Right back where I started from

I guess I have always been a Nikon guy. Back in the 1970s when I was learning photography with my father’s Kodak Retina IIc, I lusted after a Nikon F2. I remember looking at the ads in Modern Photography magazine, drooling over a camera I knew I would never be able to afford.

When I got back into photography seriously again twenty some years later, I finally could afford a Nikon and bought their top level advanced amateur SLR, the N90s. Shot a lot of film with that camera and also finally got around to building a real darkroom in my home.

Fast forward again another twenty years and we’re far into the digital age. I am living on the Northern California coast with so much beauty around me. I get the itch to start making pictures again and just for fun, check out film camera prices on eBay. To my amazement, an array of fabulous old film cameras can be found for next to nothing. I bid and win on my first one; a Nikon FE2 that began my re-entry to film photography.

From 2010 until now, I’ve tried Minlotas and Canons, a Contax, a Mamiya, Yashica, Rolleicord, Polaroid, Pentax, Kodak and Voigtlander. And I went deep down the Leica rabbit hole. It’s been an amazing and educational journey. The only regret I have is not having the vision to buy more old film cameras back in 2010 when prices were low. With the resurgence of analog photography, I could have made a nice profit today.

Other than Nikon, the only cameras I have left are the Canon A-1 and Minolta X-700. My Nikon collection consists of a FM2n, FE, F, EL2, F100, F3 and F4. I have a small collection of Nikkor lenses…some primes, my Micro-Nikkor and 70-300 AF zoom I recently bought for the F100.

I feel pretty content right now with my gear. I have film in my new-to-me Nikon F that recently came back from a full CLA by Jim Holman. I’m enjoying shooting this legacy Nikon more than I had expected. I still have to run the EL2 through its paces. And I am anxious to try the auto-focus version of the 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens I just picked up for a song on eBay on my F4. The manual focus version of this lens is one of my favorites.

I think it is interesting after trying all of these different cameras that I have come full circle to right back where I started from—Nikon.