The 50's Mirrorless - Nikon In The Age Of Metal

Walk round with me as we inspect the Nikon mirror-less camera...of the 1950's. Do not be afraid to touch it - it won't bite. But be careful of the edges because they are metal and sharp - cameras had edges then... No need to worry about a screen protector. Also note the absence of D-pad, joystick, or quick function buttons. On this Nikon the only joy you get, or need, are provided by the rapid thumb wind and rapid rewind crank. Everything else is slow and sure. Step into the office. Let me introduce your co-workers. Left to right; synchro dial, rapid rewind crank, cold/hot shoe, shutter speed dial, shutter lock, shutter button, rapid wind crank, and exposure counter. These are not plastic players - they are all metal. Hello. My name is Nikkor 5cm and I'll be your lens today. If there is anything you'd like to take in dim light, please turn me to f:2. I bayonet in and out and latch with the small metal lever behind me on the mount. Please adjust myfocus using the finger wheel in front of the shutter button. Thank you. Back in the office, note the red dot on the top of the shutter button. This revolves as the shutter is being wound to tell you that the operation is going forward. The large ring around the button is a lock for time exposures, security, and releasing the clutch inside for the rewinding. Those of you who have driven automatic cars for decades are going to have to learn the clutch again... The addition of a cable release needs a special Nikon adapter that screws into this. The resetting of the film exposure counter is totally manual - in keeping with the rest of the camera. The cold/hot shoe warms up to be a synchronizing connection when the special Nikon flash gun is slid on. It is a positive lock device. But you do not get away flashing so easily...there must be a correct decision made about the timing delay of the synchronizer to allow the shutter to be open when the flash bulb burns. There may be some trial and error needed but consult the packet the bulbs are packed in. Do not keep the bulbs loose in your jacket pocket... You may also flash with an electronic strobe at X. Even the underside of the camera body is used - the latch to let you remove the back will not fall open of its own accord - it is securely fastened. And if you are forgetful and cannot remember whether your film is ASA 25 or 200, the reminder dial on the bottom will help you. Do not think of films above 200 ASA - that's just crazy talk... And finally, here is the camera open for your film. Some people worry that you will lose the bottom while you are loading, but you can avoid this by using a 36 exposure film and then you only need to load it once a day - and this can be done in the safety of your tent. No need to charge batteries with this camera, nor worry about whether the auto-focus has picked up a moving object. It is capable of as many frames a second as your right thumb is. The buffer fills at 36. You can shoot at 128,000 ISO, and the results on FP4 will be identical to shooting on ISO 64,000 on the same film. There is no WiFi but you can get your images from the chemist at the end of the week. With proper processing the results should be readable for the next century. Camera courtesy of Duncan Dodd, who remembers how to operate it.