Back in the 90s I used to shoot “Melbourne City Scene” articles for a wine magazine where I’d write little pieces about wine bars and illustrate them with quick shots of bottles and glasses and groovy wine-bar people showing what it took to be cool.
In those days I shot Fuji Sensia 100 (the consumer version of Provia) because it was cheaper, and I thought it handled open shade well, and gave pretty good colour for people. I used an FM2N with MD12, and pretty much exclusively a 35mm f/2.8 AI-S
A couple of weeks ago I went back to Melbourne for a short trip, and I took an F4 with an AF 50mm f/1.8 D.
I‘ve only had the F4 a short while, but it seems that I have indeed fallen in love with a brick. I never could have afforded an F4 back in the day. I think only newspapers bought them; certainly not hacks like me. I wish the 50 1.8 was not so plasticky, but it’s still a great lens and I wanted to shoot it exclusively wide open and revel in the luxury of AF and auto-exposure.
I wanted also to remind myself what it was like to shoot tranny, and I had a roll of Velvia 100 that I’d bought for landscapes but not used. I was interested in seeing what could be pulled out of shadow, and how the F4 would go with its matrix metering.
So I wandered around one afternoon and looked unsuccessfully for subjects, harbouring the idea that I might be able to put together a sequence. As I was walking back to our apartment at dusk the light started coming together, and the interior/exterior light and window reflections got me going.
So here are five frames. They are not truly consecutive, but they are five out of seven. I’m pleased with them, and they’ve made me want to play around some more with shooting E6.
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Aristo Ioannidis on 5 Frames with Fuji Velvia 100 (35mm / EI 100 / Nikon F4) – By David Hume
Comment posted: 13/08/2019
Interestingly, I just picked up an F4 with the same lens.
Thanks again.
Aristo
Comment posted: 13/08/2019
David Hill on 5 Frames with Fuji Velvia 100 (35mm / EI 100 / Nikon F4) – By David Hume
Comment posted: 13/08/2019
For my part, I picked up an FM this weekend, with a Nikkor 50/2, a dead steal at a local estate sale. (He asked $10 US. I gave him $20, and still feel guilty.) I've wanted an FM for a long time-- its the Nikon Rosetta Stone, that takes nearly any 35mm lens they ever made from pre-AI through AI iterations. Dead basic. All mechanical. Fundamental Nikon. And my wife immediately adopted it. Hers now.
Comment posted: 13/08/2019
Dorian Farrimond on 5 Frames with Fuji Velvia 100 (35mm / EI 100 / Nikon F4) – By David Hume
Comment posted: 13/08/2019
Got a roll of Velvia 50 that's about to expire, you've reminded me to crack on and get it used up.
David Hume on 5 Frames with Fuji Velvia 100 (35mm / EI 100 / Nikon F4) – By David Hume
Comment posted: 13/08/2019
Dan on 5 Frames with Fuji Velvia 100 (35mm / EI 100 / Nikon F4) – By David Hume
Comment posted: 17/08/2019
I'm waiting on the delivery of an MD-12 right now, I was transitioning away from SLRs until I read your other post - I never realized that the motor drive on the FM/FE's meant I could shoot left eyed, because you can leave the lever in its locked position. (by the way, does that mean the meter works in the same manner, or does this logic apply just to the shutter?) I will see how I get on with it, as of right now I still greatly prefer a rangefinder patch to a split prism.
Comment posted: 17/08/2019