...until we don't have it.
A story for my Nikon Anonymous support group :smile:
I used my F3 for about two wonderful months. Then, on the night of my father's wedding (after I'd gotten some very nice shots alongside the nikon-shooting pro), as I was trying to finish up my last roll, I was advancing the film and poof...jammed.
I had to rewind the film and try some more.
Using the normal shutter release (electronically controlled) did not work. The manual backup release would fire the mirror and want to fire the shutter, but the curtain was not all the way over and would not move.
So after Hurricane Wilma tore through and power was restored, I took it in for repair.
Anyways, fast forward about 3 weeks. Last night, I was in a horrible mood. I'd had a very good day academically (my science paper was selected to represent my school in a prominent competition), but a very bad one otherwise. I needed to be cheered up. It was perhaps 6PM when my phone rang. I feared it would be some more bad news. Instead the cheery voice of the ever so nice lady at the shop rang forth:
"Hello, is this Harrison? Hi! I'm calling from AAA Fotofast to let you know your Nikon F3 is repaired and ready whenever you want to pick it up!"
Hallelujah!
I'd been without camera for a week- my d70, 17-35, Sb-600, and all my Rodenstocks were at my father's house, and I wasn't. (I will be picking them up tonight and working on my Challenge 16 submission).
Thankfully, my dear mother was able to take poor teenage me all the way to the shop to grab it right after school.
There was NO sweeter sound on this earth than the clack of that shutter and the whirr of the advance mechanism...no smoother feel than the turning of that lever... no better sight than that mirror firing.
I'd Missed it so much.
As soon as I got home, I figured why not finish what I'd started.
I went into the guest room fridge (full size) which is basically mine: sodas etc. all over, except about 1/4 of the fridge which is my film area. I have my bulk loader and film reels in a bag, the empty reel can from the one in the loader, which I use for unexposed loaded rolls, and my makeshift electrical tape-coated and liined Exposed Film carry Box. I grabbed the only manufactured roll I had- 36 exposure Tri-X 400, which I was halfway through when the shutter jammed. Retrieved the leader with the leader retrieval tool, loaded it, capped the lens, set to f/22, manual 1/2000 sec and covered up the camera. Fired off until the counter read 18. Then I went out and shot that roll, a roll of 24 exp Portra 160NC, and started another of Tri-X.
I felt so at home standing outside, trying out my new 28/3.5 AI, my trusty AIS 50/1.4, and my new PK-13 extension tube.
I think I got some nice results...though the low light blacked out my split image sometimes. I need some more focusing screens, and a HP or Action finder would help lots.
The moral of the story
Take a good look at your camera. Any of them. Or all of them. Hold it in your hands, look at it, and smile. :smile:
Realize what you have there...your camera is like your best friend, a faithful companion that does what you want it to do, just for you.
Treasure it, treat it like a member of the family...for that's what it is, really, only always there for you.
Don't take it for granted. Take some pictures this weekend.
All my best,
Harrison
An Amphibian Nikon shooter
Nikon F3 (1980-1981 vintage), Nikon D70, and a first- run D200 on its way.
A story for my Nikon Anonymous support group :smile:
I used my F3 for about two wonderful months. Then, on the night of my father's wedding (after I'd gotten some very nice shots alongside the nikon-shooting pro), as I was trying to finish up my last roll, I was advancing the film and poof...jammed.
I had to rewind the film and try some more.
Using the normal shutter release (electronically controlled) did not work. The manual backup release would fire the mirror and want to fire the shutter, but the curtain was not all the way over and would not move.
So after Hurricane Wilma tore through and power was restored, I took it in for repair.
Anyways, fast forward about 3 weeks. Last night, I was in a horrible mood. I'd had a very good day academically (my science paper was selected to represent my school in a prominent competition), but a very bad one otherwise. I needed to be cheered up. It was perhaps 6PM when my phone rang. I feared it would be some more bad news. Instead the cheery voice of the ever so nice lady at the shop rang forth:
"Hello, is this Harrison? Hi! I'm calling from AAA Fotofast to let you know your Nikon F3 is repaired and ready whenever you want to pick it up!"
Hallelujah!
I'd been without camera for a week- my d70, 17-35, Sb-600, and all my Rodenstocks were at my father's house, and I wasn't. (I will be picking them up tonight and working on my Challenge 16 submission).
Thankfully, my dear mother was able to take poor teenage me all the way to the shop to grab it right after school.
There was NO sweeter sound on this earth than the clack of that shutter and the whirr of the advance mechanism...no smoother feel than the turning of that lever... no better sight than that mirror firing.
I'd Missed it so much.
As soon as I got home, I figured why not finish what I'd started.
I went into the guest room fridge (full size) which is basically mine: sodas etc. all over, except about 1/4 of the fridge which is my film area. I have my bulk loader and film reels in a bag, the empty reel can from the one in the loader, which I use for unexposed loaded rolls, and my makeshift electrical tape-coated and liined Exposed Film carry Box. I grabbed the only manufactured roll I had- 36 exposure Tri-X 400, which I was halfway through when the shutter jammed. Retrieved the leader with the leader retrieval tool, loaded it, capped the lens, set to f/22, manual 1/2000 sec and covered up the camera. Fired off until the counter read 18. Then I went out and shot that roll, a roll of 24 exp Portra 160NC, and started another of Tri-X.
I felt so at home standing outside, trying out my new 28/3.5 AI, my trusty AIS 50/1.4, and my new PK-13 extension tube.
I think I got some nice results...though the low light blacked out my split image sometimes. I need some more focusing screens, and a HP or Action finder would help lots.
The moral of the story
Take a good look at your camera. Any of them. Or all of them. Hold it in your hands, look at it, and smile. :smile:
Realize what you have there...your camera is like your best friend, a faithful companion that does what you want it to do, just for you.
Treasure it, treat it like a member of the family...for that's what it is, really, only always there for you.
Don't take it for granted. Take some pictures this weekend.
All my best,
Harrison
An Amphibian Nikon shooter
Nikon F3 (1980-1981 vintage), Nikon D70, and a first- run D200 on its way.
