Nikon FM3A - Design History

Design History

During the mid 1990s, a demand arose among some photographers for a quality manual-focus alternative to the 35 mm autofocus SLR camera. These cameras required complex computer and processing mechanisms, and especially in their amateur and consumer versions, were known for neither their ruggedness nor a long service life. Nikon owners began to demand a durable, precision-made camera with the AE electronic features and prized construction of the discontinued Nikon FE2, which had begun to skyrocket in value on the secondhand market. Nikon responded to this phenomenon with a revival of their classic FM/FE series design.

The FM3A's expensive construction and conservative design were not intended to appeal to the consumer-level market. Nikon instead marketed the camera to serious amateur and professional photographers who were desirous of the highest possible quality and precision of control, and a service life estimated not in years, but decades.

The FM3A's introduction coincided with a major technological revolution in photographic technology—digital imaging. Many photographers, professional and amateur alike, switched to digital, resulting in a huge decrease in film SLR sales. By 2004, annual sales of digital cameras had surpassed those of film cameras. Though FM3a sales remained steady, they were minuscule in volume compared to Nikon's other cameras, and steadily increasing costs forced Nikon to announce the discontinuation of the FM3a on 11 January 2006, leaving only the expensive and heavily electronic Nikon F6 and the inexpensively built Nikon FM10 in Nikon's 35mm film SLR line. Since the announcement of the FM3a's discontinuance, value on the secondhand market of the FM3a camera (and its FM2 predecessors) appreciably increased.