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Thursday, January 12, 2006

Why I love film cameras, part five

TOKYO, Thursday, Jan. 12 - The Nikon Corporation, the Japanese camera maker, said Thursday that it would stop making most of its film cameras and lenses in order to focus on digital cameras. - New York Times, January 12, 2005
Why this headline is wearing thin, part one. But never mind that. They are discontinuing all film cameras except their flagship F6 (plus a plastic model they don't manufacture themselves), many manual-focus lenses (including the 105mm f/2.5, the "legendary" Nikon portrait lens), and all large-format and enlarging lenses.

I'm not overly surprised, nor concerned. A lot of speculation suggests this augurs well for the introduction of a "full frame" Nikon digital SLR. Current offerings all have relatively small sensor chips that impose a "multplier effect" on the effective focal length of lenses, meaning that a well-chosen lineup of lenses for film use becomes a lineup of interesting but often inapposite lenses when affixed to any of Nikon's current digital offerings. A full-frame DSLR has a sensor chip the same size as a frame of 35mm film, so lenses behave as they would with film. Many people who use zoom lenses and/or lenses chosen with the smaller sensors in mind don't think this is a big issue, and for them it is not. But it's a big issue for me, and it's nice to think that maybe I'm not waiting in vain for Nikon to release the right DSLR for me. Nikon has never, ever said it will release a full-frame DSLR, but the assumption behind the latest speculation is that if a full-frame camera were not in the offing, they would have discontinued more of the lenses designed to cover full frame.

I'm also not concerned because I already have my Nikon film cameras and one of my loyal blog readers is about to buy me a Nikon F6 (could it be you?--email me at donttrustsnakes@gmail.com for my shipping details). But if you want a new F100 or FM3a, better act soon. Better yet, go to keh.com and buy a nice Nikon F2AS. You won't regret it. By the way, I believe, without any real proof, that my F2AS is the one KEH used for its product photo for this camera.

That's been their photo since before they sold me mine, and I have that exact sticker on the wind lever in the same state of fading. You care.

My two favorite paragraphs:
"Mr. Abe said the announcement might trigger a brief revival in sales of film cameras, as film photography buffs rush to buy the cameras before production stops. The decision may also help make film cameras a popular nostalgia item in second-hand markets like eBay."
I'm not quite ready to be considered a "buff" of anything, but pretty soon the NYT may decide to run a feature on me and some guy who builds scale-model steam engines.
"Digital photography has won out because its images are visible immediately and are easily stored on tiny computer chips, eliminating the need to carry and develop clunky rolls of film."
I wasn't aware there was a competition. Let's check back with Martin Fackler in 30 years and see what's become of his digital images from 2006.

Speaking of clueless statements, here's a classic from the promotional materials for the new Kodak V570 dual lens digital camera: "Create stunning quality prints up to 50 x 76 cm (20" x 30") with 5.0 MP." We must remember that there are many ways to become stunned: seeing a thrilling large photographic print . . . stepping on a rake . . . eating improperly-prepared fugu . . . handling an electric eel . . . .

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posted at 8:02 PM

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