Beneath the stains of time, The feelings disappear

At least I had better dress sense, even if I didn't have better camera senseAnd now with much shame and anger at my younger self I present the next camera in the epic story that is my list of dumb camera choices. Much like today where you see people running around demanding cameras with the most megapixels, trolls on YouTube arguing about the relative amount of jello-vision of a 60D versus a 550D and  ranting sales and marketing vipers mouthing off how you cannot possible shoot a decent video unless you use a RED EPIC, I decided that the Yashica was NOT a real camera, and that the only way I was going to be any good was if I owned a camera that had the word Nikon on it. But therein lies the problem,  having bought me my SLR camera, my parents had satisfied themselves that they had done their part and so were no longer interested in paying for my 'upgrade' so I had to save, and save, and save. Of course the problem is, the technology boom of today resulted in people being able to buy a DSLR that can shoot at a quality that is not only far superior to their actually need, but probably superior to many professionals needs as well. But back in the late 80's early 90's Nikons weren't cheap, in fact by today's standards the cameras I was looking at (the mid range) cost as much  $5,000 to $10,000 in todays dollars. Money I did not have. And so I settled for the only Nikon I could afford a second hand EM, barely even looking at the actual specs of the camera other than to make sure it had the word Nikon plastered in as many places as possible, and making sure that I also bought the matching Nikon neck strap. On the upside it had a motorwinder, which meant that not only was I the owner of a 'professional' camera but when I took a photo it 'SOUNDED' professional to boot.

My Nikon EM - sans motor winder, shot with my newly repaired Voigtlander 35mm f1.2It didn't take me long to discover that there was a reason why this particular Nikon was the cheapest available, in what can only be a marketing move, the EM does not have the ability to set the shutter speed, that's right, you can buy a Nikon SLR that you CANNOT dial in a shutter speed. In a move that was, I'm sure, aimed at stupid, dumb brand conscious pricks like my young self who only looked at the word Nikon and no further, the FS has a form of bastardised aperture priority, you set the aperture and hope the shutter speed is in the range that you need to get the shot. Coming from my Yashica which, with its manual only approach, this lack of control was stunningly painful. A sad example of getting what you thought you wanted, only to find, what you originally had was much better! Oh and the motorwinder, lets forget for the moment that as I was paying for all the film and processing out of my pocket  and thus not really in the position to burn of multiple frames in quick succession (I would often forgo buying my favorite film, Ektar, due to it costing more than the lowly Ilford), the motorwinder was all well and good whilst shooting, but it didn't exactly allow you to shoot unnoticed, the sound of my Nikon with motowinder shooting I believe was actually responsible for several broken windows, a car crash and the LA Earthquake, to say this thing is loud is an understatement of epic proportions, the equivalent of stating that Justin Bieber is the most annoying and dangerous toxin our planet as we know it has ever had to face!

Did it work, yes, did I enjoy shooting with it, no. Using it was the equivalent of going to a stripclub and standing with your back to the stage, all the elements were there but it just wasn't satisfying. Suffice to say I didn't keep it very long.