I didn't have such problems when I was the school photographer (major in photography in college, quit..and switched to electronics). There was no auto focus with my F3HP and F . I didn't even wanna use the light meter, why I always kept a fully manual camera.
Just a matter of getting used to it. I spend more than 10 years on photography before . I pretty much quit for 20 years, using a sony picket camera now... I couldn't afford to have cameras and hi fi systems.