My First Film Camera | Nikon F100

The following content may contain affiliate links. When you make a purchase using these links, I receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go on a trip to Paris, France. While there, we made the trip to Normandy, France, for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Because this was such an important trip that needed to be documented, I thought it would be fun to incorporate film in addition to my digital camera. Until then, I had never shot film or owned a film camera because film photography always felt intimidating.

That was until I found the Nikon F100 camera.

My primary goal when conducting my research was to find an automatic film camera with aperture priority mode and autofocus. Because this would be my first time shooting film, I knew having these features on the camera would be imperative. At the time, I was shooting Nikon digital and realized that my current Nikon lenses would work with this camera body.

Once I discovered the Nikon F100 camera, I knew I was set!

Less than a week before leaving for the trip, I ordered my Nikon F100 from KEH Camera. I already owned a Nikon 50mm 1.8 at the time; for that reason, it would be a perfect combination! The camera and film arrived two days before the trip, so I didn’t have the opportunity to practice before heading to France due to the tight timeline. However, I knew the Nikon F100’s autofocus and priority modes would help bridge my learning gap.

While many of the photos are imperfect, they are still some of my favorite photos I have ever shot. Travel photos do not have to be flawless, but they do have to exist if you want to remember your trips. Today I am sharing images from my first rolls of film. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Maybe this will even inspire you to try your hand at something new!

I will always remember my first trip to Normandy and Paris, France, where I first shot film.

My Nikon F100 camera body helped document this trip in a beautiful way. I am also grateful for the autofocus and aperture priority features of the Nikon F100 because it allowed a film beginner such as myself to come home with timeless photos.

While I have since sold all my Nikon gear, I recently acquired a manual film camera, a Pentax K1000. I hope to share more posts on my film photography journey once I have more practice under my belt.

If You Are Looking To Get Into Film Photography, I Recommend the Following Cameras for Beginners:

• Canon AE-1
• Minolta SRT-101
• Nikon FE2
• Olympus OM 1
• Pentax K1000

Please let me know in the comments if you’ve ever shot film before and if you have any “best practices” for film beginners.