NIKONOS V underwater analogue camera.

[AZTinman]

Southern Nikonos still has parts and does service and repair work on Nikonos cameras. The owner has a huge amount of experience with Nikonos cameras and can answer any questions you might have.

-AZTinman

 

[Larry C]

Fuji Velvia 100 is excellent. I was buying it in 5 packs/36 roll. Developing slides has gotten pricey. It runs me about $23 a roll including high quality scans and shipping.

 

[JohnnyC]

Fuji Velvia 100 is excellent. I was buying it in 5 packs/36 roll. Developing slides has gotten pricey. It runs me about $23 a roll including high quality scans and shipping.

You've gotta get into developing at home! The initial investment isn't too bad. Chemicals will always cost money, but for the cost of a couple Paterson tanks, a few various free developing apps, and an aquarium heater you can do it at home in the kitchen for much less.

It's a little stressful, but it's super fulfilling when you pull your negatives or slides out of the tank to squeegee them and you see your photos firsthand.

 

[bvanant]

Developing B&W at home is not too bad. Developing color print film at home is a bit harder. Getting great color from E6 (slide) processing is a bit (actually more than a bit) more tricky still. More importantly in many parts of the country putting the used chemicals down the drain is illegal. In any case, good luck.
Digital has made life considerably simpler for most photography; and if you really want to get into pain then build a housing for a 4x5 camera and shoot large format
Bill

 

[JasmineNeedsGills]

A question for those still using their Nikonos cameras - what films for you find best? Though film is doing well, it's true there is less selection of films than there once was, especially higher end and specialist films, so I'd be interested to know what people are using. I shoot 35mm a lot on the surface and I've been sorely tempted by those gorgeous Nikonos cams.

 

[AZTinman]

My Nikonos cameras don't see as much use as I'd like, but I use Fuji Velvia 100 pushed at 200. I use Velvia 100 at normal speed if I'm using my housed Nikon 8008s with strobes.

-AZTinman

 

[JasmineNeedsGills]

My Nikonos cameras don't see as much use as I'd like, but I use Fuji Velvia 100 pushed at 200. I use Velvia 100 at normal speed if I'm using my housed Nikon 8008s with strobes.

-AZTinman

Interesting choice - do you find this is better than using a native fast film like Superia 400 or Kodak Portra 400 (or even 800)?

Oh, on that note, guess who found an old roll of Lomachrome Purple kicking around at the bottom of a photography kit bag the other day? ^_^ Save that for my Nikonos. Should be... interesting.

 

[AZTinman]

Interesting choice - do you find this is better than using a native fast film like Superia 400 or Kodak Portra 400 (or even 800)?

Oh, on that note, guess who found an old roll of Lomachrome Purple kicking around at the bottom of a photography kit bag the other day? ^_^ Save that for my Nikonos. Should be... interesting.

Superia 400 and Porta 400 are color negative films. Those films are probably okay, but I still prefer shooting slide film. Prior to going digital, I spent a lot of years shooting slide film when I worked for the National Park Service. Fuji Velvia became our go to film for wildlife photography when we realized color rendition was much better than Kodachrome.

We also liked the commercial 'dip processing' used with E-6 films like Velvia. Our lab used a roller developing system for Kodachrome development and damaged the emulsion on several rolls of Kodachrome. We lost a bunch irreplaceable photographs documenting the reintroduction of river otters in the Green/Yampa River systems in Dinosaur National Monument.

Nowadays, when I have opportunity to shoot underwater with my Nikonos cameras or housed Nikon 8008s, my development lab does HD digital scans of the slides.

-AZTinman

 

[m00dawg]

On the note of Velvia 100 - curious - for any medium speed film, slide or otherwise, under the water, one would surely need strobes?

I'm trying to find a Nikonos V for some fun and local freshwater dives, though I thought about taking it to blue water trips too. I normally use a GoPro but have gotten heavily back into film photography above water (I shoot from 35mm all the way up to 4x5 now) and having a means to take some still on silver, maybe in addition to my GoPro, would be really cool.

I looked for Nikonos V's about a year ago that already had been serviced for use underwater (some with warranties even) but alas trying to find them now have been more difficult :/ Curious if anyone has any suggestions there?

 

[AZTinman]

I don't use strobes with my Nikonos II and V cameras (yet). The cameras are used occasionally in shallow/clear water situations. I shot a few rolls of Velvia 100 during a trip to Guadalupe a couple of years ago. Velvia can be pushed at 200 and 400. I also experimented with a Silver Max B/W film in the Nikonos II during that trip.

Strobes are used with my housed Nikon N8008s.

My Nikonos cameras were serviced a while back by Southeast Nikonos in the Houston area.

-AZTinman