Each camera in my quiver has a purpose. I use both digital and 35mm film. I also own a point and shoot camera and the amazing telephone camera that is always in my pocket.
With each camera, I have a favorite lens but I also use other lenses and different film stocks. Sometimes I feel like shooting black and white. I typically use normal through ultra wide primes but sometimes I will change it up and use a zoom or telephoto lens. I plan my photography and use my lenses to achieve the desired photo. From the planned photography, often dynamic and spontaneous choices arise producing good pictures as well.
Besides the telephone camera (I enjoy putting my iPhone in its place) in my pocket, all my cameras are made by Nikon and all have the F-mount system. Only my latest G series lenses aren’t really usable with my vintage 35mm film cameras, except the F6, it will use every last lens I own. I’m not sure how many lenses I have, I do have them all listed in the lens tab/link below.
My camera kit is comprised of 35mm film and a single digital camera that mesh with each other to utilize my lens kit. Typically each camera has a favorite lens mounted and I will choose a particular film stock based on the type of pictures I want to achieve. I plan my work and work my plan using the cameras and lenses from my kit.
The F6 is the most advanced 35mm film camera I own and my it is my favorite film camera. Some say the F6 is the most advanced 35mm film camera ever made. With its F-mount, it’s a lens junky’s dream. But where it shines for me is the auto focus lenses it shares with my DSLR, the D780.
The D780 is my favorite camera of all. Please do not tell my other cameras. The D780 is dependable and highly configurable. It is truly a modern DSLR for a lens junky like me. It is absolutely a special Nikon camera.
The F3 is my favorite manual focus film camera and I love shooting it. It has a rich history in press photography as well as a thriving community of users, books and video support, not to mention the wide availability of accessories. It is an anchor to my solid foundation of manual focus film photography.
The FE2 is an awesome manual function and program assist camera. Although it serves as a secondary or back up to my F3, it is often used to try new film stocks. The ergonomics of it and its motor drive, the MD-12 are just awesome. It is a camera that attracts attention when used with a long lens.
Below are links to other cameras I have used in the past. I’ve learned quite a bit about them from owning and operating them. Each has helped me understand what I want out of photography.
That’s my Kit. Looking back, I could do this with two cameras, the D780 and the F6 and just a couple of lenses. But I don’t want to. I like shooting with a manual focus lens mounted to a manually controlled film camera. I learn more about photography with fewer automated controls.
Below are briefs on each of my cameras with links to their dedicated pages.
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Nikon F6
s/n 28668
s/n 28668
It took me a year of thinking about committing to a purchase and finally owning one. Mine arrived dead in the box but it was in beautiful shape. I knew Nikon still serviced them and all the known things that needed Nikon service for, they addressed as I decided to take a chance and keep a broken camera. As of today, I have one roll of Provia 100f through it and wow! It appears my perseverance has paid off. Already I have learned about photography from the first roll of Provia 100f through the F6.
I really love the F6 and although I enjoy MF lenses, the auto focus, the color matrix metering, all are fantastic attributes. I use G and D lenses shared with the D780. The 28-300 on one, the 16 fisheye or the 18-35 on the other. As I become more accustomed to the controls, I will start using the AI-S lenses in my quiver. A true duo of lens junky cameras.
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Nikon D780
s/n 3028302
s/n 3028302
Film cameras are expensive to operate. A roll of Kodak E-100 is 33$, developing and quality Noritsu scanning is about $30. That’s 60$ per roll of 36 exp. 2$ per shutter release, enough where if I blow a frame, I’m pissed. Plus, the anxiety of hoping your pictures turn out right. Let’s do the math, at $60 per roll (film plus dev/scan) and I’ve shot about 25 rolls of film so far this year $60 x 25 = $1,500 in 35mm film costs so far... But that’s part of the allure of film yet there are times that I have to get the picture right, now! Without the extra cost.
A DSLR is a great choice for getting the picture right every time without additional cost.
…without having to pay for your mistakes.
Don’t like the image? Delete it and take another. Want to compare a setting change immediately? Great, just do take another pic with the setting change and flip back and forth comparing. No extra cost, no waiting, immediate response and overview of your photography. Gone is the magic of embracing the imperfections of film photography and scanning to be replaced by the instant gratification of the DSLR.
I knew I had to get a digital camera. I knew I needed the exact pictures from auto focus, zooms that do it all quickly, now and low light capabilities like no other. …and then I found out about the quiver killing lens that is the 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR FX.
Whoa!
I researched as much as I could and spoke with my mentor. He suggested the D610. But I wanted a little more and besides, I doubled my budget. I started watching video reviews of the D series, full frame and found the D780. The memory cards are SD, good battery life, no onboard flash, takes all lens types and the ergonomics are good with a tilt touch screen, the D780 is a lens junkies digital camera.
Knowing what I learned from my AI-S lenses, I have built a small but mighty G (gelded, minimized and limiting) lens kit that covers all focal lengths from 18mm up to 300mm with Zoom lenses specifically designed for types of photography. I own a single 50mm prime lens which is extremely sharp and is my favorite focal length. A 28-300 Zoom lens which is an absolute wonder of glass (and plastic) that is in of itself a bag of lenses all in one manageable weight package, it is a lens for almost everything.
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s/n 1801954
The story of my F3 is long but I’m going to make is short. It is my favorite manual focus film camera for many reasons. It is well supported and there are all kinds of accessories available with readily available documentation. The F-mount lens system (obvious for all of my Nikon cameras because of this) as I can share all of my lenses and, the photographs I get from it are fantastic. There is a community of people that love this camera and well, it’s just durable and fun.
Most of the time when I am using it during travel, taking pictures of petroglyphs on a huge adventure, it can be found riding in the floorboard of my Subaru or I’ll put it down on a boulder or lay it in the grass. It’s a durable machine capable of handling hard use.
What I went through to find mine was no less than a tough time. I bought one from an overseas vendor and it arrived dead in the box. I sent it back and ordered one from an online company and the order was cancelled. I started hunting them down, the first one was a wreck, I could have accepted it and cleaned it up and sent it off for service but I didn’t know much about the F3 so I continued to looku. Another one came along, same thing, a dust ball of a camera that looked like it was stored in an open top box in a dusty storage shed.
Finally, a young man was selling his but he didn’t have a battery to check. He promised it worked and we meet in the middle of the city, he drove 20 miles and I did too. Needless to say, the camera was pretty clean yet when we loaded the battery up properly, the camera would not turn on. No light meter, no nothing. He was so perplexed and I was not, this was how it was for me. I let him have the new batteries and told him, “no problem dude” and I drove off.
When I got home, I was done. I had my FE2 that I finally started getting good images from, it was such a hassle, I’ll detail that in the FE2 section. I didn’t want to do this again. My phone rang and it was the guy who I just left, “Adam, the camera works, I forgot that the power button was off.” I told him no problem but unless he wanted to sell it right now, I wasn’t going to drive another 20 miles. He said he would call me back, it wasn’t his car and to land the plane, we meet, it works and I bought it.
I drove home with it on my front seat, so proud, I am now an Nikon F3 owner!
I cleaned it up and began using it on several shoots. The little red square button that illuminates the light meter LCD no longer worked. I could see the meter in daylight but I wanted to start taking pictures with a flash. I found out about ITC and sent it off for a CLA. I received my F3 back and Jim had really taken care of making sure it was back to spec and had filled the F3 logo with good white paint, in short, I now had a really good serviceable copy.
I love this camera, to me, it is the epitome of why I am a photographer. I love the story behind it, and I really enjoy the big hulking SB-11, the blast of light to shine like the sun at night. I have a MD-4 motor drive mounted on it and I switch between a Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AI-S and a Zoom Nikkor 28-85mm f3.5-4.5 AI-S. I go back and forth with what I like better, motor drive or no motor (boat anchor) drive and prime or zoom. Right now my F3 has the 28-85 Zoom and the MD-4.
Nikon EM
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Nikon FE2
s/n 2394639
s/n 2394639
My FE2 is the second film SLR camera that I have owned and used extensively. I started out when I was 15 with a Canon TX. My wife Laura was a photographer for a heavy metal fanzine and had a Pentax K-1000 that I used quite a bit but that was hers and when we divorced, the camera went with her.
A fishing friend that is a photographer suggested the FE2 or an F3 and I really enjoyed the look of the black versions. It was an easier camera to find, there were more of them available at my buget and the prices were more palatable than the F3.
I bought mine from an overseas vendor and it was already clean. The light meter indicates with a needle and the shutter speed does too, you matched the needles in the view finder and press the shutter release to take a picture.
At the time, I thought an expensive lens was a hundred dollars and I was not going to spend more than that. I mounted a 28mm f2.8 AI lens and started taking pictures. I got my first roll back and it was a mess. Many of the frames did not seem to meter correctly. My focus was not 100% and film photography was not as easy as I remember it was a half lifetime ago.
The second roll was the same.
I took it in to Tempe Camera for a look and it was diagnosed that the aperture engagement, inside of the camera was not working. They did a CLA and fixed the issue. My relatively inexpensive camera was not so inexpensive now. I was sold a broken camera, note to self, not all cameras sold from Japanese vendors are “mint” and I was 0 for 2 now.
Anyway, the FE2 works as it should and I’ve shot a bunch of rolls through it. I love the FE2. I love it almost as much as my F3. The FE2 is a really nice backup to my F3 film photography kit. A Nikkor 35-200 f3.5-4.5 AIS can be found mounted on mine with the MD-12.
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Nikon L35 AF
s/n 0533857
And last but not least, my Pikaichi, the point-and-shoot Nikon L35 AF. I am tired of family and friends putting up with my intrusive SLR of the day. Too obtrusive, not subtle for an outing where even a picture with a telephone camera is intrusive. Much too big for the table at the restaurant, waiters can’t focus a manual focus 35mm SLR and I’m definitely not going to hand them my F6. All are far too bulky for out and about trying to blend in with non photographers. The little Pikaichi has a petite strap for around the neck, it will fit in a coat pocket or in the small Lowepro bag dedicated to it. This is a point and shoot camera that can be taught how to use on the spot, no big deal. It’s sort of old and cool. Go pikaichi!
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Discontinued
The following cameras I no longer use.
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