Zeiss, and to be honest, I'm not sure about it's optical quality. You can shoot it, however, and find out. Last week I bought an F3HP with a BIG (not little) ding in the prism for $450. I have a MD-4 available to me for $250. That would be $700 to me and thats WITH my employee discount. Toss another $150 for our asking retail price.

BUT......

I work in a camera repair facility, and have access to wonderful test equipment, and this body shines on the tester, as the meter is spot- on, shutter speeds correct, and overall awesome shape, save for the prism. I would get the camera checked over for shutter/meter accuracy, INCLUDING SIDE-TO-SIDE variation- basically testing the shutter to make sure that the curtain opening "slit" remains the same width across the frame, as the shutter opens, in the middle of the frame, and as the shutter is closing.

There are numerous points on a camera that should be evaluated to get a accurate idea of it's condition, but bottom line is what the film looks like. For me, Film is the ultimate test, and the other stuff is just preliminary to a purchase.

PS> "macro" on your lens may not mean macro- just focus it to it's closest distance, get close to a subject, and see! W/A lenses rarely, if ever, reach true macro proportions (1:1-ish) but I love getting close with wides. Have fun. Also, If you're looking for a good shop to test your camera, I can look in your geographic region and help. Not all shops are the same, unfortunately.

-- Mike DeVoue (karma77@att.net), August 22, 2001.


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