After having tried out my Nikon D80 for a year's time and never really liking it, I have decided to sell it and stick to shooting film with my manual Nikon equipment instead. My wife thinks that I am out of my mind, so I thought this forum might be a good place to get some support...

When I use my Nikon FE2/FM3A I somehow get the feeling of being a "photographer" and this in turn makes me take better pictures. I simply pay more attention and this shows off in the end results. (Lenses with fixed focal lenghts makes me more conscious about composition. Manual focus makes me think about where focus should be. Having to set the aperture makes me consider the depth-of-field. And so on...). I have also built up a collection of manual lenses over the years (favourite small setup: 28/50/105, favourite medium size setup: 20/28/50/105/180, favourite large setup: 16 fisheye/20/28/50/85/105/135/180) which feels much more at home on a manual body.

I will have to pay for film again, and I will need to get it developed (either doing bw by myself or sending it away). But I'm certain that shooting digital would cost even more, just thinking of how much I lost on the D80 in only one year's time...

It's a relief to be back in the analog world again. Film might be a niche market, but it is the niche where I like to be.

Regards,
Erik Ehrling (Sweden)

Welcome to the real world Erik, enjoy the forum.

Welcome to Apug Erik. I’m sure you will enjoy the forum.

Claes

Hi Erik, welcome to the forum.

Welcome aboard Erik - a serious Nikon setup you have there!

Develop your film yourself: you not only have more control & save time, but also save money!

Have fun, Bob.

Welcome, Erik!

Welcome to your niche. What, no Hasselblad? ;)

Welcome back Erik and welcome to APUG. You will find plenty of support here.

gene

Welcome back to analog photography from Sydney, Australia.

One more welcome from Ontario Canada. Enjoy your stay.You certainly found the right place for analog photography.

Greg

Välkommen till APUG, Erik!

Vi har en stor skandinavisk gruppe her, og den blir større for hver dag. :)

Welcome from Stockholm.

/matti

My wife thinks that I am out of my mind.

That's what they all think!

Welcome from England.



Steve.

Welcome from the US Erik. The reason you feel like a photographer using your film equipment is because you ARE a photograper. When you point some electronic gizmo (like a digi camera) at a subject you are letting it do most of "thinking" a real photograper would do. Can you picture Ansel Adams with a point and shoot?

By the way, it sounds like you have a great Nikon set there!

Steve Perry

Og velkommen fra Danmark Erik
Mvh Søren

Thanks everybody, I'm overwhelmed! I have never experienced such a warm welcome in any forum before!

A Hasselblad? Well, to be honest, I have been thinking about one seriously. Especially as I live not far from the factory where they were made. I learnt a few things from my grandfather, though, and one thing is that it is wiser to concentrate on one good camera system rather than on several systems, which by nature would have to be either less complete or built around lenses of lower quality. (Needless to say he owned an uncountable number of cameras, many more than he could ever use.). This is not to say that I would mind owning a Hasselblad with a few lenses and magazines, or a Fuji GSW690III for that matter. But right now my photography would probably benefit more from a robust tripod. (The Gitzo GT3530LSV + Markins M20 seems like good a combination, if the hype is to be believed).

I have developed about a dozen of rolls by myself, and I'm starting to like Plus-X in Paterson Aculux3 (FP4+ in D76 is not too bad either). I fight spots on the negatives by using a combination of distilled water + photo flo + isopropanol and then wiping the non-emulsion side dry with a clean cloth.

Nice to see a lot of Scandinavian people being film oriented as well, I thought film was almost dead over here. The Swedish magazine Foto hasn't had a single word to say about film in the last 2-3 years. The last time must have been when they reviewed the Leica M7 and concluded that it was a nice camera, but using film was a nuissance. (OK, there has been an article or two about the toy camera hype, but that's about it.)

Well, thanks again, you have convinced me that this is surely a good place to spend some time! See you in the forums!

Regards,
Erik Ehrling (Sweden)

Welcome, Erik. And welcome back.

Erik,

Welcome to APUG from NYC.

Regards,
George

- on tape delay

Nice to see a lot of Scandinavian people being film oriented as well, I thought film was almost dead over here. The Swedish magazine Foto hasn't had a single word to say about film in the last 2-3 years.

That's exactly why there are so many of us here! :)

Velkommen Erik...... håber at se dig i Vrå :-))

Welcome, Erik.... hope to se you at Vraa folkhigh school.......

Welcome - Great to see another member of the Swedish sub-community within APUG. And another Nikonian as well - just fab.

Här kommer ett välkommen till, från Stockholm. Visst är det fint med manuellt!

Welcome to APUG Erik. The more the merrier.

The Vikings return!

The Vikings return!

yes and resistance is futile