Resuming my photography hobby!

So I recently decided to pick up photography again, after a hiatus of a few years. Photography was always something that was quite dear to me, after my father's aunt gifted me my first film camera back in the early 2000s, followed soon after by an 1970s Olympus OM10 SLR. My first DSLR was the Nikon D5300, which I got in 2014, though I used it exclusively with the kit lens (NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6) which was a decent starting point. Some of my favourite photos taken with that body & lens:

Then life happened and I didn't pick up the camera as much anymore. Recently my family moved to a house that is next to the sea and this re-inspired me to pick up the camera once more, though I didn't have the lenses I would have wanted, so I started searching. During my search I came across a new camera body that intrigued me: The Nikon Z FC. My D5300 was approaching 10 years in age, so I figured it was time for a replacement.

Like the D5300 it is a crop-sensor camera, although with 4 less megapixels (though I don't think this is critical on an APS-C sensor) and it uses the Z mount rather than the discontinued F mount.

It features a vintage design, with easy to access ISO and shutter-speed dials, made of metal. The offer I went for included both the kit lens (NIKKOR DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3) as well as a zoom lens (NIKKOR DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR). As I am also a fan of low-light landscape photography, I separately purchased the NIKKOR DX 24mm f/1.7 prime lens.

Few words on the kit lens - it has a "retro" look but this is ruined by its plastic build, which makes it feel pretty flimsy. It is an ok everyday street photography lens, but on account of its minimum f stop of 3.5 can be a bit hard to play with in lower light situations without decreasing shutter speed. Also on the bokeh side of things, you will get results which are ok, but nothing to write home about. Overall, a bit disappointing considering the fine build of the camera body.

Here's where my OM mount lenses from the OM10 come in! Having also picked up the Olympus OM Lens Mount to Nikon Z Camera Mount I was able to use my 70s lenses with the Z FC, giving both a retro feel as well as excellent pictures! The pictures below were taken with my Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Makinon MC macro 135mm f/2.8 OM-mount prime lenses. Beautiful colours, bokeh and definitely not bad for 50 year old glass:

My absolute favourite lenses to date are the Zuiko 50mm (my nifty fifty) and the 50-250mm zoom lenses. Check out my Flickr below for all my recent shots:

Accessories I love

Here're the accessories that I am currently using with my Z FC:

1. Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 tripod, 391RC2 tripod head & MBAG80N tripod carry bag
2. Manfrotto Pro Light Backloader M rucksack
3. Urth Olympus OM Lens Mount to Nikon Z Camera Mount (mentioned above)
4. Nikon HB-90A & HN-40 lens hoods
5. K&F Concept Nano D-Series ND Filter Set 62 mm ND8 + ND64 + ND1000 Filter Neutral Density Filter Set (Link)
6. Nissin Digital Speedlite Di466 flash gun
7. Anker 514 USB-C to Lightning photo transfer cable (yep, standard lightning cables do not work for this) (Link)