Favorite camera by manufacturer

[summitar]

As a depression baby born into a working class family, I haven't really had much opportunity to indulge my

passion for classic cameras until fairly recently. I bought my first 35 mm camera when I was stationed in

Vietnam in 1966 as a 30 year old captain (a beloved Konica auto S2 brand new at the exhange for $35). A month

before I left vietnam, I bought a Canon FT-QL with 50 mm f1.8 lens for $65. I have always enjoyed imagery and

kind of grew up with Life magazine and National Geographic. For you youngsters that have no pre-TV experience,

you can hardly imagine the impact of these publications. I have had some unusual experiences regarding imagery.

The air force sent me to MIT in the early 60s, and I atttended some presentations by Doc Edgerton, the father of

high speed strobe photos. Prior to Vietnam, I spent two years as liaison to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

(center for unmanned satellites) and analyzed data from the TIROS and Nimbus satellites. As far as I know, I am

the first person to analyze imaging infrared data from space which was sensed by Nimbus I. While in Vietnam, I

was in charge of a ground station for a then-classified air force weather satellite which was the final filter

for targetting air strikes against North Vietnam. In that era (1966-67), before smart munitions, target

acquisition was dependent on the pilot's vision and so was his avoidance of surface to air missiles. After that

assignment, for the next six years, I was sort of a photographers assistant to the NRO, and my primary function

was to limit very very expensive, very very high resolution photographs of clouds, no matter how beautiful.

During that era of the late 60s-early 70s, the air force upgraded its weather satellites from snapshotters that

use commercial photographic lenses to a rotating mirror that was a line by line scanner with the satellite's

motion providing the advance. It operated in both the visible and infrared at high resolution (by weather

satellite standards) and the IR was independent of external illumination and for the visible, high quality cloud

photography was possible with illumination as low as half-moonlight. When there was no moonlight, we were amazed

and delighted to see the photos of nighttime city lights that all of you have seen in various magazines. We were

even more amazed at the beautiful photos of northern lights that wrapped around the north pole. Totally

unexpected by anyone I knew. I was debriefed over 30 years ago and I know better than to divulge secrets. You

can learn more by googling "NRO corona", a very success overhead recon program of the 60s.

 

Now with kids grown up and out of the coop, and being a quadruple dipper (military and Boeing pensions, soc

security for spouse and moi), I can more fully indulge my interest in photography. Started with a Kodak Retina

IIa in 1980, then a Canon F1 (original) in 1996, and really took off thanks to the internet in 2001. I still

remembered the first photography book I checked out as a 12 year old from the public library. It was one of the

annual Leica manuals, and the dust jacket had a photo of a Leica IIIc with a 50mm Summitar lens. The cost was

close to what my father made in a month, so it was out of the question then. I now own that camera and lens and

a copy of that manual plus a dozen of its siblings, and 6 other Leicas. In the event of my demise, and a wife

who doesn't know a Leica from a light bulb, you may have an opportunity for a fantastic garage sale. I also have

another hundred or so cameras, but in nearly all cases, they were bought at bargain basement prices.

 

I greatly enjoyed the reponses to my suggestion that the Nikon F3HP was the tops among Nikon's film cameras, and

so I will offer my recommendations (top 3) for other manufacturers, with the caveat that I will only list cameras

I own. I have already taken up too much of your time, so I will not go into my reasons at this point, except to

say that my criteria are image quality, convenience and portability.

 

Nikon: F3HP, FE2, F100 (don't own a FM3a)

 

Canon: T90, F-1 (original), FTb

 

Minolta: XD11, XE7, SRT 101

 

Pentax: Spotmatic F, Spotmatic, K1000

 

Kodak: IIIC, IIIc, IIa

 

Zeiss: Contax IIa, Contessa 35, Contina

 

Voigtlander: Vito III, Vitessa L, Vitessa T

 

Leica: M3, M6(classic), IIIf

 

Have never owned an Olympus -- have to draw the line somewhere.

[SCL]

Canon T90, Leica M4, Leica SL2, Nikon F100. I've owned and still own, digital cameras, but they aren't my

favorites for a variety of reasons.

[summitar]

I neglected to mention in my long winded opening, that in terms of sheer elegance and marvelous design and workmanship, my overall favorite is probably the Contax IIa. 50+ years old, and still beautiful. In this age of digital throwaways, it is still instructive to consider designs and workmanship that are long lived. In this category, I would mention "true genius" John Browning's auto-5 shotgun, in production 1903-1998 and his 1911 Colt 45, still in production. Also the Walther PPK, in production since 1929. Some things, like the 250 million year old shark species, are so perfect that they don't need to evolve.

[michaelchristensen]

Kerry what an interesting bio .. I won't list my guns but share your observations of the 1911, Browning's shotguns, ... hey, what about the Browning HiPower (sweet shooter) .. I digress. Never cared much for the M16 or the Beretta 92 (military issue) .. carried both for many years.

 

Cameras, .. Canon F1, F1N; A1, AE1Program, Nikon F5, F100, D200, Mamiya RB67ProS, Rolleiflex TLR, Yashica Electro35, Yashica T4 (point and shoot excellence), Contax G2, Voigtlander's Vitessa T, own 'em and use 'em. Some of the older folding cameras while not money-makers are so much fun to shoot. I'm acquiring a few now; and a Tachihara 4x5 just for landscape is on my wish list .. maybe this year!

 

If I had to only have one, well I would not be as happy, but I would be content with the Canon F1N or a Nikon F5 as my fundamental camera for picture taking fun with 35mm film. In medium format, I've shot quite a few, but only own the RBproS right now.. amazing what a camera without a battery can do.

[john carter]

Olympus: many many great small cameras, two of my favorites Olympus 35RC and the auto everything Olympus Stylus Infinity. Actually, even though I have only owned three Olympus cameras, all small, I think the Olympus Company provided the best product range and the best overall products to the general public of any camera company, ever.

[steve salmons]

OK Kerry, here is a short list from my experience so far. My criteria are like yours,image quality and portability but

for

convenience I have substituted joy of ownership.<br>

<b>Leitz: Leica M2, Leica Standard<br>

Canon: Canon 7<br>

Konishiroku: Konica III<br>

Nikon: Nikon F2 (plain prism)<br>

Asahi Pentax: Spotmatic F (black)!<br>

Hasselblad: 500CM with 80mm Planar<br>

Rollei: Rolleiflex 2.8, Rolleiflex T (grey)<br>

Graflex: Crown Graphic<br>

Voigtlander: Bergheil, Vito B, Bessamatic Deluxe<br>

Plaubel: Makina III <br>

Zeiss Ikon: Contaflex Rapid, Nettar 517/2 (6x9) </b><br>

Like you, I started picking up film cameras in large quantities around 2000/2001. I have bought and sold many more

than I currently own ;about 45 at present. My feeling is that good quality film equipment is now becoming harder to

find at those bargain prices common 3 or 4 years ago. Photo.net members have now bought up all the good stuff !

<br>

Steve

[richard_moore5]

I only own and collect German cameras but my favourite users of different makes are:

 

Voigtlander: Bessamatic CS with Septon, Vito B, Vitomatic IIa;

Zeiss Ikon: Contina IIa, Ikoflex IIa;

Rollei: Rolleicord Va, Rollei 35S;

Diax: Diax IIa

 

Richard

[gene m]

I like Canon. My Ftb was my first real camera that I got to use. I bought a used Leica something or other in Vietnam but I left it on a bar stool in Saigon.

[minhnguyen9113]

I love my Olympus Pen half fame, I got exhausted to finish a 36 frame roll. Unfortunately it's destroyed in a fire when I stationed at the Quang Tri citadel in 1973 (Vietnam war)

[don_e]

My photography is handheld, casual, candid. Due to some physical issues with my hands, handholdability is critical for me. So, most used are:

 

Pentax Spotmatic, Leica IIIF, Olympus Trip 35

 

There are three rangefinders I like and use, but not as much:

 

Agfa Optima IIs, Yashica Electro G, Canonet GIII

[subbarayan_prasanna]

Your CV is most enviable. I empathize with the imagery passion a lot. I worked with the Remote Sensing Lab in UWashington and did some detailed research on the Columbia Basin farmings communities and did the route alignment for EL Paso LNG Pipe line from Fairbanks to Juno, Alaska for the Fed Power Commission. Today I enjoy flying Google Earth to different parts of the World. Have no camera collection to speak of, except a few Exaktas, Prakticas, Zorkis and a Fed . I like learning to refurbish East German and Soviet cameras and take some pictures now and then. Regards.sp.

[Mike Gammill]

My first 35mm camera was a Konica Auto S2 that I bought brand new in high school. Our family had a camera store so I got it at dealer cost. Late in college I bought a Minolta SRT 201 with 50mm f1.7 and a Tamron Adaptall 85-210 zoom. Later added Konica 35, Canonet GIII 17, Minolta XD-5-- too many to list! Nice thing about having dealerships for Minolta, Konica, Yashica, Contax, Canon, and Olympus was I got to "play" with the goodies that I couldn't afford to buy for myself. Now, I pick many of them up used. Great thread.

[tony_lockerbie]

It is a good thread, great to read your bio. Favourites as below, like the others, these are ones that I own

 

Asahi..... Spotmatic F

Minolta....XE1

Canon....FTb

Nikon.....F2

Olympus.....Om1

Yashica.....Lynx 1000

Voigtlander.....Vitessa L

Zeiss..... Contarex

Rolleiflex....3.5 F

Kodak...... Retina 111S

Agfa...... Ambi Silette

I guess that about does it!

 

Tony

[Andy Collins]

Wow, Kerry...what an impressive bio! I feel like I want to show my friends what you wrote and tell them, "I know him. We chat sometimes." As far as favorite cameras by manufacturers, that could take a while, but I'll start with these, not necessarily in this order...

 

Olympus--35RC & DC, XA, Stylus Epic, original Infinity (AF-1 overseas)

Yashica--Lynx 1000

Canon--G-III QL17, FT-QL, F-1N (New), a lot of EOS film/digital stuff I won't list here

Minolta--AL, A5, Hi-Matic 7S

Kodak--Retina IIa, IIIc, Reflex III, Instamatic 500

Agfa/Ansco--Super Memar/Super Silette f/2 Solagon, Agfaflex IV, Karat 36

Fujica--Compact Deluxe, 35-SE, 35-EE

Vivitar--35ES

Pentax--ME Super

Nikon--FE

 

I suppose I could go on, but these are my favorites from these manufacturers although I've used quite a few more from each one. If I had to get rid of all of my cameras and keep just one though, It would be my Canon EOS 1v, my all-time favorite camera of any kind.

[yefei_he1]

Pentax: LX, MZ-S

Nikon: FM3A

Canon: FTb

Konica: Autoreflex T3N

Olympus: OM4T, 35RD

Minolta: CLE

Fujica: STX-1

Mamiya: 7II

Petri: 1.9

Bronica: RF645

Yashica: Electro 35 GX

Contax: RTS II

Kodak: Signet 35, Retina IIIc

Voigtlaender: Vitessa L

Agfa: Ambi Silette

Leica: M6TTL

Braun: Paxette Super IIL

Voss: Diax IIb

Aka: Akarex III

King: Regula Cita

Wirgin: Edinex III

Werra: Werramatic III

Praktina: IIa

[bobmcelroy]

Great thread, who doesn't love talking about their cameras and photography! My interest in cameras began so far back I cannot remember not having a camera in my hands--and I just turned 53! My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic that took 126 film and used flashcubes. It was a great, solid little camera that was perfect for a young person. Later cameras include: Konica rangefinder (not sure which model, it was in 1973), Nikkormat FT3 (loved it but someone stole it), Canon AT-1 and AE-1 Program, Nikon N90, traded that for an N90s (which I still have), Nikon F5, Leica M6, Voigtlander Bessa R3M, Mamiya 7, Pentax 645 and Konica Hexar Silver. Now for the collectables: Crown Graphic 4x5, Voigtlander Bessa II 6x9, Agfa Isolette III, Rolleiflex TLR with f3.5 Tessar, Yashica Electro 35 GSN, Yashica Atoron, Pentax 110 SLR with lenses, flash and power winder, Minolta SRT 201, Canon IIb, Canon AE-1, Brownie Reflex, Polaroid Land Camera (can't remember the model, my parents camera), Olympus Chrome Six. All are my favorites and I try to bring them out of the cabinet and use them, except for the Polaroid because they don't make film for it any more. :o(

[george_hazelton]

Pentax LX, MX, both for their small size, handling characteristics, versatility, and quality.

 

Kodak's Retina IIIc. My first camera was a Retina I, bought used when I was about 12. I still have it. The IIIc is a pleasure to use, the viewfinder/rangefinder is adequate, and the Schneider Xenon compares favorably with modern glass. The feel of these three cameras, the leather, solid metal, and fine finishes, makes them aesthetic pleasures, something my Pentax K10d does not evoke, regardless of its abilities.

 

Recently I passed up a 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 Speed Graphic in good condition. Why I didn't snap it up I'll never know. I'd used one in my teens shooting for the local weekly and had enjoyed it, especially the sense of connection to the press photographers of the past.