Nikon FM10 and Kodak Gold 200 35mm Film is an Inexpensive, Classic Combination

I purchased this Nikon FM10 on Ebay, along with the Nikkor 35-70mm zoom lens that proved to be fairly sharp and accurate in reading the exposure. Even though I purchased on Ebay from an individual, I was lucky to get a very nice, well maintained camera. Although there were a couple of lines from a magic marker scribbled on focus screen for some reason, it does not show up in photos. The Nikon FM10 takes two (2) LR144 batteries, which are easily available at most camera shops and online.

Unlike black and white film, I don't develop color c-41 process, but I am fortunate to have a lab within 30 minutes that develops color film for $5 per roll, and offers 72dpi scans for an additional $5. For this roll of Kodak Gold 200 35mm, I decided to forego the scans, and do those myself on my recently purchased Epson V600. I was very happy with the way all steps of the process turned out, from the framing, developing, scanning and final image, these turned out to be very nice images.

I really loved the nostalgic low contrast look this Kodak Gold 200 film gave me for this old fashioned drive-in restaurant in my hometown. The restaurant has an amazing assortment of Coca-Cola memorabilia, most of which looks to actually still work, yet has old look to them. This lent well to film photography, and I took advantage of that fact. The results were very usable images that are very appealing to the eye.

Camera Settings and Focal Lengths

The Nikkor 35-70mm lens works well for both general walk-around photography, as well as portrait work. Keep in mind, 35mm film cameras are the original full frame cameras, so the focal lengths I'm talking about are indeed 35mm equivalent. I used the wide angle end of the lens for most of these drive-in restaurant photos, typically around 1/125 from the parking lot, and down to 1/60 and f/3.5 when in the shadows under the canopy.

The Nikon FM10 worked great for these photos. As did the Kodak Gold 200, despite the cloudy day and dark covered patio area I was working with. While the light was overcast and not very exciting, I was lucky enough to get there after an event, with no one but the owner still there cleaning up. He was kind enough to allow me to wander around and shoot the photos.

Results

I was extremely happy with the results from this camera. The images are very nostalgic, I like the film's soft color cast from the overcast day, and I'm sure I'll be using at least one or a series of these images in an upcoming collection of film photos in a new self-published book coming in early 2022. I'll be keeping this camera, and using it for quite a few more photo adventures.