Bill Smith's Photography

More fun with slide film of an uncertain vintage and home processed by a friend up in Milton On. Fuji Velvia isn't my first choice for slide film, I prefer Provia 100F and Kodak Ektachrome 100 (haven't shot my new roll yet, it's in the fridge and will be shot in the spring). I really love what I got out of my FDn 50 f3.5 lens. at the bottom with the flower shots. I plan to shoot a lot of Ektachrome next year when it becomes more widely available. Camera: Canon FTBn, Canon FD lenses. Film: Freezer stored and expired Fuji Velvia 100 home processed by a friend.

My camera of choice on this photo walk was my Nikon FE2, a slightly lesser known camera only made from 1983 to 1987. Replacing the FE which was made from 1977 to 1983, the FE2 boasted faster shutter speeds to 1/4000 of a second, 1/250 flash sync speed and TTL off the film plane electronic flash automation and improved  silicon  photodiode   light mete r   sensors. Cosmetically the FE2 looked a lot like the FM2, it's mechanical stablemate but it was a far more sophisticated camera that was built like a truck and was marketed to the advanced amateur. While it sold well, it didn't sell as well as the much cheaper and honestly much more plastic fantastic Canon AE-1 Program, Canon A-1 and Minolta X700. By the late 1980s, autofocus entered the camera market and that became the must-have feature.  Using the FE2 is a lot like using an FE or Nikkormat EL beautiful viewfinders with lots of information and match needle metering, unlike the F3HP pro body and ...

We had a hot Canada Day weekend, on the friday, I met up with some friends from Toronto Photowalks and a did a bit of a wander through the east side of Riverdale Park, from the rooftop of Bridgepoint Health and the former Don Jail. One thing I should have packed as a polarizing filter to cut down some of the reflections with the protective glass in the rooftop garden. I haven't shot with my FE2 in a while, sadly the meter is out by two stops and the camera could use a CLA at some point. Luckily I had a combination of exposure compensation and sunny 16 to the rescue. I think this will be the summer of the CLA (clean, lubricated and align), I have two Olympus OM-1's that need some love, I might have my black Minolta XD-11 done and now the FE2. One at a time. Camera: Nikon FE2, Nikkor lenses, Film: Kosmo Mono 100, Rodinal 1+50