The Fogdog Blog
Two years ago this month, I shot my first roll of film in a Contax RX camera I bought from B&H Photo in New York. I was a bit nervous taking a new-to-me camera out for a test drive during a weekend trip to San Francisco, but I shouldn't have been. The RX turned out to be a great camera to shoot and the Zeiss lens never fails to satisfy.
Contax RX, 50mm f/1.7 Carl Zeiss Planar with yellow filter, Kodak Tmax 100
I've been dabbling in photography since the early 1970s and for as long as I can recall, there's been a Nikon camp and a Canon camp. I've always belonged to the former, never warming much to most Canons I've tried. I had a TL once. It was clunky. And none of the 1990s era plasticy blob-like Canons appeared interesting enough for me to try. A friend of mine, firmly rooted in the Canon camp, loaned me one of his pro-level DSLRs once to try, but its multi-function switches and fiddly menus turned me off. The only exception so far was the Canon P rangefinder, a circa 1960s Leica screw mount jewel that's a minimalist joy to shoot. But that's it; one lone photographic antique from a time when SLRs weren't even a glimmer in Canon's eye.
Until now, maybe. You see, I've been keeping a casual eye out for a Canon F-1 or F-1n ever since my photo-blogging friend Jim Grey matter-of-factly mentioned this camera to me a year or so ago. Jim knows I lean towards metal, gears, minimalism and great glass. He was the one who suggested I try Pentax. It was a great suggestion. I've since fallen hard for the Spotmatics. So I trust this guy and when a fine, slightly brassy Canon F-1n presented itself, I took the plunge.
The original Canon F-1 was to the Canon camp what the Nikon F2 was to Nikon shooters; an overbuilt, heavy, metal, pro-level workhorse. The F-1 came out in 1971, around the same time as Nikon's second F. The F-1 was a manual focus, manual exposure system camera. Canon promised they'd keep the F-1 in production for a decade and they did. As Nikon closed out the F2 era with the introduction of the F3 in 1980, Canon debuted their "new F-1" not longer after, in 1981. The New F-1, soon to be called just the F-1n, offered several finder options including aperture-priority auto-exposure with the AE-FN finder. My F-1n came with this finder and a very nice Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens.
I've just loaded some Tmax 100 into the F-1n and here are some thoughts so far...
1. It's a heavy camera alright, but it is well balanced and easy to handle. Canon seemed to really like putting those big 6V batteries in cameras of this era so, like the AE-1 Program, it has a raised compartment on the front of the camera to accommodate the battery chamber. Unlike the consumer-oriented AE-1 however, the battery chamber on the F-1n fits better, feels nicer and seems to be more part of the camera body rather than an afterthought. This compartment also provides a secure place to grip the camera.
2. This camera has an unusal dark gray matte finish, similar to what you might find on a gun or rifle. It is very different than the black enamel finish on my Nikons and Spotmatic bodies. The camera I bought is starting to reveal some nice brassing on the top and bottom plates. The more I handle this camera, the more I like the finish. With use, based on how it's wearing now, it should develop a wonderful patina.
3. The viewfinder is big and bright. Super easy to focus with the standard split image focus screen. In manual mode, the match-needle exposure information appears on the right side of the viewfinder screen. Switch to AE and the manual information disappears and the AE information appears on the bottom of the screen. Nice--you always know what metering mode you are in!
4. Shutter speeds are from B to 1/2000th. This is a hybrid shutter. Electronics control the slower speeds and the rest are mechanical--good news if that big 6V battery hanging out front dies.
5. Shooting in either manual or AE modes is pretty intuitive, even for a visitor from the Nikon camp. The camera controls all feel nice, firm and clicky. The Canon FD lenses, which were phased out after the F-1n, are well built with a nice focus feel.
6. Ever since I had my laser cataract surgery, I don't need viewfinder diopters any longer, but if you do, this camera will accept screw-in ones like the Nikon F2. There are also a number of different focus screens available.
I'm shooting my test roll in the F-1n both in manual and AE modes, carefully logging each shot in a little notebook. I bought this camera from a very reputable camera shop down in Marin County and their in-house camera tech checked this camera before I bought it, so the meter should be accurate, but it'll be nice to have good notes when I get the scans back from the lab.
Unlike the Nikon F2, you won't find page after internet page or oodles of YouTube videos gushing praise on the Canon F-1n. Nikon really dominated the pro photography world at this time, so I imagine a lot more F2s were sold than F-1s, meaning lots more survivors. Or the film photographers still shooting their F-1s aren't as vocal a bunch. I'm not sure. What I do know is that this is the first Canon SLR I've really liked right from the start. Thanks Jim!
I am not sure why I get so much satisfaction from this shot I took two years ago in a little shop in Northern California that sells kitchen/cooking goods, but I do. My Leica MP was loaded with Kodak's wonderful Tmax 100 film. I was using the 35mm f/2 Summicron lens.
Each Wednesday, I toss an image onto the digital lightbox. This is from November, 2011. Shot with my Nikon FE2 on Kodak's now discontinued BW400CN film. One of the few images I shot with this C-41 process film that satisfied me.
Spud Point Marina, Bodega Bay, CA
It's become somewhat of a tradition to take a New Years Day hike out to the tip of Point Reyes; starting the year with fresh air, exercise and photography. Last year it was Portra 400 in the Nikon FM2n. This year, black and white Tmax 100 in my Pentax Spotmatic SP. I've been shooting with the splendid 55mm f/2 Super Takumar recently, a lens I like a lot. This camera body was recently serviced by Eric Hendrickson.
Pentax Spotmatic SP with 55mm f/2 Super Takumar
I've done this hike in all kinds of weather, so I'm usually layered up for warmth with a water-proof outer shell. New Years Day 2017 was deceptively mild and sunny when I left the house, so it surprised me when I arrived at Pierce Point Ranch to find a fierce and biting cold wind blowing in off the Pacific. A half hour down the Tomales Point trail and the ocean blow was biting right through my North Face jacket. This wasn't fun at all. I decided to turn around and try and get some shots at the more wind-protected ranch and perhaps down at McClure's Beach; a short but steep hike from the ranch site. The trail was muddy and I found the beach full of big tide pools.
McClure's Beach at Pierce Point Ranch, Pt. Reyes National Seashore
Conditions weren't much better ocean side. The wind mixed with the salt spray at the beach. It was cold! I only spent a few minutes there before heading back up the trail to the ranch.
The house and most of the out buildings at Pierce Point Ranch were built in the 1870s. They are maintained by the Park Service and a Ranger lives on site. The ranch buildings are situated between several bluffs which form a very effective wind break. Making images around the ranch, while still cold that day, was far more comfortable than the trail to the point or the beach.
The ranch house at Pierce Point.
I've said before that I could wander around the Point Reyes National Seashore with a camera and film for the rest of my days and be quite content. It's a beautiful and inspiring place, even when you're freezing your butt off!
Quite unexpectedly, I am really loving these old Spotmatics and Takumar lenses. Simple cameras and great optics. Stop-down metering is the only hassle with these cameras, so I have a Spotmatic F in Eric Hendrickson's shop now for CLA. The F allows full aperture metering and should be an even more pleasant Spotmatic to shoot.
Kodak brings back an iconic film! Ektachrome 100 returns!!
Back in the days when I had a darkroom, I would routinely pull out sleeves of old negatives and throw them on my Portra-Trace lightbox. The Portra-Trace is a metal box which contains a cold light source inside and white translucent plexiglass on top. You place negatives or slides on top, the light would shine through them and you could decide which ones you wanted to print. I'd revisit old negatives and print them again or even discover negatives I hadn't printed before and give them a shot.
My lightbox and the darkroom are long gone, but I've been going through a similar process as I migrate my life over to a new MacBook Pro I bought over the holidays. My seven year old MacBook Air began dying a slow death in November, so rather than have a digital catastrophe, I began moving files to a G/Drive in anticipation of an orderly transition to the new laptop. In the process, I've been looking through lots of photographs I've taken sine re-entering film photography and it's reminded me of my darkroom light box days. Looking through these images again has been fun. So, in the spirit of the old analog lightbox days, I am launching a digital version every Wednesday here on the blog, sharing some of the photos I've shot since 2010.
Here's one from 2011 taken not long after I moved to Bodega Bay. I shot this with a Nikon F2 on Kodak Ektar 100 I think. One of the things this lightbox process has taught me is that I need to keep better notes on what camera, lens and film I use when I make photographs.
Miss Hailey, Bodega Bay CA, May 2011