Above: Nikon D4, Nikon Df, and Nikon L35AF
The other day I was thinking about toys, and how little kids from every walk of life love and cherish them. When we first moved to this country, I’d just started Kindergarten and was so proud to participate in show-and-tell with my little racecar and the tiny comic book that came with the He-Man figures. Both probably gotten at the flea market.
At the comic/anime shop over the weekend I see rows upon rows of toys and collectibles, many of which I had back in the day. Now long gone given to nieces and nephews. Would it be nice to have them in the background for talking videos for internet street cred? Sure would, but again, a Jedi craves not these things. Cameras and lenses though, that’s pretty much been a passion for so long now. While other hobbies and interests (like videogames) has waned over the decades for me, photography lenses and cameras have pretty much stayed the course and in many ways gotten way out of hand. Partly because I do use them to pay the bills, and of course document the people and times in my life and community. Those faces and experiences and moments are definitely more valuable than any dollar amount you can put on a piece of gear or tool.
For this post I thought it would be cool to show and tell about the Nikon cameras that I have that the famous Italian designer Giugiaro and his company has designed. I knew Giugiaro and Italdesign had created some of the world’s most iconic car designs (the DeLorean!), but I went down the internet rabbit hole the other day and saw that he also designed: macaroni(?!), furniture, Bishop’s Seiko watch in the classic Aliens, and the cameras pictured below:
Above: a really beat up used Nikon D4 that I recently bought. I’ve used it to cover several events around town. Sadly this camera is out for repair right now.
I’d known the Nikon/Giugiaro partnership began way back in the day with the F3 (which I don’t own) and that the design language and ergonomics trickled down to many of the other cameras in Nikon’s product lines over the years. Which has been quite the lineup going back 40+ years, from the film era, to the DSLR era, to now the mirrorless era. Even if these cameras stop working one day, I’d still appreciate the design and sheer genius that it took to model and sculpt the proper angle of wheels on the back and button placement that you just don’t see in other cameras–even if those other cameras belong to the more popular manufacturers from Japan.
Above: Nikon L35AF that I found ages ago in a thrift store for a song. Ran a few rolls through it, but it needs some serious taping to get the battery latch to hold the batteries in. This camera’s lens is really sharp!
Like action figures and dolls, photographers can attach sentimental value to camera gear as well. Some camera combos we gel with better than others and it becomes a great teacher as it accompanies our adventures in life. The Df in the middle looks old, but relatively new in the digital age, and is in my opinion one of the top 3 cameras that Nikon has ever made. Sure it was polarizing for many internet experts back in the day, but I think it might be the best modern photojournalist camera out there. It has strap lugs in the front like back in the day, so the camera can rest on your stomach for probably the fastest quick draw out there. With a 28mm manual lens set to f/8 and auto ISO, it takes the camera out of the equation in a way so you can focus on the scene and moment. Seems like the things that inevitably become collectable and valuable are the things folks never bought or saw the unique ability of at the time of release.
It would be cool in the future to have the whole lineup of “official” Giugiaro designed Nikons (I think even the lowly EM I have is one, since it such a pretty camera). Placed in a timeline, it really would be a design and art student’s delight, as the cameras parallel things like the VCR’s and automobiles from the era as well.
