Here is a new twist to an old idea.
I decided to try and stitch together a panoramic shot from a number of shots taken using film which prove to be no problem and not anymore different than the way I usually do it with digital except now I have to scan in the slides as an extra step.
Optionally I could have taken the whole shot using my 17-35mm but at the time I had only brought my nikon fm2n along with a 50mm f/1.2 ais lens. So I had to make do with a single roll of Fujifilm fortia SP (ATTENTION FUJIFILM! BRING BACK FORTIA SP!!!!).
This is a shot of Pulau Jerejak which is a small island just across the sea from Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Fujifilm Provia 400X
Today we will be seeing some pics takens using Fujifilm Provia 400x which is an update to the Provia 400F.
Ilford Delta 3200
(more…)
It came without warning……
Kodak Elitechrome 100
Today I will be reviewing the Kodak Elitechrome 100 slide film. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I can give a very thorough review of this film for now as I have had not enough opportunity to use this film. It’s pretty easy to obtain this slide film in KL, Malaysia when compared to say Fujifilm or ilford films.
(more…)
Fujiflm Velvia 50
I’ve done an older report before about Fujifilm Velvia 100 so this time I will be reviewing Velvia 50, which is the original legendary landscape film. This film has an interesting history, it was used as the primary landscape film due to its beautiful colors/saturation as well as sharpness and fine grain.
Fujifilm Fortia SP
Here are some of the new shots from my newly developed roll of Fortia SP.
These were taken from the to of Komtar, Penang. I went there at about 4pm and waited till 7:30pm to get these shots as I was hoping to get some great sunset pics since I felt it would be my last time living in Penang. Entry into the top of the tower cost about RM15 at the 60th floor.
I was kind of sad realizing that this would be the last time I would be living in Penang officially but I guess that’s how things are.
Fujfilm velvia 100
I took these shots recently of Penang using my dwindling supple of Fujifilm Velvia 100, but that’s alright as velvia won’t be seeing the end anytime soon since supple is still strong along with demand.
Only 2 shots came out alright, the rest seemed rather like another repeat of what I have already done. So no point in considering the repeated shots keepers.
“A shot from a distant world” I took this shot using center metering while forcing it to underexpose a bit as well as took it from a low angle. I like how it turned out even though this isn’t what I had expected.
“Shimmering in the wind” I think this has been done to death! I need new inspiration!~
Fujifilm Fortia SP 50
“Now we are soooo cooking with gas here!!!!”
That is what I think whenever I load a roll of Fortia SP. Rated to be used at ISO 50 but fujifilm recommends to be rated at ISO64 (I never tried it at that yet). I first decided to try out this film after my supply of color slide film ran out and I saw that Shashinki was selling them in packs of 5 for Rm250, that means Rm50 for a single roll! Pretty steep but after using it so many times I think it’s worth for me, the only draw back is that this film is only available for the Japanese market and is only produced in limited quantity per year and it seems to have a short shelf life (with my batch expiring this August 2008 when I bought it in August 2007, I had thought this was because I had bought an old stock but when I went to Japan, all the Fortia SP were marked to expire on August 2008).
Fujifilm Provia 100F
Fujifilm Velvia 100
This is my second time using this film, the shots from my first rolls were only so so. You can see some of the shots from my Japan trip which doesn’t actually register steller on the radar.
ilford Delta 100
Well after fixing a major problem that was hindering me from scanning film, I then decided to rescan most of my film shots since all the ones I had before the problem was crap.
Tip on using film scanner
Here is a tip for those scanning film using flatbed scanners, I had originally scanned in a lot of photos from film using my flatbed scanner but after scanning them all in, I then realized they were covered with a lot of dust specs! I thought that my Nikon f4s internals were dusty so I decided to clean the internal with a blower. Let me tell you this, this is not a digital camera so this method does not help much! Although it doesn’t hurt to give the internal a good blast of air to clean it once in a while but this was not the problem affecting my photos.
But then I didn’t think it would solve my problem, I then thought another suspect, perhaps the film themselves were dirty, I check….nope, they were all clean. Then another thought came to me, the dust looked like those you would see on the sensor of a digital camera. It then occurred to me that the scanner glass as well as light surface could be dirty themselves. Sure enough the surface were covered with dust. So a little elbow grease and lots of glass cleaner, it was good as new. I then conducted an experience and sure enough, 95% of the dust specs were gone!
So I then decided to rescan all the film that were affected by this problem (8 rolls +), I would work like this, everytime I load in a strip of film, I would check the surface of the scanner for dust specs and then clean them off if I find any. While a lot of work, but it was well worth it.
So until then pleasant dreams~~!
I love Fujifilm Fortia SP!
Every since I started to use film I have tried a lot of the fujifilm stuff (no Kodak yet) so far Fortia ranks as my favorite film to use as the colors way cool!
1.Fujifilm Fortia SP
2.Fujifilm Velvia 100
3.Fujifilm Velvia 100F
But that’s for landscape only, for people I prefer Fujifilm Provia 100F. I think I’ll try out Kodak next, here are some shots from Fortia!
Nikon F4s
O
AKA the camera you want to have when you’re in a war zone and you don’t have anything to use as body armor!
I managed to snag this weapon for what I think was a good price. Hopefully I don’t ever find out if it more than it was worth.
I have been using this cam for a week or 2 already and I tell you this, the matrix metering is only so-so. So do not expect matrix metering like those found on today’s DSLR. This I believe is actually the prototype for matrix metering. Although it can be used with ais lens.
Aside from this, this is also the last Nikkor that offered a 100% viewfinder, subsequent models started to reduce the viewfinder percentage with the F5 model.
This also consider the final fusion of electronic components along with manual knobs and control before they went all electronic with F5.
Why I got this? Well after I started using fm2n, I heard many good things about this, so I took the plunge and got this. I didn’t when another deal would come by this good.
Here is my first observation about the Nikon F4″S”
- Controls are good and durable
- It’s heavy
- Body is tough like nails!
- It’s heavy
- Focus speed is slow but good.
- Matrix metering seems a bit whacked which I can conclude as it’s the first one used by Nikon, it seems to be stingy on the shutter speed. I usually shoot at anything above 1/60 and open the aperture further if I need more light but with any of the program modes or aperture mode, the camera seems to rather risk getting a blur picture rather then a sharp one which is a bit underexposed.
- Good points, the design is REALLY modular, if I could find the parts I can actually swap out a lot of the components to suit my needs. Say viewfinder, battery system can be also swapped out (with either more power, bigger size or less power smaller size).
- Did I mentioned that it’s heavy? It’s sooo heavy in it’s default F4s form. My Fujifilm s5 pro with the MB-200 using alkaline batteries with my Nikkor 17-35mm mounted would be lighter then it! >_<
Note there is a solution to the weight problem, by getting the MB-20 attachment (the Nikon F4s is equipped with the MB-21, replacing this battery grip with the MB-20, converts the Nikon F4s to the Nikon F4, they should have done that in the first place and instead made the MB-20 an optional purchase!) which dramatically reduces the size as well as the weight of the camera. Although it shorten battery life as there would only be 4 batteries instead of 6 then, but hell that thing is heavy!
Aside from the weight, this camera has enough good points to make it a worth while purchase if you can get at a price and condition you like. I’ll update later with some photos once I get them back from the lab.
I’ll have to hand it to Nikon for one thing though, they really looked forward in their design, while the focus speed on this camera won’t break any records for speed and sound but Nikon had actually included the connections that would allow an AFS lens to be mounted and use it!
I tried it with a Nikkor 70-200mm VR/Nikkor 17-35 AF-S as well as a Sigma 70-200mm HSM and they all work perfectly! Even though AF-S/HSM lens only became available a few years later after the Nikon F4s was released! The only thing that does not work is VR, I confirmed this with the Nikkor 70-200mm VR lens. So what do I have here? A camera that works with a huge catalog of lens except no VR
Though for G lens, you can only use program mode and shutter mode as there is no way to manipulate the aperture without an aperture ring.
If you want an even more extensive detail article on this camera, take a look here and an FAQ here
Wow! Two post in one day, I must be damn bored at work! Anyway, pleasant dream!
Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 D
One of my best lens and has always been part of my arsenal of lenses. It’s consider the cheapest lens in whole Nikkor line (when bought new of course). It’s priced at about USD100 (some places can even offer less if you know where to look).
Originally the 50mm was used as the default focal lens for old film cameras as it supposedly mimics the human eye (I disagree, the human eye is wider then this Update: Shortly after making this post, a friend informed me it does match the human eye but only for film and for ONE human eye, not both which would indeed make the human vision wider then 50mm. Thanks les!!) but on this digital, this lens goes to about 75mm which is still consider a fantastic focal length lens especially for portraits.
Unfortunately many assume that simply using this lens would give them good photos, WRONG! This lens is nothing more then a tool and only when used correctly can it HELP you get the pics, not create them.
Recent Comments