Ladies and gentlemen, the Nikon F55. My first SLR film camera that I (my mom) bought when I was in college for our photography class. Actually, it was the first ever camera I owned and that’s why it holds a special place in my heart (I say that to all my cameras btw). I can still remember vividly how joyful and excited I was when we bought this in Hidalgo. Although now, I kinda wished I bought a second hand full manual SLR like the Nikon Fm2 as it tends to hold its value much greater than this entry level, fully electronic camera. Still, this camera did what it’s meant to do, take amazing photos. It was also around this time that I fell in love with street/documentary photography as my classmates and I would go on long photo walks around Manila for our school works. Having to develop and wait for the films was also part of the fun, this may sound millennial or cliche but shooting film does give you a certain satisfaction vs shooting digital. But I don’t see any logical reason why you should not shoot digital nowadays, maybe except if you have a ton of cash to spare. Today, shooting a roll of film will cost you around Php 500-600. Php 220 to up to Php 600 for a fresh roll of film and Php 200-350/roll to develop and scan. But like I said, if you have that extra dough and wanted to experience something “special” then by all means please shoot film because I myself don’t want the film industry to go obsolete.
And now, cue some film camera porn photos.
The Nikon f55 is a small 35mm film SLR (Single-lens reflex) which was aimed to entry level/enthusiast photographers, hence the silver color of its body. Now it may look like something your tourist uncle might bring on a vacation back in the day but this camera paired with a nice lens is a very capable one. To those who don’t know, the Nikon lens F-mount (introduced in 1959) works on all Nikon cameras film or digital. Some features may not work on some body-lens combination but as long as it’s the same F-mount you are good to go. What I have with me is a Nikon 50mm f1.8D attached to my F55. Sadly, I sold the original kitlens bundled with the camera, a decision I regretted as that kitlens holds a good review.
Anyway, I recently had the urged to use the camera again and brought it during my first attempt to vlog one of my photo walk. Below are some photo comparisons of the shots I made with the Nikon F55 and my handy digital camera, the Fujifilm x100s. (Film on left, Digital on right)
If you want see the behind the scenes of how I capture these photos, watch the video below:
It’s ironic that the film I used was the Fujifilm c200 to compare the shots taken from my digital fujifilm camera, which has a reputation of rendering its jpeg files in a very filmesque way. Still, the photos from the film camera renders a nice nostalgic, timeless feel to it that no digital camera can ever reproduce. It may be because I grew up looking at photos shot on film that makes me feel this way. But the other thing that makes film more special to me is the uncertainty and the excitement that comes with how the photos you took will come out. I also did find some undeveloped films in my room and was pleasantly surprised on the photos I’ve taken with it. Shooting film also makes me feel more comfortable shooting on the streets because I can concentrate more on my surrounding and not on my “expensive” gear hanging around my neck in he middle of nowhere. I will be talking about that more on my next blog so stay tuned.
As always, thank you for reading and don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel. BYE!
King 