Film Photography Podcast – Episode 118 – February 1, 2015
The internet radio show for people who love to shoot film! Nikon F2 Photomic! Nikon F6! 1930 Kodak Brownie! Large Format Report! Listener Letters and a Lot More!
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Show Notes
Film Photography Podcast – Episode 118 – February 1st, 2015
Show Notes By: Alex Luyckx
The party is just getting started here with Michael Raso, Leslie Lazenby, Mat Marrash, and Mark Dalzell! On today’s show we have several cameras to present, the Nikon F6, Nikon F2 Photomic, and Anniversary Brownie. Plenty of listener letters, a couple of great books, large format report, and plenty more!
Book of the Show Pt. 1
Mark has the first book of the show, and it’s a dangerous one. The McKeowan’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras is the camera collectors Blue Book. The current version is the 12th Edition that was released for the 2005-2006 year. This is not a good book is you’re susceptible to Gear Acquisition Syndrome or GAS. But it can come in handy as a reference guide for determining the make and model of the camera you’re looking at and what film it takes. And most importantly how much it’s worth. The 12th Edition is the most current, there is talk of a 13th but right now it’s just talk.
The Best SLR ever?
Resident Nikon guy, Rick Paul has returned, with the ultimate in the Nikon professional line of SLRs. The Nikon F6. The F6 released in 2004 showed a marked difference in who Nikon aimed their professional 35mm SLRs at, rather than the photo journalist market, which by that point had converted to digital, the F6 was aimed at the advanced amateur who wanted a slick, stylish, and feature rich SLR. Enter the F6, this camera is simply top notch, from the bright 100% viewfinder, full exposure recording (you can even download the information to a compact flash card using the MV-1 accessory), a top notch metering system that works with any lens down to the original AI glass from 1977, shutter speeds from 1/8000” to 30” (stepless in program and aperture priority modes), and full iTTL support for even modern flashes (like the SB-910). The battery grip is a separate unit, which makes the body a little smaller, you can get the older MD-10 or MD-40. The camera is still produced today! So you can find it both used and new at places like KEH or B&H. This is truly the ultimate in 35mm SLR technology out there.
From New to Old
Leslie recently had a pile of Nikon SLRs fall into her lap, and she has one with her, the Nikon F2 Photomic (pronounced Pho-Tom-Ick). This was the second sub-model of the F2 and was produced between 1971 and 1977, the name comes from the DP-1 Photomic viewfinder which provided a Centre-Weighted meter, but that was the only electric system in the camera, the rest was all mechanical. And a beauty! It’s heavy camera but well balanced that produces some amazing work. And the best part is that because the F2, like the predecessor was a system camera meaning you can swap out the DP-1 finder with an updated one as well. There were some crazy accessories as well with the F2 line including a 100’ film magazine that allowed a full 750 shots! You can see the whole story here at the MIR site!
Special Film Orders
Mat brings us some news on the Large Format end of things. A reminder that if you’re looking for special order Kodak films, the person you want to contact is Keith Canham, and right now it seems that even minimum orders aren’t needed as there’s plenty of stock running around, looking for Ektar in 5×7, or maybe Tri-X in 7×17, Keith is your man! His company also produces (here in the USA) some great large and ultra-large format cameras! His site is www.canhamcameras.com. If you’re more of an Ilford shooter, their special order is due in June! You can check out available stocks here on their site (don’t bother asking for Pan F in 4×5, I already asked and they said no). Or give a call to MidWest Photo Exchange!
Happy Anniversary!
Mark has a rather unique camera to show off – a Kodak No. 2 Hawk-eye Brownie. What made it unique was that it had a special Tan covering, and that it was one of 557,000 given away in 1930. The camera, was produced to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Eastman Kodak Company. Parents could visit a Kodak dealer sign a form, and if their child had been born in 1918 and had their 12th birthday in 1930, and Kodak would send them this camera. The camera itself uses 120 film in the 6×9 format and produces a good images. But it was really the marketing that this camera was used to inspire the next generation of photographers and was a great idea from Kodak!
Bulkloading Woes
FPP Super Friend Mark O’Brien writes in with some issues he’s been having and how it was solved. He’s been doing a lot of testing the FPP bw 200 (now listed as FPP edu 200 BW – a surveillance film produced by Foma). He had been noticing some fogging/light leaks on the film, the first source of the problem was a bad camera, but when he ran a roll through a good camera there was still the same problem. Could it be the film? So after running a clip test, and it came out fine the problem turned out to be Mark’s reusable film cartridges. Mat chimes in that those things are cheap, and that after about five runs the seals start to go.
Book of the Show – Pt. 2
Mat has our second ‘book of the show’ a recent addition to his library, the title is “The Contact Sheet” it really is a refreshing view of the photography greats. The reason, it shows their contact sheets for their iconic photos, that often we this are a one-and-done image actually took several tries before that a-ha moment struck. The book goes into the thought processes and stories behind these iconic images.
That’s it for this show! If you haven’t already, there’s still time (but it is running out) to sign up for our Walking Workshop on March 14th and 15th in sunny San Clemente California! Join the gang for a weekend of goodies, giveaways, photo tours of the historic missions downtown and even an exclusive tour of The Darkroom’s photo lab! As for the podcast, we’ll be back in a short two weeks. Until then, join in the community over on our FPP Flickr group, see some amazing work in the pool and join in the discussions! Feel the urge to write? Email us at: podcast@filmphotographyproject.com or write us at: Film Photography Podcast PO Box 152 Butler, NJ, 07405 USA