Equipment
Nikon D70
This is my first DSLR which is a huge leap for me. My previous camera, the Nikon 5700 was excellent but limited. I'm finding the D70 both great fun to use and frustrating due to my personal policy of instant gratification taking too long.
Lenses
- Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X124 Pro DX
- Nikon 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor
- Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF Nikkor
- Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED AF Zoom-Nikkor
- Lensbaby 1.0
No. 1 Autographic Kodak Junior Model A
I had been keeping an eye out for one of these for quite a while. They're not hard to come by but they're usually in questionable condition. This particular model is in incredible condition considering it's circa 1914. The camera has a Rapid Rectilinear lens in a two speed Kodak Ballbearing Shutter. The waistlevel viewfinder folds up when the camera is collapsed and focussing is achieved by three preset stops on the scale on the left side of the baseboard.
One particularly interesting feature is that there's a small door in the back which houses a metal stylus. By opening a small window that opened onto the back of the film paper as it moved through the camera and applying pressure with the stylus, you could compress the emulsion on the film. This allowed you to record a text image of your choice giving you the opportunity of naming each particular frame.This medium fomat camera takes 120 film. Speeds 25, 50, T, B.f stops 4 - 64.
Diana Flash
Yes I got this off of Ebay too. I know I have a problem - I acknowledge it I just choose to do nothing about it. In this case there really isn't much choice but to buy via ebay as they've been out of production for quite some time now. We're talking cheap plastic toy camera funk but in the right hands you get glorious sweet spots of focus surrounded by hazy vignetting.
Kiev 4
Another ebay find. Do we note a theme developing here? This 35mm Rangefinder was a copy of the costly German Contax cameras. Despite being a copy there are many that actually prefer the Kiev. The focusing process on a Rangefinder is whole new experience I can tell you. Wild stuff.
I use a Jupiter 8 50mm f2, Jupiter 11 135mm f4, and the Jupiter 12 35mm f2.8 lens with the Universal Turret Viewfinder.
Lubitel 2
A lovely bit of Russian tin. Lubitel means Amatuer and that appeals to me greatly. Mine was purchased via Ebay and came straight from Kiev in pretty quickish time. There's something about the odd little TLR that I find gives slightly more confidence when photographing strangers. I think it's the fact that you're looking down into the viewfinder rather than pointing a camera at eye level. A medium format camera taking 120mm film.
Holga 120N
Another ebay purchase this time from Hong Kong. These are a fair bit larger than I had anticipated which is a shame as it's not exactly the sort of thing you hang around your neck with pride. These fall into the category of Toy Camera. Cheap plastic yet can produce some very ethereal images. I recommend the 120N as it comes with certain features ( tripod mount, B shutter) that you'd otherwise have to buy modified. A medium format camera taking 120mm film.
