Through Rikyū’s writings, I was introduced to the phrase ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会), which literally means “one time, one meeting.” Wikipedia describes it as the “cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment” – a reminder that each meeting is unique, and we should cherish it as such. Even if the same people meet at the same place again, a particular gathering can never be replicated. We can never step in the same river twice.

Last year I bought a Fujifilm Instax Square SQ1. It’s an instant camera, as the name suggests, which takes pictures on square-format film. 

This article is not a review of the Instax Square SQ1 – for that I refer you to James’s excellent piece which influenced my decision to get this camera. For now, the only thing I want to emphasize is just how simple it is. The camera lacks some of the more advanced features of certain other Instax cameras, such as a way to preview our images before we print them, exposure compensation, and self-timer. In fact, the SQ1 literally has just two controls – a dial for activating Selfie (or close-up) Mode, and a shutter release button.

Despite – or perhaps because of – this extreme simplicity, the Instax Square SQ1 is a joy to photograph with, and I use it more than I expected.

Fujifilm Instax Square SQ1 Review - Simple, Square, Instant Photography

James reviews Fujifilm's newest Instax camera, the strikingly pretty and surprisingly capable Instax Square SQ1.

Photography, in a sense, is the art of capturing fleeting moments. For a while now, I have been thinking about the idea of ichi-go ichi-e – one time, one meeting – and how it applies to photography. I like taking pictures, and in addition to my phone, I tend to carry at least one other camera with me. With digital cameras, I often take dozens of (sometimes indistinguishable) photos. But what if I met a friend and limited myself to just one portrait? Would precious moments be lost to me forever, unrecorded and forgotten? Or would that one recorded moment somehow assume greater significance and value?

Instax film, I thought, would be especially apt for a project like this. You press the shutter, an exposure is made, and a single square of film is ejected from the camera. You can scan it of course, as I have done for the photos in this article. But unlike a digital image, an Instax is a tangible thing. And unlike a conventional film photo, it’s unique (you can make multiple prints from a single negative, but an Instax image is one of a kind). What better medium for a project about the precious and unrepeatable nature of a moment in time?

My SQ1 came with a free cartridge of Instax Square Monochrome film. Each cartridge has 10 sheets – a manageable number. I set out the parameters of my project: simple and spare, in keeping with the overall philosophy. One photo per friend. No retakes, even if I mess it up.

My first subject was Kwang, who has collaborated with me on any number of photography experiments.

The Instax Square SQ1 has an always-on flash, and while direct on-camera flash is undeniably a vibe, sometimes it can be interesting to mix things up. One way to hack it is to use an off-camera flash with an optical receiver function, which means that it can be set to fire when it “sees” another flash.

For this shot, I set up a Godox AD100 flash on camera-left, with a $5 white umbrella as a shoot-through diffuser. When making the exposure, I held a small piece of foil at an angle in front of the SQ1’s flash. The foil deflected the flash off to the left; it didn’t light Kwang herself, but the off-camera Godox AD100 “saw” the flash and fired synchronously.

This photo, and a few others in this set, are actually shot in Selfie mode. The Instax Square SQ1 is optimized to focus at about 6-10 feet in default mode. This is good for half-body or full-body shots, but if I want to frame more tightly, I switch to Selfie mode. All this does is to bring the focus distance forward to around 18 inches. Selfie mode is intended to be used with the camera pointing towards yourself – there’s a selfie mirror next to the lens, to help you frame the shot – but you can also just shoot as normal (camera pointing forward) which is what I do for close-up portraits.

Unlike Kwang, whom I’ve known for years, Muzi and Wu Chi are new friends; the day I took these two photos was only my second time meeting them. One weekend Muzi texted me saying, “Want to go to a dog cafe? Can pet puppies.” She asked me this with no preamble whatsoever – without even pausing to ascertain if I like dogs. I was amused, and since I had never been to a dog cafe before, I said yes.

I thought perhaps Wu Chi, the third member of our impromptu excursion, was a dog-lover. I asked her as we entered the cafe.

“Um, actually I’m a bit afraid of dogs,” she said. But after a while, she was comfortable enough to pose with a big Samoyed.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant which specializes in food from Dongbei (northeast China). In the photo, Muzi is holding a giant pork rib. Unlike the earlier shot of Wu Chi, I took this in selfie mode from about 18 inches away, and for me, it’s the least successful photo of the set.

The Instax Square SQ1 is a compact camera with a direct (as opposed to through-the-lens) viewfinder, so when you’re that close, you have to watch out for parallax. Clearly I wasn’t paying enough attention, because the framing is off and Muzi’s face is mostly obscured. Oh well.

The next photo, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. My friend Russ worked on a textile and light installation at a mall here in Singapore. The drapes were shiny white, Instax film has a relatively narrow dynamic range, and the SQ1 has no exposure compensation. I wasn’t sure if it would capture the highlight detail on the cloth, but it did a fine job in the end.

That same afternoon, we went to Peace Centre – a mall built in the 1970s which is now being demolished. In the last few months before its demise, with the stores shuttered and the tenants gone, the mall has been given over to artists, performers, thrift stores, exhibition spaces and graffiti. Kai (in picture) was the one who suggested we check it out, and I’m glad we did – just one day before it closed for good. It was my first and last time at Peace Centre, so this photo of all the ones in my set feels like the most literal embodiment of ichi-go ichi-e.

The Instax photo was taken outside, but I’ve also included a couple of shots made with my Fuji X-E4, where I tried to capture the vibe inside the mall.

The next two photos are both in my apartment, but on different days – Tomoe looking at her negatives (she came to pick them up from a film lab in my neighborhood) and Redwan helping me cook a lavish meal for two. The photo of Tomoe is over-exposed – Instax can be a bit hit-and-miss – but in the one of Redwan, the camera did a great job of balancing the bright background (natural light) and Redwan who was lit by flash.

I wanted at least one full-body photo in the set, and I saw my opportunity during a dance shoot with my friend Olivia. We shot a whole sequence under the water-tower with my Fuji X-E4. Then, as we were moving on to the next location, I took a quick candid on Instax of Olivia walking downhill.

“I think my eyes were closed,” said Olivia. But I stuck to my self-imposed limitation of one photo per friend; no retakes. Her eyes are indeed closed, but you only see it if you look closely.

There were two of us taking photos of Olivia that day – me and my friend Li Ling who is a wonderful family photographer, but wanted to try her hand at dance photography. After the shoot, we went to a ramen place for dinner, and I asked Li Ling if I could take a picture of her. Like a lot of photographers, she doesn’t like being in photos, so it’s apt that she’s hiding behind her camera, incidentally also a Fuji.

During the Lunar New Year weekend, my Chinese friends took me to a karaoke bar. One of them – Muzi – had already featured in my project (albeit partly hidden by a pork-rib), but the other two had not: Irene, who was leaving Singapore and going back to Shanghai that very night, and Huiwen, who I meet several times a week but had somehow not yet taken a photo of.

At that point I had just one shot left, so I decided to set aside my one-pic-per-friend policy and take a group photo. Rules and constraints are all very well, but they are a means to an end, and ichi-go ichi-e, after all, is about cherishing the time we spend together. It was the last shot of the pack, and a last evening of togetherness before Irene left for China. Let’s not overthink this, I thought. What would Sen no Rikyū do?

When the film ran out, I loaded another cartridge – color film this time. One of the karaoke-bar staff offered to take a photo of us. The picture developed to collective oohs, we all signed it with a marker, and Irene had a nice little souvenir to take back home to China.

Isn’t Instax wonderful?

I enjoyed my ichi-go ichi-e project, and I got a lot out of it. Some nice photographs, a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of the Instax Square SQ1, and most importantly, some happy memories.

By limiting myself to one photo per friend, I found myself devoting more thought to how and where I want to portray them. Some were pre-planned – Li Ling is a photographer, so I wanted to show her holding a camera – while others were spur-of-the-moment decisions.

An Instax photo can be scanned or otherwise reproduced, but the original is unique; it has what Walter Benjamin called the aura of the authentic. Like the moment itself, the Instax image can never truly be repeated or replicated. For these and other reasons, Instax – more so than a digital or even a film photo – feels like an event. You take the photo, a blank white square is ejected, and there is the breathless wait to “see what came out.” The reactions become a part of the experience, and part of the memories too. “Oh no, my eyes are closed!” (Olivia) “What a photo, I look like an artist!” (Redwan) “We look so alive!” (Huiwen)

The Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu or “the way of tea”) has many different styles and philosophies. Sen no Rikyū, whom I mentioned earlier, is associated with wabi-cha, a school of chanoyu which emphasizes radical simplicity. Rikyū wrote, “All you need to know about chanoyu is this: boil the water, make the tea and drink it.” Using the Instax Square SQ1 is a bit like that: point the camera, press the shutter and make the picture.

And what kind of picture do you get? Most of the time, a good one – or at least, that has been my experience so far. Sometimes, the picture is out-of-focus or off-kilter. But if so, what of it? Memories are sometimes out-of-focus or off-kilter too.

The Instax Square SQ1 is a simple camera, but I am a simple photographer. By limiting our options, the camera sets us free. By getting out of the way, it lets us immerse ourselves in the moment. Olivia dancing down a grassy slope. Wu Chi nervously petting a Samoyed. Cooking with Redwan. Making new friends, and saying goodbye to old friends, hoping we’ll meet again soon. Moments pass, but some leave a mark. And when all is said and done, isn’t that what photography is about?

One time, one meeting. And if we are lucky, a picture to remember it by.

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In a video released to the Pentax Film Project’s YouTube channel, Product Planner Takeo Suzuki (TKO) goes into further details of the camera and offers insight into why these design choices were made.

They wanted to start their film camera project lineup with a camera that would be easy to use, affordable, and appeal to a younger generation of film photographers.

This all seems to align with what we’ve known for years now, regarding Pentax’s film camera plans and roadmap.

In 2022, Pentax and Ricoh released a video announcing their intention to create a range of brand new film cameras. In that video, Product Planner Takeo Suzuki said that Pentax’s plan was to start by developing a compact camera “affordable for young people,” followed by “a high end compact,” then an “SLR camera,” and finally a “fully mechanical SLR.”

Since then, public information on the project has been scarce, with only subtle hints and few official updates. Today’s announcement is the latest and most specific information that Pentax has yet released about what to expect from the first model in their new range of film cameras.

My Take on the New Pentax Film Camera

I’ve been positive about the news that Pentax would release a new film camera since I first heard about it a few years ago. I wrote my thoughts about it here, and they remain largely unchanged.

That a major camera manufacturer is jumping into film camera production post-2020 is a big deal for people who like film. The fact that they announced their intention to develop four new cameras is incredible, ensuring that eventually there will be a model type for every sort of photographer.

This first new camera doesn’t necessarily sound like my dream camera. But then again, this is all going according to plan, so far. Remember that Pentax said they’d make an affordable entry level camera for newcomers, and follow that up with the type of cameras I like best.

As far as a cheap half frame camera goes, they’re fine. Just not my favorite. It may be a slightly unfair comparison (in fact, it is, since I’ve not yet seen Pentax’s new camera myself) but I reviewed the Kodak / RETO Ektar H35, a compact and affordable half frame film point and shoot not long ago, and came away fairly unimpressed.

From the official Pentax info releases and conversations I’ve had elsewhere, I believe Pentax’s first new film camera will be quite a bit better than that (a better lens, more solid construction, not cheap and flimsy like the Kodak). I’m envisioning something more like an Olympus XA 2, except half frame. And that would be lovely indeed.

But just because, on paper, this first new film camera in Pentax’s Film Project may not be necessarily my dream camera, it’s still a new film camera from one of the most storied and respected bunch of people in the industry! This is huge news, super exciting, and I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with.

And I also look forward to a future of Pentax film cameras, after this first half frame camera has made them some money and confirmed their suspicion that the film market is strong enough to warrant the investment in R&D that more “serious” cameras will demand.

At the end of the day, I can’t wait to get my hands on whatever camera Pentax creates. Stay tuned for that.

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That’s exciting stuff, even if the camera’s price isn’t. At $600, the Polaroid I-2 costs $450 more than the brand’s “standard” camera, the Polaroid Now+.

When the I-2 released in the fall of 2023, Polaroid’s marketing team positioned the new camera as a high-end tool for discerning photographers who care about nothing more than making instant images of the highest possible quality.

Hey, I thought. That sounds like me!

But I have a long and checkered history with modern Polaroid cameras and film. Often, I’ve found the quality of both to be sub-optimal, frustratingly failing to live up to their potential and price. The result is that I’ve never been able to write a review or article in which I can wholeheartedly recommend buying and using Polaroid cameras and film, unless the reader is ready to waste at least some small quantity of their time and money. Especially when so many decent Fujifilm Instax cameras exist.

Ever the optimist, when the I-2 was unveiled I put a call in to my friends at B&H, requested they send me one, and quietly wondered if the newest, fanciest Polaroid would be another instant letdown.

I’ve spent the months since then shooting the Polaroid I-2, and I’ve ended my time with it quite surprised.

Polaroid I-2 Spec Sheet

• Lens: 98mm f/8 lens (approximate 35mm full frame equivalent = 38mm f/3.2)
• Focus: LiDAR autofocus; minimum focus distance 1.3 feet (0.4 meters)
• Exposure modes: Manual and auto exposure modes (aperture priority, shutter priority, full program)
• Metering: Center-weighted metering spot covering 60% of the center of the image area
• Shutter speeds: 1/250 second to 30 seconds
• Lens aperture: F/8 to F/64
• Flash: Built-in, with effective range 0 – 8.2 feet (0 – 2.5 meters)
• Flash modes: Auto, Off
• Viewfinder: Optical with LCD info display
• Battery: Internal lithium ion battery rechargeable via USB-C
• Additional Features: Exposure compensation controls; Multiple exposure setting; Self timer; External OLED info display; 2.5mm flash port; Tripod mount; Bluetooth enabled (app for remote control and settings)
• Dimensions: 5.9 x 4.7 x 3.6 inches (149.9 x 119.3 x 91.2 mm)
• Weight: 1.2 lb (563 grams)

Main Features of the Polaroid I-2

Polaroid spent four years developing the I-2. The result of that effort is that they legitimately produced the most advanced Polaroid film camera ever made. Just compare the spec sheet to any other Polaroid camera; the I-2’s major features are really impressive.

It’s capable of shooting in all of the shooting modes that we’d expect to find in a modern mirror-less camera. Aperture priority, shutter priority, full auto, and full manual are all present and accessible with the press of a button. This means, among other things, that the user is able to control depth of field and exposure times, something that very few instant cameras allow.

The metering system employs a center-weighted metering spot which covers the central 60% of the image area. Exposure times in automatic and semi-automatic shooting modes allow exposure compensation in 1/3 stop increments to +/- 2 EV.

The lens is not glass, but rather a three-piece unit comprised of polycarbonate and acrylic elements which have been coated for anti-glare. It has a 98mm focal length (equivalent to a wide-standard 38mm lens in 35mm full frame terms), which has been touted as the sharpest lens ever put into a Polaroid camera. I sort of believe it. The I-2’s lens is certainly the sharpest lens in a Polaroid camera, post-bankruptcy.

There is no manual focus mode, but auto-focus is achieved via a LiDAR system, which works as it should even in dim light. The system has just a single auto-focus point, in the center of the frame, however the camera allows for a half-press of the shutter button to lock focus and exposure. After which, we are able to recompose our shot for subjects that may not be positioned directly in the center of a photos (where the AF spot is). Focusing is quick and accurate, though a bit noisy. Focus distance is displayed in the viewfinder and OLED screen.

Polaroid I-2 Instant Camera (Black)

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First Impressions

The Polaroid I-2 is a well-made machine, and holding it in the hand leaves no room for doubt; it’s the best-made instant camera on the market today.

The chassis and body are made of aluminum alloy and impact-resistant plastic. The lens barrel is made of metal with a metal screw-in filter ring. The shutter release button is an anodized aluminum touch point with a red, satin sheen, a detail which hearkens back to the red shutter release button of the iconic Polaroid SX-70 SLR. The external info display is an OLED screen. The strap lugs are metal.

The body is shelled with a sort of matte satin plastic, yet it doesn’t feel like the plastic of entry-level Polaroid cameras. It feels tight, solid, and dense, and the numerous panels are fitted together with  precision.

The controls are responsive and intelligent. The multi-function dial which lives behind the lens spins into its detents nicely, with corresponding changes to settings appearing near-instantly in both the external OLED screen and the in-viewfinder LCD display. The exposure compensation dial clicks into its 1/3 stop detents with a similar feeling of quality.

The film door flips open with a release lever typical of Polaroid cameras, and it locks into place nicely. Inside we find the brass and plastic gearing and the steel film rollers that are responsible for film transport and chemical dispersion. They’re nice and solid, and in my time with the camera I’ve not had a jammed photo or improperly squeezed chemical pack, things that happen too often with other Polaroid cameras.

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The Polaroid I-2 in the Real World

The Polaroid I-2 uses either Polaroid I-type film or Polaroid 600 film, both of which are available everywhere cameras and film are sold (I often buy a pack alongside toothpaste at Target).

I-type film is less expensive (because it has no battery built in), but aside from this difference, I-type and 600 film are essentially the same (identical sensitivity, or ISO). The only advantage to using 600 film is that Polaroid often releases special editions of 600 series film which they do not release as I-type film. Round frames, black frames, multi-colored frames, duo-chrome film, etc.

It’s also possible to use Polaroid SX-70 film, however this film has a lower ISO compared with I-type and 600 series film, so users will need to adjust their exposures accordingly.

For me, I’m shooting I-type exclusively, because it costs less and works best. Except for when Polaroid entices me with something special in their 600 flavor.

What’s been really appealing about the I-2, is that I’ve found it can be whatever I want it to be. If I want a point-and-shoot Polaroid, it can do that. I set it to Auto and fire away. Whenever I used the camera in this way, it performed beautifully. Exposures were accurate, focus was accurate, and images were as high quality as any modern Polaroid images I’ve ever seen. In fact, they were higher quality, most likely a result of the camera’s lens and advanced systems (compared to other Polaroid cameras).

What sets the I-2 apart from other Polaroids, however, is the user’s ability to actually influence what’s going on in the camera.

In instances in which the subject was backlit, or when I wanted to blur the background, I was able to switch to aperture priority mode or use exposure compensation. If I wanted greater sharpness I could stop the aperture right down to f/64, and the camera handled selecting the correct shutter speed automatically. If I wanted motion blur to emphasize movement, I could switch to shutter priority and slow the shutter, knowing that the camera would select a smaller aperture to compensate. No other Polaroid camera does this.

Engaging in this type of photography successfully requires at least some degree of understanding of the photographic exposure triangle. Not a big deal, if you’re a camera nerd. But people new to this sort of thing will likely burn through a couple of packs of film before figuring things out. (After which, they won’t find a better Polaroid camera for making good pictures.)

Polaroid Color i-Type Instant Film (8 Exposures)

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The viewfinder is lovely. Crystal clear and absolutely massive, it’s been a real treat. Even as a wearer of glasses, it has been easy to frame and shoot, relying on the parallax frame-lines when shooting up close subjects. While this isn’t dead accurate, it’s good enough.

The in-viewfinder LCD display is a revelation which reminds me of the advanced SLRs of the 2000s. It shows all of the information we could possibly need to make a photo, without requiring the user to remove their eye from the finder.

It’s also reactive to our selected shooting mode. In aperture priority, it shows our selected aperture, the camera’s automatically selected shutter speed, and the exposure compensation value. In shutter priority, it shows the same information inverted. In full manual mode, it shows our selected settings, and a miraculous real-time readout which shows how close to a proper exposure our selected settings will get us. It also displays our battery life, number of exposures left in the loaded film pack, and other information for flash and focus distance, as is pertinent.

This wealth of in-viewfinder information is something that some of the greatest film cameras ever made sometimes fail to deliver. To have it here is simply excellent!

What I don’t Like

The battery is a built-in lithium ion rechargeable pack. Which is nice, because it lasts a long time between charges, and is easily chargeable without requiring me to buy more batteries.

However, the battery is inaccessible to the end user, so when it inevitably reaches the end of its life, it’s not possible for the user to simply open a door and replace the old, tired battery with a fresh, new one. This design choice has the potential to render our $600 camera useless in a few years’ time (unless Polaroid offers battery replacement service – and will that be free?)

And of course, there’s the camera’s high price. We get a lot for our money, yes, but there’s no denying that the I-2 is an expensive camera.

Consider that the next best Polaroid camera costs $450 less than the Polaroid I-2. Is the I-2 that much better than the Polaroid Now? Or an Instax camera, for that matter? Do the user controls and the nice lens justify the price?

For me, begrudgingly, it does. But I’m a freak, a camera nerd who lives and breathes these things.

For the average person who just wants to take fun, spontaneous instant photos, the cheaper Polaroid will do nicely and the Polaroid I-2 will be nothing more than overkill, a financial splurge. For more casual photographers, it’s probably not worth the price.

And how much film can I buy for $450?

Image Samples

Showing the range of exposure available with the I-2.

Image Quality, The Film Problem, and Final Thoughts

For the past fifteen-or-so years, the argument against Polaroid has been that their film produces images of low quality, especially compared to the Polaroid of days past. This reputation stems from the recent history of the company. The Polaroid of today is not the same Polaroid of the 1900s.

When the original Polaroid company went bankrupt in the early 2000s, the company’s assets were sold to fund the pensions of the former employees. Polaroid’s last remaining instant film factory was bought and resurrected by The Impossible Project, a small group of Polaroid die-hards who dreamed of keeping instant film alive.

They succeeded, eventually, even growing rich enough to finally acquire the Polaroid name and IP sometime around 2017. Polaroid, officially, was back. But for a long while, the quality of Impossible’s film, and then Polaroid Originals’ film, and finally, straight up Polaroid’s film, failed to live up to the high standard of the former Polaroid of Cambridge, Massachusetts in terms of image quality, sharpness, contrast, etc.

I suffered through these years, photographically, as did older photographers who fondly recollect the golden era of instant film and Polaroid, who clutch photo albums full of Polaroids from the 1980s and ’90s which look as fresh and punchy today as they did on the day they were shot.

And so, the complaints about new Polaroid have lingered, repeated ad nauseam by those of us who remember (accurately or not) “the good old days.”

So ubiquitous have these complaints been, and so internalized has been my disappointment with Polaroid film over the last decade plus, that I approached my time with the new I-2 expecting further disappointment. I expected to take pictures that were spongy and soft and washed out and under-exposed, some which didn’t develop at all, and others which developed with strange white streaks or weird tan blotches.

So sure was I that my review of this camera would have to include a sad, lengthy section bemoaning the fact that new Polaroid film just ain’t wha’d it yoosta be, that I reached out to my friend Ned Bunnell, former president of Pentax USA and lifelong Polaroid user, to collect some of his thoughts on the quality of the old film compared to the new.

He did me one better. He sent me a photo album.

It arrived loaded with original Polaroid photos from thirty, forty, maybe even fifty years ago. And the photos, true to the anecdotes of the olds, were vibrant, punchy, sharp, and beautiful these many decades later.

I stashed the photo album safely away, my secret weapon against the Polaroid I-2, and shot the camera for the next few months.

Imagine my surprise when some of the I-2 pictures (admittedly, not all) came out as sharp, as punchy, as contrasty and deep and rich as those which I saw in Ned’s album of original Polaroids.

Top row, left to right: Modern Polaroid photo made last year with a cheap camera from the 1980s, modern Polaroid photo made with the new Polaroid I-2 recently, modern Polaroid photo made with a 600 series camera four years ago. Bottom row: Ned’s classic Polaroid photos from decades ago.

Detail shot of modern Polaroid film made with the I-2 last week. Note the author, nonplussed, hating being photographed, suffering for science.

Could it be? Could it be that all we needed was a $600 camera?

I don’t think so. I think the answer is simpler than that. The truth is that Polaroid film has been steadily improving for years now, and I’m cautiously optimistic that the stuff (finally) works. It’s not totally, universally as good as it was, but these days, it’s pretty damn good. The I-2 certainly helps.

But even if new Polaroid film isn’t as good as the old stuff. Does that matter?

The counter-argument is this: The past doesn’t matter. It’s as true for the car you should never have sold as it is for the love to whom you should have confessed. And it’s true for Polaroids, too.

We can’t go back. Retrospection is pointless. All that matters is today.

And the Polaroid I-2 is the best Polaroid camera we can buy today.

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Introduced at Photokina (rest in peace) in 2004, the Epson R-D1 can claim several world-firsts. It was the world’s first digital mirror-less interchangeable lens camera. According to DPReview’s original article on the R-D1’s release, it was the world’s first rangefinder digital camera. It was also the world’s first digital camera to natively accept Leica M and L39/M39/LTM screw mount lenses, the latter through means of an adapter.

What is probably most surprising is that all these camera world firsts were achieved by Epson, a company known more for their printing, scanning, and projector products, rather than a company like Leica. Epson even beat Leica, the king of the “Messsucher” (or rangefinder for the non-german speakers like me), in delivering the first ever digital M mount rangefinder camera for the consumer market; the Leica M8 arrived a full two years after the R-D1, in 2006.

Because the Epson R-D1 was the first of its kind, it has the distinct privilege, at least in my book and another for that matter (Camera by Todd Gustavson, pg 347), of standing out in photographic history as a monument to beautiful, classic camera design while simultaneously stepping forward into the burgeoning bloom of the digital age. 

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Specifications of the Epson R-D1

• Camera Type: Rangefinder mirror-less camera
• Sensor: 6 megapixel APS-C CCD (23.7 x 15.6 mm); Max. resolution 3008 x 2000
• Lens Mount: Leica M
• ISO: 200, 400, 800, 1600
• LCD Screen: 2″ 235,000 dots
• Shutter: Max speed 1/2000 second
• Storage: SD card (2GB max)
• Dimensions: 142 x 89 x 40 mm
• Weight: 610 grams (1.37 lb)

Design

As far as outward appearance goes, if we clad the R-D1 in the legit street photographer livery of black electrical tape over all branding or labels, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a film camera. After all, the body design is based on the Voigtlander Bessa R platform. In fact, the R-D1 was developed in partnership with Cosina, the parent company of the modern Voigtlander brand. So, yes, the Epson feels very much like a film camera.

But once we take that imagined electrical tape off, turn the camera on, see the status dials energize to indicate important details like remaining shots and battery life, and flip that flippy screen around (not for live-view, but to review saved images and adjust menu settings), we realize that this is most definitely a machine with digital innards. 

The R-D1 sports a 6.1MP APS-C sized bayer-arrayed CCD sensor, the same sensor found in the Nikon D100. Its sensitivity tops out at ISO 1600. ISO is selected by lifting the collar of the shutter speed dial, just like many film cameras from the past.

Shutter speeds on the R-D1 range from 1 to 1/2000 second, with a bulb mode labeled “B.” Rotating the shutter speed dial to “AE” allows shooting in aperture priority, which is my favorite automatic exposure mode on any camera, and my preferred method of shooting.

Exposure compensation can be set to +2 to -2 EV with the shutter speed dial. There is also an AE lock button at the back of the camera where the photographer’s right thumb naturally falls. This button also locks exposure so we can be more precise with our metering, but I don’t find myself using it all that often, as I simply trust the center-weighted average meter for most of my shooting.

The camera can capture JPEG images in both normal and high quality settings, but it is also able to record in RAW. The .ERF files can be edited in post and still work in Lightroom to this day. All images are saved to an SD card, but the R-D1 will only accept SD cards that have a maximum capacity of 2GB. The R-D1X is an exception to this as that specific model allows the use of 32GB SD-HC cards.

The R-D1X also forgoes the flippy screen and offers only a fixed screen, making it more akin to a traditional digital Leica M or Fuji X-Pro 1 and/or X-Pro 2. Although I’ve never owned or used the R-D1X, I think I personally prefer the R-D1’s screen implementation because I can flip it away when not changing menu settings or reviewing images. And honestly, that is a good thing, because this screen is not an enjoyable viewing experience. It’s actually quite bad, but it’s hard to fault a 20 year old camera for having a low resolution LCD screen (a whopping 235K pixels to be exact).

There are actually two benefits that I see to closing the screen: 1.) closing the screen discourages chimping, and 2.) closing the screen reveals the awesome focal length equivalence table that is reminiscent of the ASA reminder or ISO selection wheel on the back of Leica M film bodies. For an APS-C crop factor table, it’s quite useful while not looking too out of place.

Even with the screen closed, it’s possible to easily adjust and understand our settings. The R-D1 has a cleverly designed interface that utilizes a lever near the user’s right thumb in conjunction with a jog dial on the top left hand side of the body where a film rewind knob would be on a traditional film camera. By using the lever to select either White Balance or Image Quality size, it’s possible to use the jog dial to make those adjustments without having to dive into the menu. Bravo, Epson! It’s these kinds of small yet intuitive details that impress me and make me grin.

The R-D1 is in my mind the perfect amalgamation of three important characteristics that make for an authentically analog experience for enthusiasts who wish to shoot digital: vintage mechanical precision, tactile handling, and digital workflow. 

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

Shop for your own Epson R-D1on eBay here!

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Vintage Mechanical Precision

The R-D1 feels like a proper camera. It is a “modern” image making tool that embraces a tried-and-true (if not very popular) focusing system which gives reliable results in the field.

To some, the rangefinder may seem like a vestige of a by-gone era, but its continued use in the current Leica M offerings, and even the Pixii camera, shows that there are some photophiles out there who appreciate a more mechanical approach and process to connect them to their photography. For people who have never used one, it may take some time to get used to rangefinder focusing. However, once practiced, this focusing methodology can become a very fun and engaging way of capturing photographs. In a world of phase detect autofocus, computational AI subject detection, and myriad tracking options for both animate and inanimate objects, the rangefinder can serve as a pleasant departure from such state of the art conveniences.

The viewfinder magnification of the R-D1 is notably nice. It uses a 1:1 magnification viewfinder, and although that is not unique in the world of 35mm film rangefinder cameras, it might be the only digital rangefinder camera to have one.

It’s often said by Leica shooters that the best way to use a rangefinder is to look with the right eye in the viewfinder and to keep the left eye open to look out into the world. But if the camera in question has a viewfinder with 0.85x or 0.72x magnification, like so many Leicas, doesn’t that confuse things? We’d be seeing the real world in a normal 1:1 magnification in one eye, and the same scene in a completely different magnification in the other (through the viewfinder).

Call me crazy, but I’m not a chameleon, and two different magnifications is hard for me to even think about without getting optically confused.

If you’re a “proper” right-eye dominant shooter, then the R-D1 will be an optically pleasant experience because both your eyes will be seeing the world in the same magnification! Just think, your rangefinder patch will be floating in the center of your real-life view of the world. It may not be the Apple Vision Pro level of augmented reality you were looking for, but a floating rangefinder patch is still pretty nifty if you ask me.

Just don’t ask me; I’m left-eye dominant.

In addition to the coupled rangefinder mechanism, the analog status dials on the top plate are another area where this camera oozes retro cool. For the watch enthusiasts out there, I think it is worth noting that the full company name of the Epson brand is the Seiko Epson Corporation. Yes, that’s correct. Seiko, as in the timepiece manufacturer. That’s probably why it is so satisfying to watch (no pun intended) the gauges snap to position. It’s like watching movements on a quality wristwatch. The dials actually remind me of those found on the Nikon 28ti and 35ti, which just so happen to be also designed by Seiko. 

There are, however, some parts of the R-D1 that might not feel as precise as, let’s say, a Leica.

There’s a tendency for the rangefinder patch to fall out of vertical alignment. My copy’s vertical alignment is slightly off, and I’ve lived with happily. But it’s not perfect.

Then there’s the manual frame-line selector switch. It doesn’t feel loose per se, but it doesn’t give me the same kind of clicked-in confidence as when mounting the same M-mount lenses on a Leica M body. Leica M cameras automatically snap to the appropriate frame-lines when different focal lengths are used, but with the Epson, we have to make sure we select the correct focal length for the right frame-lines to show up in the viewfinder. I can be forgetful every now and then, and have been known to leave the frame-line selector switch on 35mm when I actually had a 28mm mounted. I guess it’s not the camera’s fault, since I’m the one who forgot.

And lastly, the battery door can be a little fiddly. It does the job of housing the Fuji NP-80 style lithium ion battery, a battery that’s luckily still available from third party manufacturers on Amazon.

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

Get your own Epson R-D1 on eBay here!

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Tactile Handling

The R-D1 utilizes true and accurate film-era haptics and movements for user operations that don’t feel gimmicky. If you’ve ever used a 35mm film camera from the latter half of the 20th century, you’ll feel right at home with the stand out feature of this camera – the film advance lever, or rather, as it is more accurately labeled in the user manual, the “shutter charge lever.”

Indeed, if there was one feature to highlight about the R-D1 in this article, it is the shutter charge lever. Although it does not advance any film through a transport system, as this camera does not shoot film, it’s necessary to actuate this lever to cock the vertically traveling focal plane shutter for each exposure.

For me, this lever is what makes the camera so fun. In a word, it’s fantastic! I don’t think there’s another camera like it, and I don’t think there ever will be again. True, there are other options for cameras with digital sensors that incorporate shutter cocking mechanisms, but they are usually in the form of digital backs that are added to film bodies, making them larger and slightly more unwieldy, and not to mention significantly more rare and expensive.

Off the top of my head, the Leica R8/R9 with Leica DMR back and the Hasselblad 500 series with the CFV digital backs come to mind. But to my knowledge, the R-D1 was the only camera designed from the ground up with a manual shutter charge lever integral to the camera’s function and operation.

Let me put it this way: if you’ve ever shot a Leica M film body and craved that tactile experience but in a digital format, then I think the Epson R-D1 is as close as you’re going to get to that film-like shooting experience. At one point in my photography journey I purchased a used Leica M9 (with an updated non-corroded sensor) and it was a wonderful camera to use for the season that I owned it. And even though it had a wonderful full frame 18mp Kodak CCD sensor that produced beautiful files, I ended up selling it to get the R-D1 instead. I made that decision because I wanted that film feeling when shooting digital.

I admit that I haven’t used any of the other digital Leica M offerings, but in my hand the M9 felt, for lack of a better word, chunky. It just didn’t feel like a Leica M film body (I own an M4-P for reference). The M10-D looked pretty cool when it was announced, but to hear about the shutter lever just being a thumb rest was a major let down.

But I digress. Let me get back to the subject camera.

Smaller design details hearken back to the days of analog cameras. The jog dial, which I mentioned earlier, is able to be pulled up to a raised position for accessing secondary directional functions when reviewing images in a magnified view. It’s probably not something you’ll be using very often, but since this camera lacks a directional pad or any command dials, this small decision to have the jog dial work this way is really cool, without being cheesy. It’s something with which a film shooter would be familiar, too,  since this is a movement was commonly used for opening film backs. 

The main point I wanted to make here is that for photo geeks, like me, who really enjoy how a camera feels and operates in the hand, the R-D1 provides a truly unique analog experience in the digital realm. It authentically feels like a film camera.

And yet, in some ways, it feels better than a film camera.

Digital Workflow

As much as I love analog photography and using film cameras, there are times when I simply want to have a digital image immediately.

Sometimes, I just want to have the photograph right away, instant gratification and all, ready to be viewed, enjoyed, consumed, or shared with someone without having to wait for lab processing turnaround times or home development and scanning sessions. And after our fourth child, the dev and scan sessions have definitely decreased in our household. Also, I think my wallet would like me more if I shot just a little less film and a little more digital. Don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoy film photography. But since I am a casual photophile who wants that same analog experience yet with a digital workflow, the R-D1 scratches that itch.

I believe that there is a place in the market for vintage/retro inspired cameras. The recent release and sales success of the Nikon Zf is a testament to that. And over the years, I’ve been blessed to have been able to use some notable models that exuded that same aesthetic.

I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of owning a Fuji X-Pro 2, the aforementioned Leica M9, and even the Olympus Pen-F. Each of these models are all very wonderful and enjoyable cameras in their own right, but I don’t own any of them anymore. And I think this is why I hold the Epson in such high regard. As great as each of those cameras were, the R-D1 is in my opinion the only digital camera that gave me the most authentic feeling of shooting film without having to shoot film. And I think, for that one reason alone, it has remained in my stable.

Final Thoughts on the Epson R-D1

And this is perhaps where I should conclude my rather verbose sentiments on this singular camera.

The Epson R-D1 makes for a user experience unlike any other. For some photographers, the process and experience of capturing the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. The act of looking through a real optical viewfinder, composing within parallax-corrected frame-lines, triangulating the distance between the lens and subject, pressing the shutter release, and that ever-so-satisfying flick of the thumb to actuate the shutter charge lever for the next frame – it’s all these little things put together that bring me pleasure. And there’s no other camera that does it all quite like the Epson R-D1.

I think it’s the unique nature of the camera’s form and function that lend to its unicorn-like status. Current market value is somewhat reflective of this, with used prices now looking awfully close to the range of a monthly mortgage or rent payment. Thankfully, I was able to buy mine for a good deal from a domestic seller. Though I had to wait a long time for that good deal to come up.

But there really is no other camera like the Epson R-D1, and I don’t think there ever will be again. The R-D1 was born in a time when digital photography was becoming a real feasible alternative to film, and since many photographers of its time were familiar with the mechanical nature of tactile camera operations, I believe Epson made the right move in incorporating these familiar movements and interaction points into the design of the R-D1. It may not have been a commercial success, but it was the perfect camera for a niche community.

As a photo geek, husband, and father (a dad-tographer if you will), the Epson R-D1 is perhaps my quintessential casual photophile camera. For me, it is the camera that most connects me to the act of documenting the moments that will become my family’s memories.

Get your own Epson R-D1on eBay here!

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Shop for camera gear at our shop, F Stop Cameras

A classic camera shop specializing in cameras and lenses, film, collectible cameras, medium format, 35mm, and some digital. The retail side of Casual Photophile.

Our guest author articles are sent in by amazing photographers and writers all over the world. Today’s guest author is…

Nio Gomez is a husband and father of four hailing from the commonwealth of Virginia. His other occupations include audio/visual technician, bottle preparer, diaper changer, freelance DP, wedding photographer, and all around camera geek. But he is at heart a dadtographer.

More from Nio can be seen on Instagram.

If you’d like to contribute an article to Casual Photophile, please introduce yourself and send a pitch to contact@fstopcameras.com.

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The post A Digital Camera for People Who Love Film Cameras – Epson R-D1 Review appeared first on Casual Photophile.

A very kind and patient reader recently sent me both lenses, and I’ve spent time shooting them over the last couple of months. While both Nikkors are interesting, collectible, and well-performing lenses, the one which really impressed me has been the newer of the two, the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P. Though I no longer own an FM3a, I was able to use the 45mm on another interesting classic camera, the Nikon N2000. I also paired it via adapter to my Nikon Z series mirror-less digital, to delightful and surprising results.

The Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P has immediately joined my list of must-have favorite classic lenses.

Specifications of the Nikon Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 P

• Lens Mount: Nikon F Mount (AI-S and CPU contacts)
• Focal Length: 45mm full frame (approx. 67.5mm APSC)
• Aperture: Maximum aperture of f/2.8; Minimum aperture of f/22; 7 rounded blades
• Focus: Manual focus only; Minimum focus distance 45 centimeters (17 inches)
• Dimensions (Diameter x Height): 4.5 x 0.7 inches (114 x 18 mm)
• Weight: 4.2 oz (119 grams)

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

Brief History of the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P

In the early 2000s, Nikon embarked on an unexpected task: to create their last, great manual focus 35mm film SLR camera. Yoshiyuki Nakano served as development leader and Masaaki Tsukamoto lead mechanical design of the camera that would be called FM3a.

I’ve written in great detail about the FM3a in my review, but I’ll here quickly reiterate the importance of this amazing camera.

By 2001, auto-focus was the established norm and digital photography was being adopted en masse by pros and amateurs alike. That Nikon decided to develop and release one last truly high-quality manual focus 35mm film camera was special indeed. And it was during the development of this special camera that Nikon designers started to wonder if it would also be possible to make a new standard manual focus lens to match with the FM3a.

The FM3a, though it was the most advanced, reliable, and capable manual focus 35mm film SLR that Nikon had ever made, was also extremely compact and lightweight. Nikon knew that the accompanying lens must also be compact and light.

In the 1990s, Nikon optical designer Kouichi Ohshita had developed a super compact and lightweight lens for the Nikon Pronea S. To its designer’s chagrin, this lens never made it to production. However, given his expertise in designing such high performance compact lenses, Kouichi Ohshita was entrusted to design the optics for the proposed lens that would accompany the FM3a.

It was decided that the lens should be a 45mm lens, as an homage to the older GN Auto Nikkor 45mm f/2.8. Like that lens, the new lens would employ a similar optical design of four elements in three groups. This design would feature the classic Tessar formula: one convex element at the front, one concave element in the center, and a concave-convex doublet at the rear.

Tessar lenses have two weaknesses – great spherical aberration, and having an image plane that’s not as flat as Gauss lenses. Kouichi Ohshita developed two formulae in preliminary design and testing, one which prioritized flattening the image plane (which reduced contrast at maximum aperture), and another which prioritized sharpness at all apertures by reducing spherical aberration and coma. Ultimately, the latter was used, as it was believed that a standard lens should be consistent at all apertures.

Nikon had recently developed a new high-refractive-index glass, and this was used for the second convex element. The radius of curvature of the doublet was also increased, which flattened the image plane and corrected spherical aberration and coma.

Once the optical formula was decided upon, it was determined that the lens should be compact, sophisticated, versatile, and of exceptional quality. The barrel was made of metal, and a custom metal screw-in lens hood was designed (internally, Nikon designers called this the “barnacle hood”). A very close minimum focus distance of 45 cm (17 inches) was achieved, and the lens was fitted with CPU contacts so that EXIF data could be recorded when the lens was used with digital cameras.

Nikon FM3a Review - A Nearly Perfect SLR

I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect camera. Beyond the quirks of design that cause even the best of cameras to annoy, there’s personal preference to account. Some people like large cameras, some people small. Some shooters prefer SLRs, others are wrong. But despite this, there does exist a camera that’s closer to perfect than any I’ve used. It’s the Nikon FM3a. Before your eyes complete that roll and before your cursor drifts to the next site in your browser’s reading list (fannypackaficionado.com can wait a few more minutes), let me tell you why I’ve made such a […]

Using the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P Today

The obvious first impression of the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8 is that its designers achieved their goals.

The lens is supremely small and incredibly well-built. The gorgeous geometric knurling of its all-metal focusing ring is magnificent, and the focus dampening is simply luxurious. The aperture ring clicks beautifully into its detents, and the engraving and paintwork are all top shelf.

When fitted to a camera, the lens nearly disappears, creating a truly wonderful shooting experience in which taking a picture with a full-featured SLR is like using a compact camera. The zone-focusing scale makes it possible to set and forget our aperture, after which we need only point and shoot. Of course, for those interested in complete control, we have the usual aperture and focus rings, which control beautifully.

Some users with big hands might find the lens too small. My hands are average size, and I found the lens a joy to use.

When mounted to Nikon’s new mirror-less Z series cameras (or to other brands’ cameras, like the Sony A series) the camera loses some of its compactness by virtue of its requiring an adapter. That said, mounting this pancake to a mirror-less camera via adapter will be smaller than mounting almost any other classic manual focus lens to the same camera with the same adapter.

Image Quality

For me, the biggest surprise about this nearly 25-year-old lens has been that it performs like a lens designed yesterday. Though using it feels as though we’re using a classic lens from the 1970s, it makes images that are thoroughly modern.

Sharpness is exceptional. Contrast is strong, even at maximum aperture. Distortion is nearly non-existent. When close-focusing, the lens loses none of its capability.

When shooting wide open there is a slight loss of sharpness at the edges of the frame. Similarly there is minor light falloff at the corners of the image at maximum aperture, and contrast drops off similarly at this setting.

However, to be clear, these optical problems are so slight that they will never interfere with our final image. I’ve shot many of the sample photos in this review at wide open aperture. For the perfectionists, stop the lens down to f/4 and all of these problems virtually disappear.

When close focusing it’s possible to achieve some level of bokeh and subject isolation. However, the bokeh is in no way the star of the show. Subjects may be isolated nicely, but there’s no real way to achieve a totally blurred background. That’s not the purpose of this lens. Its purpose is to capture sharp, vital images.

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P Compared to Other Nikkors

The Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 pancake lens shares a lot of the qualities of the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P, and in some ways it’s a better lens. It has a faster aperture, produces nicer bokeh, and is less expensive to buy today. However, the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P is much smaller, feels as though it’s better built, and (in my experience) makes nicer photos.

Compared with the older GN Auto Nikkor 45mm f/2.8, upon which the newer lens is based, the original GN lens does have some minor advantage. The GN lens uses nine aperture blades and produces rounder, cleaner bokeh (most noticeable in highlight bokeh). It also has a more retro imaging character (i.e., it has worse image quality). Where the more modern Nikkor beats the older GN, however, is that the newer lens has a closer close-focusing distance, is significantly smaller and lighter, and offers AI and AIS compatibility and CPU contacts, where the older lens does not.

The big question is this: should we buy this somewhat uncommon and expensive lens?

The answer depends on what sort of camera we’re using.

For users who want a lens that can be used on a Nikon film camera and also adapted to mirror-less, this is a great choice. For users who only plan to shoot digitally, and specifically with a Nikon Z series camera, the choice isn’t so clear.

I recently reviewed the Z mount Nikkor 40mm, a thoroughly modern lens which shares many of the same design touch points as the older Nikkor. The new 40mm Z series lens is an auto-focus lens, it’s super compact, it makes images that are simply untouchable in their quality, and it’s even available as a limited edition which proudly features the old-style Nikkor lens barrel design. It’s my favorite standard lens in the system. For ease of use and performance on a mirror-less Nikon Z series camera, it’s better than the old 45mm and makes the old Nikkor redundant.

However, we can’t mount the Z mount 40mm lens onto a Nikon FM3a. For users seeking an ultra-compact 40-50mm Nikkor lens which can be used with a mirror-less digital camera and with a Nikon film camera, the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P is a great choice.

Final Thoughts

I knew that I’d like this lens before I ever used it. But it has still managed to surprise me. Most of those good feelings come from just how beautifully it performs, optically. Though the Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P looks, feels, and carries itself as if it were an ancient optic, a classic legacy lens from the heyday of 35mm film, it makes photos that are as impressive and sharp and punchy as a modern Nikkor, and its versatility (that of being able to mount to both Nikon film and digital cameras) is a big selling point, too.

Fitting the 45mm to my Nikon N2000, my Nikon Z5, and my on-loan Nikon Zf has been a truly wonderful experience. I never expected it, but this lens helped me make images that I’ll adore for the rest of my life. That’s something that very few lenses can do.

Buy the Nikon Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P on eBay #ad

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A classic camera shop specializing in cameras and lenses, film, collectible cameras, medium format, 35mm, and some digital. The retail side of Casual Photophile.

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[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The post Nikon Nikkor 45mm f/2.8P – a Classic Pancake Lens Review appeared first on Casual Photophile.

The answers in this article are informed by ten years of shooting a different camera every week, and writing articles about cameras and photography over the same period of time. Though I’m undeniably a dummy, I hope the answers, opinions, and advice included here will help, or advise, or (at the very least) entertain.

If you have a question you’d like answered the next time I do this, ask it in the comments section of this article. I’d like to do this sort of article every couple of weeks, but only if it’s something you all enjoy.

And let us know if you agree, disagree, or have a different perspective on any of the questions below!

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

Q1: What do you think about the retro styling of the Nikon ZF? – Daler Fergani

I’ve been shooting the Nikon ZF for the last few months, coincidentally, so a full review of that camera will be coming soon. The short answer is that the Nikon ZF is the second-most beautiful digital camera I’ve ever used, and the best looking camera in Nikon’s mirror-less lineup. I adore the camera’s extremely restrained splashes of color (blue paint on the dials), and I think the satin-sheen of its paint is absolutely perfect. It’s not matte or speckled like the more traditionally-styled Nikon Z5, Z6, Z7, Z8, and Z9, and not quite as glossy as the old Nikon film cameras.

I once said that the Nikon FM3a and FE2 are my favorite Nikon SLRs, which is still true. The ZF has all the looks of these amazing machines. Aesthetically? It’s perfect.

Q2: Any plans to cover 1990s Canon EF bodies? They’re the last best value in film photography. – cfurz

This question confused me a little bit, because we’ve written dozens of articles about Canon EF cameras and lenses, and I’ve even written articles advising new photographers to skip the Pentax K1000s and Canon AE1s and Nikon F3s, and instead opt for plastic-fantastic autofocus SLRs from the late ’90s and early 2000s. They’re just better, and Instagram user “cfurz” is right; Canon made some of the best.

But then again, it’s entirely possible that readers are having a hard time finding certain reviews on the site (I do think that Casual Photophile could use a bit of an overhaul soon).

Baby steps – I’ve started by adding a “By System” section to the website’s main menu, and will be organizing this to completion over the next week. By clicking on “By System” readers will be able to get to all of the reviews and articles about their preferred camera system with one simple click (i.e., Canon EF, Nikon F, Nikon Z, Leica M, etc.). I hope this helps!

Q3: Should I buy a Hasselblad X-Pan? – BaxMevill

Why buy the imposter when you could buy a FujiFilm TX-1? Fuji made the dang thing, after all. Skip the X-Pan and buy a TX-1 instead!

[See our review of the Hasselblad X Pan here!]

Q4: What is your go-to film camera? – charlieslrpics

My go-to camera changes depending on what I’m shooting. And this advise is useful for anyone who might have fallen into the trap of thinking that they need “this or that” trendy camera. I adore my limited edition Nikon SP 2005, but that camera cost me $4,500 and I’m not taking it to the beach. For that, I’m using a cheap SLR with a 50mm F/1.8 or F/1.7 prime lens.

But I suppose that doesn’t answer the question, which could be rephrased as “What camera do you grab for most often?” And by that metric, in normal shooting situations when I’m simply living my life and taking pictures of it, my go-to camera is a Minolta A7. That said, any similarly specced camera could take its place. The Nikon N65, Canon EOS Elan or Elan II; something like that, something that I know will just get the shot and get out of the way.

Q5: What’s your best advice for someone switching from analog to digital? – Catarinamilhais

I think the switch from analog photography to digital doesn’t need to be too complicated. Just sit down and determine the key factors – budget and needs. To start, figure out how much money you’re willing to spend, and then sort by price.

A few key points that I will mention, however – If you already have a set of lenses that can be used on digital cameras as well, start there. Pentax K mount users should look at Pentax DSLRs, Canon EF users should look at Canon DSLRs, Leica M users will want a Leica digital, and Nikon F mount users might want to look at Nikon’s DSLRs (although we’ve just heard that all Nikon DSLR production has ended, as they turn their full attention to the new Z series mirror-less cameras).

If you love the feel of analog cameras, try to find a digital camera which offers the same tactile experience. In this way, I like the Leica Q series, Nikon ZF or ZFc, Fujifilm’s many X series cameras, etc. Cameras like these offer the same sort of user experience as film cameras.

Laslty, don’t stress about buying a bad digital camera. None of the major manufacturers have made a bad digital camera in a long time. They’re all pretty amazing.

Q6: Is there any good reason to get a rangefinder camera if I already have a bunch of SLRs? – _soeik

Absolutely. But you needn’t spend a ton of money doing so. There are a number of inexpensive rangefinders that are truly wonderful cameras. I’ve written three or four articles listing them, in fact. See those here, here, and here.

Rangefinders, TLRs, SLRs, Polaroids, Instax cameras, medium format versus 35mm; all of these different types of camera offer entirely unique experiences and I think it’s useful, or important, or maybe even fun (remember fun?) to have new experiences. Some people say that rangefinders are better, or SLRs are better, or this brand is better than that brand. All of that is nonsense. No camera format is “better” than another. They’re just different.

Sometimes I use a rangefinder, sometimes I use an SLR. I wouldn’t want either format to disappear forever.

We are all seeking a feeling of natural comfort. Our friends are people we feel comfortable with. Our spouse is the person we feel most comfortable with. We read the authors for whom we feel kinship. We love the music we grew up with. We all want to feel at home. For some of us, SLRs feel right and for others, it’s a rangefinder. I encourage everyone to buy an inexpensive (but good quality) example of whatever type of camera they’ve never used, and give it a shot. That’s how this website began ten years ago, after all.

Five More Affordable Rangefinder Film Cameras

To help the cash strapped photo geek of today, we’ve compiled a new list of five additional rangefinders that still offer an excellent shooting experience on a shoestring budget. 

Q7: Did you ever think about doing a podcast? – martino.schillaci

I’ve spoken to some of the other writers about creating a podcast, and we’ve all been interested in the idea from time to time. But it’s a big time commitment and we’d really want to bring something unique to the listeners. For these reasons, we’ve just never launched into it. I love to talk about cameras, believe me. If any of our readers are podcast producers who want to volunteer to run the Casual Photophile podcast, do get in touch!

Q8: What’s the best camera that Nikon ever made? – lrarabian

Nikon’s best film camera (specs and features) is the Nikon F6. Easy!

Nikon’s best film camera (all things considered – rarity, aesthetics, collectibility, usability, cachet) is the Nikon SP 2005 Limited Edition. And I swear, I’m going to publish my review this week.

Nikon’s best digital camera is the Nikon Z9. No question. But for $5,500, it better be.

But Nikon has made so many amazing cameras. It’s absurd! Let me just point to a few of my personal favorites: the Nikonos underwater cameras, the Nikon FM3a, random Nikon point-and-shoots from the early 2000s, the Nikon Action Touch, the Nikon F2, the Nikon N2000… there’s just so many.

Q9: Picked up my first TLR, a Yashica, and would like to know hot to clean it myself. – lensarticulate

We have an in-depth article all about the best practices for cleaning, storing, and even repairing classic cameras. See that article here. The short answer is; Q-tips, isopropyl alcohol, mild cleaners, soft-bristled brushes, and a nice air blower. See the linked article for the step-by-steps, but it’s easy stuff.

Cleaning, Storing, and Repairing Your Classic Camera

Unlike the digital camera market, which is saturated with brand new products and the support network needed to fix them, film cameras can be rare and precious and expensive to fix. That’s why it’s important for all film photographers, from the most casual point-and-shoot lover to the dedicated hoarder of rare Leicas, to know how to look after and maintain their gear. Here are a few basic tips to help you understand how to store, clean, and fix (if need be) your beautiful, old camera. How to Clean a Camera Most of my gear has been obtained from secondhand shops, […]

Q10: What is the one vintage lens you would love to try or own at some point? – alexcosy

This is such a great question, because as we all know, the lens is the heart of the camera. Without beautiful glass, a camera body is nothing. And in today’s modern era, a time in which old lenses can be so easily adapted to modern mirror-less cameras, vintage and special lenses are more relevant than ever.

I’ve used a lot of lenses over the years. I’m a big fan of sharp, fast, interesting lenses which render with a special character. One of my all-time favorites is the Zeiss Planar 45mm F/2 for the Contax G series. I reviewed that lens here. But wait. I wasn’t asked about lenses that I’ve used, but rather about which I’d want to use.

If I had to choose one lens, it’s going to be the lens that comes fixed to an extremely specialized camera created by Zeiss in 1969. This camera, called the Zeiss Ikon Hologon Ultrawide, is nothing more than a simple camera body whose only purpose is to hold the Hologon Ultrawide 15mm F/8 lens that’s fixed to it. And that’s the lens I want to shoot.

I know that I can find this very lens (and similar versions from later years) in many different lens mounts. But I really want to shoot the one found in the original Hologon camera. They only made 1400 or so of those things and I’ve yet to convince myself that I should spend the big chunk of change that buying one requires. But who knows? Maybe this is the year.

Bonus Question: Favorite flavor of milkshake? – Sjeffgreenstein

Is coffee a milkshake?

The best part of running this site for the past decade (aside from the endless millions of dollars in revenue) has been connecting with photo geeks, helping people enjoy the hobby of photography more than they might without my site, and just being exposed to so many readers and photographers from all over the world.

When I’ve had the opportunity to interact with you all through social media or even at in-person events, it has been so energizing and lovely. The times that we’ve hosted Ask Me Anythings on social media have been similarly fun. Hopefully you all enjoy them as well.

I plan to continue running AMAs on Instagram and elsewhere, and sharing some of the fun questions and answers with you all here on the site in articles like this one. If that sounds interesting (or not) let me hear about it in the comments below.

F Stop Cameras

A classic camera shop specializing in cameras and lenses, film, collectible cameras, medium format, 35mm, and some digital. The retail side of Casual Photophile.

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