Shooting film

▼ In this digital age, we still may want to shoot photos on film. But what type of film?

Or why film in the first place?

I think that last question will have a different answer for everyone. For me, it's the joy of seeing decades old machines do what they were built to do so cleanly. I can just pull the film advance lever and push the shutter on my Nikon FE time and time again, it never gets old. It's even better when there's film in the camera. Although of course then this starts to cost real money.

Seeing my F65 do its thing is also pretty nice.

But: what kind of film to use?

Wikipedia has a list of photographic films that are available today. Shockingly, only Kodak and Fuji still produce color film. That's mostly color negative film, with a very small number of color reversal (slide) film types still available. But those have gotten quite expensive, and they require the special E-6 development process.

That's really too bad, as back in the 1980s and 1990s, I shot color slide film because it was cheap: just the cost of the film and development, with no prints. I'm tempted to say that if you want to scan your negatives yourself, it makes sense to use color slide film, as that way there is no negative reversal or weird orange substrate to deal with. But color slide film has always been a tricky beast and with today's limitations, I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't already know for sure what they need.

Over the years, I've shot a good number of rolls of Kodak Gold 200 and Fuji Superia 400. Nothing wrong with either of these. This is Kodak Gold 200 probably underexposed in New York in 1999:

I've also shot a good amount of Ilford HP5, not as much FP4 and very little Pan F. Those films have all improved in recent decades, but largely do what they used to back in the day. This is HP5, probably in the 1980s when it still included "safety" in the name:

(With "safety" as in an acetate or polyester film base rather than nitrate film, which is the same material as gun cotton.)

I'd say if you're going to develop your own black-and-white film, any of these could be a solid choice. But if you need a laboratory, why not use Ilford XP2 Super? That's an ISO 400 black-and-white film that's processed using the C-41 process that's used for color negative film. So any lab that still processes film will be able to handle XP2 without trouble. Also, unlike "real" black-and-white film, it's possible to use digital ICE to get rid of dust when scanning the negatives. Example:

I have yet to try out more modern black-and-white film such as Kodak T-Max and Ilford Delta. Those use different crystal layouts so at the same ISO, they should have less grain (and in the case of Delta, more contrast and less exposure leeway). That sounds very interesting. It also seems that I've never used Kodak Tri-X, so I should try that out at some point.

At this time, the main bottleneck to shooting film is scanning the film after development. I had a scanner that would scan negatives some years ago, but I loaned it out and I'm not sure if I'm going to get it back. The easiest way to handle this is to just order scans along with developing the the film, but the quality and resolution of the scans made by different labs varies insanely widely. This is "professional" (i.e., not cheap) Kodak Ektar 100, digitized at a paltry 1.5 megapixels, but still showing nice contrast and colors:

(Ektar 100 is probably the negative film that's closest to a slide film.)

Film has become relatively expensive in recent years, with most of it landing close to € 15 per 36 exposure roll. So just shooting a roll of film over the weekend isn't as attractive as it used to be. But it's also not so expensive as to give up on shooting film entirely. I do see myself taking a few months to finish a roll.

Permalink - posted 2022-06-19

Review: Peak Design Anchor Links to quick-release your camera strap

▼ I've had a few Nikon cameras, and those always come with a perfectly usable strap. The only issue is that putting the strap on a camera and getting the length just right is a rather involved process.

And sometimes I need a strap, but in other situations, it gets in the way. So I asked about straps that are easy to attach and detach in a forum, and one of the suggestions was for a Peak Design strap.

Peak Design as an entire system, with different kinds of straps that all use the same quick release mechanism. Their straps seem pretty good but a bit more than what I need for my non-pro cameras and matching lenses.

So I decided to get the Peak Design Anchor Links. (About $20/€20.)

This is a small set that contains:

1. Four anchors
2. Two anchor links
3. Two rings

If you're into watching Youtube photography channels, you've probably seen the little black discs with a red edge that hang off of the sides of a camera before. The anchors click into the anchor links, which are of course attached to the ends of a strap.

A Nikon strap with anchor links on the ends and the anchors in the middle:

The anchors are quite small, here compared to some coins: 20 South African rand cents, 1 US dollar cent, 1 euro cent and 10 Canadian dollar cents:

The anchor's cord loops attach quite nicely to a Panasonic DMC-TZ70 compact camera:

However, the cord won't go through the holes on most Nikon cameras. I used the included rings with this Z fc:

On the Nikon F65 on the left there are no issues attaching the anchors, and on the D7100 on the right I used the triangles that the Nikon strap normally loops through. Not very elegant, though:

Verdict:

Attaching to many Nikon cameras is not ideal, but being able to take off the camera strap in seconds is really great.

The system is rated for 90 kg. When you start to see the yellow core of the anchor cords, you know it's time to replace the anchors. The anchors definitely won't come out of the links by themselves: you have to push the anchor down and slide it up until it comes out of the anchor link. So this seems like a very secure system.

The anchors are plastic so they won't scratch your camera, but I believe the anchor links are aluminum, so you'll probably want to take off the strap when putting away the camera.

I like the fact that you get four anchors, so you can outfit two cameras with anchors. Also, the anchors themselves are pretty easy to attach/detach, so you can use them with even more cameras without much trouble.

The only thing that could make this better would be "slim anchors" option with thinner cords for lighter cameras.

Highly recommended.

Permalink - posted 2021-10-16

Mixing old and new Nikon lenses and cameras

▼ Seven years ago, I wrote Understanding old Nikon lenses: AI, AI-S, AF and AF-S. A few things have changed since then, so I thought it was time to do a follow-up that looks at how well different Nikon lens generations go with different Nikon camera generations.

The easy solution is of course to uses lenses and cameras of the same generation. All Nikon cameras introduced since about 2015 work with all Nikon lenses introduced since about 2000. But where's the fun in that?

First: what’s new since my previous article: AF-P lenses, E lenses and the new Z mount.

AF-P

For the past 20 years or so, Nikon’s autofocus lenses used ultrasonic "silent wave" motors in their AF-S lenses. AF-P lenses use pulse / stepper motors. Those can make small changes very quietly, so they're great for video. A big difference between AF-S and AF-P lenses is that the manual focus ring on AF-P lenses is not mechanically connected to the lens elements. Instead, the focus ring sends information back to the camera, which then uses the focus motor to change the focus.

This change means that the camera needs to know about AF-P lenses, or you won't be able to focus. Cameras introduced starting around 2013 support AF-P lenses. For some of these, a firmware update is required, and possibly there will be some reduced functionality.

E (electronic aperture) lenses

AF-P lenses also tend to be type E, indicating the lens has an electromagnetic aperture diaphragm actuator. (Not to be confused with "E series" manual focus lenses.) Support for E lenses goes back a few years further than AF-P lenses, to around 2008-2010, depending on the camera type.

Z mount

In 2018, Nikon introduced the Z line of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, and these cameras no longer have the F mount that Nikon's SLRs have used since 1959. Nikon has released a number of Z mount lenses, which are all AF-P as well as type E lenses. Of course these lenses don't work on older cameras, but F mount lenses will work on Z series cameras through the FTZ adapter. All the discussion below is about F mount lenses, for Z type cameras use of the FTZ is assumed.

The lens types

From left to right: pre-AI, AF-S type G, AI, AF type D, AI-s

So now we have an understanding of the following types of lenses:

• Pre-AI: manual focus
• AI or AI-s: manual focus
• AF: focus motor in the camera body
• AF-S, DX and FX, ultrasonic focus motor in the lens
• AF-P, DX and FX, stepper focus motor in the lens

All types of AF lenses also have a CPU in them which lets the lens tell the camera its properties. Let's see how they work on different cameras. I'll talk about the following specific cameras that I own, or more broad categories:

• Nikon FE, standing in for the AI type manual focus film cameras (around 1980)
• Nikon F65, as an example of a late lower end autofocus film cameras (around 2000)
• DX, the lower end crop sensor DSLRs (D3x00 + D5x00 and their predecessors)
• D7x00 and their predecessors mid-range DX camera with AI/AF lens support
• FX, the full frame high(er) end cameras
• Z DX: the Z50 and Z fc
• Z FX: the Z5, Z6 and Z7

So here we go.

Nikon FE and contemporaries

• Pre-AI: camera doesn't know aperture setting, so problematic metering
• AI or AI-s: perfect!
• AF: good!
• AF-S type G: no aperture ring, so fixed aperture and problematic metering
• AF-P: focussing impossible

Nikon F65 and similar

• Pre-AI: mounting will cause damage
• AI or AI-s: no CPU, so no or problematic metering (manual focus)
• "AF": perfect!
• AF-S, FX: perfect!
• AF-S, DX: typically black corners, some lenses may work to some degree
• AF-P: focussing impossible

DX DSLRs (lower/mid-range)

• Pre-AI, AI, AI-s: no CPU, no metering
• AF: manual focus
• AF-S: perfect!
• AF-P: depends on camera age

D7x00 and its predecessors

• Pre-AI: mounting will cause damage
• AI, AI-s: no CPU, enter lens data manually (manual focus) (no metering on D7500)
• AF-D: perfect!
• AF-S: perfect!
• AF-P: depends on camera age

FX DSLRs

• Pre-AI: mounting will cause damage
• AI, AI-s: no CPU, enter lens data manually (manual focus)
• AF-D: perfect!
• AF-S, FX: perfect!
• AF-S, DX: automatic cropping, but viewfinder shows black corners, some lenses may work in FX mode to some degree
• AF-P: depends on camera age

Z mount DX with FTZ

• Pre-AI, AI, AI-s: no CPU, so stop down metering, reduced focus aids
• AF: manual focus, reduced focus aids
• "AF-D": manual focus
• AF-S: good, somewhat hunting and noisy focus in video mode
• AF-P: perfect!

Z mount FX with FTZ

• Pre-AI, AI, AI-s: no CPU, so stop down metering, reduced focus aids
• AF: manual focus, reduced focus aids
• "AF-D": manual focus
• AF-S FX: good, somewhat hunting and noisy focus in video mode
• AF-S, DX: automatic cropping, also the viewfinder image, somewhat hunting and noisy focus in video mode
• AF-P FX: perfect!
• AF-P DX: automatic cropping, also the viewfinder image

As always, additional caveats may apply, be sure to check compatibility for your specific camera before you go out and get new lenses.

Conclusions

It looks like the D7100/D7200 as well as the not-too-old FX cameras are compatible with all F mount lenses. There is not a single lens type that works fully with the entire range of cameras, but the AF type D lenses come closest: they work on the old manual focus cameras, work with with autofocus on the mid/higher end DSLRs and still work fully as manual focus lenses on all other cameras.

An AF type D lens is still largely usable on cameras like the Z family, where you'll have to focus manually. But with the traditional "electronic rangefinder" focus aid available, where the autofocus system tells you if you've achieved focus, that's actually a bit easier than on an old manual focus camera such as the FE. However, manual focus lenses without a CPU for some reason don't get full focus aids on the Z cameras. You can still focus very precisely by zooming the viewfinder, but this is quite slow.

So there you have it. I'm sure the next few years the second hand F mount lens market is going to quite interesting, as more and more Nikon users migrate to a Z camera or a non-Nikon mirrorless camera.

Update:

In the original version of this article, I mistakenly said AF lenses that are not AF-D lenses don't have a CPU. That's incorrect. On DSLRs AF and AF-D lenses work the same, but for some reason on a Z camera (through the FTZ) the AF-D lenses have full focus aids but AF lenses have reduced focus aids. However, AF lenses are still more functional than non-CPU manual focus lenses because on AF lenses, the camera can control the aperture.

On non-CPU lenses, the camera doesn't know the aperture so it's difficult to use apertures smaller than about f/5.6 or f/8 because focussing gets more difficult at smaller apertures, so you may have to use stop down metering.

Permalink - posted 2021-10-09