Jan 09, 2025

Nana, Pentax 17 and Rollei 35 AF film camera - from Kai's - a wedding photography POV - Part 1

Once again, we will be doing an honest review of three cameras, discussing the pros, the cons, and what to look out for. We were privilege to be able to collaborate with Kai - renown wedding photographer , and Georgia and Shannon to help model for the shoot. We used Kodak Portra 400 for all these photo shoot.

Kai Kin Tan -

For his digital work, film work.

Georgia Loy

Shannon De Fry

Loading Issues

First off, the Rollei 35AF presented a challenge during loading. Even if the film isn’t properly wound, the frame counter will still advance, which can be misleading. As a result, during this photoshoot, the Rollei 35AF film was not usable because it produced multiple exposures on a single frame.

Here’s an example—though I guess you could call it "art."

To overcome this, we recommend double checking the film advancement with the rewind knob motion from time to time to be sure, which is the "Golden Truth". This can happen despite tension on the film advance lever and changing shot counter.

Once this is sorted, things went smoothly.

We ended up reshooting with the talents, Georgia and Shannon, a few days later.

The "Golden Truth" of Film Loading

What is the "Golden Truth," you might ask? It's understanding whether your film is properly advancing. As you advance to the next frame, pay attention to the rewind knob. The rewind knob should make a half-turn with each advancement. If it doesn’t, your film isn’t advance correctly.

With the Nana camera, improper loading can cause the film door to bulge and the motor to struggle when pulling the film through. If this happens, you’ll need to reload. Watch this video to learn how to load your Nana camera properly.

Comparing Photos

Once the loading issues were resolved, we could focus on comparing the photos taken with all three cameras. On the first day, we mainly captured shots with the Nana camera and the Pentax 17. For this review, we’ve included photos from the second shoot for a more comprehensive comparison. Perhaps a "Nana vs. Pentax 17" blog can follow next time.