What camera(s) are you using this weekend?

Weekend gear at the ready- Minolta XE with Sigma 24mm f 2.8 loaded with cold stored Panatomic-X. Also taking out the Olympus 35RC with Rolleipan 25. For more versatility under lower light I've got a roll of HP5+ in my Rollei 35.

What do you think of the Sigma 24?

I'm trying to exercise some shelf queens and this weekend it's the turn of the rather lovely Neoca SV with the rare 45mm Zunow f/2.8 lens. I'd love to own the version with the Zunow f/1.8 lens, but many collectors with far fatter wallets than mine have the same desire... I'll post a few results in the current Weekly thread.

 

Neoca SV

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Nice, and a beautiful photograph.

Russ-Suzanne said:

What do you think of the Sigma 24?

I am happy with it. Sharp even wide open. I don't have the hood so sometimes I do get some flare. I like the close focus of 1:4. Got mine from KEH a few years back. The Tamron Adaptall 24mm f 2.5 is also a nice little wide angle. Both are better than my Vivitar 24mm f 2.8 (which isn't bad).

Compact trio with Minolta XE- Sigma 24mm f 2.8 and 90mm f 2.8 macro. 45mm f 2 MD Rokkor-X attached to camera

stuart_pratt said

Nice, and a beautiful photograph.

Thanks, Stuart. The Neoca SV is certainly a pretty camera.

Russ-Suzanne said:

 

I am happy with it. Sharp even wide open. I don't have the hood so sometimes I do get some flare. I like the close focus of 1:4. Got mine from KEH a few years back. The Tamron Adaptall 24mm f 2.5 is also a nice little wide angle. Both are better than my Vivitar 24mm f 2.8 (which isn't bad).

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Compact trio with Minolta XE- Sigma 24mm f 2.8 and 90mm f 2.8 macro. 45mm f 2 MD Rokkor-X attached to camera

I still have my Minolta XE-5. Not sure if that's the equivalent of the XE or if the XE-7 was. Nice camera though. I traded in my SR-T-101 for the XE-5 back in the early 80s. Still have a few lenses, a couple of celtics a Rokker or two. I loved the electromagnetic shutter. I think the XE is prettier than mine since it has that black plastic pentaprism cover. It's sitting in a box now.

The XE-5 is a slightly simplified version of the XE-7 and of course less expensive when new. When my family had a camera shop we stocked both. The XE-5 gives up the multiple exposure switch and the safe load signal.

I have the Tamron 17mm f 3.5 and find it a very capable lens. I don't use it that much since it's rare that I need such a wide angle.

Yes that's right and I was on a budget when I bought the XE-5. For Minolta, the 3's tended to be consumer "happy snappers" where the 5's were more serious amateurs and the 7s were more serious amateurs. The 9s tended to be aimed a bit more at professionals. Sometimes there was a 6 (such as my 600si) which had some special feature (like in the case of the 600si, the control layouts). I still have the dealer binders somewhere that have all the products described in high levels of detail. I had all kinds of Minolta cameras including a couple of XKs, but they were TOO heavy. I thought the XEs were a lot more elegant (and the XDs too). I note that Sony has continued this naming scheme somewhat (my Nex-7 for instance).

I kept my somewhat low end XE-5 outfit mostly from sentimentality and because there wasn't someone in the family to donate it to. Now with the ability to adapt lenses on mirrorless cameras, all those old lenses (including Minolta's) have suddenly risen in value. I have several Celtic lenses (which were also Minolta's "cheaper" lens line). But they worked!

My XE-5 looks well-used on the exterior, but it is still very capable. I did own an XK for a while but sold it to buy other gear. I wish Minolta had taken the XK shutter and put it in the XE body back then. They could have called it the XE-9. But I continue to enjoy using my XE, XE-5, and XE-7.

My first Minolta wide angle, btw, was a Celtic 28mm f 2.8 MD that my parents gave me for Christmas in 1978. Still works great.

My XE-5 with 50mm f 1.7 MC Rokkor-X

The XE-5 is a slightly simplified version of the XE-7 and of course less expensive when new. When my family had a camera shop we stocked both. The XE-5 gives up the multiple exposure switch and the safe load signal.

I have the Tamron 17mm f 3.5 and find it a very capable lens. I don't use it that much since it's rare that I need such a wide angle.

I am undecided on my Tamron SP 17mm lens (first edition). Do you find yours pretty sharp?

Thanks

Found one shot on my computer that was made with the Tamron Adaptall 17mm

self portrait, Pentax Spotmatic with Tamron 17mm, Fuji Superia 200

Found one shot on my computer that was made with the Tamron Adaptall 17mm

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self portrait, Pentax Spotmatic with Tamron 17mm, Fuji Superia 200

Look sharp to you?

It's an older scan from film processed at CVS. I resized it to around 700 pixels wide so it's hard to judge sharpness. Somewhere I might have some higher resolution scans somewhere.

That would be nice to view in a larger size. I agree, 17mm’s is usually too wide for me. I love the 20, 24, and 28mm range.

My first wide angle was a 28mm Celtic. I'd never realized that I needed a wide angle until a friend and I took a camping trip to Vicksburg, MS in the summer of 1977. My gear was an SRT 201 with 50mm f 1.7 and a Tamron 85-210. Discovered lots of shots that I couldn't get with 50 being my widest focal length.I've settled on 24mm as being the most useful wide angle for my purposes. Of course I still use the others from time to time.

Favorite wide focal length

My first wide angle was a 28mm Celtic. I'd never realized that I needed a wide angle until a friend and I took a camping trip to Vicksburg, MS in the summer of 1977. My gear was an SRT 201 with 50mm f 1.7 and a Tamron 85-210. Discovered lots of shots that I couldn't get with 50 being my widest focal length.I've settled on 24mm as being the most useful wide angle for my purposes. Of course I still use the others from time to time.

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Favorite wide focal length

Nice

I'm going to shoot some FP4 Plus with one of the few rangefinder cameras I feel at home with, the Agfa Ambi Silette. With it's bright viewfinder with selectable frame lines for the 35, 50 and and 90mm lenses, parallax compensation and a bright rangefinder spot, accurate framing and focusing is easy. Add a practicable inaudible Synchro Compur shutter and the excellent 50mm Solinar f/2.8 lens and you have a very useful camera, impeccably engineered and finished.

Agfa Ambi Silette

Rolleicord Vb, with TMX (not PanF+ as in the picture).

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a11/julio1fer/Rolleicord%20V/Rolleicord%20V-small_zpscfu4rauc.jpg