COVID Shopping, 2020

I haven’t yet performed a comprehensive test, as such, of the Nikon FM camera I recently bought from a Montreal camera store. I’ll be back with that at a later date.

As I recounted in that recent video, the Nikon FM and 50mm f/1.8 Series E lens was the first 35mm camera I bought new, in 1980. It accompanied me on countless adventures, from mountaineering expeditions to biking treks, for more than a decade. It was also the camera that helped launch my commercial career. Most, if not all photos in the Eighties Vancouver 35mm portfolio were made with that first edition.

Eager to put a roll of film through this mint-condition classic, I fished a roll of expired Fuji Reala 100 film from the fridge and first exposed a few frames around the house, finishing off the roll on a masked shopping trip for fresh veg.

That’s where I became reacquainted with the “end of the roll” behaviour of the FM — it simply locks up and the shutter will not depress. I’d forgotten that the roll of Reala was only 24 frames, not 36. A recessed button on the bottom plate of the camera releases the film and a flip-out mini-handle on the top rewinds film into its cassette.

While visiting the city mid-week, I dropped the film off at London Drugs Photo Department to be put through their machine, which I was told they “baby,” since it will not be replaced once it reaches the end of its functional life. I guess, at that point, I’ll just be developing my own black and white film, assuming I can still buy film and chemicals.

Even so, I notice the machine made evenly-spaced indentations on the film. Luckily, they seem not to have affected scanning (with my Epson Perfection V750 Pro).

Perhaps I’m just a nostalgic “relic from the film age*,” but doesn’t there appear to be something ineffable about the “quality” of this image? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

*Seen on the Internet.