Journal Image - Candid Street Photo & Motion Photography

Quick Links: FM 10 | FM 3A | F 100 | F 5 | D 200 | Lens | SB 50DX & SB 600

A look into my camera bag. I do not believe that cameras and gadgets make a good photographer, but I do believe that equipments are a very important component to the success of a picture. It’s like a surgeon and his ability to perceive the surgery at hand and the final outcome of the surgery. While books, practice and company make him a sharp one, his success depends on how he is able to pick and chose his tools.

The Camera - the prime tool
FM10 - the entry level Manual Nikon F

To begin with, the most important component is the camera itself. I use Nikon bodies. I started off with the FM10, and believe it or not, I still believe that FM10 got brains! The plastic body comes for the low price of the model and keeps the body weight down to about 0.88 lbs. Its completely manual, and you probably cannot use any lens longer than 100mm on this without the fear of breaking the flange. The camera uses center-weighted match-diode metering and the F lens mount. Being manual, the Nikon G lenses cannot be used on FM10.

The camera allows a TTL flash with a sync speed of 1/125 seconds. This is one camera that truly helps a beginner get comfortable in SLR photography.

(I have sold this camera in April 2003)

Nikon never really gave up it’s passion to improve the fundamentals of the camera. The latest in it’s line up is the completely manual FM3A. The metal body design and the fact that this camera can operate completely at its best without any power source, makes it the perfect back up, if not the primary one for those who still prefer the manual controls.

The reasons why have used this camera and still continue to use it for all my art work is the A-priority control. Impressions depend a lot on the aperture control and the camera’s TTL compatibility with all the Nikon’s speedlight system makes it worth it.The light weight metal body, the high 250 sync speed, the TTL flash-ability and the traditional controls are impressive. It comes at a very high price though -I bought it at about US $ 800 back in 2002. And in 2007, the price has not changed.

No wonder this is one equipment that will last a life time. I had to put this camera for a month long test to make sure that I get the right picture. Adjusting my meter took me the most of the time - you would probably need to spend some time to baseline the meter. And thats about it. The film speed on mine was very close to the F100 and I often used the automatic DX setting (I use this as a default just in case I dont spoil rolls by mistake).

(I have sold this camera in Jan 2008)

The F100 was launched in December, 1999. The others that were launched are the Nikon E3s, Nikon APS Pronea S as well as the Nikon F60/N60. Nikon wanted to fill the wide need gap between the N90 and the flagship F5. Its been 8 years now, the F100 has emerged one of the most preferred cameras available in the market today.

No matter where you are shooting and what you are shooting, the F100 will bring back good images. Its excellent weather sealed body keeps it going even when soaking wet. While shooting the Niagara Falls, my camera was drenched more than ones - the first during the early ones while on the Maid of Mist and then in the afternoon while standing at the Avalanche Deck.

The 4 hours in between was hectic moving from one place to another and I never got time to dry my camera. I did have to send it over to the dealer for an electrical malfunction towards the end of the trip. But its not because the camera could not stand what it was supposed to, it was I who did not treat the camera right.

The body fits right into your hand, the foamy cover keeps it snuggly fit into your grip. The controls are perfectly laid out - and once you are used to the layout, you can change a roll, change your settings and shoot perfectly even in complete darkness or keeping your eye on your subject.

The other feature that I find very useful is the CSM, or the Custom Settings. F100 offers 22 custom functions and in some situation or the other you would use as many as 20 of them.

Overall, this is one of the best film cameras ever made. The body, the brain and the built makes it a durable, smart working equipment to give you some of your best images.

Although at the time of writing this, Feb 25 2007, Nikon has stopped making F5 cameras and have brought in the F6, the old work horse remains a faithful company to many professional and serious amateurs. Launched in 1996, the F5 has some of the best features which made it reliable and an absolute favorite.

The 3D matrix metering coupled with the matrix metering is virtually fool proof. Nikon had designed this camera with almost an idealistic mind - down to the winding lever. If you do art images and impressions like I do, the winding lever, which we often do not even notice now a days, proves to be one of the biggest advantage. Flash photography took a quantum leap with the F5 features.

There are however a few things that I am not comfortable with ( “am”? yes - I still use it regularly ). For me, this is a heavy weight camera - literally. And the battery runs out very fast if you are using the AAA batteries. You might need to charge up the AAA batteries after as few as 400 shots.

The Nikon F5 offered some features which are similar to the current day’s EXIF data exchange. You could download the shooting data through the Nikon supplied Photo Secretary. While the design was forward, the camera worked well with the pre-AI lenses after a dealer service.

The Nikon F5 is not sold new anymore. However you could still get some good cameras as more and more photographers transition to the digital media.

The truth is, I really got frustrated with the lab that I was using in Fremont, CA. This lab, run by its owner, happened to be the only local lab in Fremont, on the Mowry Avenue and was right next to our home. But the owner neither takes care of the equipments nor has any respect for the customers or his/her film. He kept ruining my Velvia rolls over and over again. So much so that he spoiled 7 rolls of Velvia that I brought back from the Red Rock Canyons, Nevada and did not even attempt to save the film!

That very afternoon, and I remember it was raining, I angrily drove to the Ritz Shop in Auto Mall Parkway, paid USD 2,100 in cash and brought home my first Nikon D200.2 days later, I took leave from office, hopped onto the BART and rode to San Francisco. This is when I took the “Lady on the Train” image (that has since been popularly called “My grandma on the train”) as one of my first shots.

10 minutes in San Francisco, I was standing in another Ritz dealer next to the Powell BART station asking desperately for help. my new Nikon D200 has stopped working. So began my relation with the D200.Its been over a year now that I have put this camera to severe tests.And every time it came out with flying colors.

I had to upgrade my speedlight, since the Nikon D200 would not work with the SB-50 DX. I have used the on-camera flash in situations where I did not have any external flash with me and I think this flash need a lot of improvement. The flash compensation hardly works. The only way to use this flash decently is to cover it with a stofen.

But more often I have used the on-camera flash as a remote trigger to my SB 600. I can control the SB 600 more effectively and easily than the on-camera flash.Today, I am happy with the D200 for the most part. I am not happy though, with its ability to compensate temperature. The fill flash system, which is different for the D200 than the film versions, would only work best if the subject is right in the center. I wondered how Nikon could even forget the Rule of the Thirds!

But that apart, the camera works good. I have used it in temperatures as low as about 2 degree Fahrenheit, it worked well. I have used it continuously in situations where my camera and lens were soaking wet. The water sealing is perfect. I have used it in snow and ice, and it works great. The metal body and the similarity in shape to that of the Nikon F100 worked extremely well for me.

My choice of lens is depends on the type of images I prefer to take. My primary lenses are the 17 - 35 mm f/2.8, 28 - 90 mm f/3.5, 105 mm f/2.8 macro & the 80 - 400 f/4.5 - 5.6 VR.

I have a few other lenses that I use mainly for experimentations and mostly for impressions. I have a few of the extenders and tele-converters to match the lenses.

The SB 50 DX - I am not a flash photographer and often try to avoid situations where the only source of light is flash, but the small SB 50 DX has served me will in my impressionistic and landscape photography. More often than not, the SB 50 DX has been used as a slave to the more effective SB 28 by the professionals. With a GN of 72 feet @ 100 I have always used the SB 50 DX for fill flash. And when used with a beamer, it just adds that tinge of brightness and catchlight to the subject.

The known problem with the SB 50 DX is that it does not work with the D 70, D2H & the D2X. This probably means the demise of the flash all together. The more popular ones now a days, with iTTL compatibility are the SB 600 and the SB 800.

I have been using the SB 600 with the digital Nikon D200 as well as with my F5 and the F100 now. This is a great flash for the price that is almost half that of the SB 800. I only use flashes to fill-in and for all my purposes, even for macro, low light, street and motion images, I have found the SB 600 to be suitable. I have even used the SB 600 with an extender and the results are excellent.

The SB 600 can be fired remotely. In fact there are 3 channels to fire SB 600. So you could use more than 1 flash remotely. However, the camera needs to be able to read the right exposures for the flash to work well. The way Nikon D200 is set up, it will fill accurately if your subject is right in the center! I do not blame my flash for the way the camera was designed.