My Favourite 35 mm Night Photography Kit

Now that digital photography appears poised to replace film completely, I would like on this page to pay tribute to the 35mm equipment that has meant most to me over the last 25 years or so.   I would like to thank Nikon, Olympus and Pentax for their excellent film cameras and lenses.

 

35mm Cameras    

   

Pentax ME Super

My first serious SLR.   Very well made and pleasingly compact if like me you have small fingers.   The design was very elegant and satisfying, a timely reminder that electronic cameras and good ergonomics should not be enemies as they appear to be these days.   The shutter was electronic but "B" was mechanical allowing long exposures without battery drain.  A real Classic camera.   I still own my original model but it is a little tired now after a lot of use over the years.

 

Pentax K1000

My second body since the early 80s.   Aperture ring, shutter speed dial and focus - that's it, none of the electronic "assistance"  we photographers are not supposed to be able to live without!   Just pure photography.  Robust, mechanical, and totally reliable at night.  Sadly my original Japanese version was lost when I lent it.  Subsequently in the 90's I heard that Pentax were going to close their last (Chinese) K1000 production line so at that point I bought myself a new body as fast as I could.   In my opinion you can't get a better night photography camera.
 

Nikon FM2T

Based on the famous Nikon FM2n (which I also strongly recommend for night photography).   This Nikon has gorgeous retro styling and robust metal construction.   Totally mechanical shutter giving excellent reliability.   I have a nasty feeling that the whole FM2 family will become very collectable and expensive, so if you want to buy a clean second-hand body I wouldn't wait too long.

Nikkor lenses are amongst the best ever produced.
 
 Olympus OM-2 Spot Program

Very compact and sophisticated SLR with mechanical "B" setting.   I didn't find the spot meter too useful at night but very practical in daytime.   Apart from compact, strong engineering the main benefit of the Olympus 35mm cameras were the brilliant Zuiko lenses.   These were  always impressively sharp and well built.  

 

 

35mm Camera Lenses    
 

My first quality 28mm lens, bought originally around 1981.   Very compact and incredibly sharp at f5.6.   I stupidly sold this lens in the early 1990s, but happily I managed to buy a pristine example 2nd hand recently.
 

 

Nikon 28mm F2 AIS Nikkor

A superb night photographer's lens.   Fast and well balanced, with quality metal construction, this was a great favourite of mine for years.   Regrettably my own example of this lens was never as sharp again after being serviced.   I felt the only options were either to send the lens back to Nikon in Japan for recollimation, or for me to cut my losses and buy a new lens.   In the end I bought the Nikon 28mm F1.4 D AF which has been my most used piece of kit since the mid-1990's.
   

Nikon 28mm F1.4 D AF Nikkor

A classic but regrettably discontinued optical masterpiece. Nikon took 10 years designing this unique lens which offered Noct-Nikkor performance in a wide-angle focal length.    The 28mm dealt with sagittal coma flare (the bane of fast wide-angle lenses) by incorporating a hand made element which explained the high price tag. This 28mm is quite easily the best night photography kit I have ever used, it is particularly brilliant at showing stars in landscape photographs. 

A true optical legend.
   

Incredibly wide lens with no trace of fisheye distortion (which I detest).   Quite difficult to find suitable subjects for the 15mm but when you need it you really need it.   Sharp but prone to flare.