Gear Regret Syndrome

Everyone knows what G.A.S. is—Gear Acquisition Syndrome. In photography, it’s the intense desire for a new camera or lens. The opposite end of G.A.S. is G.R.S.—Gear Regret Syndrome. It’s the deep regret we feel sometime after we have parted ways with a piece of camera gear that we shouldn’t have sold.

I generally sell something either because I need to “thin the heard” or because I am funding the purchase of a new piece of gear. Sometimes, I just need a little extra cash. While I always feel a little wispy when I am packaging up a camera I have just sold, the feeling typically fades very quickly and I have little or no lingering regret. There have been some exceptions:

  • I sold my Omega ProLab 4x5 enlarger 25 years ago during my divorce. It went to a friend for pennies on the dollar. That enlarger was pristine and had a turret lens mount with EL Nikkor lenses for 35mm and 120 film. In reality, I could never have dragged that monstrosity through the mess of my divorce but I sure do miss that lovely big machine.

  • I sold my Leica M6 and 35mm Summicron lens because someone offered me quite a bit more than I paid for the kit. I made what I think are some of my best photographs with that Leica. Prices on that same camera and lens are through the roof now. I should never have sold my M6.

  • A friend sold me a minty black Pentax Spotmatic SP. I had Eric Hendrickson modify the camera with a split image focus screen. To round out the package, I splurged on an 8-element 50mm f/1.4 Super Takumar. That lens could sing! A reader of this blog wanted that Pentax and lens badly and I sold the camera and lens to him. My black Spottie is in a good home, but I miss it.

  • Some years ago, I had Bellamy Hunt, the Japan Camera Hunter, source me a black body Nikon FM2n camera. I really enjoyed using that camera and like the M6, made some good photographs with it. I sold it before a move in 2019 and have regretted it since. The FM2n is a solid, dependable camera and I’ve always kept an eye out for another…

One day, a few weeks ago, I stumbled across this very lightly used black FM2n in one of my local camera shops. I do quite a bit of business there and the shop owner gave me a nice discount to “take it home today!” It needed new seals so I sent it out for a CLA. The camera is on its way back to me now. It will be nice to shoot the FM2n again. Do you have a camera or lens you regret parting ways with?

Nikon FM2n with 28/2.8 Nikkor

One Photograph: When the Sea Turned Brown

During most of February, 2017 along the Northern California Coast, it rained. It rained for days and days. The rain came straight down. Some days it blew sideways and sometimes it felt like it was coming up from the ground with everything so soaked. Around the end of the month, it stopped and I had such cabin fever, I grabbed my Canon F1, wound on a roll of Kodak Portra 160 and headed up to Jenner where the Russian River empties into the Pacific Ocean. For the better part of the week prior, the river had overflowed its banks causing some minor flooding up in Guerneville and Monte Rio.

I parked the car at Goat Rock State Beach and climbed a dune to look at the river. It was high and I was shocked by how brown it was—the color of coffee with cream. As I headed over to the beach, I saw that the river was pouring all of that muddy water straight into the ocean. As far as I could look, the sea was the same color as the river.

The Pacific Ocean at Jenner CA, February 2017.

After so many days of rain, it felt damn good to be outside and even better to be there with a camera. It was my first roll of Kodak’s slower speed Portra and I was pleased with everything I shot that day, including an image that ranks up there as one my all time favorites.

I’ve never been all that comfortable with street photography. I am not good with taking photographs of strangers and I always seem to miss the decisive moments. Street photography on the beach is so much easier. People love to stand and look at the ocean and no one pays much attention to someone taking pictures.

There weren’t many people on the beach when I saw a woman begin to walk into my frame. I intended to catch her strolling along the sand, but then she stopped and looked out at the brown water, pausing long enough for me to focus and dial in an exposure.

Coastal Meditation, Jenner, CA, Canon F1, Canon FD 501/.14, Kodak Portra 160

I have said it many times here…I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to have lived on the Pacific Coast for so many years. I never took a day for granted, no matter what the weather dished up.

A Time Capsule

I have never been one to save the original packaging when I buy things. I just got a new iPhone 16 and I did not save the packaging. Ditto when I replaced my MacBook a few years ago. Over the years, I have purchased three cameras new—a Nikon FM2, a Nikon N90s and a Nikon D70. Didn’t save the packaging on any of them. That’s why it is always amazing to me when I find an old camera, still in its original box and with all of the paperwork.

I was not looking for another Nikkormat when this one popped up in my eBay feed. It caught my eye because I like the distinctive gold packaging and bold graphics Nikon used at the time.

Nikkormat FTn, original box, paperwork and packaging

As I clicked through the pictures, I saw it was a late model Nikkormat FTn, fitted with the plastic tipped film advance and self-timer lever. In addition, someone ordered this camera with the split image “K” focusing screen. Most of these Nikkormats had the plain fresnel screen installed. The K screen was a special order. My old eyes really appreciate split image focusing. So much so that I had my current FTn modified by Jim Holman. You can read about that here.

The orange K sticker on the film advance indicates that a split image focusing screen has been installed in this Nikkormat

The seller said the camera was working and the meter was active. The price and shipping were reasonable and the seller had 100% positive feedback. It was hard to resist.

The seller did a great job of packing and shipped promptly. When I opened the package, I was surprised to find the original box in surprisingly good condition. An even bigger surprise was that the original paperwork was still inside and the serial numbers on the packaging, paperwork and box all matched the camera. The camera even had its protective plastic bottom cover, factory body cap, gold JCII Passed sticker and the orange “circle K” sticker indicating that Nikon had installed a split image K screen in this camera.

Box with serial number and indication of K screen

Nikon warranty card with serial number

Externally, the camera shows no wear, no scuffs, no bright marks. Even the cameras base plate is pristine. When I opened the camera back, another surprise…

The plastic protective cover for the shutter curtain was still with this camera! The inside of this camera was as clean as the outside. There isn’t even any dust or debris on the focusing screen. I am not certain the camera was ever used.

I popped a 386 battery into a MR-9 battery adapter, fitted my 50mm Nikkor-H f/2 lens to the camera and indexed the lens to the camera body. The little indicator on the lens mount indicated that I had indeed fitted a f/2 lens to the body. I set the ASA (ISO) to 400 and turned on the meter which came immediately to life. I ran the Nikkormat through its range of shutter speeds and they all sounded good. I grabbed my Sekonic hand held meter and my iPhone’s light meter app and compared the light meter readings of the old FTn to the two modern meters. All three agreed.

The Nikkormat FTn was manufactured from 1967 to 1975. The serial number on this camera as well as the film advance, self-timer and focusing screen upgrade indicate that this one was made near the end of the production run. I still find it amazing that a 50+ year old mechanical device not only continues to work this well but that the meter still functions and reads accurately. Even the seals and mirror bumper foam are decent.

When I find a photographic time capsule like this Nikkormat, I wish it could talk so I could ask…”Who bought you? When? Where? And why were you hardly…if ever…used?”

My plan is to run a roll of film through this camera and see how the pictures turn out. My assumption is that it will make good pictures. After that, I will send it out for a good, thorough, 50 year inspection.

Scenes from Saturday

I have never attended a protest until this past Saturday. A crowd of about 3000 people gathered peacefully under the warm California sun at the Oxbow Commons in Napa. Together we said The Pledge of Allegiance and sang “This Land is Your Land.” Our County Supervisor, born from immigrant parents and a US citizen by birthright, spoke about the fragility of democracy. Our Congressman asked us to bow our heads in a moment of silence for the those killed and injured in what apparently was a politically motivated shooting that occurred hours earlier in Minnesota.

I guess I wanted to do something, anything and this seemed like that. And I wanted to be around other people who were as concerned about what is going on in our country as I am.

I took my Fujifilm X-T1 with me and set it to capture the day in black and white.

My Favorite 50

The focal length lens I use more than any other is the standard 50mm prime. And my favorite 50mm lens is this Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 Ai-S, serial number 5359395.

I can’t remember when I bought it, nor do I recall if I bought it alone or if it came on a camera. Over the years, it’s lived on various F2 bodies and my F3HP. I’ve used it recently on my Nikkormat EL and right now, it’s on a Nikon FM. Camera bodies have come and gone but this Nikkor has stayed with me. Why?

For me, photography is a very tactile experience. The way a piece of gear feels and handles is right up there with the way it performs. This particular lens just feels good to me. I have several other Nikkor 50s, both the f/1.4 and the f/1.8. The focus on those feels a little loose. On my favorite 50, the focus feels sublime, well-damped and precise. I am not sure if that is the way it supposed to feel or this one is getting a bit stiff. I never had the opportunity to try a new manual focus Nikkor, so I have nothing to compare it with. But the focus ring resistance on my favorite 50 feels just right.

Because of the way this lens feels, I use it more than any other lens I own. I keep this Hoya 52mm metal hood on it. Of all of the lens hoods I have used, I really like this Hoya.

I also love the way the Nikon chrome ring filters look on these old Nikkors. This one is a Nikon L39. I am a member of several Nikon Facebook groups and very often, when I post a picture of one of my old cameras sporting this lens set up, I’ll get comments from people telling me to remove the filter because it will cause glare or flare or whatnot. I’ve shot oodles of images with this lens and have never seen anything of the sort, so I keep using it because…well…because it looks cool to me.

I’ve had a few other lenses that felt as good as this one. Those early Pentax Takumars focus like a dream and I once owned a Leica-R Vario-Elmar 35-70 zoom that was very nice to drive. I knew a carpenter once who told me how important a good hammer is in hitting a nail straight and true—it had to be balanced and feel good in the hand. Cameras and lenses are simply tools a photographer uses to make pictures, so your gear should feel good and inspire you to use it. This lens does it for me. Do you have a camera or lens that inspires you? Please share in the comments. I would love to hear.

Fujifilm Neopan 400 Presto

It’s always nice to get a surprise gift in the mail. It’s especially nice, as an analog photographer, when that gift is some film. So it was a few months ago when a package arrived from my friend and fellow photo-blogger Jim Grey containing several rolls of Fujifilm Neopan 400 Presto black and white film. “Presto” was the Japanese retail version of this film. Here in the US, it was called Neopan Professional. Fuji discontinued this emulsion around 2013, but the stock remained in photo stores for several years thereafter.

I have shot plenty of Fuji’s 100 ISO black and white ACROS and like it every much, so I was anxious to try this faster film. Jim said that the film had always been cold stored so I assumed it would perform close to fresh.

I was working on a video project for my company and took my Nikon F5 loaded with Presto to the video shoot. I clicked off these shots indoors under bright LED lighting. I let the F5’s DX reader set the camera to the film’s box speed.

Video shoot, behind the scenes

I grabbed the F5 one sunny Saturday afternoon, mounted my Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 AF-D ED and shot the dogs at play in the park. I thought that the fast telephoto and the 400 ISO film would be a good combination once the dogs got retrieving their ball.

And resting after.

I’ve shot enough Kodak Tri-X over my 50 years of film photography that I know it well and can get consistently good results, whether I process it myself or send it out to the lab. I am comfortable enough with Tri-X that I feel the freedom to be able to concentrate on finding interesting subject matter and putting more thought into composition. I think I got decent results from Fuji Neopan 400 my first time out and wish it were still in production so I could know it better. For now, I’ll just enjoy these last few rolls that I’ve been gifted and feel grateful for having had the opportunity.

Returning to Retina

The first 35mm camera I ever used in the early 1970s was my Dad’s Kodak Retina IIc rangefinder that he bought from the US Army PX before leaving for Europe during the Korean War. Even though I spent hours drooling over Nikon and Canon SLRs on the pages of Modern Photography magazine, the economic realities of my youth kept me tethered to my Dad’s Retina. It wasn’t a bad thing. That old Kodak taught me a lot about photography and it holds a special place in my heart.

For several years now, I have flirted with trying one of the other Retinas. The IIIC has been first on my list but the high prices of that model have discouraged me. Not long ago, a Retina model I was not familiar with popped up in one of my favorite online camera shops—the Retina IIIS.

The IIIS was the last Retina rangefinder, made from 1958-1960, just as SLRs were gaining in popularity. Unlike my Dad’s Retina, this model is not a folder. An amazing feature is that the interchangeable lenses made for the IIIs will also work on the Retina Reflex SLRs that were produced from 1957 to 1974. I am sure a reader will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe only the Retina line allows this cross-platform compatibility.

I paid under one hundred dollars for this camera and, quite honestly, when I bought it I thought it might make an interesting display piece on the bookshelf in my home office. As much as I had fond memories of my Dad’s IIc, there were things about the Retinas that I never warmed to—the film advance on the bottom of the camera, the tiny rangefinder focusing patch and the fiddly interlocked EV shutter speed/aperture set up. When my IIIS arrived however, I realized that this Retina was different.

First off, not being a folding Retina, it felt more like the Leica M cameras I have used—really nice in hand. That big Schneider Retina Xenon 50mm f/1.9 lens out front gave it good balance…almost a little SLR-like. Second, I was surprised by the big viewfinder with a bright and very usable RF patch. Third, the built-in selenium meter was active and peppy. I wondered…could the meter on a 65-year old camera be accurate? The more I played with the camera, the more it begged me to load up some film and shoot.

All of the cameras of this era are fiddly…some more than others. The Retina IIIS falls into the mildly fiddly category. First thing to do is tell the built-in meter what speed of film you are using. To do that, you have to push a lock button on the meter and turn the little razor wheel on the bottom of the lens barrel. Camera makers of this era loved razor wheels. The Nikon rangefinders used them to focus. Not sure why you had to torture your finger tips to take a picture back in the day.

The on-board meter

Film choices, other than Tri-X, from a bygone era

After you set your film speed, you decide on your shutter speed and set that on the lens. Once the meter know what film you are using and you’ve set your shutter speed, you use the razor wheel again to select an aperture that will give you a proper exposure using the match needle on the meter. Once you set the lens opening, the shutter speed and aperture are coupled allowing you to choose from a range that will still give you proper exposure. Like the Nikon lens shuffle, it sounds more complicated than it is.

I loaded up some Ilford FP4+ 125 film and went out in my back yard for some test shots. I considered grabbing my handheld light meter just to be safe but decided to live dangerously and see if this six decade old plane could still fly.

Shadows on my fence

Spring flowers

More flowers

Needed a bit more headroom on this shot

Light and shadows

Shooting into a bright sky

My photographic assistant

I was not expecting much when I sent this roll off to the lab. Many of the photo cells in these old camera have decayed over time, but this one seemed to be just fine—every shot on this roll was properly exposed. Razor wheel aside, even with its quirks, the Retina IIIS is a very capable camera…maybe the best user of the Retina rangefinder line. I say that, of corse, without trying the IIIC which everyone raves about, however you could buy a IIIS and lens or two for the price of the IIIC. And these Retinas have one of the quietest shutters of any camera I have ever shot. Even Leica.

I definitely prefer using an SLR, but I enjoyed shooting the Retina IIIS and need to take it out for a proper photo walk now that I know I can trust its meter. The owner’s manual calls the exposure system in this camera “Automatic” once you dial everything in and even though I wasn’t sure I was doing it correctly, my shots came out nicely. Retinas have a reputation for fine build quality and exceptional lenses. They definitely punch way above their weight. I like the Retina IIIS very much.

I finished the roll with my usual mirror selfie.

MIrror selfie

Ektachrome 100: Living Dangerously

I can count the rolls of slide film I have shot in my life on one hand. I use far more black and white film than color and when I do use color, I am usually playing around with some old camera, so I prefer color print film. It’s more forgiving. You really need to be on your game to shoot slide film. Or have a camera that is.

On a recent long weekend trip to Carmel-By-The-Sea, I brought along my very capable Nikon F5 and a roll of Kodak Ektachrome 100, feeling infinitely confident that the F5’s color matrix metering would do the heavy lifting. The camera didn’t disappoint, but the weather did. Cloudy, drizzle, overcast, fog and every once in a while…a fogdog….a clearing in the grey where a shaft or two of sunlight would poke through.

On my first photo walk, I only got a few shots off before it started to rain.

The Cypress Inn was once owned by Doris Day. She loved animals and the hotel is uber dog friendly.

The next day started off a bit more promising, some hazy sun allowing a walk on the beach.

Down that way is the famous Pebble Beach Golf Club.

I walked past this window several times in my hotel and finally the light was right to try and capture it. I have been amazed at how well the F5 performs handheld with slow shutter speeds, owing to its internally isolated film transport and exceptional mirror dampening more than the steady hands of this photographer. If I recall, I think the F5 was showing 1/20th of a second for this shot.

I finished off the roll back home in my backyard. The usual suspects.

This is the first roll of slide film I have shot where most every frame pleased me. The F5’s program mode and exceptional meter nailed exposures. I’ve been afraid of shooting slides. The film is very expensive and when you don’t know what you’re going to get, the reward just isn’t there. But I have three cameras now that I trust; the F5, my Nikon N90s and N8008s, so I might shoot more of the stuff.

As a footnote, growing up, my Dad shot tons of slide film—mostly Kodachrome 25 and 64. He was brave, using a Kodak Retina Iic rangefinder with no fancy meter to lean on. He guessed his exposures after referring to the paper instructions Kodak packed with each roll and hoping for the best. This is one of Dad’s Kodachromes of the fam from the early 1960s—I’m the goofy looking one in the middle.

One Photograph: NorCal beaches are not like SoCal beaches

I lived on the Sonoma Coast of California for more than a decade. Unlike the beaches in Southern California, beaches up here are usually windy, nippy and often shrouded in fog. As I took my photo walks, I would occasionally come across visitors who were taking a day away from wine tasting to check out the beach. More often than not, they were not dressed adequately for the occasion. I made this photograph with my Pentax Spotmatic SP, 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar on Kodak T-Max 100 film. Just moments before, I chatted briefly with a family from Ohio, underdressed, shivering and quickly heading back to their parked car.