I picked up the Nikon EM at a yard sale for ten bucks a while back. The camera worked ok, but I didn't like the Tokina zoom lens it came with so I set the camera aside after shooting just a roll or two of film.
The Tokina zoom made nice enough images, but the f3.5 maximum aperture coupled with the zoom feature seemed to create a problem with the viewfinder's focusing spot; it tended to black out if the eye was not positioned just right. The problem was less noticeable when zoomed back to 35 or 50mm. That got me thinking that I would be better off with some kind of prime lens. So, I started looking around for a Series E Nikon lens that came standard on the EM. One turned up recently on the local Craigslist at a price of $30, so I met the seller in a McDonald's parking lot to get the Nikon prime.
The Nikon Series E 50mm 1.8 lens made the Nikon EM into a nicely compact and rather light-weight system. The images from the lens were unsurprisingly sharp and undistorted. I don't think the pictures are noticeably better than many of my other lenses on the Spotmatic or other cameras, including those with the older Tessar-type such as my Vito II or the Contessa. I did find that having a bright view in the finder and a clear focus did encourage exploring more subjects in depth.
It turned out the guy I met at McDonald's had brought along several other Nikon-mount lenses. The one that interested me was an Aetna Rokunar MC Auto f2.8 28mm for twenty bucks. Well, why not?
I found a few derogatory comments about the lens on line later, but the results I got from it seemed excellent to me, comparable to the Nikon prime. Also, the Rokunar gets me seamlessly close to macro with a minimum focal distance of less than a foot.
The meter on the EM reads a stop low, and some of the images show a small amount of shutter capping. The camera is not particularly friendly to diy repairs and I doubt I will try to correct the small defects. I like aperture-priority automation, though it would be nice to have the option to over-ride that at will. Over-all I can't complain about the camera's performance in view of what I have invested so far. I would like to try the lenses on another camera for the sake of comparison. I may have to hunt down an old Nikon F body. Darn.
The Nikon Series E 50mm 1.8 lens made the Nikon EM into a nicely compact and rather light-weight system. The images from the lens were unsurprisingly sharp and undistorted. I don't think the pictures are noticeably better than many of my other lenses on the Spotmatic or other cameras, including those with the older Tessar-type such as my Vito II or the Contessa. I did find that having a bright view in the finder and a clear focus did encourage exploring more subjects in depth.
It turned out the guy I met at McDonald's had brought along several other Nikon-mount lenses. The one that interested me was an Aetna Rokunar MC Auto f2.8 28mm for twenty bucks. Well, why not?
I found a few derogatory comments about the lens on line later, but the results I got from it seemed excellent to me, comparable to the Nikon prime. Also, the Rokunar gets me seamlessly close to macro with a minimum focal distance of less than a foot.
The meter on the EM reads a stop low, and some of the images show a small amount of shutter capping. The camera is not particularly friendly to diy repairs and I doubt I will try to correct the small defects. I like aperture-priority automation, though it would be nice to have the option to over-ride that at will. Over-all I can't complain about the camera's performance in view of what I have invested so far. I would like to try the lenses on another camera for the sake of comparison. I may have to hunt down an old Nikon F body. Darn.
New eyes on new gear
Reviewed by Unknown
on
November 30, 2017
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
November 30, 2017
Rating:
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