Old and New

Nikon L35AF, Fuji Reala

A sculpture in front of the new De Young Art Museum in Golden Gate Park. The tower of the new museum has been compared to the superstructure of an aircraft carrier.

--Warren

Morning Rituals

Nikon L35AF, Fuji Reala

A man does Tai Chi on a foggy summer morning at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park.

--Warren

Quiet and Overcast Day at the Coast

Nikon L35AF (P&S), Fuji Reala 100 accidentally pushed +2 stops

It was a typically cold and overcast day at the coast near Daly City. This little beach access area is situated on a cliff overlooking the beach and ocean.

--Warren

GG Park/Stow Lake Series with Nikon L35 AF

Nikon L35AF

The following three pictures were taken at the Golden Gate Park Stables. The facility has been closed since 2001, and is awaiting restoration. I try to come here every morning to practice my Tai Chi.





I don't understand how people can be so inconsiderate and simply leave garbage in the park like this.



The following pictures were taken on a cool winter morning at Stow Lake.



Red blossoms in winter? I wonder what kind of tree this is.



A nice stone bridge connecting Strawberry Hill (island) to the rest of the park.







Here's the familiar Golden Gate Pavilion. it's located on Strawberry Island. You'll see it up close in the following series of pictures. The pavilion is a friendship gift from San Franciso's sister city of Taipei, Taiwan.













Huntington Falls on Strawberry Island. You may recall a wonderful picture that Martin posted a while back that featured this falls.



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So, what do you all think? Not bad for a 22 year old, (supposedly) obsolete, point & shoot film camera, eh? :D

Actually, I think calling this camera a P&S is not really accurate. I think it's more accurately called a compact, automated 35mm, fixed lens camera. You can't really just "point and shoot" because you still need to understand how to set focus using the focusing brackets in the viewfinder, then recompose the shot while holding focus. This simple little technique is often overlooked by novice or casual shooters which usually results in out of focus pictures. When used correctly, this classic gem is capable of amazing results.

--Warren

Pikaichi!!! Another Classic Compact

Pikaichi means "Top Notch" in Japanese. Nikon had so much confidence in it, that they named the L35AF, Pikaichi, in the Japanese market version of its very first compact, AF, P&S. You may remember that I mentioned a dead Nikon L35AF that I got as part of a barter deal that included that incredible Olympus XA2. I was really hoping that the Nikon would be functional because I was very curious to see how it performed.

The L35 was introduced in 1983, and it became a huge success. The external design of the L35 was done by the famed Italian industrial designer, Giugiaro. Giorgetto Giugiaro was hired by Nikon in the early 80's to design their flagship professional slr, the Nikon F3. Subsequently, Giurgiaro had a hand in designing every significant Nikon slr (F3, F4, F5, F6, D1, D2, D200, etc.). Giugiaro was also named the car designer of the century in 1999. You'll recognize the names of some of the supercars that he designed: BMW M1, Lotus Esprit, De Tomaso Mangusta, De Lorean DMC-12, Ferrari 250GT, Maserati Bora, to name just a few. You can see the signature Nikon red stripe on the front of my L35.

After being tantalized by holding and examining the broken L35, I decided that I needed to find a working one so that I can judge for myself why this camera is so highly regarded. This is reportedly the ONLY Nikon compact that is of any interest to collectors. Well, I'm happy to report that I was lucky enough to find one on Ebay, and that I won the auction for the ridiculously low price of $1.75 (!!!). Yes, you read that right, $1.75! Not only that, the seller was local, so I went to pick it up directly from the seller and saved the trouble of packing and the shipping cost.

The L35 is not a shirt pocket camera, it might fit in a large coat pocket. Instead, it reminds me a lot of a slightly undersized rangefinder of classic proportions. Nikon chose a rugged, but slightly weighty design of plastic body over a metal chassis. This design is unheard of in a P&S camera, and Nikon discontinued this practice in subsequent versions. That broken L35 that I got must have been used and abused pretty badly. The L35 looks, feels, and handles like a "real" camera. Interestingly, the L35's appearance reminds me a lot of the Konica Hexar AF, which is something of a cult classic. The Hexar also had a fixed, 35mm (f2.0) lens (I wish I never sold mine).

Following are some significant features of the L35:

- Very accurate, IR active autofocus system
- Reverse Galilean Viewfinder with floating framelines
- Mechanical AF indicator in viewfinder for focus verification (no other P&S had this)
- Programmed auto exposure with +2 stop exposure compensation lever for backlit situations
- Fixed focal length, 5 element/4 groups, high quality, coated, 35mm f2.8 lens
- Motorized film advance
- Motorized film rewind that leaves the leader out
- Built-in, automatic, pop-up flash
- Outdoor fill flash capability
- Self timer
- Threaded lens for 46mm filters
- Manual ASA setting for ASA 64-1000 (late models like mine have this expanded range)
- Uses 2 AA alkaline batteries (commonly available)

So did I finally get a working L35AF? The answer is a resounding, YES! I will post a series from my first roll through his classic camera a little later. For now, here are my first two shots. Film used was Kodak SG400 color print film.

(Self Portrait) Frame #1, oops! It's not a good idea to use the flash directly in a mirror but it does make an interesting picture, no?



(Self Portrait) Frame #2, okay, this is more like it :). Please excuse the messy background :).



I hope you enjoyed this little classic camera review. My recommendation for the Nikon L35AF is the same as my recommendation for the Olympus XA2, if you see one at a yard sale or Craigslist, by all means, buy it and use it.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

--Warren