Vintage Nikon D3 captured through the lens of another Nikon D3. The first D3 is fitted with a Carl Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/2 macro lens, the second with a Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8.

As explained in this blogpost a vintage Nikon D3 got me interested in photography back in 2023, after I had done archival work documenting the vintage tubes that match Japanese tube amplifier.

In that piece, I described my shift from Pentax to Nikon. While the D3, launched in 2007, is a relic, it remains a top-tier camera, and it offers an unorthodox but cheap entry point into full-frame photography in 2026.

One of the first photos to turn out well was of a sea urchin shell that my mother bought in Løkken, one of the northernmost coastal towns in Denmark, while we were on holiday nearby in 2023. The shell now belongs to my nephew. The photo kick-started a series I titled Objects for an Ideal Home, partly inspired by a Thomas Knak album from 1999, which may in turn have been inspired by the exhibition 'Objects for the Ideal Home: The Legacy of Pop Art', held at the Serpentine Gallery in London from 11 September to 20 October 1991.

As for future lenses for the D3, an Otus 55mm f/1.4 has been the dream for a couple of years.

Also see:
Technology for a More Civilised Age / The History of NetLock BBS.
Sea Urchin Shell / Objects for an Ideal Home #1.