Hello everyone!
I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to the community. I am a former avid photo-enthusiast, longtime lover of Nikon cameras and glass, who recently retired and am looking to get back into the fray. I spent the last 20 years of my life in the Navy dragging my family all over the world and back, but have recently retired and settled down. Prior to my military service, I spent a few years as a (I guess you would call it Pro...but I certainly wasn't making any real money doing it lol) fashion photographer in both the US and England. I was really lucky to work with some wonderful and talented people. I also had the opportunity to run a photo lab for a while.
It is without a doubt considered lucky (if you are a SLR kind of person) to be able to say I have owned and / or used many Nikon systems over the years: F2a, F3, F4s, N6006 (my first Nikon), N8008, FM2n with MD-12, D90 and my most recent acquisition, a D700. My lenses have remained fairly simple due to the type of work I was active in: 95% of my 35mm work was shot on a Nikkor 85mm f1.8, but I would also use a 50mm 1.4 and 35mm F2.8 as situations dictated. My current bag with the D700 is again my goto 85mm 1.8 and I picked up a 20mm f2.8 for fun. I am considering re-acquiring a 35mm lens at some point as I really like its perspective. I don't normally shoot with zoom lenses....nothing against them, I just have a better success rate with primes.
I also dabbled in other systems (both film and digital), including at one time a Pentax K1000 (my first SLR), a beautiful Leica M6, Hasselblad 500C/M and lenses, Mamiya 645, Mamiya RZ67, Pentax 6x7, a Canon D60 (my first DSLR), Panasonic GF1 m4/3, and a Sony A6000. Eventually it occurred to me that I don't like shooting crop factor, so that is what led me to the D700.
At one time my studio had a wonderful Dynalite setup (there was much MUCH pining for a Broncolor system but I just could not justify the enormous cost)....but I have also used Norman, Photogenic, and a little Alienbees unit that was nifty and a good bargain.
Best camera for ergonomics / fun to shoot: Tie between FM2n and the F2a. I used incident meters 100% of the time, so I didn't need fancy AI metering. Those cameras are visceral. Simple controls that were predictable. Mechanical...battery goes dead so what? I think if i remember correctly that was why I preferred the FM2n over the F3. F3 needed a battery to operate, and FM2n had a higher flash sync speed (I think....).
Best medium format: For image quality the Hasselblad. Those Zeiss lenses were amazing...no two ways about it. For ergonomics the Mamiya 645 (mine had a motor so it was fast and easy....too bad it was made out of PLASTIC yuck). The people I worked with loved the 645 chromes. They were big and punchy and they didn't have to argue over how to crop it lol. If I had been a product photog, I would have just kept the RZ67 and called it a day. The bellows focus was great for getting the perfect plane of sharpness. It was IMO a studio beast for sure. Just didn't gel with my shooting style. I only tried it out because that is what Demarchelier was using for most of his Harper's Bazaar shoots, and I idolized him.
Preferred shooting method: In a big studio with lots of room to set up strobes exactly the way I want. Handheld. I love setting up the lights. I loved slapping on the polaroid back to check exposure and having the immediate feedback from a client (I guess it's easy with digital...back then it was a big deal lol). I loved the precision it took to shoot fashion with chrome film. 1 stop latitude is all you got. It had to be bang on every time for the look you were after. Nowadays, my wife gets shots from her iphone than I would have killed to capture back in the day....
Oh well....a relic. That's what I guess I am here to introduce.
Anyway, it is great to be a part of a community of enthusiasts, and I look forward to sharing with everyone! If anyone has any questions regarding the stuff I rambled about, please feel free to ask! My user gallery has a sample of scanned shots I did back in the 90's when I was an active / employed photog. I have some digital stuff too...but it was shot on the Canon...and I didn't want to cross streams lol.
Cheers
I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to the community. I am a former avid photo-enthusiast, longtime lover of Nikon cameras and glass, who recently retired and am looking to get back into the fray. I spent the last 20 years of my life in the Navy dragging my family all over the world and back, but have recently retired and settled down. Prior to my military service, I spent a few years as a (I guess you would call it Pro...but I certainly wasn't making any real money doing it lol) fashion photographer in both the US and England. I was really lucky to work with some wonderful and talented people. I also had the opportunity to run a photo lab for a while.
It is without a doubt considered lucky (if you are a SLR kind of person) to be able to say I have owned and / or used many Nikon systems over the years: F2a, F3, F4s, N6006 (my first Nikon), N8008, FM2n with MD-12, D90 and my most recent acquisition, a D700. My lenses have remained fairly simple due to the type of work I was active in: 95% of my 35mm work was shot on a Nikkor 85mm f1.8, but I would also use a 50mm 1.4 and 35mm F2.8 as situations dictated. My current bag with the D700 is again my goto 85mm 1.8 and I picked up a 20mm f2.8 for fun. I am considering re-acquiring a 35mm lens at some point as I really like its perspective. I don't normally shoot with zoom lenses....nothing against them, I just have a better success rate with primes.
I also dabbled in other systems (both film and digital), including at one time a Pentax K1000 (my first SLR), a beautiful Leica M6, Hasselblad 500C/M and lenses, Mamiya 645, Mamiya RZ67, Pentax 6x7, a Canon D60 (my first DSLR), Panasonic GF1 m4/3, and a Sony A6000. Eventually it occurred to me that I don't like shooting crop factor, so that is what led me to the D700.
At one time my studio had a wonderful Dynalite setup (there was much MUCH pining for a Broncolor system but I just could not justify the enormous cost)....but I have also used Norman, Photogenic, and a little Alienbees unit that was nifty and a good bargain.
Best camera for ergonomics / fun to shoot: Tie between FM2n and the F2a. I used incident meters 100% of the time, so I didn't need fancy AI metering. Those cameras are visceral. Simple controls that were predictable. Mechanical...battery goes dead so what? I think if i remember correctly that was why I preferred the FM2n over the F3. F3 needed a battery to operate, and FM2n had a higher flash sync speed (I think....).
Best medium format: For image quality the Hasselblad. Those Zeiss lenses were amazing...no two ways about it. For ergonomics the Mamiya 645 (mine had a motor so it was fast and easy....too bad it was made out of PLASTIC yuck). The people I worked with loved the 645 chromes. They were big and punchy and they didn't have to argue over how to crop it lol. If I had been a product photog, I would have just kept the RZ67 and called it a day. The bellows focus was great for getting the perfect plane of sharpness. It was IMO a studio beast for sure. Just didn't gel with my shooting style. I only tried it out because that is what Demarchelier was using for most of his Harper's Bazaar shoots, and I idolized him.
Preferred shooting method: In a big studio with lots of room to set up strobes exactly the way I want. Handheld. I love setting up the lights. I loved slapping on the polaroid back to check exposure and having the immediate feedback from a client (I guess it's easy with digital...back then it was a big deal lol). I loved the precision it took to shoot fashion with chrome film. 1 stop latitude is all you got. It had to be bang on every time for the look you were after. Nowadays, my wife gets shots from her iphone than I would have killed to capture back in the day....
Oh well....a relic. That's what I guess I am here to introduce.
Anyway, it is great to be a part of a community of enthusiasts, and I look forward to sharing with everyone! If anyone has any questions regarding the stuff I rambled about, please feel free to ask! My user gallery has a sample of scanned shots I did back in the 90's when I was an active / employed photog. I have some digital stuff too...but it was shot on the Canon...and I didn't want to cross streams lol.
Cheers