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There’s something strangely satisfying about a Nikkormat. These are beefy, mechanical cameras, that screams 1960s camera technology. While these are older machines they are close to bulletproof and are among one of the more popular SLRs released by Nikon at the time, maybe even more popular than the Nikon F. These were Nikon’s answer to the growing hobbyist market that at the time was dominated by the likes of Canon, Minolta, and Pentax. The FTn is not my first experience with the Nikkormat, that would be my lacklustre experience with the FT3. But I didn’t let that sour my view of the Nikkormat line, andRead More →

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It’s a rumble in the electric jungle! Last month I pitted Olympus and Nikon against each other with their small-format mechanical options, the Olympus OM-1n and the Nikon FM. This month I decided to test the automatic versions of these compact cameras, the Olympus OM-2n and Nikon FE. Like their mechanical cousins, both cameras were built during the rise in the use of electronics in cameras that came in the late 1970s. Now here we have a significant difference in metering as both use a different system, and in this case, both cameras have functioning meters. Again this isn’t to tell you which camera isRead More →

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When it comes to reviewing film cameras when I first started back in 2015 I thought was among the first to be doing so, as it turns out I probably was based on the times that a few fellow alliance members have been around reviewing film cameras. Throughout the previous 120 camera reviews, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve considered a hand-built camera, that number is one. Reviewing a homemade camera is difficult mostly because there’s a strong chance no one else has reviewed it or in the case of today’s camera even shot it outside the person who builtRead More →

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It’s a rumble in the mechanical jungle! Last year I pitted my Nikon F5 against the Minolta Maxxum 9, and I had a lot of fun doing that review, not to prove which camera is better but to show the difference between the two top dog professional cameras. And I have been waiting for a chance to repeat the format for some other cameras. So why not take out two iconic small-format SLRs that came out in the 1970s, sadly I had very view from that era, at least until recently when I got a pair of them. Today we’re going to compare the OlympusRead More →

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When it comes to Olympus cameras, especially the OM-System, I sadly lack in my experience. Thankfully I’ve had the chance to run with both the original OM-1 and the advanced OM-4. Meaning there are only a couple of these amazing cameras that I have yet to have any experience with. In a reoccurrence of GAS, I happened upon a trade where I swapped a Pentax for a beautiful OM-2n. And after hearing all the good things about these cameras from two friends, Bill and Leslie, I knew I had a winning SLR. And while the OM-2n isn’t a primary camera in my daily use, IRead More →

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Way make in the early days of my film photography journey and having a lot of influence from the Film Photography Podcast I dove deep into the wonderful world of Polaroid photography. Now it wasn’t that I didn’t know about Polaroid, I had shot the format before but only the Type-600 integral stock. But through the FPP I learned about pack film, which if you know the song is where the phrase ‘shake it like a polaroid picture’ has its origins. After making a donation to the FPP I ended up receiving a Polaroid ColorPack II camera right from Michael Raso’s personal collection. The ColorPackRead More →

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If you’ve ever seen the TV show Madmen, you’ll probably have your 21st Century, post MeToo era sensibilities challenged with the sheer amount of sexism that was and is still rampant today. Now if you’re a little confused, let me introduce you to the Nikon EM. Designed to fill in the entry-level gap in the Nikon SLR line, the EM was primarily marketed towards women. The reason is that as a camera, it is basic, set for semi-automatic aperture priority, and that is the only mode available. It also is small, compact, and lightweight. But don’t let that stop you, the EM is an excellentRead More →

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When it comes to some cameras on the market, you have to wonder what the company or the designers were thinking when they decided that such a camera would be a good idea. One such camera is the Nikkorex line, well at least the fixed lens versions. Nikon had a good reputation among camera manufacturers; they had their successful rangefinders. They hit it big time with the Nikon F. But then decided to try and enter the consumer market. And like many camera companies at the time they decided to do this by producing a fixed lens SLR with a leaf shutter. To be honest,Read More →

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Next to the Minolta HiMatic 7s which got me first into photography, the Nikon F80 is the one that brought me back into the wonderful world of film and introduced me to the magic of Nikon AF lenses and Nikkor glass in general. I received this camera as a gift and immediately found myself very much attached to the system. You might say that the F80 is the camera that caused me to invest in the Nikon SLR system and switch from Minolta. From the F80 I got the D70s, D300 and my current main SLR the Nikon F5. And while many of the lensesRead More →

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I will always have a soft spot for a fixed lens rangefinder, especially one that uses Zeiss Optics. And the Contessamat SE is no slouch, despite being placed as the middle child in the Contessamat family, it certainly performs like a firstborn. While you will find it slightly different from its Japanese cousins, it’s compact nature, excellent optics, and semi-automatic functions will let it stand alongside those cameras. Thanks to James Lee for loaning this hidden gem out for a review. Camera Specifications Make: Zeiss Ikon Model: Contessamat SE Type: Rangefinder Format: 135 (35mm), 36x24mm Lens: Fixed, Zeiss Ikon Color-Plantar 1:2,8/45 Year of Manufacture: 1963-1965Read More →