On the Anniversary of 25 Years Behind a Nikon
Practically everyone, of a certain age at least, and photographer or not, knows that singer-songwriter Paul Simon belted out the praises of Kodachrome film and a Nikon camera way back in 1973. The combination of the two could make for some powerful photography, in the hands of a capable photographer.
While I’d used Kodachrome 64 film almost exclusively since early 1991, I didn’t have a Nikon camera. I’d first used my dad’s Pentax K1000 surreptitiously and without his permission, and then a similarly handling Vivitar V2000 of my own. The Vivitar used K-mount (Pentax) lenses, so in addition to my own gear, I was still able to use dad’s glass, which he was much more willing to “loan out” than his beloved camera.
Finally, in the late winter of 1995, in anticipation of my forthcoming graduation from college, my parents gifted me a Nikon FM2 SLR camera, along with an MD-12 motor drive and two Nikkor lenses. The motor drive was powered by a bank of 8 “AA” batteries; once connected to the camera with a lens, the combined assembly was heavy as a brick. But I didn’t care. At last, I had a Nikon camera.
On the 12th of March 1995, my first photograph with my new Nikon was a rather unremarkable shot of a CSX loaded coal train working upgrade at Oreton, Virginia, using trackage rights over Norfolk Southern. I committed to Kodachrome a run-of-the-mill three-quarters “wedge” shot, nothing special, nothing that would attract anyone’s attention outside of my insular group of railfan photographer friends. Nevertheless, I was shooting with a Nikon. And yes, when I depressed that shutter for the very first time, it felt like magic.
Just over twenty-five years later, I’m still a disciple of the Japanese camera maker and its products, switching to a digital D50 in 2005, upgrading to a D90 in 2009, and currently using a D7200. I’ve never even considered using any other imaging company’s equipment. To do so would feel like a betrayal of sorts, especially after those years of wanting and using that sleek, black, boxy FM2.
So, on the jubilee—and in celebration—of my receiving that first Nikon camera, here is that photo at Oreton, a South Carolina Public Service Authority unit train grinding its way to the top of the grade, twenty-five-odd years ago, captured forever on a single frame of Kodachrome 64. A sun-soaked March day, with winter seemingly far behind and spring literally just around the corner. What was, at the time, an ordinary coal train, one amongst countless others, a parade of dust and sound that couldn’t possibly ever end. I was finishing college and had my new Nikon to accompany my life ahead. Everything seemed possible, and all the world was “a sunny day, oh yeah.”
Eric Miller – Photograph and text Copyright 2021
“Kodachrome” written and performed by Paul Simon, copyright 1973, all rights reserved
Love Kodachrome. From 1975 through 2005 I was dedicated to KR-135-36. Thousands and thousands of images later, I photographed the railroads of my youth with both Kodachrome and my two Nikon FM-2’s (one with Kodak PX-135). Todays its a digital world however a enjoyable evening can be had pulling out a couple hundred Kodachrome images, putting them through the slide projector walking back into wonderful times gone by.
Nice shot! I’m sure you have many more you shit with that camera also, I started with a Minolta SR-1 still have it! Put it away with digital and never looked back but remember when my parents gave it to me.
Thank you, John!
Um, that was shot with that camera:-)
Haha, I suspected as much! 😉
That may be a fairly run of the mill “here comes the train” wedge shot, but the overall scene is quite attractive. You did a good job of getting the surroundings into the photo, and put the train in its environment. Well done.
My dad was a camera enthusiast of the first order-he had complete sets of Nikons and Contaxes. He started me out with a pair of Nikkormats in the late 70’s, and I’ve worked with a variety of them, as well as several types of Nikon, and now-blasphemy!!-Canons in the digital age. I went to Canon since my wife already had one, and we could share lenses. That happened when Dwayne’s quit processing Kodachrome in 2010, otherwise I’d still be using them. Yes, they were heavy, but that was part of the beauty of those things. They were sturdy, and stable. Anyone who has done any serious railfan photography has been in all kinds of “combat” situations. I’ve banged mine, used them in extreme cold(I used to live in upstate NY) and hot, left them under my front seat for months, even dropped them, and they still work.
I started out shooting prints, but as I got deeper into the hobby and photography, it became clear the currency in it was color slides, and I switched to Kodachrome, probably around 1981. It was my preferred film ever after, mostly K 64, but later on, K 200 once it came out. I’d still be shooting it if I could get it, and get it processed. From the vantage point of 35 years later, I look at a lot of the stuff I shot in the 80’s, and it looks as good today as the day I was trackside. And Paul Simon still sounds just as good now.
Thank you, Tom! Much obliged.