"Sleepers"

[daniel_iggers]

Sleepers are unheralded and ordinary cameras that are surprisingly,

unexpectedly good. I remember reading a really old post about a

Ricoh from the '50s, probably a viewfinder camera, with an f/3.5

Rikenon lens that surpassed anything before or since in image

quality.

 

So: Is there a camera that one might not expect to be all that

great, that you would still hang on to and maybe even shoot with

instead of using a camera that most people would expect to be

clearly superior?

 

My nominee? Dunno. Maybe a beat-up Mamiya Sekor MSX500 with a 1.8 /

50 (55?) SX lens. Nah; that was just one roll, and the camera itself

has a dark vf and has little charm. I'll keep thinking about it.

[grahams]

Olympus 35SP?

[Brian]

<P>Mine would be the Franka Super Frankarette. It's a humdrum rangefinder camera, admittedly with the Schneider Xenar lens, but with no other claims to fame or style. See the thread <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009Svs">here</a> for more details.</P>

[titrisol]

Agree with the Ricoh. I bought a couple of Ricohflexes for cheap at auction-land. Very nice cameras, excellent glass

[Andrew in Austin]

The Agfa Super Solinette, when it is branded as an Ansco Super Regent comes to mind, so does the Ansco Karomat. Great 35mm cameras, if you can attain one for $15. In addition to a sharp rendition of the Tessar, they feature a coupled rangefinder with unit focusing. They fall into the category of a poor man's or woman's Retina with a larger viewfinder and brighter rangefinder patch than either the Retina II or IIa.

[charles_stobbs3]

Or just the plain Solinette or Regent, more compact.

[marco_vera1]

the Welta Weltini.

 

Pre and post war german made folder, with a uncoated tessar, unit focusing, rangefinder coupled. Same build quality as Zeiss Ikon.

 

The poor man's Contessa.

[connealy]

Just about any of the old Kodak folders. Real leather leak-proof bellows and bullet-proof shutters. The ones with Bosch and Lomb Tessars are obvious, but there are also some great Rapid Rectilinears and Anastigmats. Some of the 35mm Kodaks also had Tessar-design lenses and there was a 127 Bantam with the Anastigmat Special.

[jonathan_stark]

Does the Kodak Signet 35 qualify? I've read a lot written about the quality of the lens, but don't know of very many folks actually using this camera. I use mine on occasion, and the lens stands up to its reputation. It also focusses pretty close (2 ft) for a rangefinder. I'm fortunate that the shutter actually works well on mine.

 

Andrew- ditto on the Solinettes with the Solinar lens. Awesome lens, very Tessar-like when wide open. I had Jurgen Kreckel clean the infamous Agfa green grease out of mine and now it works great.

[richard_oleson]

The original Zenit, specifically with the Industar f/3.5 lens. Amazing, Leicalike SLR that makes Leicalike pictures for $23.

 

:)=

[dan_fromm2]

Canon 310XL.

 

Within its limitations -- 18 fps, focus by scale, 8.5-25.5 mm -- nothing takes better footage. Its 8.5-25.5/1.0 is fantastic, beats my 6-70/1.4 and 6-66/1.8 Schneiders by a lot. Only the Fuji ZC-1000's finder comes close.

[anthony_m1]

I just picked up a Kodak signet 40, Canon AE-1 p, and a Yashica Electro 35. All together for under $90.00. Havent used either in the past but am excited to try them out. I just sold a Yashica 635 with Yashinon lens and it was pretty fun to shoot with. Any comments good or bad regarding the 3 above?

[david_wombacher1]

My sleeper pick is a Yashica MF-1, a little point and shoot style camera but it also has the ability to take a 30 second long exposure on the Auto setting, amazing.

 

My Dacora 35 CC is also a sleeper, very small, very sharp Color Iscomar 42mm 2.8 lens, bottom wind, shutter button on front, bright coupled center wieghted metering rangefinder, focusing right on the front of the lens, self timer, hot shoe, cable release socket, just a neat little camera but probably not worth a lot.<div></div>

[gene m]

There are many and here are a few. <a href="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/felicia/"> The Vredeborch Felica,</a> an elegant toy camera.<a href="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/admiral/index.html">The Admiral.</a> I love the look of shots done with my Admiral.<a href="http://www.westfordcomp.com/classics/pouva/"> The Pouva Start</a>,and my<a href="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/fex/"> Ultra Fex</a>

[dan flanders]

I have a Foth Derby with a 2.5 lens that I bought before WW2 and still performs quite well when I can get 127 film. Wide open it is acceptable but stopped to f8 is surprising. If you can find one with a good shutter it is a neat pocketable package at a remarkably low price.

[connealy]

I'm a little surprised no one has bid on <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4701&item=3852510978&rd=1">this 1948 Fujica 6x6</a>. Looks like a very interesting and rare camera, and the lens is a Rectal f35/75mm!

[gene m]

The Rectal is an inferior lens. The Anal is a higher quality piece of glass.

[david_wombacher1]

Here's some 2300 which is what I'm using and quite happy with

 

http://www.thecamerahunter.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TCH&Product_Code=LEN2300_4_PK&Category_Code=DCA

[daniel_iggers]

Huh?

[david_wombacher1]

Sorry about that....wrong thread....please ignore that last post of mine up there.

[dean_williams]

The Retina's poor stepchild, the Retinette. Decent glass and some models are fairly small, with nice bright viewfinders. One of mine, a IIb has an f2.8 Schneider and a working (!) light meter. $20 from a local pawn shop. Not really obscure, but often passed over for the more expensive Retinas. Same goes for the Zeiss Continas. Nicely built, and undervalued.

[glenn_thoreson]

Clarus Model MS35. A wonderful rangefinder camera with focal plane shutter and coated Wolensak lens, which is probably a Raptar with the Clarus name on it. Anyway, it's a really good one and is probably anal, too. These are great cameras that make very good images. The shutter probably won't be accurate at the higher speeds on these. Mine is good at 25, 50 and 100.

[red_buckner]

Johnathan, I'm with you on the Signet. That Ektar is a killer. Also, with the Signet, you can usually get more than 36 frames! Another sleeper is the Argus C-4. The Cintar 2.8 lens is a dandy.

[jeroen dommisse]

I once bought a Konica C35EF - the zone focus, popup flash and auto exposure thingy. Ugly as hell, but it has the same lens as its rangefinder predecessor, the original C35. For $2 I couldn't have gone wrong, anyway.<br>

Another of my favourite sleepers is the Agfa Optima 535 - a small, sleek, black consumer camera from the 70's. Sort of like an all metal Lomo with good glass (40/2.8) and metering. <a href="http://www.erikfiss.com/foto/cams/optima/index.html">Good looks, too</a>. Hope to find a 1535 (rangefinder) someday.<br>

And yet another Agfa: the original Isoly. Virtually identical to the all plastic Diana cameras, but a bit sturdier and with a glass lens. Easier to find and cheaper, too. Great multi exposure shooter!

[terry_scott]

In Britain, a company called Dixons Photographic imported a Japanese TLR that they called the Prinz Auto. It had a three-element taking lens and was fairly modest in specification but the sample I bought, brand-new, was surprisingly good. It handled well and very soon I made a 20x16 black-and-white print that needed no excuses at all. I think that the camera brand was actually Lustreflex. It had Tri-Lauser lenses.