In article <19970117223500.RAA02062@ladder01.news.aol.com>, jordbill@aol.com says...

>I am ready to move on from my 30-year-old Canon Pellix to a more modern
>SLR, primarily for landscapes and some family photography. I have been
>debating between the Nikon N70 (seems adequate but perhaps not durable
>enough) and the N90s (overkill for my purposes?). As I examine the
>benefits and shortfalls of the two cameras, it occurs to me that the one
>feature of both that seems of limited benefit to me is autofocus. As a
>result, I wonder whether an F3HP might not suit my purposes better. I have
>a question, however, about how the flash systems compare. I have read how
>wonderful the "3-D Multi Sensor Balanced Fill Flash" in the N70/90s is.
>Not having even a hot shoe on my old Pellix, any TTL flash seems pretty
>exotic to me, and I wonder whether I wouldn't be completely satisfied with
>the F3HP flash. Any comments on the relative merits of these cameras
>would be appreciated.

They are very different. The F3 is a compact, solid-feeling, old-style
(in the best sense) design with a wonderful viewfinder (100% coverage,
no linear distortion, and sharpness and accurate focus everywhere in
the field). The N70 (tyro-oriented) and N90 do not share these
characteristics, but do offer AF, complex AE choices, and fancy TTL
flash capabilities. If you can do without the 1/250th second flash
sync. and "D" flash metering of these cameras (the "D" feature works,
but is of benefit mostly with unusually dark or light predominating
subjects), the F3 offers TTL flash (to 400 ASA, and limited to 1/80th
maximum sync. speed), and with the AS-7 flash shoe or the TTL remote
cord, can also deliver manually-set TTL fill-ratios (though each stop
of fill-ratio set reduces the maximum film speed useable by the same
amount, i.e., 1 1/3 stop flash fill-ratio reduces the maximum film
speed that can be TTL flash metered from 400 to 160 ASA). Another
advantage of the F3: the flash shoe is on one corner of the camera,
putting the flash head above the lens for both H and V orientations
of the camera (the SB-17 flash movements can augment this position).
The new plastic cameras have built-in motors, which help us left-eyed
folks...
Hope This Helps