More vintage camera fun (Nikon F2 Photomic)
I've been shooting with a Nikon FE for a while now, but after picking up some pre-AI lenses cheap at a local antiques store, I decided to buy a proper pre-AI camera to go with them. The FE can, of course, use pre-AI lenses, but you have to use stop-down metering, which I find annoying. Besides, any excuse to buy another classic camera, right?
An eBay vendor sold me a Nikon F2 and DP-1 Photomic viewfinder together with Nikkor 50mm f/2 and 300mm f/4.5 lenses. Serial numbers date the camera, the finder, and both lenses to mid/late 1972, so one is naturally inclined to wonder if they were originally purchased together the way my Pentax SV setup was. No way to find out this time, though. But as with the Pentax, the camera arrived in one of those leather "ever-ready" cases, which apparently has been protecting it for its entire life, for the camera is in lovely shape, as you can see here:
The seller had warned in the item description that he had not tested the meter, but claimed that the camera otherwise appeared to be working properly. It is indeed in excellent working order, and the meter works just fine. Everything is really quite clean aside from a few specks in the viewfinder (I haven't tried cleaning the focusing screen yet). An additional bonus (not mentioned in the auction listing, though visible in the seller's photos) is the presence of the Nikon AR-1 soft release, which can cost you $50 or more these days. Since taking this picture, I've purchased a replacement for the missing PC sync cap. I suppose eventually it'll just get lost again.
This being my first pre-AI Nikon camera, I had to figure out how the metering prong interacted with the finder. It's a clever little mechanism; a pin emanating from the finder is hooked by the prong when you mount a lens and gets dragged around as you change apertures. The little window in the front of the finder shows the lens' maximum aperture so you can tell it figured things out correctly when you did the twist-one-way-then-the-other move after mounting. The AI system is definitely an improvement, but this older approach really isn't nearly as annoying as I'd thought it might be.
Here are a few shots from my first roll of Tri-X in this camera. The first one was taken in my front yard; the others at Jack London Square by the waterfront in Oakland.
1. Yellow Rose (Nikkor 50mm f/2 with yellow filter)
2. Statue of Jack London (early 1960s Nikkor 10.5cm f/2.5)
3. American Flags (same 10.5cm f/2.5 lens as above, with yellow filter)
4. Boats at the Marina (early 1960s Nikkor 2.8cm f/3.5 with red filter)
An eBay vendor sold me a Nikon F2 and DP-1 Photomic viewfinder together with Nikkor 50mm f/2 and 300mm f/4.5 lenses. Serial numbers date the camera, the finder, and both lenses to mid/late 1972, so one is naturally inclined to wonder if they were originally purchased together the way my Pentax SV setup was. No way to find out this time, though. But as with the Pentax, the camera arrived in one of those leather "ever-ready" cases, which apparently has been protecting it for its entire life, for the camera is in lovely shape, as you can see here:
The seller had warned in the item description that he had not tested the meter, but claimed that the camera otherwise appeared to be working properly. It is indeed in excellent working order, and the meter works just fine. Everything is really quite clean aside from a few specks in the viewfinder (I haven't tried cleaning the focusing screen yet). An additional bonus (not mentioned in the auction listing, though visible in the seller's photos) is the presence of the Nikon AR-1 soft release, which can cost you $50 or more these days. Since taking this picture, I've purchased a replacement for the missing PC sync cap. I suppose eventually it'll just get lost again.
This being my first pre-AI Nikon camera, I had to figure out how the metering prong interacted with the finder. It's a clever little mechanism; a pin emanating from the finder is hooked by the prong when you mount a lens and gets dragged around as you change apertures. The little window in the front of the finder shows the lens' maximum aperture so you can tell it figured things out correctly when you did the twist-one-way-then-the-other move after mounting. The AI system is definitely an improvement, but this older approach really isn't nearly as annoying as I'd thought it might be.
Here are a few shots from my first roll of Tri-X in this camera. The first one was taken in my front yard; the others at Jack London Square by the waterfront in Oakland.
1. Yellow Rose (Nikkor 50mm f/2 with yellow filter)
2. Statue of Jack London (early 1960s Nikkor 10.5cm f/2.5)
3. American Flags (same 10.5cm f/2.5 lens as above, with yellow filter)
4. Boats at the Marina (early 1960s Nikkor 2.8cm f/3.5 with red filter)
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I just started playing around with film again after not touching it for 8 or 9 years. I picked up a Kodak Retina IIa (which was the first camera I ever used) and a Nikon F100 (so that I can use my current glass) ... dropped off the film the other day so I haven't seen how well I did yet.
BTW, where do you get your Tri-x processed?
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There's a camera store in my town that has its own lab for B&W developing and printing. The store's owner does the work himself and he does a good job. I want to start doing it myself, but I need to figure out where I can set up a proper light-sealed space for the enlarger.
Got bored with digital and went back to film.
I used to have a wet darkroom in my basement but I started to have bad reactions to the chemicals so I closed it down. We had framed out a spot by the sink ... had barely enough room for the enlarger and trays.
www.fastcatstudio.com
www.fastcatstudio.net - blog