I have achieved photographic perfection.
Not with a photograph, of course – I hardly expect that happy accident to ever happen, and if it did I'm not sure that I'd be pleased. No, I accomplished it in a much more predictable way. I've completed a perfect camera outfit.
Last summer I bought a Nikon F5, which is a film camera that I've wanted for years. It's huge, heavy, eats eight AA batteries at a time, and can rip through a roll of film in under five seconds if I'm foolish enough to let it. Even compared to other film cameras in this digital age, it's excessive and impractical – but it has autofocus, works with all of my Nikon lenses, and is unspeakably awesome.
I quickly added a new-old-stock Nikon F5 shoulder strap to it; the metal buckles are stamped "JAPAN". I've also tricked it out with an MF-28 command back, which adds an intervalometer and has a larger rear LCD than the one on my first digital SLR. That's about as fancy as any pre-Y2K camera can get.
But what has me really excited is a new lens: I found an absurdly great deal on a new Nikon 50/1.4D. That basic lens design is from the late 70's, and this still-current model was last updated in the mid-90's, making it the perfect contemporary for the F5. It's a snappy focuser, small enough to make the camera less ridiculous, and the viewfinder even has a little window that lets me use the aperture ring on the lens to control the camera. Perfect.
Yes, I already own the new-and-improved 50mm f/1.4G lens, and use it on my D800. But being "better" isn't the point.
My creative process starts when I choose my medium and select the tools to work it with. The F5 and 50/1.4D combination gives me a really compelling way to use 35mm film that compliments my existing small-format film rangefinders and digital SLR – I can almost make it sound rational. But the bottom line is simple: it makes me want to go out and take photos, and to try to make them better than what I've done before. Really, nothing else matters.
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