30-30-30 : Day 12 : Diana 151

Setup for Day 12 (Feb 26th, 2017):

Camera: Diana 151 (original vintage model for maximum hipster points)
Lens: Plastic, 3-zone focus
Film: Kodak TMY 400

Mini-review of the setup:

Camera: All plastic, well, there are a couple of pieces of metal like the springs that hold the film in place and the screw for the winding knob and maybe a spring for the shutter but mostly plastic.

At it's heart, it's a cheap give away camera that you (well, likely your grandparents or parents being that's 2017) might have won at a carnival ring toss game or similar. It's also a classic art school tool to get people to stop worrying about the technical side of things and go figure out what they want to point their camera at when sharp details won't make it through the process.

Very simple, a knob for winding film with the red window, a shutter release, focusing grip for the lens and an aperture. Oh, and there's a switch to go from Instant (roughly 1/60-1/100th) to Bulb (long exposure, shutter is open as long as you hold it down).

Each of these cameras will have different issues like light leaks and general squeaks and basic construction issues. If you are OCD, don't waste your time, but if you want something different, want something that will force you to learn the basics of making a photograph (because that's all it will let you access), then this is a great option. I prefer this to the Holga but each has their own general look. I do wish this shot 6x6 rather than 4x4 but I suppose that is part of the charm as well.

It's been stated so many times that the above seems like a cliche. "Hey man, don't worry about your gear...just simplify and worry about the images" or "Be free, don't think" or "Shoot from the heart/hip, it's all good" and those are all true. This camera *does* force you to think differently than when you get your hands wrapped around something serious like a Hasselblad/Rollei or one of the serious "pro" 35mm cameras, much less the entirely methodical and thoughtful process that is shooting large format. It's a cliche but it works. Whether you like the shots that you make with this is up to you, and just because you use this tool doesn't mean you're going to make art but it is another tool to keep in your tool box, something to use as appropriate. Not every image is a nail, so don't try to use a hammer for every image.

Lens: Plastic fantastic. Simple, lots of "issues" but lots of character. I've shot with another Diana before and this one seems to be sharper in the middle of the frame but not as sharp in the corners. Not that it's ever really that sharp but the wacky blur seems to be more prevalent here. Maybe I shot at a different aperture with the other one. Anyway, it makes pictures.

Film: A friend gave me some expired film to experiment with, this was one of them. I knew it was at least a decade old based on the fact that it was labeled Kodak TMY not TMY-2, which happened in 2007. No idea on storage, but looking at the results this may have sat in a hot car interior for a while. Super grainy, lots of fog so this is about as bad as it can get.


After seeing scans: Holy light leak! I'll have to seal it up or get out the gaffer tape and try it again with a bit newer film and more light although this film/lens combo does intrigue me. I want to shoot this again.

It does give a nice creepy feel to the images. A house doesn't look like a house, it looks like your weird friend's parent's scary house where you aren't sure how the night is going to end up and you immediately regret acquiescing to their invite as soon as you get to the front door.

30-30-30 : Day 11 : Nikon F3

Setup for Day 11 (Feb 25th, 2017):

Camera: Nikon F3HP
Lens: Nikkor AI-S 50mm f/1.4
Film: Kodak TMX 100

Mini-review of the setup:

Camera: Hmm, what to say about the Nikon F3. Spec lists and reviews are everywhere else on the internet. This one was bought on eBay "as parts" and it indeed doesn't work in A mode but it does work fine in the manual speeds. Finder is nice and bright but somehow it's not wonderful like my short fling with an Olympus OM4T was, late last year (now gone to a good friend in San Diego who is taking very good care of it). That one had the ability to make you want to watch the world, the F3 simply makes you want to take the bloody shot and get on with it.

Winder feels pretty good, shutter release is fine but not magically smooth or precise and I'm just not falling in love with the thing as I'm using it. Shutter sounds like...a shutter.

After looking at the negs, this clearly has issues of some kind with the light leak. Oh well, it won't be missed.

Lens: The AI-S is a slight evolution of the earlier Nikkor I shot with the original F. Should be better coatings, otherwise very similar image quality. I used a Nikkor metal hood and a B+W polarizer for hopefully darker skies with decent cloud separation.

Again, good to very good but just not falling in love with it. Maybe it's just that the focus ring spins the "wrong" way compared to most of the gear I have/use more frequently. Out of all the adapted manual focus lenses that I have access to right now, I wouldn't choose this one to use on my DSLR.

Film: Most of the TMX 100 film that I've shot here has come from that thrift store lot but as I'm running out of that (finally, after years!), I have been winding some off of a bulk roll of significantly newer stock. This should result in less grain, more sharpness and better overall quality if I do my part in developing correctly.


After seeing scans: Poor scan quality due to haze inside the glass of the scanner. Negs are sharper than what you see here, but I'm not going to re-scan due to the fact that there are light leaks in almost all the frames. Shot around the house a bit, camera porn is easy to shoot.

30-30-30 : Day 10 : Nikon F (x2)

Setup for Day 10 (Feb 24th, 2017):

Camera: Nikon F (one silver, one black)
Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 and Zoom-Nikkor 28-45mm f/4.5
Film: Kodak Tri-X 400

Mini-review of the setup:

Camera: These two cameras just had to be shot together and I had to use the classic Tri-X with them. I got these in for a general service with not much of a backstory on how they came together but they both cleaned up well and are very smooth in operation. Shutters are quiet for 35mm SLRs and the controls give a nice solid impression. I've only had a short time of handling the Nikon F and I see why it set a standard against all other SLRs were judged.

Viewfinders are a bit dark compared to some other, newer SLR options but I still found it easy to focus them given the split image rangefinder on both focus screens. This is consistent with the era, Pentax Spotmatics are not exceedingly bright either but with a bit of use you can get comfortable using them. It's just harder to deal with when you have a more modern body with a nice bright viewfinder and then switch immediately back to the vintage piece.

Loading film was pretty quick and easy, even never having done it before but I definitely needed someplace to put the back down. If it were my camera I may have risked trying to tuck it under an arm during reload but definitely not with a client's. I found the film to slip into the spool easily and start winding with no problems. I bulk load film so just tore a small corner off the leader so it would fit into the spool.

As for carrying, the body is a bit small and thin again for my size of hands, so adding a grip would likely be in the cards. No big self-timer lever or something to fold fingertips around, so it didn't feel all that secure. Balanced well with the 50/1.4, I'd have no problem carrying this for longer sessions or while traveling but with the heavier zoom, it was a bit much and I'd want a shoulder strap or bag to put it in.

After use notes: I can see why folks compare these early Nikon Fs to Leicas. They carry a similar hefty sense of quality. Dense, built for extended use. Designed to work.


Lens: Nikkor 50/1.4. A classic normal/short portrait lens of general Double-Gauss design. Much improved over the earlier 5.8cm f/1.4 (Nikon's first SLR lens), this stayed largely the same for many many years of production and is the basis for the Nikon normal lens up until their recent introduction of the modern 58/1.4.

I've had quite a few Nikkors pass through my hands here at TheFix HQ and while nearly all of them are indeed ruggedly built and working fine mechanically (a certain Micro 55/2.8 one of the notable exceptions), they are not the smoothest or most precisely built pieces of optics as their proponents are ready to exclaim.

The vintage Pentax glass like the Takumars are nearly always smoother and well-damped in their focusing helicals, the aperture rings with less play. One may say, well, the Takumars went to the semi-pro or hobby photographer, whereas the Nikkors were bought by the pros to be put to work and that may well be true to a point but there have been some highly worn and beat up examples of Pentax Takumars that I've seen that still focus absolutely smooth, and I've seen multiple very clean Nikkors that obviously never saw pro or extended use and they still have dried out focus grease and more play in overall lens fitment.

This isn't to say that the Nikkors don't give a feeling of quality, just that for someone that hasn't ventured outside of their vintage Nikon realm since the 70s, you may be interested to know there are other quite nice options.

I'd no idea the Zoom-Nikkor 28-45mm f/4.5 even existed as a lens until I got these cameras in for service. I'm not very much of a Nikon historian so this isn't the only lens I'm not aware of, I'm sure.

That being said, this was the first production wide-angle zoom and offers a surprisingly versatile range of focal lengths. I'm mostly a prime lens user so any zoom capability at all is an interesting feature but 28mm is definitely wide angle and 45mm is decidedly in "normal" range so you can do quite a bit even though the numerical spread isn't too great like newer lenses. With some work done by the photographer in composition and leading lines and other such tools, it can provide many different looks to a scene.

I had fairly fast film and broad daylight so was able to set it to f/8 where any weaknesses should be minimized. A couple of times I opened it up to f/4.5 so it may show issues on those images.


Film: Kodak Tri-X is one of the classic emulsions, an industry standard. For many people, this is their only b&w emulsion and it is very versatile. This particular bit of it was poorly stored and so has lots of base fog, which effectively reduces film speed. It also ends up having a lot more grain.


After Scanning Notes: These are some of the worst scans I've ever done. The film looks terribly grainy, mushy and overall not at all like what the negatives actually look like in person. I'm increasingly frustrated by the scanner's results on 35mm.

Black Nikon F w/50mm f/1.4 lens:

Silver Nikon F w/28-45mm f/4.5 lens: