These were all taken with my Nikon FA and Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 lens on Lomography Color Negative 400 film. I love the FA—although I've read that some people don't. I bought it a long time ago to take some beginner photography classes, and I don't know if it's just sentimentality and familiarity, but I think this camera is awesome. I was happy with the way these photos turned out, although I'm not crazy about the lomography film at all.. I'm hoping I like it better with a different camera, since I already bought six rolls of it.
I truly love having just a few prints in my hand, and not 500 files to sort through, delete, edit and decide whether to get printed. I hope that when I pick up my digital camera again, I can use it more like I do a 35mm camera. Maybe I should turn off the viewfinder? Or switch to manual focus?
I had a hard time composing my photos this time, I kept saying everything's so close. I don't remember ever feeling that way about this camera and lens, and I think it's because for the last few years I've exclusively used a Sony Cybershot RX100. The difference between the RX100's 28mm wide angle and a 55mm focal length is pretty significant and I definitely prefer the wider angle. So, I decided to get another lens for my FA. Man, prices have increased in the last decade! An FA body—in worse condition than mine—and the 55mm f/2.8 lens I used for these pictures are now double what I paid for them—at the same used camera store! I didn't want to invest very much money into a new lens, so I bought the cheaper Nikon Series E from ebay. We'll see how that goes.
(In 2010, I bought an AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens for my Nikon D40 digital SLR in an attempt to like it more—I've never cared for that camera—but I didn't understand that because of the crop factor on DSLRs I was basically still getting a normal 50mm focal length. I still don't like that camera. I wish I had just bought an old-school Nikon 35mm lens back then, rather than the DX one, so that I could also use it on the FA now, but you know, hindsight...)
When I took photography classes back then, nothing made sense to me. I struggled just to understand and remember all the details—ISO, aperture, shutter speeds—and how they interconnect. This time around, all that information seems intuitive—I think it found a home and settled in over all these years—so now I can look up stuff like focal lenghts and have it make sense when it wouldn't have before.
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