I was digging around my closet and came across my camera bag with some of my old gear. I had originally started on a Pentax Spotmatic F with a 50mm f1.4 circa 1975. That got me from about 10th grade to mid-college. Then, like a poor student, sold that figuring I wouldn't miss it. What a mistake... Somehow I managed to hang on to a lens and flash for it. My sister still has her Spotmatic so I might convince her to let me use it on some film shots for grins. My remaining screw-type lens is the Vivitar 85-205 f3.8 zoom and a little Honeywell 110 strobe that I had on the "F".
I replaced the Spotmatic F after college with a Nikon EM body and MD-E motor drive. This was sort of the beginning of the 'auto' film SLR era and the motordrive added a whopping 2 frames per second. It came with a Nikon 50mm f1.8 which I swapped out for a Unitar 135mm fixed manual focus at f2.8. Not bad glass for it's time. I think it'll be a match for my D40x body so that might be fun to try.
Then I added a Nikon N2020, again with another Nikon 50mm f1.8. This was an auto-focus, automatic camera that was pretty much a blast to shoot. Somewhere in there I added a Tameron SP 60-300 f3.8-5.4 with the Nikon mount. For some reason, it won't mate to my D40x. Keeps saying "Lens not installed" and aftr I looked, there's no contacts on the lens.
Also in the bag was a Vivitar 283 strobe which I put in some batteries and it fired right up. Also seems to sync with my D40x too off the hotshoe.
I'll probably head out for some various batteries in the next day or so and a roll or two of film just to see what comes out. Maybe I'll shoot the same shot with the D40x/18-200VR for comparison. Heck... does anyone still even process film these days?
Here's the EM with the Unitar 135, the N2020 with a 50mm f1.8 and an extra 50mm f1.8
And here's the screw type Vivitar 85-205, Tameron 60-300 SP f3.8-5.4 with the Nikon mount, the Honeywell 110 and Vivitar 283 strobe. I also found some magnifying filters (49mm) and a polarizing filter I had collected along the journey.
Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane with old school stuff.
.
I replaced the Spotmatic F after college with a Nikon EM body and MD-E motor drive. This was sort of the beginning of the 'auto' film SLR era and the motordrive added a whopping 2 frames per second. It came with a Nikon 50mm f1.8 which I swapped out for a Unitar 135mm fixed manual focus at f2.8. Not bad glass for it's time. I think it'll be a match for my D40x body so that might be fun to try.
Then I added a Nikon N2020, again with another Nikon 50mm f1.8. This was an auto-focus, automatic camera that was pretty much a blast to shoot. Somewhere in there I added a Tameron SP 60-300 f3.8-5.4 with the Nikon mount. For some reason, it won't mate to my D40x. Keeps saying "Lens not installed" and aftr I looked, there's no contacts on the lens.
Also in the bag was a Vivitar 283 strobe which I put in some batteries and it fired right up. Also seems to sync with my D40x too off the hotshoe.
I'll probably head out for some various batteries in the next day or so and a roll or two of film just to see what comes out. Maybe I'll shoot the same shot with the D40x/18-200VR for comparison. Heck... does anyone still even process film these days?
Here's the EM with the Unitar 135, the N2020 with a 50mm f1.8 and an extra 50mm f1.8
And here's the screw type Vivitar 85-205, Tameron 60-300 SP f3.8-5.4 with the Nikon mount, the Honeywell 110 and Vivitar 283 strobe. I also found some magnifying filters (49mm) and a polarizing filter I had collected along the journey.
Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane with old school stuff.
.