My Nikonos waterproof camera comes along for an early morning sunrise row on Munich’s Olympic lake. Join me for a few laps around the 2,000m long lake, passing by fellow rowers and some visiting ducks along the way. Here are my impressions.
About Munich’s Olympic Rowing lake
Munich’s Olympic Rowing lake, also known as the Olympiaregattaanlage Oberschleißheim, was built for the 1972 summer olympics. It is a purpose built Olympic level rowing lake about 15km north west of Munich (and 6km from the Olympic park), just outside the city limits. It is 2.23km long, 140m wide, and 3.5m deep, with a capacity of 8 lanes. It is home to a number of rowing clubs (I counted at least 30 boat halls the last time I was there) and is also actively used for canoe sprints, swimming, water polo, triathlons, and running events. Whilst I certainly sometimes get bored of the monotonous “2km up, 2km down” with not much to look at or navigate around (as opposed to rowing on a river), it has got to be one of the best rowing venues in the world.
Aerial shot of the Olympic Rowing lake (credits: regatta.bayern website).
About the camera
I picked up the Nikonos underwater 35mm film camera during the summer, and have enjoyed using it in some of the lakes near Munich. I’ve also used it “above water” and realised it is a great walk around camera, sporting a fantastic 35mm lens. It isn’t exactly stealthy given its bright orange colour, and it is also less than light coming in at a total weight of c. 700g (heavier than a Leica I think!), but I have grown to really enjoy it.
My Nikonos camera with the Olympic lake in the background.
About the photos
I’ve taken a camera out on a boat before (most notable a disposable film camera in Frankfurt, see post here), but never on an Olympic rowing lake. Honestly, I wasn’t sure there would be enough to photograph, let alone provide interesting commentary about: “oh look, there is another shot of water and trees”. At least with the rowing in Frankfurt I had shots of the city taken from the water level. At any rate, I figured taking the Nikonos out for a spin with some nice morning fog might achieve some good results.
Funnily enough (although not at the time), I wanted to make sure the camera's waterproof capabilities were not compromised when I took the last shot underwater that I opened the back up without re-winding the film (yes, that even happens to me sometimes!). After a quick scream and fast closing of the back I hoped I had not lost the entire roll (in actual fact not that many were compromised with light leaks, and I even got one with a pretty cool effect - see full gallery below). I was, however, pretty annoyed at myself, so I decided to shoot another roll the following day as a backup. The shots below are a mix of both days, where luckily the weather cooperated and was also very similar with some early morning fog.
All shots taken on my Nikonos film camera with a 35mm F2.5 lens on Kodak Portra 400 film.
About my top shots
I opted not to provide commentary on every shot as I would probably run out of interesting things to comment on, instead I’ve picked out my favourite shots below to provide a bit more detail on. The full gallery of final shots comes after these ‘top shots’.
I tried to take a shot under the rigger of the boat and frankly I nearly lost control of the oars and fell in. I like this shot for the bright colours and funky angle, and you can clearly see the rigger at the top of the frame.
It is always funny to me when you row past ducks who are sleeping.
I love everything about this shot, the lone rower, the fog, the emerging sunlight colours, and the reflections in the water.
It really is quite a structure! The 10,000 capacity stand is amazing to row by empty, I can’t imagine what it must be like when it is full.
I’m a sucker for a good reflection, and look at that water!
I love how I caught this quad just approaching the catch, as they glide through the morning fog.
This is actually a fully underwater shot of the end of one of the pontoons. I’m amazed at the clarity of the water and the final shot. You’d mistake it for an “out of the water” shot.
Certainly one of my favourite shots of the lot; I love both the angle and the colouring.
The full gallery of shots
Overall observations
I’m very happy with how these shots came out, not least because of the difficult shooting conditions: balancing sitting in a sculling boat and dealing with fog. I’m certain fog is a bit like snow, causing havoc to camera’s light meters. I could see this when I previewed the light meter reading and it would be off the charts when I pointed towards a foggy scene. Despite that, I think the shots came out really well, and I particularly like the ones that show clearly some “left over” fog on the water. It was harder to get good shots with stronger and larger blankets of fog in the scene.
I’m continuing to be greatly impressed with the Nikonos camera and its fantastic 35mm lens. I hope I have learned my mistake to not be so keen as to check its waterproof capacity and open up the back without rewinding the film! But apart from that I really enjoyed shooting it. For good measure, and despite it being waterproof (it doesn’t float and weighs a lot!), I still tied it to the boat with two shoe strings tied together in order for me to easily move it around when taking a shot.
I hope you enjoyed a small glimpse into what it feels like to go rowing at sunrise on one of the world’s premiere rowing venues!
More film fun coming soon…thanks for stopping by,
Neil
