RIP Nikon FM
No roadtrip is possible, I suppose, without a mishap or two. The Nashville movie-extra jaunt may have forced me out of the 35mm dark ages into the new digital age.
Whilst attempting to pass a semi on I-65 somewhere south of Elizabethtown, my hatch flew open and stuff flew out of the back. The quick-witted Niece managed to save our clothing from being spread all over the highway, but something did get sucked out. It was my camera bag, containing one 30-year-old Nikon FM body, three Vivitar lenses, a motor drive and various other acoutrements of 35mm SLR-dom.
Bang. Smash. Tinkle. All gone, in the blink of an eye. What didn’t shatter on impact was quickly pummeled into oblivion by the semis that were behind and alongside us. The FM body is a tough little thing, but somehow I think its designers did not anticipate it being underneath an 18-wheeler going at 70 mph.
Sigh. I’m a little sad, since the camera has traveled with me through dozens of states and several foreign countries, and recorded all number of personal, family and school events. My dad bought it for me when he still worked at EPOI, the then-parent company of Nikon, and by company policy it had his (and therefore my) name engraved on the bottom plate in gold letters.
On the other hand, the camera + lenses were pretty heavy. While I was still a newspaper reporter, the kit came in handy when the regular photogs were busy. They had advised me to skip the standard 50mm lens and just get the body, a wide-angle and medium telephoto to start with. I added a 85-200 mm zoom much later, while I was in South Africa, and a motor drive just a few years ago. Toting around this setup sometimes got to be a pain, though.
Now, I have used digital cameras, and I love the immediate gratification of seeing your photo right now. But none offered the flexibility (and professional results) of my Nikon kit. So, I figured, eventually I would have to give up the chunky 35mm SLR setup and adopt the lighter-weight digital equivalent … once I had the requisite $600 - $800 to buy one.
So, I have come to a crossroads. Stick with 35 mm film equipment, pay lots of cash for film and processing, but relatively little for “obsolete” hardware. Or, migrate to the digital SLR age and pays lots of cash for hardware.
Ah, decisions, decisions. I loved working with film, but maybe it’s time to move on.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
oh shit! well, once one of us kid-folks are even vaguely in the monetary surplus, we’ll definitely have to buy you a new one! How did it come undone? Was it not shut all the way? And which niece was in the car?
June 13th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
It has a lot to do with my backing into a post a few weeks ago. The dent prevents the hatch from closing all the way. My juryrig “lock” was not sufficient protection.
No worries about the camera. I bought another Nikon FM + Nikkor zoom lens off eBay for $86. I am hankering for a Nikon D70, though. That’s a digital SLR that takes a 1G CompactFlash card I have.