Tag: camera

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Nikomat EL

I was making some prints in Photo Kanon  today and I found interesting camera on the shelf. They had Nikomat (Nikkormat) EL and Nikkor 50mm 1.4. It looked brand new, like it had just came from Nikon factory. So I asked how much it was, and I was surprised, only 18,000 yen. The meter works, and it even came with new battery.

I’m not very interested about cameras. Especially digital cameras. They release new ones every year and new cameras take cleaner and cleaner images and pack new features. They are like miniature computers. The whole race for convenience turns me off.

But Nikomat! This camera was made before I was made! They produced these in Japan from 1972 to 1976. There is something that genuinely attracts me with really nice objects like this. It feels like a real tool which has a story.

I shot a roll of Lomography 400 with my Nikomat this afternoon and I really love to shoot with this camera. My Bessa R3m feels like a plastic toy after I hold this brick on my hands. It’s obvious that this camera is made to last.

Metering is nicely implemented, and is really easy to get used to. I didn’t try to shoot with aperture priority mode yet since I’m really used to shoot full manual. Downside with this camera is that if battery dies, you can only shoot with 1/90 (unmarked shutter speed), since the shutter speed js controlled electronically. That would mean ND filters if shooting outside. Battery is, by the way located under the mirror! At least you won’t lose battery door..

This is SLR all right and focusing is very different than with rangefinder. There’s no autofocus. But also it feels kind of refreshing to see exactly the image I’m going to capture, through the lens. I’m so used to shoot with my rangefinder. And this can focus closer than Leica.

Shutter is kinda loud that is to be expected from SLR.

The Nikkor 50mm lens is a big question mark for me. I have never shot with Nikon lens but this is as wide as 1.4 so it should be really nice lens for indoor photos. My Nokton 1.4 lens is very contrasty one, so I do hope Nikkor would offer a bit more gentleness what comes to contrast. I will develop my first roll tomorrow, so we’ll see.

I will write a complete review of this camera after I get acquainted with her more.

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Sony Nex :)

Friend borrowed me Sony Nex-7 with wide angle converter lens for shooting movies. I will be trying out the camera tomorrow. 🙂

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Losing Interest

These days I’m losing interest in cameras. Maybe it’s similar to a farmer who loses interest in his pitchfork?
Sure we got to know how the basics of using agricultural tools if we happen to be farmers. But farmer doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking of his shiny new pitchfork and spend his time polishing it, right?
Like the farmer dreams of the good harvest, photographer dreams of the perfect picture. The creation itself is simply the thing. It should be.
Indeed I feel sick about the capitalism that exists in the world of photography. Camera is nothing but a light-proof box. So use whatever you have!

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Important Thing

Probably all would agree that equipment management is crucial for working photographers. It’s not very professional to arrive to set and notice your battery is empty or even worse, missing.

Canon’s camera manual advices you to make test shots before important shoots, or even take camera to be checked up by Canon’s authorised service professionals for check-up. Sound advice, I say.

I have a principle to always have backup for everything, including the camera body. Even though modern DSLRs have sensor cleaning mechanisms, it is possible that something gets to the sensor, piece of hair or skin for example. Bulb blower is a must have, but sometimes even that doesn’t help. Bring extra body, just in case something goes wrong. And camera’s shutter has always a limited lifespan anyway, so sooner or later it’s going to break. Extra camera body might save your day and reputation.

And after the shot, take super good care of that memory card. It’s like your digital negative. Now that we have tools like iPad, it’s very handy to have one of those camera connection kits (especially with Retina display iPad) with you. It’s great for on-location previews and backups.

There are some theories that large memory cards might be more prone to failure than smaller ones. I am still shooting with 16GB card and it’s unlikely that I would ever get larger card than that. And if you split the shoot to two cards, even if one of the card fails, you wouldn’t lose everything. So far, I have never had memory card failing on me, but I have heard many horror stories.. especially after someone has shot a multi-million-yen wedding.

Rather than deleting photos from memory card, I would recommend formatting it. I have heard this reduces the chance of getting some kind of (eh, I don’t really know what I’m talking about) logical error in the data of the disk.

So, the lesson here is that pro or semi-pro photographer must take very good care of his/her gear. That gear is probably expensive (and if you are sports photographer VERY expensive), and it’s your lifeline really, much like parachute is for skydivers.

If you do pro shoots daily, my advice is to keep every necessary item in your camera bag always when you are in home or studio. Then you will get into the habit of never forgetting anything, and basically just recharge batteries and format memory cards in advance, and then take that bag and you’ll be ok.

Good luck for shooting!

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Three Months with Fujifilm X100

I have been using Fujifilm Finepix X100 for three months now. I’d like to give a kind of update of how it’s been.

After I got X100 and the replacement unit since the the original copy of the camera got the infamous stuck aperture issue, I’ve been shooting photos with it in daily basis. X100 has became my primary camera, the camera that’s with me everyday, pretty much where-ever I go. And like Chase Jarvis says, “the best camera is the one you have with you”. In my case, it has been the X100.

After I updated the camera’s firmware into the latest version, I noticed speed increase in autofocus and also some of the fixes of the quirks in the UI. The menu is still what it is, and the control wheel on back is flimsy, but at least there is that dedicated ISO button that saves you the dive in the menus.

I just love the JPG’s straight out from the camera; the in-camera processing is just great. The sharpening is set just right, the output is very crisp but clean, and free of any artifacts. And if I shoot RAW, I can process the RAWs inside the camera.

I still haven’t got around in installing the included RAW processing software that came in the CD’s..

I love the film simulation of the camera. It’s more than a gimmick, it really makes sense, Velvia and Astia look just like their film counterparts, the effect is subtle enough not to make irreversible changes in the images, but still packs a punch.

Sure, I prefer to do the monochrome conversion in Aperture because then I can have full control over the RGB channels, so I actually never use the in-camera monochrome setting, although that might make sense for some.

The number one feature of this camera, what I’ve gotten used to, is of course the excellent optical viewfinder. I use EVF or LCD only when shooting macros.

Of course, it doesn’t compare to shooting with range finder, but the OVF is really best I’ve ever seen in compact size digital camera. The frame lines work perfectly and when you set up the automatic parallax correction including correction of AF point, you can pretty much forget that the (parallax) phenomena ever existed. And you can even see live histogram in OVF as an overlay if you choose so; OVF overlay is excellent and unique innovation from Fujifilm.

The manual controls are excellent in daily use, especially the aperture ring and shutter speed control dial. Set either of those to auto and you get shutter speed or aperture priority. Very, delightfully “analogue” process.

Strangely, I find that there’s really not so much need to use the menus under normal outdoor conditions when shooting.

In my extensive tests, I find the battery life of X100 to be very good. In my normal shooting conditions I always shoot with OVF and I’ve taken like 300 pictures and never exhausted a battery yet. I keep extra accessory battery in my pocket just in case.

One thing worth noting is that unlike in Canon SLR’s, the USB port is not standard mini-USB port, but something which seems unique to Fujifilm’s camera. So it’s better not to lose that cord.

I bought the EF-20 external flash unit for this camera and I find it a very nice little flash. It packs enough punch and allows tilting upwards 90 degrees, great for those indoor parties and events with white roofs. The larger version of the flash also allows swiveling, a pro feature.

Overall feeling after three months of daily shooting, I just love this camera. The image quality produced by the custom glass and sensor is just great. X100 is almost completely silent, professional quality camera in a very compact package.

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Looking at Leica M6

My ex girlfriend used to carry her M6 with her at all times but she rarely let me touch it. I merely envied her from a distance while she shot beautiful shots with her rangefinder camera. She always talked about “spirit of a photography” and she never carried a digital camera with her, unless she was shooting for a job. I suppose it wouldn’t be too much to say that like for Cartier-Bresson, her Leica was extension of her eye.

My friend borrowed me recently his Leica M6 TTL with 50mm Summilux ASPH.

I am moved, and amazed by this classic, legendary camera.

50mm Summilux ASPH lens has a focusing tab which allows quick focusing with index finger. It feels just right and for me the tab makes huge difference. Only in few days, I learned to approximate distances and adjust the focus roughly, only requiring a fine adjustment when lifting the camera to my eye. Same goes with metering. When shooting with a camera like this, you learn quickly to read light.

Although this camera has metering, the camera works perfectly without any electricity. I assume that pros who use Leica might not even use the metering since the red arrows in viewfinder might only be a distraction.

The viewfinder of M6 is best thing I’ve ever seen and beats my 5D Mark II and Fujifilm X100 viewfinder in clarity and sharpness. Rangefinder focusing is a pleasure, especially after you learn not to block the rangefinder window with your finger while holding the camera..

M6 is also the most solid camera I’ve ever handled. Although this means also that the camera is probably the heaviest compact camera of it’s size, the solid construction has it’s benefits. This is a camera you can take into a war. Brass (or zinc) is really strong material, and the camera is perfectly balanced. It’s very easy to hold this camera steady when shooting and this will result in sharper photos.

You have to hold one in your hand to understand. This camera is built to last a lifetime.

The mechanics of the camera feel assuringly strong as well. Pressing the shutter results a satisfying click, which is not too loud or disturbing. Although my friend’s camera came with a motor winder which is very silent and fast, I realized I rather prefer manually advancing the film by using the lever.

Although loading film is a bit of a nuisance, I find something honest and precise about loading Leica M6. It’s simply built to be as fool-proof as possible.

Since this is a full frame camera (35mm film), 50mm lens gives you plenty of coverage but also plenty of bokeh.

I think 50mm ASPH is probably the lens I would buy for Leica. The lens is razor sharp and I was unable to detect any kinds of artifacts in the image. Even the widest F1.4 aperture is tack sharp. I can’t imagine any kind of lens of this size (being F1.4!) being that sharp wide open. The nine blade aperture gives creamy, soft bokeh. Also the transition between focus and out-of-focus areas is beautiful and natural.

Overall, there is something very natural about the image quality of Leica.

Since the price of M6 came down recently, this camera seems very attractive option for many photographers. Sure, dealing with film is troublesome and also expensive if you shoot a lot.

But if you are serious about photography, I really recommend at least trying out photography with a rangefinder camera. There is something beautiful and artistic about the process of setting everything manually, and it’s possible to find entirely new aspects of photography when shooting with a classic camera such as this.

Unlike when shooting with SLR, nothing will obstruct your vision when you press the shutter. It’s possible to feel much more connected to the scene you’re shooting.

If Cartier-Bresson would be still with us, I would imagine he’d still carry his Leica with him. In today’s world of digital cameras it’s refreshing and delightful to shoot with a camera designed so meticulously to fulfill a single purpose.

Leica M6 is not a calculator. It’s a camera.

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Regarding build quality

I think my Fujifilm X100 is pretty nice camera regarding the it’s construction and build quality. The camera is also very light which makes it far more portable than any DSLR.

However the camera does not begin to compare to Leica’s M series. Their fit and finish is really something unrivaled. You have to hold the camera in your hands in order to understand. It’s Leica and it you can bring it to war.

Showing my X100 to pro photographers, most likely comment I get is “oh it’s so light” hummmm!  Yeah, but you know, if you have lugged M6 around for couple of decades, that’s what you’re going to feel when holding such tiny digital wonder in your hands for the first time.

And I wouldn’t bring my X100 to war.

While magnesium alloy is remarkably nice material for cameras, you can’t beat brass (or titanium). It feels just right.