The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Four Horsemen...

The Four Horsemen…

2013-12-11-1

1960's Mamiya-Sekor 1000 TL. M42 lens mount.

1960’s Mamiya-Sekor 1000 TL. M42 lens mount.

1976 Vivitar 250/SL, M42 lens mount.

1976 Vivitar 250/SL, M42 lens mount.

2013-12-11-2

The Booty

The Booty

2013-12-11-3

1983 Nikon FG, Nikon F-AI lens mount.

1983 Nikon FG, Nikon F-AI lens mount.

2013-12-11-4

I just got back my negs from the Nikon, shot on 100 ISO color print film that's 13 years expired. The ends of the roll are badly damaged and color-faded (looks like old photos!), but the middle of the roll seems to have retained it's color suppleness quite a bit better, but still has a faded, oldish look.

I just got back my negs from the Nikon, shot on 100 ISO color print film that’s 13 years expired. The ends of the roll are badly damaged and color-faded (looks like old photos!), but the middle of the roll seems to have retained it’s color suppleness quite a bit better, but still has a faded, oldish look.

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First shot of the roll. geez.

First shot of the roll. geez.

Last shot of the roll.

Last shot of the roll.

2013-12-11-6

New in the box 1800dpi 35mm film/slide scanner. Thrifted for $6.

New in the box 1800dpi 35mm film/slide scanner. Thrifted for $6.

Typing on film with a carbon ribbon doesn't work well. The carbon just wipes off.

Typing on film with a carbon ribbon doesn’t work well. The carbon just wipes off.

a cloth-ribbon manual, however, works great, but you gotta pound the keys firmly to make a  good impression

a cloth-ribbon manual, however, works great, but you gotta pound the keys firmly to make a good impression

Used the already-exposed roll of film I found in a camera for this. all but one exposure on this roll was too badly faded to make anything out, so - ART PROJECT!

Used the already-exposed roll of film I found in a camera for this. all but one exposure on this roll was too badly faded to make anything out, so – ART PROJECT!

Here's the one exposure on the mystery roll that halfway came out. No biggie. I found that Walgreens will develop your film for $6 a roll if you specify just developing and no prints. That's half their advertised rate.

Here’s the one exposure on the mystery roll that halfway came out. No biggie. I found that Walgreens will develop your film for $6 a roll if you specify just developing and no prints. That’s half their advertised rate.

Updated: December 11, 2013 — 9:10 pm

7 Comments

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  1. Congrats on that nice-looking Nikon FG, and getting it to function. And, i’m sure you know, but when you are sans light meter there is always the “Sunny 16” rule. f/16 at 1/film speed in bright sun. then you guesstimate up or down one, two, or three stops depending. Works pretty well with the wide latitude of color print film.

    1. I did not know the Sunny 16 rule, thanks! (:

      I’m woefully ignorant of the actual rules of photography, having never had a class or owned an actual SLR till this year. Couldn’t afford it then, but being on staff, I hung out with the photographers and listened to their photog jabber. Also my first wife had a nice camera, which I occasionally used in the 80’s, and made a mess in her darkroom. I remember developing B&W film occasionally and making B&W prints in the laundry room, but I only learned enough to know which bottles to pour into what tank and how long to leave it there – stuff I already generally knew from developing line negs and plates in the print shop darkroom.

  2. That is a great find! I really like the Nikon. They all remind me of way back in my college days of photography class. If I only had a lab like we had there.

    I have never seen typewriters in the thrift shops around where I live and come to think of it any worthwhile cameras or photography gear.

  3. Film goes off and that muddy, flat look is a symptom of that. Exposed film with a latent image goes off worse and faster, even if it is refrigerated after exposure. Fresh film quickly taken and processed will show the true mettle of your 35mm rigs. Kodak used to print an exposure guide like this (an elaboration of Tony’s Sunny 16 rule) inside the box, just in case you didn’t have a light meter.

    1. Thanks for the exposure guide!

      The effect of this old film is pretty interesting to me in that it gives the pictures an aged effect which I like. I will be shooting with fresh film soon, but I think I’ll be picking up all the un-exposed NOS film I find at thrifts as well, to more fully explore the creative effects.

      On an aside, I went down to a see a friend who’s been storing a lot of my old keepsakes for me, and dug up a bunch of my negs & slides from the 80’s. Look out, future posts :D

  4. Thrift stores around here rarely have anything other than clothing and books. I’m really envious of your thrift store finds. It’s hard to find a typewriter here, much less all the neat stuff you have found.

    1. Yep, I’ve been a member of a thrifting forum for the past year, and among those folks, the Phoenix metro area is one of the big hotspots for thrifting, in large part because the Goodwills aren’t integrated with shopgoodwill.com, and thus don’t auction off their good stuff online. That and the large retiree population tends to result in a target-rich environment. (:

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