what will be looked back on as classics of our era? (say 1970 on)

I have a couple of more recent cameras that are so odd and

exquisitely cool, they just have to become treasures as time moves

on.

 

Rollei 3003; based on the Rollei 600X line of motor-advance,

metering 6x6 cameras but scaled down to 35mm. They look just like

miniature Rollei medium format cameras. The backs and lenses are

interchangable, the motor and battery pack breaks off. The optics for

the late Rollei 35mm equipment are essentially perfect. When

introduced it was grossly overpriced and it apparently just sat on

the shelves.

 

Contax T: I don't have one yet, but boy do I have a boner for

them! Reminiscent of the folders, has a drop-down door allowing the

lens to pop out. The first of the cameras to use the Porsche design

house. And T* optics. Of course the T2 and further evolutions

were "improvements", but the T made the statement.

 

Nikon 35ti or 28ti: Another retro statement, super-sweet

rangefinder camera, either a 28/2.8 or 35/2.8 lens. Cool analog dials

on the top of the camera, retracting lens, amazingly accurate meter

and built-in flash.

 

Additions? Cite it now and you'll be able to say, "Oh yeah, I was

into those when they were still young."

The Nikon FM will probably become a classic, the F2 definitely will. I would also add the Pentax LX, the Nikon F3, the Yashica Mat-124G, Olympus XA and OM-1, Minolta SRT-101, Canon FTb and AE-1... well, the list could go on and on.

Pentax K1000 and Pentax 67.

Leica could market a toaster oven, and it would be a classic.

 

The Hasselblad H1 will be a freak item, because i don't imagine it will last more than another eight years.

 

The Sony Digital Mavica... because it's just so friggin cool!

 

The Tix, and the Leica Advantix camera, not because you can get film for it, but because they're exotic.

 

Contax G2, and lesser so the G1. They are unique and pretty enough that they will be desireable.

 

The Fuji that became what the Xpan is. The Xpan might be in production still in 20 years, but the Fuji will be more rare and a collector.

 

The Fuji 645AF, Mamiya 7II and to some degree the Bronica 645RF, they will be the isolette's in 20 years, but likely worth much more.

 

That's my prediction

Okay, I'll play. My personal picks, most based on experience:<p>

 

A lot of folks will say the <b>Canon</b> AE-1 but I never cared for that design. If I was going to pick a plastic fantastic, user friendly, consumer grade SLR I'd pick what I used to own and enjoyed: the T70, one of the few SLRs to get the pushbutton interface just about right.<p>

 

In reality, tho', I wouldn't pick either. The FTb and <b>FTbn</b> are the affordable classics; the FT and TX a notch below the FTb/n but still very competent shooters; the F1 and F1-N the high end classics of Canon's manual focus era.<p>

 

Canonets, especially the <b>GIII QL17</b> - already widely recognized as a classic due to availability, performance and, generally, reliability.<p>

 

The <b>Olympus OM-1/N</b> and OM-2N, if only because of their early association with National Geographic. Nope, I don't mean to dismiss the significance of the OM-2S with its spotmeter or the OM-4/T with its unparalleled sophistication for its time. Remember, these are just my personal picks.<p>

 

The <b>XA</b> series for their near-ultimate combination of portability and competence. Tough to pick these plasticky clamshells over the 35RC and 35SP but I'll do it anyway. Someone's gotta do the dirty work. And at some point the even more plasticky Stylus will earn some lasting respect as a classic, or at least representative of an era.<p>

 

The <b>Minolta SRT-101</b> was without a doubt the one Minolta SLR that really challenged the status quo. It's significant if for no better reason than because it poised Minolta as a serious challenger, for awhile, to the top dogs.<p>

 

Possible future classic: <i>Minolta TC-1</i>.<p>

 

Despite having used <b>Nikon</b> manual focus gear for the past year and a half for my "serious" work I'll go against the grain and not pick a body as a classic. Instead I'll pick a lens, the lens that persuaded me to dump the Canon FD system in favor of Nikon: the <b>28/3.5 PC-Nikkor</b>. Everything you need for 35mm architectural photography, nothing you don't. I'd tried or at least seriously considered every perspective correction lens for a 35mm SLR system and this is the one was the convincer. I bought it before I owned a single other bit of Nikon gear; I didn't even have a body.<p>

 

Possible future classic: <i>Nikon 28Ti and 35Ti</i>.<p>

 

Classics in the making: <b>Cosina/Voigtlander Bessas</b> and lenses.<p>

 

Possible future classics: <i>Contax G1 & G2</i>.

>Reminiscent of the folders, has a drop-down door allowing the lens to pop out.

 

In this regared, the Minox 35 predates the Contax T by about a decade.

 

>The first of the cameras to use the Porsche design house

 

Actually, that honour goes to the original Contax RTS (circa 1975) instead.

 

To return to the original question: Nikon FM3A, truly the best of both worlds.

 

The Nikon F2AS has already become a legendary classic. Most agree that it is the epitome of the rugged, all-mechanical 35mm SLR.

SO many to chose from...but if I was forced to pick five..then it would be...

<br>

<br>

* Olympus XA

<br>

* Hasselblax XPan

<br>

* Mamiya 6/7

<br>

* Nikon F3

<br>

* Olympus OM series starting with the OM-1 in 1972.

Pentax 35mm SLR's, particularly the Spotmatic and Spotmatic F. Konica Autoreflex T.

Lots of choices - the Mamiya 7's etc., Bronica RF

 

For some different choices - Olympus mju, Minolta TC-1, Konica Hexar, the original Rollei Prego? 28mm zoom (?) and the QZ series (probably the last genuine Rollei designed 35mm's), the original IXUS (its form factor really surprised me, even though it was APS), SONY F-55, one of the first digicams that uses the lens as a marketing tool, and finally my favourite, the Ricoh GR-21.

 

Johnson

Don't forget the:

 

Yashica T4 super

Olympus Stylus Epic

Contax T3

I'm going to hang on to my Coolpix 990 as a potential collectible (seeing as it's not worth selling it as a user camera). _Time_ magazine selected it as the "Machine of the Year" when it came out, because it was the first digital camera of sufficient resolution and quality for use by professional photojournalists, and indeed at press events, one might see guys with a CP990 alongside Nikon, Canon, and Leica film cameras in those days. I got mine mainly to replace microfilm as a means of duping documents in libraries and archives (I'm an academic), and it's still great for that purpose. Most PJs have moved on to DSLRs at this point, but the CP990 strikes me as the Ermanox of the digital era.

I'll second David's nomination, although I'll shade it slightly and say the 995 instead, because that's the one that I've got :-)

 

For film cameras, I reckon it has to be the Canon F1, the original, not the F1N with it's strange ergonomics, nasty finish and odd sounding shutter (I've used both extensively). Runner up for film cameras, in my book, would be the Nikon F4 - big, heavy, noisy, marvellous to hold and use and reliable as a Volkswagen.<div></div>

Ricoh GR1S. If you haven't used one you won't understand, but if you have you will. Like the Nikon 28i but half as thick, hard to come by, and cool.

<<Subject: what will be looked back on as classics of our era? (say 1970 on)>>

 

I think it's going to be very different this time around. Within this decade even if it doesn't completely vanish, film will become an expensive PITA to buy and process, which will really take the air out of camera collecting as they will be strictly for display and little or no use. That will certainly reduce the number of collectors and the breadth of collectible cameras.

 

Another thing is that from 1970 on cameras have become more and more electronic, where the failure of a single circuit board renders the camera completely useless, and unlike gears and springs it is often difficult to find good ones to scavenge from beater bodies, and prohibitively expensive to have them reproduced. From the late 70's, many cameras have also become increasingly soul-less plasticky junk which satisfies the current everything's-disposible generation that totally lacks sentimentality. My guess is that the cameras of the youth of the end-run Baby Boomers will be the last ever considered "classics", with the exception of later-model Leicas and Hasselblads which are for the most part unchanged from their 50's-60's ancestors.

A "classic digital camera"? What a concept! :-) Yes, the swiveling Nikon might be a good candidate. Maybe my already antique Kodak DC-50!

 

I'll second the nomination of the Pentax 6x7. Maybe the early non-mirror-lock-up model will even carry extra value as a rare variation...

as far as classic, choke, cough, digital cameras, the Sony Mavica FD-7 with its 10x zoom lens and the ability to write to 3.25 inch micro diskettes - made a big shift in the early digicam days. I still have one, it still works, the resolution leaves a lot to be desired, but it was fun.

 

wait a minute, what's that at the end of my street..... I see torches, a mob, pitchforks....whoops

You can all consider yourselves on report to the Classic Cameras Loyalty Committee.

Hey, the Ermanox used glass plates in an obscure size, and it's one of the most collectible cameras out there, so obsolescence is not necessarily an obstacle to "classic" status.

Two things make a car a classic: brand and style. Same thing with cameras.

The Isolette is a saught after camera because it's beautiful, the older Leica's

because of the reputation.... Pentax 35mm SLR's? I just don't see it

happening.

 

Good cameras none-the-less, just not classic material in my opinion.

You're too late, Shawn - the Spotmatic already *is* a classic.

 

It remains to be seen whether the ME, ME Super or LX will become classics. Electronic cameras have a harder row to hoe because of longterm reliability, serviceability and parts availability.

I work in a camera store that specialises in vintage and classic gear. Sony

Mavica's?, Ricohs?and Pentax ME's? Wha???? Well, I guess? - but for real

USER classics it's more like Nikon FM's, Pentax K1000's, Mamiya 645's, and

YashicaMats. Any of these cameras will still work in 10 years. Minolta SRT's

and the like barely work now.

Among real collectors classic cams were generally built between 1920 and

1965. Anything else is just a popular vintage piece.

Generally, it needs to be a high quality item in the first place. High quality as

in craftsmanship. Which is why plastic cameras don't count, ( and yeah that

includes Nikon DX1's and Canon 10d's). Sorry.

gee Warren, thanks for enlightening us.

I don't know if i consider the spotmatic a classic... but if any of them are it's that one. I think spotmatic users call it a classic, but other than that?

Pentax Spotmatic, K1000 and 67. Leica M6. Rollei 35. Canon FTb. Nikon F2, FM and perhaps even F3A. Any camera in the 6x8 or 6x17 format.

The Canon F-1 and T90 for sure. Probably many Nikons, but I have no direct experience. I also think the Fuji 6900Z and S602 deserve mentions as digital cameras.