Nikon F801

In my previous blog I mentioned using a Nikon F801 35mm film camera. I also said a blog post about that camera was on it's way, and here it is.This is also a tale of friendship, one that has endured despite us living hundreds of miles apart.

In the summer of 2018 I had been enjoying photography for just over a year and I was beginning to look for other camera's to try as a means of expanding my knowledge of photography and to give my poor old Pentax Spotmatics a break. They had both served me well over the course of the year and I had learned to embrace their quirks and foibles to make best use of them. My SP1000 was in serious need of some remedial maintenance with my SP500 not far behind. For their age they had done remarkably well considering this ham fisted beginner had got his mits on them. Mechanically they are both sound, but light leaks were becoming a problem. It got too bad on the SP1000 and it had to sit on the shelf until I could get it serviced. I was still using the SP500 regularly, but again that too was showing it's age.
 
I was sharing some images from a trip to the Fusilliers Museum in Bury, Lancashire that I had taken with my SP500 and mentioned I was considering getting it serviced when my old mate Murray surprised me with the offer of a Nikon F801 and 50mm lens. I had not heard of that camera before and had to look it up. When I learned what he was offering I began the delicate negotiation on price with the customary "how much do you want for it?" The reply floored me. "Free to you! It's just gathering dust in my attic and I know you will use it." That's the kind of offer I couldn't refuse and arrangements were made to ship it from Orkney to Wigan.
 
When it arrived I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. It was dusty alright, but not as bad as I feared. A quick clean was all that was needed to have this early Nikon autofocus camera looking presentable again. The lens was a bit more challenging as it had a couple of spots of fungus on the front element, but the rest was just fine. A quick wipe and it was clean, but I would need to get my tools out to sort the fungus out. This involved removing the front bezel that holds the element in place. I managed to remove that using the rubber foot off my walking stick to press against the bezel and give it a quick lefty loosey. (That's a bodge to be proud of.) Once I had carefully cleaned and polished the glass it was simple to put it all back together. The camera's battery compartment was nice and clean so four duracell AA's were fitted and my new camera was ready to use. I found a user manual for it online and got studying.
 
As I had given the camera a fairly extensive look over as I cleaned it, I soon learned that this was no low end consumer grade 35mm camera. Murray had given me a fully functioning prosumer grade camera that was put on sale around the same time as the legendary Nikon F4. It shares several of the F4's components too, notably the autofocus module, built in auto advance winder and a shutter capable of a speed of 1/8000th of a second. That's twice as fast as my D90 and a good 20 years previously! To thank Murray properly I had to try it out. I had some Kodak ColorPlus 200 in my fridge, (my regualr supply of Agfa Vista 200 had dried up and I found the Kodak film at a reasonable price on ebay), I loaded a roll into the F801 and headed to my favourite location in town, the park.

Mesnes Park in Wigan was built in the 1870's as a place for the people of Wigan to get some fresh air and relax after a hard week in the Mines, Mills and Locomotive works in the town. All were a dirty and dangerous ways to make a living, a place to relax and go for a walk was much welcomed at the time. In recent years the park has undergone a multi million pound restoration to ensure the people of Wigan can continue to enjoy their park for another century and more.

I fitted my 70-210mm push-pull D lens and began learning how to use the F801. It wasn't difficult as the basic controls and ergonomics are very similar to my D90. It also takes the same lenses which adds to the versatility of my gear. I had an enjoyable afternoon taking photo's of The Pavillion, a great place for a drink and an ice cream, and the various other pieces of public art around the park. The Coalbrookdale Fountain was in full flow on this glorious summers day and I also discovered how well it handled depth of field wth a long shot of the statue of Sir Francis Sharp Powell with the Pavillion and Fountain in the background. 24 frames is soon used up when you're in the zone, and I headed to my local Max Spielmann photo store where it was developed in an hour and scanned to disc for me by the very helpful and knowledgeable staff.

On getting home and viewing my images on my computer I was very happy to see the quality of images produced with this camera was excellent. I was used to manual focus lenses on my Spotmatics, the 50mm lens on the F801 was easy to adapt to and the autofocus 70-210mm was as quick on the F801 as my D90, if not quicker. I had to send a few images to Murray to say thank you for his kindness. Murray again surprised me when he told me he had found the flash that came with the camera and he was shipping it to me asap.

I didn't have long to wait as it arrived a couple of days later. I opened the box and a Nikon SB24 speedlight was unwrapped from it's cocoon of bubble wrap. It was spotless and obviously a perfect match for the camera, I fitted 4 AA's and gave it a try. It worked perfectly. The generosity of my dear chum was humbling and I tried to give hm some money but he wouldn't take it. He reckoned I had done a lot for others over the years it was about time someone did something nice for me. It suddenly got dusty in my house and my eyes started leaking....

I have been using the F801 a lot over since it was given to me and it has been a valuable addition to my learning process. Being able to get great images is always the goal of a photographer and the F801 certainly helped me up my game to another level. Don't get me wrong, I still love my Pentax SP500 and I even serviced my SP1000 before lockdown and recommissioned it into my kit. Their place is assured, being my first camera's I have a lot of memories attached to them. The Nikon F801 is on it's own level. It was an unexpected gift from a dear friend I haven't seen in a while and I have thoroughly enjoyed using it.

As my Nikon collection has grown to include a D700 and a couple more autofocus D lenses, I have been taking my F801 out with a DSLR and enjoying a day shooting film and digital. The interchangability of the Nikon F mount and the similarities between film and digital camera layout makes switching between them a doddle. Familiarity is the beauty of the Nikon design philosophy of the film era and the transition to digital. I know one day I will make the jump to Mirrorless and maybe use that more than my D700 or D90, but I will always have my F801. Here are a few images i have shot with it from that first session in Wigan Park and a selection of others I have taken since then. I hope you enjoy them.

Kosmo Mono 100 35mm Black & White Film

The current COVID-19 outbreak has meant that Lockdown continues unabated for a further three weeks here in the UK. Folks are staying home, the rate of infection seems to be flattening out and hopefully, through this simple action, we can begin to see an improvement soon. Exercise for an hour a day is still allowed, but for how long is not certain as folks simply can't understand that sunbathing in their local park is not considerd exercise. I hope we can continue to exercise and get out, even for a short time, as the weather has been glorious of late. I am fortunate to have the countryside right across the road. The local farms have their access roads and unpaved trails still open to walkers and it gives me a chance to get out with my camera.

For my most recent walk I took my Nikon F801 out (yes, a blog about this little beauty is coming), and fitted my AF Nikkor 24-120 f3.5-5.6 D lens. I loaded a roll of Kosmo Mono 100 black and white film and headed off for some contrasty fun in the sunshine. Kosmo Mono 100 is a repackaged film that I believe is Fomapan 100, a film I also shot recently, and I can see the Fomapan look all over Kosmo 100. However, as there is an excellent chance I could be totally wrong about that, I will leave my conclusions to reflect Kosmo Mono and, rather than definitively nail it's origins to any specific emulsion, let it speak for itself.

100 speed film is ideal for bright sunny days, but it is also great for wide conrast, something that has kind of become my style over the last 3 years. I began shooting Black and White film with Ilford XP2 in my Pentax SP500 and accidentally shot my first roll slightly over exposed. I found I liked the result, despite my rookie mistake, and my first happy accident was an unexpected success. I have since shot several brands of black and white film, but my habit of over exposing has kind of stuck with me. Rather than find the faults with my camera's metering systems, I embraced them. After all, my SP500 is 45 years old and my F801 is now into it's 30's. C'est la vie!

Not far from my home there are old coal mines that have been reclaimed by nature since they closed in the 1950's. The mines were serviced by railway lines and those lines have been repurposed as paths and bridle ways for walkers, cyclists and the horse riding fraternity. It was down one of these old lines that I explored with the aim of finding sunlight and shadows and some rather gnarly trees. The hottest day of spring thus far didn't disappoint me as the path I followed was full of the kind of images I was after.

As spring progresses, the trees and foliage all have their own time for budding new leaves and then blossoming. My previous blog showed the local cherry trees in full bloom, but the majority of trees have yet to make their annual flower display. This was evident in the trees as I walked and I enjoyed seeing them just coming into leaf whilst others have already begun to shed their blossom. I also saw a heck of a lot of Bees going about their daily business of gathering nectar for the hive and pollenating the flowers and trees as they go. We might be in lockdown, but nature is carrying on as normal.

The halfway point of my walk was soon in sight as my destination drew near. The old mine shafts have long been flooded and have become popular for fishing. It's hard to envisage the days when the mines were in operation on such a wondeful spring day, but the contrast between what is a local beauty spot today and it's former industrial activity is quite striking. There were a few folk out and about enjoying the sunshine, but as the area is so open, we could all stay a safe distance apart, yet still say hello to each other. On the narrower paths there are plenty of places where I could step out of the way and allow others to go past and enjoy a bit of social pleasantries as they walked by.

I tried to use my 36 shots wisely, often looking at several angles before taking my shots, and I managed to get to my destination with a shot or two to spare for the pond. Apparently there are some good sized carp in the pond, but as it's been 3 decades since I last wet a line, I wasn't looking for them. I was enjoying taking in the scenery and soon heard the tell tale sound of my camera telling me the film was now all used.

Kosmo 100 is a decent 100 speed film at a reasonable price. I managed to get the shots I was looking for without having to use shutter speeds so slow that I needed to break out the tripod. When we eventually manage to ease our lockdown restrictions, I am going to use this film for some Street Photography later in the year, where I believe this film will really show it's capablilities. However, if you just fancy a walk in the local countryside on a bright sunny day, it does that very well too. Kosmo Mono 100 is available from a few retailers, but I got mine direct from the Kosmo Foto website where you can also read film camera and gear reviews plus news from the world of film photography. Thanks go to Steven Dowling for investing his hard earned cash into helping keep film photography alive. The choice of films is still decent although not as wide as it was in the heady days of film before the digital revolution. We may have lost a few players, but with folk like Steven around, the future of Film Photography is very bright indeed.

Cherry Blossom And The Joys Of Spring

Spring is well and truly upon us and around the northern hemisphere of our beautiful planet, the Cherry Trees are coming into full bloom. After a long and wet winter of 2019-2020, the sun is finally shining and life is returning to gardens, fields and hedgerows. Wether you like to see bluebells in the woods or fields of daffodils, there is a lot to smile about here at the moment. That may seem a bit strange considering the corona virus outbreak, but I like to try to find something positive to raise my spirits.

One thing that is bold as anything this week is definitely the riot of pink blooms on the local Cherry Trees. the early spring flowers, crocus, snowdrops and daffodils have all had their moment, but Cherry Blossom has its proud "hold my beer!" moment every year. There's nothing quite like it and it's no surprise that poets have waxed lyrical about it over the centuries.

In Japan it's almost a religion with the annual "Hanami" becoming a world renowned cultural experience. It began as a way for the Imperial family and elite at court to sit beneath the blossoming tree's, drink sake and contemplate the beauty of the blossom. It wasn't long before it spread to the Samurai and eventually to the general public. Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune encouraged the hanami by planting a great number of Cherry Blossom Trees so the people could enjoy the feast each spring and the custom quite literally blossomed.

The "Sakura Zensen", or "Cherry Blossom Front", is tracked by the Japanese Meteorological Office as the tree's blossom from south to north as spring progresses. The Sakura Zensen forecast on TV is given great consideration by the people of Japan so they can time their "hanami" just right and enjoy the blossom with family and friends. This year it coincides nicely with Easter here in the UK and it's nice to be able to get out with my camera and enjoy the most colourful display of the season.

There's ne escaping the effects of the corona virus here. The streets are much quieter than normal, traffic levels are a fraction of what they were a few short weeks previously and the skies are free from contrails as Airlines have grounded all but the most essential services. Travelling to other countries is virtually non existent, it's difficult to justify a journey across town, never mind across Europe. This means Spring 2020 is one of the "greenest" springs since records began.

Across the world pollution has plummeted. China has been one of the big polluters of our atmosphere, but with their streets deserted as they all stayed home to combat the corona virus, vehicle emmissions are a mere fraction of previous levels. Across the world, especially the industrial nations, vehicle emmissions have dropped so low our atmosphere is getting a much needed chance to clean itself and recover from centuries of industrial pollution. This is probably the best chance we will ever have to reset our economic dependence on fossil fuels and move to cleaner energy generation and transportation.

I am old enough to remember the time when most houses had a coal fire, my grandparents did and I learned to treat a fire with respect thanks to my Grandparents. The daily ritual began with lighting the fire and ended with banking the embers before bedtime. As we now know, burning coal is a massive contributor to CO2 levels in our atmosphere, but right up to the 1970's it was normal. When natural gas was discovered the old Coal Gas plants all closed as we switched to North Sea Gas powered central heating and cooking. This current crisis could well be the catalyst for us to finally breathe clean air and enjoy a transition to electricity generated solely by wind, solar and hydro electric power stations. I know it's not likely to happen soon, but taking a deep breath, filling your lungs and not having to cough a load of pollutants up afterwards is definitely an incentive to change..

One thing I do know for certain is that 2020 will be recorded in the rings of trees around the world as they get to grow in better conditions than perhaps they have ever known. Billions of trees have grown in the last 100 years or so and will never have grown in a clean atmosphere. However, there are still some ancient trees around the world that began their lives whilst Humanity was still living a pastoral life before the advent of the Industrial revolution. I wonder what future dendrochronologists will make of the sudden big growth ring for spring and summer 2020? That's one statistic I hope to live long enough to see being studied.

It's good to contemplate beneath the Cherry Blossom and I have enjoyed getting out and capturing images of it in all it's glory this year. I had saved a roll of Kodak Vision 3 250D colour cine film just for the Cherry Blossom and need to send it for processing to Nik & Trick Photo Services, the good folks I bought it from. It took a lot of self control to shoot the film over two days as I could so easily have shot two or three rolls of natures finest display. I can't wait to see how they turn out and I will share them with you in the not too distant future. I also shot a lot of images with my Nikon D90, an AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm DX VR GII kit lens and an AF Nikkor 24-120mm D full frame lens.  I hope you enjoy contemplating the beauty of nature from the comfort of your sofa as much as I did taking them. 
Please visit Nik and Trick at https://ntphotoworks.com/

COVID-19 Lockdown 2020 - Using Photography To Combat Boredom

There's no escaping the big elephant in the room, the Corona Virus that is sweeping across our planet during the early part of 2020. What started as a localised outbreak in Wuhan, China soon grew into a worldwide pandemic that has affected us all. My wife and I have health issues we deal with every day and we have taken the advice to stay indoors whilst our wonderful NHS here in the UK tackles the deadly virus that has been officially named COVID-19. Panic buying was rife during the early days of the pandemic, but that has largely stopped as people began to realise that we need to stay focused and calm and look after each other as best we can. The pandemic will be a part of our collective history in the future, but most of us will remember it as "The Great Toilet Paper Famine Of 2020" as that was one of the first items cleared off the shelves in supermarkets and shops around the world, along with Pasta and Rice. We are a strange species at times.

The best method we could use to combat the pandemic was simply to stay at home, self isolation combined with washing your hands regularly and Social Distancing (who thought that one up?). Self isolation has one huge draw back for the multitude that had to stay at home. Boredom. There are only so many times you can see the same news report on TV, or watch box-sets of your favourite programmes on the streaming services. Social media is also a pain as the same memes, videos and advice, both good and atrociously bad are constantly bombarding us. The question is, what to do?
 
Photography can help relieve the boredom and is good exercise for the mind. Everyone has a camera with them these days, the humble mobile phone, (or cell phone for our chums across the pond) has developed a heck of a lot over the last 2 decades. It has grown from a personal telephone into an all encompassing personal media device. The internet and some beautifully eloquent micro electronic engineering has put a Computer, Hi Fi, Radio and Cameras into our pockets. We can access everything in an instant and share it just as quickly with family and friends around the world.

Phone camera's may not be as good as a pro DSLR or Digital Video camera, and It wont be long until they are, but I still prefer to use 35mm Film. I have film and digital camera's at my disposal so I thought I would combine them to spend a day or three of my self isolation to  polish my skills. First step was to shoot 2 rolls of of my stash of Kentmere 400. I also chose to use my trusty Pentax SP500 and my Nikon F801 (named N8008 in the states) that I will be talking about in a future blog post as it's rather special.

I needed to choose items to photograph, but what? There's only so much we can see in our homes and gardens and I needed to get creative. My first thought was to take advantage of the beautiful spring sunshine and play with shadows and texture with my F801. I used my own shadow and various gardening tools and soon had a few images in the can. I started by studying logs I have in my garden. Tree bark has great texture and tree rings gave a sense of time to my images. Bricks generally have a range of textures and the holes in them are great for providing shadows and depth. It wasn't long before I had finished my roll in my F801 and I decided to wait a couple of days to use a roll in my SP500. I had pretty much exhausted my creative muse in one day so a day or two to refresh was welcome.

For my second roll I wanted to try something indoors and use longer exposures. My Pentax SP500 and Helios 44m-4 is great in daylight, but I have never really used it indoors on a tripod. My subject for the shoot was my beloved Bass Guitar my wife surprised me with for our first Christmas together. I will never be a virtuoso on bass, but I can play along with my favourite songs when the mood takes me. Now that I had my subject I needed to set up the shot. 

I have some extension tubes and close up filters in my kit and they have really come into their own during the health crisis. I spent some time with my extension tubes to get the shot I was looking for on film. Using extension tubes or close up filters you can get really close to your subject capture some intricate details. You can also use a DSLR or a phone camera to get an idea of how the shot will look, either will give you an instant look at your composition and you don't have to wait until you have developed the film to see it.

To use the remaining shots I had left, I returned to my garden. The weather was cloudy, but there was enough clear spells to give my images some shadows to add to their texture. I spent some time studying items in my garden and also managed one or two of my dog Charlie that I was grateful for. He usually buggers off sharpish when I get my camera out, so I made the most of the opportunity. To round off and interesting day I got my Nikon D90 DSLR out and used my close up lenses to study a small ornamental Buddha on my coffee table before tea. I decided I wouldn't hang around after finishing my evening meal and got my developing equipment together to process both rolls.

I learned a few things from my photo sessions during the first week or two of lockdown. I learned that you don't need to leave the house to find interesting shapes, textures and shadows. I also learned that Kentmere 400 is very forgiving. I hadn't used it before and I now know why it is not just the low price that makes it perfect for the novice film photographer. The last time I used my SP500 I had been shooting Ilford FP4. Guess which silly boy forgot to reset the film speeed indicator. Oops! I unwittingly pulled Kentmere 400 by 2 stops by shooting it at 125, but I got away with it and managed to produced some rather splendid images. If I had planned it I might not have got anywhere near as good images as I ended up with and will quite happily take that happy accident as a lesson learned and file it in my memory as you lucky, lucky barsteward. Here are a few images from my photo sessions, both film and digital. I hope you enjoy them.