End of the world... Which camera did You choose?

<p>Yeah, Which classic, all-mechanical, battery independent camera (and lens) is Your choice for this special occasion?</p>

<p>My choice is Minolta SRT 102 with 50mm f1.7 lens.</p><div></div>

<p>Mine is the one which has been my primary companion since 1967 - the trusty M4</p><div></div>

<p>A Rolleiflex 2.8F modell K7F3 with the Carl Zeiss Planar taking lens.<br>

<a href="http://www.rolleiclub.com/cameras/tlr/info/all_TLR.shtml">The Rolleiclub - no. 38</a></p>

Nikon F2, 28mm 3.5.

<p>Absolutely--</p><div></div>

<p>I'd choose a Falcon Miniature - because who wouldn't want a good Falcon on such an occasion?</p><div></div>

<p>And speaking of Rangefinders... <strong>Minolta Hi-Matic 7s</strong>...</p>

<p>Tough choice, but I guess my Minolta XE-7 with 35-135 MD zoom with Tri-X. Just save me a table at Milliway's.</p>

<p>Mike, of course <strong>Minolta XE</strong> series cameras are the best in the world, in my opinion much nicer than SRT...<br /> I'm just aware of an Electromagnetic Pulse <br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse <br /> that may destroy it's electronics ;)</p>

<p>My scale focus Minox 35GTE, as probably nothing would be easy to focus on anyway. Or should I use my Nikonos (I haven't built my ark in time)? We have a good snowstorm tonight in Quebec City, with 60 to 100 Km/h winds. Has it started? I've put on Leonard's song, "Hallelujah", with the Beatle's "A day in the Life" as a back-up, if there is time.</p>

<p>I went to the nearest "mountain" this morning to photograph the sun rising on the Winter Equinox. I studied Mayan mythology off and on for 26 years, encouraging me to go deeper into other world mythologies looking for hidden calendrical/astronomical knowledge. Seeing the sun rise this morning is to me the equivalent of midnight on the clock of our solar system (so many moving gears!) but only happening every 25,772 years.</p>

<p>Sad to say, I did not bring my M6 with me. If I expected it to be the end of the world, you bet I would have brought it with me! Seeing as I was taking photos of the sun rising I decided I didn’t really want holes in my cloth shutter so I went with my junk store Canon SLR (TL-QL from 1970). If something broke on it I could just toss it.</p>

<p>Here’s a photo of the Winter Solstice in Austin. It lacks artistic merit but is a document for something I’ve been waiting 26 years to see. Downtown is to the far right, with the state capital building, and UT Tower being visible.<br /><br /><img src="http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy187/teawretch/Solstice_zps7e991fc8.png" alt="" /></p>

<p>Alex: An M9 is not all-mechanical or battery-independent!<br>

<br />Unfortunately, even with those constraints, the end of the world will present issues with film processing. However, assuming I elide those problems, I'd go with a Rollei TLR.</p>

<p>True, Maciek, but the XE series also has a two mechanical speeds: B and 1/90 second. But I do have several SRT's to choose from. However, if one always knows where one's towel is, then there is nothing to worry about. If I had an R3 then I'd take it along (since this is in the Leica forum.)</p>

M2 and Voigtlander Nokton 50 f1.4.

 

Tomorrow, I'll use a Nikon F5.

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/16689232-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="448" /><br>

Bought to celebrate "the end of the world"</p>

<p>a bit late, but: olympus trip 35 [1967-1984 - 40mm f/2.8] - http://www.flickr.com/photos/zweeko/sets - i'll have to wait for the next one!</p>

<p>erm: about half of the cameras mentioned, so far, are Not battery-independent - even the OP's! : B</p>

<p>Ian, SRT will not be mechanically limited without battery (except the lightmeter that I don't need). It means camera that will have all apertures and shutter speeds without the battery.</p>

<p>Contax IIa and Zeiss Opton Sonnar 1,5 50mm</p>

<p><em>My spy camera ...</em></p><div></div>

<p>My Hasselblad 500C and Planar 80/2.8</p>

<p>Gee, not easy to choose. I'm going to list all my favourite mechanical cameras before choosing one:<br>

Rolleiflex F2.8 Planar<br>

Voigtlander Perkeo I (but mine has the F2.8 Colour Skopar normally found on the II)<br>

Hasseblad 903 SWC<br>

Nikon F<br>

Leica M3<br>

Leica IIIA<br>

Leica IIIF<br>

Pentax Spotmatic</p>

<p>End of the world? I'm going to go with the Hasselblad SWC.</p><div></div>

<p>My choice would probably be a Canon F-1 with a 35/2 FD SSC (1st version). This assumes that by the time the world ends even Fuji will have stopped making slide film. If there still is slide film then I would change the lens to the 35/2 FD SSC (2nd version). Some runner-ups include a Minolta SRT 101 with a 50/1.4 MC Rokkor-X, a Nikkormat FT2 with a 35/2.8 "K" Nikkor, Konica Autoreflex T2 with a 35/2 Konica Hexanon, Pentax K1000 with 35/2 SMC Pentax M.</p>

<p>Leica M4-P with pre-asph 35/2 Summicron.</p>