So, I finally got myself a proper analog camera. Yes, my plan for the 2025 wedding season is to include shooting on film as a little extra for my clients. After more than twenty years in the digital era, it’s clear that analog photography is timeless and has its own unmistakable charm.

At the same time, I also upgraded from the Fujifilm X-T3 to the X-T5. This was my first shoot with this digital camera as well. So, I strapped both of my new additions onto my camera straps – one on each side.

The Nikon F100 is a professional film SLR released in 1999, at the very end of the film era. At first glance, you wouldn’t even notice it’s a film camera, because it looks just like Nikon’s digital SLRs. The controls are practically the same, and metering and focusing are automatic. Since I first started on the Nikon almost ten years ago, we quickly became good friends.

I had been postponing getting the X-T5 for a long time (skipping the T4 entirely) because I never felt that my two T3s were limiting me in any way. And I still believe that. I finally got the T5 mainly because the T3 is getting a bit old (released in 2018) and I was curious to see what improvements the T5 brought. Plus, after selling one of my two T3s and an unused T2 at home, it wasn’t as big an investment as it might seem.

But I want the focus of this post to be on the photos, not the text. So, let’s get to them. I loaded Kodak Gold 200 into the Nikon, and on the T5 I shot JPEG + RAW. The JPEG simulation was Kodak Ultramax 400, using a recipe from the Fuji X Weekly website. I edited the RAW files with my preset, which I’ve been using almost unchanged on all of my work over the past 2–3 years.

The results really surprised me…

On some shots, it’s almost unbelievable how closely the JPEG film simulation resembles actual film. Interestingly, I chose the Kodak Ultramax simulation on the T3 almost by chance – I set it in the camera one evening after reading on Fuji X Weekly that it’s the most versatile simulation for indoor shooting.

After developing the film and placing the photos side by side, I was surprised at how similar some of the shots looked. It was only then that I realized the Kodak Ultramax 400 simulation is actually very close to the Kodak Gold 200 film I had in my analog camera. There are some minor differences in color between Gold and Ultramax, but the main distinction comes down to ISO values – 200 vs. 400.

In my opinion, the biggest difference between film and digital shots isn’t really film versus digital – it’s much more about the lens. The Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4 R easily outperforms the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D. Of course, this is reflected in the price – the Fujinon costs about three times as much. But even considering how affordable the Nikkor is, the results are still very nice. I think in the future I’ll pair the Nikon F100 with something better – this camera body definitely deserves it.

Here’s a gallery of more photos for you – a mix of film and digital shots.

And finally, all the film shots

Here you can check out the entire developed roll of film. I’m happy to report that every single frame turned out perfectly. No wonder – shooting with the Nikon F100 practically takes care of itself!

Any questions? Feel free to write to me!