Finally got my baby..

M4cr0s said:
Okay, I've been around checking a couple places. FotoKnudsen, at least the one at the Oslo City mall, still do 1-hour, as well as overnight. They take 70 kr for overnight and 90 kr (for our international readers 11,50 and 14,8 USD) for 1-hour service. They don't force you to buy prints (like Elitefoto).

Mac
Click to expand...
Fantastic, that's my new place then. I have three rolls already, just waiting for a place to go!

And yes, Norway is expensive, but hardly anyone leave this country, and plenty of people migrate here, so while there are many complaints, noone take them (very) seriously 🙂
 
paulfish4570 said:
Arooooooo! Prices and taxes like that would drive a fellow to soup his own, real fast!
Click to expand...

If you're poor it sucks, no matter where you live. To put things in perspective, average yearly salary is about 47 000$ and of salary of that size ~27 or so percent goes to income taxes and the pension fund. This also covers pretty much all things medical, except dental and purely cosmetic surgery. The health services are free even if you're dirt poor and not income based, so at least you can be poor and in good health as long as you don't eat at McDonalds all the time.

Getting film developed at a lab is obviously a luxury, especially if you're a hobbyist and shoot a lot. In my case, as I'm always low on funds, it's the choice of no beer and film, or digital, some beer and a few rolls every now and then 😉 If I had the money though, I'd alternate between medium format digital like the new Pentax and FX/DX DSLRs or a Leica M9. I would probably shoot a little more film, but not very much more. Yes I am an infidel!

I took my FE2 baby out a while ago in conditions where the AE really shines: a cold front is blowing hard through Alabama this morning, with fleeting cloud cover; light changing in seconds from open shade to hard, crystalline light to anything in between.
Click to expand...

Today was a gray winter day here with fresh snow. Not really bad light, just not much of it 😉 Rarely got much more than 1/500th at F/2.0 and ISO200, so only possible to go down 2-3 stops on a 50mm to get some DOF for the scenery. Man digital and safe ISO up to 1600-3200 is handy in the wintertime. I am however looking forward to see how the first roll came out, want to see if there's any light leaks and how the meter does. Going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon. If everything's okay I'm definitely going to stock up some more film than the 5-6 rolls I Have left and maybe do a film-only project I've been thinking of 🙂

Mac
 
Just wanted to report back how the first roll worked out.

Well, there appears to be nothing wrong with the camera, no light-leaks and meter seems to be pretty much like intended. Even the manuals instructions (and conventional knowledge) about upping exposure 1-2 stops from the suggestion of the meter if snowy/bright conditions turned out correct. Thanks to the latitude of the negative film none of the shots where really unusable, even those I experimented with in terms of exposure. All in all, I'm very happy that the camera is okay, means the money wasn't wasted. Now I just got to decide if I'm keeping the 50 2.0 and 85 2.0 that came with it, or try to sell them.

I had a few OOF shots from this first roll, that is solidly OOF and not (more than normal) camera shake. Even when accounting for the softness caused by the flatbed scanner, I clearly need more practice with the split-screen kind of focusing. The fact that I'm vision impaired do not help either I guess 😀 I do get a certain percentage of OOFs with digital and auto-focus too though, especially with the older, less certain-of-themselves AF-D lenses that haven't got the same ability to do micro adjustments as newer SWM type lenses. Oh, and I like to live around the widest aperture settings, that doesn't make it any easier.

@ tofagerl
The negs came back surprisingly flat and in plastic sleeves from FotoKnudsen, however they where rather dirty it seems. Or, my scanner is growing an alarmingly large colony of dust bunnies, unwilling to move even under attack by compressed air. I'm not really sure how seriously those young girls at that store take this kind of business. Nothing that can't be fixed in Photoshop though.

Mac
 
Keep the 50/2! IMO there is no 'better' slr nikkor 50! Sharp with a little flare wide open, flare's gone a stop down and bokeh improves. It's overall better than the 50mm 1.4 AF-S imo.

😀!

The 85 f2 has excellent color for portraits, I like it a lot, but it's the only nikkor 85 I've used so I can't compare it to the 1.8 really.
 
Last edited:
That's a good looking camera. My first Nikon was an FE, and I share your excitement about the camera.

Good going. That camera is in excellent condition.
 
The FE2 is a great camera! In fact, when I bought an FE2 5 years ago, switching back from digital, it gave my photography a huge boost. I got rid of my Nikon D1 and D200 but I still have the FE2.
 
I still shooting my chrome FE2 i bought in December 1986 from 47st photo in NYC, along with my 50/1.4, 28/2.0 and 85/1.8. At the time i wanted a black FE@ but coulnt afford the extra bucks for black paint. I seem to recall the body was $279 in chrome and 329 in black. The chrome still looks new after years of service, and camera works as new despite a shutter replacement in 2003. The only problem is the hotshoe aint so hot. I love using it and the classic MF AI/AIs glass. I sits proudly along side the F2AS, the Leicaflex SL, M3 and lastly the D70. The FE2 and the M3 are my two favorites....they just fels right and do their job with no fuss
 
Hey guys, great to see that people still love these old cameras, even the not so glamorous ones 🙂 I think the designers of these old things would get all warm and fuzzy inside seeing that 30 years later people still value their engineering and workmanship.

I have the day off and didn't quite know what to do, restless and awaiting closure in certain work and future life-related matters. So I decided to dust off as well as I could and do a 1-minute job and snap some quick ones of my new acquisitions on the coffe table. A couple of minutes in Photoshop and here they are. They'll likely not stay in this condition too long.

The shots where made with a camera that might be considered the spiritual heir of the FE2, the 16mp D7000 of this year. Not really a pro camera, but with interesting new technology and features, it is perhaps the camera that gives one most features and ability for the buck right now, maybe like the FE2 in it's era. The lens however was the thing I had mounted as I was too lazy to change, my much beloved 105 2.0 DC.

The 85 2.0.
Nikon_85_f2.0_ai.jpg


The little merry band of antiques together.
Nikon_FE2.jpg


Mac
 
Last edited:
Nice find, looks in great condition. I've always liked the old Nikons but have concentrated on the single digit F's. I have had an Fm2n but sold it to fund a black F that I was offered.
I keep saying I'm done but it looks like I've turned into a Nikon collector! It's hard not to when they are so cheap now.
I just added an F4s to the stable and i'm doing my best to avoid an F5 and F6. I have the F and some F2's and thanks to a thread here I added 2 F3's.
I hardly use film now but I keep telling myself I should more often. It's hard when the D700 is just so good at taking pics!
I don't use Leica now because of a central vision issue and so focusing an SLR from peripheral vision is possible.
Enjoy your FE2 and i'll bet you end up adding to it!
 
nobbylon said:
Nice find, looks in great condition. I've always liked the old Nikons but have concentrated on the single digit F's. I have had an Fm2n but sold it to fund a black F that I was offered.
I keep saying I'm done but it looks like I've turned into a Nikon collector! It's hard not to when they are so cheap now.
I just added an F4s to the stable and i'm doing my best to avoid an F5 and F6. I have the F and some F2's and thanks to a thread here I added 2 F3's.
I hardly use film now but I keep telling myself I should more often. It's hard when the D700 is just so good at taking pics!
I don't use Leica now because of a central vision issue and so focusing an SLR from peripheral vision is possible.
Enjoy your FE2 and i'll bet you end up adding to it!
Click to expand...

Talk about "adding to it"..I just came across a relatively late black F in the 700xxx serial nr range, with a wast level finder, a 55 3.5 and a 135 2.8, shutter release cable, boxes and so forth. Looks to be in very good to pristine, even "like new" condition all of it. Seller wants $1000 though 😉 The temptation! Must...save...for...70-200...2.8...VR2... And then there's that Leica IIIc for $500 that other bloke is selling. When I think of it, I want a Leica too! 😛

Mac
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom