dave_powell1 Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Hello All! In the following thread, Don Brewster used a phrase that I haven't seen before ("fondler camera"): http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GuvX&tag= Sounds like a new theme! Soooo.....What cameras do you often hold or shoot... even if they contain no film or are crippled by old age? I reach for my Leica/Minolta CL, Contaflex D, Topcon Super D (with its front-mounted shutter release, or (don't laugh) the Kodak Touist 620 folder (with the shutter- release tab cut into the top edge of its front door). "....Hon, I am NOT wastin' time...I am exercisin' the shutter...." Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summitar Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Cameras that are a pleasure to hold: Pentax Spotmatics, Canon T90, Contax IIa, Leica screwmounts. I like cameras whose intrnal density is suficiently high, so that they feel heavier than expected. The payoff is that they tend to dampen my old age induced shakes. I have and love the Nikon F2, but it is almost too heavy, same with Leica M3. Some cameras are good performers but hard to get a good grip on, such as the Kodak Retina's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicaglow Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 What a funny question. I would never have a fondler camera<g>, but if I did, it would be my old Nikon F, Hasselblad EL/M, and my old Mamiya Sekor 1000 DTL. Not that I'm a fondler, but if I was, it's the sound of those shutters that get me going. The ultimate fondlers--I think--are some sort of Leica M, which I don't own anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelging Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 My Nikon S2 rangefinder and my nikon F, straight prism were designed for my hands , and since they are almost the same camera , I will give them both Fondler status.Least fondler camera is my 4x5 Speed Graphic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg ma Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 When I still had my Rollei's and Zeiss Ikontas it was great to sit in front of the tv, watching MASH, and dust the interiors, exercise the shutters, and try various focusing distances. With them being gone for some time now the Nikon F's and my old Mamiya Sekor 100 DTL fit the bill. Something about all that metal, chrome, and heft that is a great match. History is a factor as they were the cameras I wanted back in the 60's when I saved to afford a Ricoh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_fromm2 Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Beaulieu 4008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnabdas Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 aha -- mine was a Pentax K1000 with a Vivitar 17/3.5, 2nd place FM3A with 60 AF micro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Currie Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 I will confess to occasionally fondling my Leica IIIb, on the pretext of keeping its shutter limber. I rarely use it with film these days, because its normal lens is rather scruffy, and because my main everyday camera is a Nikon F, which has sufficient heft and metallic goodness to keep the fondling instinct pretty well satisfied and the pictures are sharp too (well, if the operator is sharp enough). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_littleboy__tokyo__ja Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 "The ultimate fondlers--I think--are some sort of Leica M" This is, I think, exactly right. I happened to have our CEO along when I was purchasing a used MF camera one day, and the MF stuff at this store (MAP Camera in Shinjuku; a place worth checking out if you are in Tokyo) shares a floor with the used Leica stuff. All the other customers at that time were elderly, extremely well-dressed, (Japanese) gentlemen who were gently and leisurely fondling the used Leica's. Our CEO found this hysterically funny, and to this day insists that the clerks in used camera stores are some of the most patient and tolerant human beings on the face of this earth. (The clerks in the used camera stores really are very good here; said CEO is always knocked out that they have good answers to my perversely detailed questions on used equipment.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yann1 Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 FOCA pf3:The collapsible barrel, the sound of the shutter.... Haaaa... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdcarma Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 I really like the feel of my Rollei 35S. But it's not a classic camera and does not fit this forum's guidelines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_van_Nooij Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I lovingly fondled my Ukrainian Leica IID copy...until it turned into a paperweight :( These days I like fiddling with my Zeiss Ikon Nettar and Kodak 35s... I also play around a lot with my aging canon Ixus V2, not really classic but it's getting darn old already hahaha. Regards, Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_schall Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 My Contaflexes. The III with the winding knob and the Rapid with the winding lever. There is just something about their sound when the shutter fires. And the feel of fine German engineering. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geowelch Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Yes, my Contaflex is very fondleable, as are my Spotmatics and my Canon A1. We likes to hold them, doesn't we, Precious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacsa Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 It is advised to fire mechanical-shutter cameras once in a while even if unloaded:D Especially the contax iia/iiia. So, i do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy middleton Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 rollei 35 if it qualifies.....dim the lights...glass of red in one hand and a german masterpiece in the other..bliss.sad but bliss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_m Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 The Petri Color 35 takes some beating, if only for its interesting tactile controls.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald_brewster Posted June 19, 2006 Share Posted June 19, 2006 Oh geez. Just what I want to be known for . . . . but good to see taken all in good fun. Yes, they are just tools, but I do love the looks of my Contarex Bullseye. That's right, just exercising the shutter. It is the only camera my kids want me to keep -- even they think it is cool. But my Deardorff and Rolleiflex continue to get all the classic camera work (and I'm not even going to talk about the various modern cameras). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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