Test Drive with the F100

Earlier this month I hunted around for a used Nikon F100 and finally got it in my hot little mitts last week. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it — going back to 35mm feels so good. It’s great being able to spend more time on a single scene again instead of being uber-deliberate, which is how I am with medium format since it’s more expen$ive to shoot and develop.

To put it simply: I’m in L-O-V-E. I’m never putting this puppy down. The things I love most about it aren’t evident in the photos it produces, though…

For example, how it’s built just like my dSLRs (or, I should say, how my dSLRs are built just like my F100). One issue I’ve been facing when I shoot on my manual SLRs is the difference in handling. I always get tripped up when going from one camera to the next — they feel different in my hands, knobs turn this way, aperture rings turn that way, etc. — and in turn it takes me time to get used to it, every time.

But I can go back and forth between my D700 and F100 in a completely fluid manner. They might as well be the same camera. Except when I instinctively look at the back of my F100 after taking a photo I just get flushed and my best friend laughs at me. :)

My F100 also came with a battery grip, and as you can tell from the photos that I promise are coming soon (Just shut up already and get to the photos, Kim!), I’m super duper in love with having an extra shutter release. No more T-Rex hand when I want to shoot vertically!

(…Are we there yet?!)

The following photos were taken today and yesterday, around Mississippi and Irvington, as I feverishly blew through a roll of cheap film so I could see what this bad boy is made of. As luck would have it, it’s made of awesome. This bad boy’s gonna fit right in with my Portland lifestyle.

I saw lots of cats on my walk, too. :)