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My Continuing Adventures in 35mm Film

After the fun I had shooting with my Pentax film camera last month, I kinda went on a bit of a used camera equipment shopping spree.  My favourite purchase was a Nikon F75 – one of the last consumer-level film cameras Nikon ever made, at a time when digital was eating up the film market.

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

This lovely camera has every feature Nikon had learned to put into cameras in 2003, in a nice compact and light package.  I picked this up off Kijiji for the incredible price of $65!  The fellow I bought it from took great care of this camera – not a ding or a scratch on it, and everything works perfectly.

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

The camera came with a 28-80mm kit lens, which is perfectly fine, but I had been wanting to get a basic 50mm prime lens, so I ordered one from a third-party seller on Amazon.  This lens makes the camera even more compact and ultra-portable, and takes wonderful portraits.

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

Having a fully automatic camera sure makes it easier to get shots of my favourite subject!

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

For my first roll of film in this camera, I shot Kodak Ultramax 400.  Comparing this new batch of photos to my last roll, I feel like the colours are not quite as rich.  I’m not sure I controlled for enough factors to really judge the film itself though – this is a new camera, different ISO, some of these photos use a flash, not to mention the seasonal change – in my first roll, there was still some colour in the landscape – for this one, every background is pretty drab.

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

I’m still really enjoying my new hobby.  On my recent shopping spree, I also picked up a 50mm lens for my Pentax I’ve yet to shoot with, and I bought some other varieties of film to try out.

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

I did try to mix up my subject matter a bit – Rio is really lovely and photogenic and all, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.

Nikon F75 | Kodak Ultramax 400 | December 2017

Unfortunately, it’s not the greatest time of year for getting out and shooting, but in February we’re heading to Hawaii for a vacation, and I definitely intend to bring a camera or two, and shoot lots of film.

One final note, I found another place to get film processed in Ottawa – Sooter’s has a location on Queen Street near Bank.  This location is much closer to my work, so very convenient.  The photos and scans turned out great, so I think I’ll probably go back there.

Published inPhotography