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Gear
"It is significant that the greatest creative photographers use simple, basic equipment..." Ansel Adams, The Camera. I've gone through a lot of camera equipment over the last 10 years. Everything from a high tech eye control focusing of the Canon Eos 3 to the traditional Leica M6 rangefinder. As equipment comes and goes, when the dust settles I go back to my two main cameras: Nikon N90s and Nikon FM2n. The former with auto focus and auto exposure and the latter all manual everything. I've settled down and moved from lots of gear to a more minimal approach with just a few cameras and lenses. All light in weight--as the older I've gotten, the more I get tired of lugging around heavy stuff! My tripod has gone from a six lbs to around 3 lbs in weight. I use and own mostly Nikon cameras--ones without a lot of controls on them. I find extra features are just things I don't need or use and as my approach is basic. I currently use a Nikon N90s with 20mm, 60mm macro and a 180mm telephoto. On my Nikon FM2n I use a simple 50mm f1.8 lens. I also use a Nikon CoolPix 4500 digital camera for grab shots. For shots on print film, I use a Yashica T4 point and shoot. My primary film is Fujichrome Velvia for it's resolution and color saturation, followed by Elite Chrome 100 and Elite Chrome 100 Extra Color. I've used Provia 100F and Astia in the past but use them sparingly now. (Many of my shots in the Colorado section are shot with 100F). Below is a series of articles on cameras I either currently use or have in the past. Nikon FM2n One of all time favorite cameras. Manual everything. I've taken it with me from as far north as Alaska to the far south to the Panama Canal and points in-between. It only failed me one time, on a photo workshop on Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. It was a cold and windy day and the full blast of cold air coming down the mountainside made the metal body transfer the cold to the batteries. That halted the meter operation, but not the workings of the camera. I could still shoot if I knew what the exposure settings were and guessed it. Fortunately there was a Nikon camera tech there that properly diagnosed the problem to the cold. I was really upset at the time as there was a photo shot/competition going on which was part of the workshop. Not a time to have camera foul-ups! Despite this I still consider the Fm2 to be one reliable camera. It really bailed me shooting in Alaska a few years ago when my N8008 jammed. As I learned then, it's always a good practice to carry a backup camera, particularly one with an all mechanical shutter. The FM2n is a spartan camera by today's standards. Its technology is a throw back to the mid-70,s cameras with it's metal body and match the diode metering system. No auto focus, no auto exposure, no built-in motor drive, no film DX, and one exposure mode, center weighted, yet it has all of the basic features you need to do serious photography. Despite the simplicity, the manual, "you do it all" picture taking, and the lack of whiz-bang modern features, this little camera can take really good pictures. The diode metering, which is only a three little red diodes of a "+", "o", "-" on the right of the side of the finder. If proper exposure is obtained, the "o" is lit up. I have found that in most lighting conditions the "o" rarely lights up. So I chose "o -", particularly if it's in bright light and fire the shutter. I get a lot of good shots this way. With center weighted metering, you are to meter off the 18% gray in the scene. Recompose and shoot! I never fool with that at all. I know how unprofessional! How amateurish! Yet I get good, consistent results doing this. Also, I keep my FM2 mounted with Nikon's classic Nikkor 24mm wide-angle almost all of the time when I am not using my 60mm macro. It's an extremely sharp lens! And is a nice compliment to the FM2. Please see my review of it on my site for more details on this great lens. One of my favorite features is the Depth of Field preview button (DoF). This is an elementary control for achieving sharp focus for the near to far picture planes. Also instrumental for use in macro photography (see my close ups in the floral and miscellaneous sections of this web site). It's located by the lens barrel on the body. A simple metal lever, it allows for easy and quick stopping down of the aperture. I find it to be my most used tool in photography, over a broad spectrum of photographic subjects. Another great feature is the self-timer. When activated, it locks the mirror up. This is great for reducing vibrations in the body as the mirror moves up for the shutter to fire. Mirror lock up (MML) is a feature normally found only in the higher end, pro cameras. I've gotten some really sharp pictures using the self-timer function with the camera mounted on a tripod when taking my close ups. Of course this is highly debated in photography circles today, whether mirror lock up really helps in making pictures any sharper. Even in high-end bodies like the N90s and the F100 MML is absent. Still, I would rather have it in a camera just to be on the safe side. Really, I can't tell the difference under the magnification loupe. While the FM2n is considered a backup body for pros, any pro that has one will tell you that if it's in the bag, it's used! I have mine for back up and it gets lots of use. Steve McCurry of National Geographic fame has shot many classic photographs with his FM2, which he uses to this day. He stated in an interview in Outdoor Photography magazine once that it was a great camera to take out in monsoons. The FM2 can get soaked and keep firing away. Lens compatibly is major plus for the FM2. You name it and you can use it. All Nikkor AF, AI-P, AF-I, AI-S and AF-S lenses can be used. Of course there will be no auto focusing with any AF lens, but you can at least use it. And should you want to upgrade to an AF body later, you'll have the AF lens there for it. That's what I did starting out. FM2 and the FM2n. Novices often ask about the two different models and what the "n" stands for. Very simply, the earlier FM2's featured a flash sync of 1/200 a second. When it was upgraded in the 1980's to a sync of 1/250 and a bright focusing screen, it was renamed the FM2n. Please refer to Foo Pak Leonard's excellent FM site below for the complete details on this subject. Brand new a FM2n at B&H will run you $459.95 for a chrome body and a black body will cost $499.95. Grey market prices are much cheaper but Nikon will not warranty any Grey market cameras or lenses. New from Del’s you’ll pay $445, chrome and $480 black. There is a titanium version, the FM2/T but Nikon discontinued it in 1997 and they are quickly becoming collector items. I recommend KEH Camera Brokers for a good buy on a used FM2n. I love it! I highly recommend this camera. No power is required for powering the shutter and it will fire at all speeds up to 1/4000 a second--far better than the venerable F3HP. It's great for doing long exposures and bulb shots. Great for for night time and star shooting. N90s I found the exposure quality under Matrix metering to be a bit off when I first owned my first one. I think it must have been using non-D Nikkors with it. I now use use nothing but AF "D" lenses and haven't had any of the exposure inconsistencies of the earlier model. That may have been the cause. Others say the "D" lens are only supplying info for the flash metering. I don't know. All I know is I use the D lens exclusively and I get very good exposures with Matrix metering. Still I would say
it's a good camera, well used and liked by pros. It is durable
for a plastic body and can survive extreme weather and
outdoor conditions. It features the right amount of
automation without being too automated. It has the
right amount of features without being too
over-featured. The AF is quick and zippy without being
prone to hunting (although it will hunt a little). It's highpoint viewfinder is the
best in the business. Maybe not as full featured as
competing brands (like Canon), but it features all the right
tools for quality picture making. Nikon has greatly
reduced the price right now for a pro-class AF camera.
I got my second one for $730. Highly
recommended!
Lenses My main lenses I use are a now are my 20mm F2.8 D wideangle and 180mm F2.8 D telephoto. I also use a 60mm F2.8 is a Nikkor and it is a very sharp lens. I use it for not only macros, but as a standard lens as well. It can get very close to the subject and it's given me a lot of wonderful shots. The 20mm
F2.8 replaces my old My 24mm F2.8 lens. The 20mm is an extremely
sharp lens. Sharp with excellent contrast, I love the
angle of view it gives. Yes, it compresses the
perspective like all wide angles do, but it does it in a
more natural looking way. It's easy to do leading
line compositions that lead the viewer's eye to the
focal point of the scene. I like the ability it
gives to duplicate the drama of a dramatic scene. A great lens for shooting majestic landscapes or cloudscapes. Films Tripod I also use Bogen's monopod. Although monopods are not commented on in most photo publications they make for an excellent support and I have personally gotten lots of sharp pictures with one. You see sports photographers using them at sporting events in combination with one long glass. It seems to work well for them! I've had the best success with my 70-210mm zoom. Scanner ~o~ |