Your Alltime Favorite Camera

[n.s._ng]

M3. A classic.

 

N.S. Ng

[harvey_edelstein1]

Nikon F3hp; Pentax LX and Pentax 6x7. Little Rollie 35s. I like the first 3 because they have all the basics plus lots of finders and screens for every purpose. I would love to have an F6 and M7 some day.

[karl_keung]

Leica M3

 

Nikon F2

 

Canon (new) F1, pity that Canon did not carry the nice black paint from old F1 to the new

one.

[colin jackson]

M3, Nikon F. No nonsense, all business!

[darko1]

1.Leica M2

2.Hasselblad 501/CM

3.Leica IIIa

4.Linhof Kardan color

5.Nikon FM2

 

..darko

[SolaresLarrave]

First really favorite, my Canonet G-III QL17. I would take it everywhere. It was also my first RF camera. Then, the Leicas came in and thus my most reliable body now is my black 0.72 M6TTL: it never fails.

[robert loop]

CONTAX RX

 

Leica M5

 

Ikoflex IIa

[exabetal]

non-auto everything SLR: Canon EF (build, silky smooth, great light meter)

RF: Leica M4 with my brain-connected retinas as light meter!

DSLR: Canon 20D (but hopefully soon, its successor)

[neilambrose]

Hasselblad 503CW, closely followed by Leica M6. Both offer mechanical independence, have

fantastic lenses and are amazingly robust. The Hasselblad is the most reliable and versatile

camera I've ever owned.

[Allen Herbert]

Nikon D200 and Leica M2. I also us a Vivitar for slides i like the look it gives.

 

M/F a Bronica great value and results. I suppose it's really horses for courses and what works best in any given situation. For my pocket a Panasonic LX1 or for low light a Fuji F10.

[horea_feier]

Leica M2...

[frederick_muller]

In order, with (1) being most favoured:

 

1) Leica M2 / M4 for smoothness and classic mechanical simplicity

 

2) Leica M6 / Bessa R2 / RD-1s for onboard meters and digital capability

 

3) Canon F-1N for awesome build, great ergonomics and spotmeter capability

 

4) Nikon F2x / Nikon FM for certain bits of GREAT Nikon glass and PJ icon

 

5) Pentax ME Super (for shear lightweight compactness)

 

6) Olympus XA all those other times

[edsel_adams]

Nikkormat FTN. This was my 1st real camera c 1970. And I still have gorgeous Kodachromes from this camera (and it's stellar 50mm f2 lens.)

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

In order of image quality:

 

1. Crown Graphic

 

2. Bronica RF645

 

3. Contax IIa (because you can't beat 35mm for low light shooting)

[love4leica]

I have many cameras, but if I was to choose one it would be M3 followed my my Leica MP and Nikon F (Black, Nipon Kogaku).

[jimsimmons]

#1 - Leicaflex SL with 90mm Summicron

#2 - Arca Swiss F-Metric 4x5 with 90mm Super Angulon XL.

[lutz]

M6 0.72 black

[richard_meyers]

1.a. Nikon F4s

1.b. Leica M4

[charles_stobbs3]

Retina IIa, although since I'm retired and have discovered EBay other possibilities are on the horizon.

[vivek iyer]

SL2.

 

So nice, it has become a fondler item to me now (only due to the sporadic use)!

[richard jepsen]

My first camera, a 1968 SRT 101 with added hot shoe and modern bright screen. Wrapped with the leather half case the camera perfectly fits my hands with the controls falling naturally under my index finger. The viewfinder is 95% by 95% with about .87 magnification yet I see the entire frame wearing glasses. The meter display is similar to the SL and almost perfect. Used Rokkor-X lenses are fine performers priced under $30.00. I don't feel the need to over protect the camera for fear of a mark. It's a modest, unpretentious workhouse which does everything well and nothing great. Similar in concept to our first NEW car, a 1983 240 Volvo driven for 15 years and 250,000 miles.

[jerry_kirkwood]

1. Deardorff 8x10

 

2. Wista 4x5

 

3. Canon 1DS Mark II

 

4. Canon 5D

 

5. Mamiya RB

 

6. Rolleiflex 3.5F

 

7. Nikon F (original)

 

8. Canon F1

 

9. Canon 1V

 

10. Leica M2

[lee_shively]

First by a long shot is the Nikon F2A. It improved on the ergonomics of the F and the pin-indexing meter of the original F2 while still maintaining the reliability of a hockey puck. I never liked the electronics in the F3. I bought my first Leica because the F3 I had was so unreliable. I don't use Nikons anymore but the F2A remains my all time favorite.

 

Second is the original, manual focus Pentax 645. It handles like an oversized 35mm SLR, produces big negatives and has some of the best lenses I've ever used bar none. It doesn't hurt that it's solidly built despite having a plastic skin. I use it more than any other camera these days.

 

Third would be the Canon EOS 1n. Electronics done right, autofocus done right, ergonomics that seem natural for me, excellent lenses and a reputation for reliability nearly as good as the Nikon F2. I'll let you know about reliability after using it 25 years or so.

 

Leica M6 comes in fourth. For me it's not as natural to use as the Pentax or the Canon but it has great lenses and it's small and light and I can carry a couple of them all day long without pain in my arthritic joints.

[ray .]

... M7

[doug herr]

Richard Jepsen wrote: "<I> a 1968 SRT 101</I>"

<P>

This reminds me of an incident where a friend carelessly left his SRT 101 (no lens) on the

ground while giving his attention elsewhere; when he remembered what he'd done with the

101, he turned to retrieve it only to watch in horror as a truck rolled over it. Picking the

camera up, he expected to find it unusable at best but it's only damage was a few scrapes on

the back from road gravel. Meter, shutter, film transport all worked perfectly and as far as

we could tell there was no mirror box distortion from the incident.