I finished off the roll of Kentmere 100 in my Nikon F at a small birthday celebration for our granddaughter, Cate, who turned twelve. This again was an instance of a situation which was marginally suitable for photography with a slow speed film. I shot at 1/125 and with the lens at its maximum aperture of f2.5. The negatives looked thin, but the essential details and tonalities were captured thanks to the bright viewfinder of the camera and the excellent performance of the Nikkor 105mm lens which really excels for portrait work.
One thing I like about shooting with the Nikon F is that it is fully manual in operation. If the images I get are poorly exposed or focused there is no doubt about assigning responsibility.
4 comments:
You were able to get some decent scans from this film, which I think speaks to the overall latitude of film in general. My Canon F-1 is also a fully manual camera and, frankly, outperforms my A-1 in many respects. I definitely don't have a prime in that focal length, though.
I was happy enough with these shots, but this was not a fair test of the Kentmere 100 which has performed very well for me with appropriate lighting. I have had good results with it with several developers, but PMK is probably the best.
I have a Canon F1; its really a solid camera. I haven't done much with it mainly because I only have 1.4/50mm for it.
The 105mm ƒ/2.5 lens is a famous one in the Nikkor lineup. I had one that looks just like your copy for some 15 years, and its performance was superb. Back in 1969 or 1970, I opted for the 105mm instead of the then-obligatory 135mm, and I still think it was a good choice. The 105mm Super-Takumar is also excellent optically. Anyway, nice work with the F.
It never occurred to me to seek out a 105mm lens and it was only a happy accident that I acquired one along with my F2. Getting one for the Spotmatic seems like it would be a nice way to get back to using that old favorite.
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