The Cherry Blossom came early this year. A dry and warm March coupled with a bright start to April gave the local cherry trees all the encouragement they needed to burst into colour and what a display they provided for us. I'm glad I was using my Nikon F801S with it's high shutter speeds as I tried to isolate a number of what can only be described as bright balls of colour.
I have been photographing the local cherry trees for a few years now and have come to enjoy my Sakura Hanami each year. It never fails to make me smile, even last year when we didn't get much in the way of sunshine during Sakura season, I was still smiling. When the Japanese people decided to start their Hanami several centuries ago, they were on to a good thing and I have to agree with them.
As I have come to appreciate it more, I am also finding myself choosing my shots a little better. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the riot of pink that boldly announces the start of Spring. We get a few distinct displays each year starting with Snowdrops followed by Crocus, Daffodils and Hawthorne, then the Sakura says "Hold My Saké!"
I was spoilt for choice this year as the sun was bright and the Blossom was displaying almost every shade of pink, from subtle shades of almost white pink to full on in your face PINK! It really is an amazing display of colour and I will never tire of it. It didn't take me long to get through my roll of Kodak ColorPlus, I rewound my film and headed off home for a well earned drink.
As with my other rolls of Kodak ColorPlus in this series, I sent them to Analogue Wonderland for processing. A few days later I received an email saying my scans were ready for me to download and I could get my first look at this years Sakura to see if my Hanami was as good as I remembered it.
Oh boy was it ever!
This is why I like Kodak ColorPlus so much, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It just produces great colour time and again and makes my memories special. Remember, Kodak made a name from helping us capture our memories on film and these Kodak Moments epitomise that philosophy. I can smell the blossom every time I look at these photos and probably will for many years to come.
This is the end of this particular Cheap Camera Shootout and I have had a lot of fun with it. I might do another in the future, but for now I have learned a lot about the capability of my cheap entry level autofocus 35mm SLR's and my semi pro Nikon F801S. The Canon EOS300 and Minolta Dynax 4 were disgracefully cheap and have given me great photos with minimal effort. Their autofocus systems are fast, reasonably quiet and very accurate, as are their built in light meters.
If you are thinking of giving film a go, you can't go wrong with them and there are some great lenses available for both Canon EF Mount and Minolta/Sony A mount, yes Sony! Sony A mount lenses are derived from Minolta A mount equivalents and are dirt cheap. A little more money gets you a decent Nikon and access to the huge range of both manual focus and autofocus F mount lenses. I love my Nikon F801s and it's coming on holiday with me later in the year along with my Nikon D610. Two cameras, three lenses, a few rolls of film and a couple of SD cards. Happy days.
Here's a few favourites from my roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 shot with my Nikon F801S and 35-70mm lens. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr for you to visit via the link below. Also
a reminder that "Opaque", the new publication from the Photozine
Collective is now on sale via the link below. This is a limited edition
run with all profits going to Asthma + Lung UK in memory of John
Whitmore who inspired us. I hope you enjoy them.
Nikon F801S - Kodak ColorPlus
Opaque - from the Photozine Collective
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