So do you think I have a chance?

[Diamond Lil]

I have an old Nikkormat FTN SLR along with 3 or 4 lenses. Does anyone think that there is a Nikon digital SLR that will accept the lenses?

I'd hate to have to reinvest in everything all over again.

[Max]

Most of the regular lenses did work on the slr's. I know we started with Nikon and all our F lenses I think worked. Been so long I can't remember now. We then switched to all canon stuff.

[Michael Hetrick]

My first "real" camera was a Nikkormat way back in 1976ish. Post the lense part numbers so we can have a look see. If they are not AF lenses they probably wont be forward compatible, but most importantly is the mount. You can deal with a non-AF lense if you have the right mount and are willing to focus then shoot, you know, like the old days.

[Diamond Lil]

My first "real" camera was a Nikkormat way back in 1976ish. Post the lense part numbers so we can have a look see. If they are not AF lenses they probably wont be forward compatible, but most importantly is the mount. You can deal with a non-AF lense if you have the right mount and are willing to focus then shoot, you know, like the old days.

Mike! I started at just about that time myself. What a thrill it was to use a camera like that one. My Dad worked as a master pressman and proof reader for all the major metro NY newspapers and to know that many a pro actually used it was just too much for me to handle at the time. Those guys considered it a very reliable little work horse.

I should have thought about the AF issue.

[Michael Hetrick]

Mike! I started at just about that time myself. What a thrill it was to use a camera like that one. My Dad worked as a master pressman and proof reader for all the major metro NY newspapers and to know that many a pro actually used it was just too much for me to handle at the time. Those guys considered it a very reliable little work horse.

I should have thought about the AF issue.

At the time I was on Guam and Japanese photo equipment was very cheap. I wanted to go with the Nikon line but wanted to learn the craft on a fully manual camera and the Nikkormat was the only fully manual offering at that time. I think I paid $225 for the body and a F1.2 (yes..2) 50 mm Nikon lens. The optics in that lens were HUGE! I literally wore the camera out in about 4 years.

We used to buy bulk rolls of Tri-X Pan B&W film and roll our own. My roomates and I set up a darkroom in our bathroom in the barracks (I was in the Navy) to develop and print. We used to have weekend photo competitions where we would pick a subject then take off in different directions. Monday night was proof sheet night and Tuesday we brought our best shots to the Navy Enlisted Club and judged em all over some beers.

We graduated on to Kodachrome and the ability to develop slides, but it wasn't as much fun as the early black and white days.

[Diamond Lil]

Mike,
I had a black and white darkroom with a Vivitar head, and lens and filter set that I still have in the basement. I was into Ilford paper and kodak chemicals. What fun that used to be. I did not have the money to go for color or slides, but did have an in with the local guy. He would print just a contact sheet for me if I wanted and enlarge images he liked at no charge when I turn in slides or film to have processed.

One of the saddest losses of something material was when my apartment building burned and all of my negatives, slides and photos from almost 15 years were destroyed.

[Michael Hetrick]

Mike,
I had a black and white darkroom with a Vivitar head, and lens and filter set that I still have in the basement. I was into Ilford paper and kodak chemicals. What fun that used to be. I did not have the money to go for color or slides, but did have an in with the local guy. He would print just a contact sheet for me if I wanted and enlarge images he liked at no charge when I turn in slides or film to have processed.

One of the saddest losses of something material was when my apartment building burned and all of my negatives, slides and photos from almost 15 years were destroyed.

Wow! I never thought about that. Maybe I will stick my negatives and slides in a safe deposit box.

One of the things that is missing in the modern photo world is the fun and flat out amazement that comes from developing and printing your own film. I remember the first time I was trying to make sense out of all the aperature, exposure times, chemical ratios and all that, I had developed some film that I shot of some graph paper. I wanted to try and discriminate between low-light ASA400 and normal light ASA100 shots. Well, I exposed the paper and then dropped my first shot into the developer and the entire sheet of paper turned coal black in about a billionth of a second!!!! When I went back through I found that my chart gave exposure time in seconds....I was using minutes. :eek::D:D:D

[Diamond Lil]

That was a fun story Mike. I took a photography class in high school for a small portion of the year. Our teacher made us way over expose, but we never reached minutes.
It has been too long, so help me if you can. What do you call that set of wands with different shapes so that you could burn in a exposure and filter it at the same time. It was fun to play with that too. Also, we used to shoot and develop black and whites of old photos and then rinse it in coffee to give it that antique look.

I would truly recommend doing something with your negatives and slides. An alternative to the safe deposit box, if you mean as in a bank, would be a firesafe. There are some reasonably good ones out there for not too much money. The used market in safes can be a good resource. The darn things last so very long that pre-owned is a fair option.

[Michael Hetrick]

That was a fun story Mike. I took a photography class in high school for a small portion of the year. Our teacher made us way over expose, but we never reached minutes.
It has been too long, so help me if you can. What do you call that set of wands with different shapes so that you could burn in a exposure and filter it at the same time. It was fun to play with that too. Also, we used to shoot and develop black and whites of old photos and then rinse it in coffee to give it that antique look.

I would truly recommend doing something with your negatives and slides. An alternative to the safe deposit box, if you mean as in a bank, would be a firesafe. There are some reasonably good ones out there for not too much money. The used market in safes can be a good resource. The darn things last so very long that pre-owned is a fair option.

I never knew the technical name because everything I learned was trial-and-error from books and well meaning friends. I actually exposed that first print for 20 minutes because I know so little that it just didn't seem outrageous.....this was way before the ease of information the internet brings at the tip of our fingers. I always called them mixing stick for some reason. I used the mostly by moving them around to blur the edges of the photo. I never tried filters.

Another interesting thing, we were in a recon squadron and thus our airplanes could carry very advanced cameras. Most of them were of the strip type thus had huge rolls of photo paper. One of our buddies worked in the photo section and got us a couple of pieces of 36 X 24 very fine grain paper. We had fun turning the enlarger so it would shine on the bathroom wall and printing up some huge photos. We had to use big drip pans for aircraft engines to put the developer chems in and it really burnt up the chems, but it was fun. This was back in the later 70's so it was not that common to see huge blow-ups.

[Diamond Lil]

What were you guys enlarging? Mike, it certainly sounds like you've had some enjoyment in life. You relate snippets in a manner that conveys feeling.

I'm not sure what kind of photographic discovery young people have today. Maybe Photoshop and the like? Must be. Hopefully ease has not led to a diminished experience. Probably not.


I remember practicing with dead film in a changing bag.