Favourite 'amateur' camera

[nickc1]

<p>I've appeared to have been picking up and using 'second string' cameras quite a lot recently. My current everyday shooter is a Nikkormat Ftn - leaving the F, F2 and F3 on the shelf. I have also been using an Exa quite a lot, rather than the Exaktas.</p>

<p>So my question is - What is your favourite amateur camera?, ie the camera that a company put out as a cheaper/simpler alternative to their top of the line model. We are talking here of Nikkormat, not Nikon, Exa not Exakta, Rolleicord not Rolleiflex. I hope you get the idea.</p>

[craigd]

<p>The Nikon FM and FE offer most of what really matters in an F2, and the FE in particular has a better meter display in the viewfinder than any other Nikon I've seen -- it takes up the whole left side to show the range of possible shutter speeds and two needles, one representing the speed you have selected, and the other representing the meter's recommendation. This makes it very easy to compensate accurately when you need to.</p>

<p>The Canon A-1 is a physically gorgeous camera and generally pretty easy to use considering the complexity it offers (it was the first camera to offer a choice of program, shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual modes).</p>

<p>The Minolta XE-7 also deserves a mention as the cheaper alternative to Minolta's one attempt at the "pro system SLR" market, the XK. It's a wonderful camera, and like most Minoltas from the late '60s to the late '70s, it offers two-segment CLC metering, a sort of predecessor of the multi-segment matrix or evaluative metering that is standard today.</p>

 

[dan_south]

Nikon N80/F80. A wonderful little camera!

[david_carroll4]

<p>Pentax ME Super - super compact, bright informative VF, good SMC-M lenses, the (I can't remember the name) rapid take-up spool made loading super fast, and the push-button shutter speed selection was a smart and well-executed design that never caught on, but it was still excellent.</p>

[mtk]

<p>I agree with Craig 100%! My two recent everyday shooters are my FE and FM. As much as I love my F100 and my vintage 1967 F with plain prism, there is something inherently just plain fun with these two well built and simple reliable operation that I like. I do prefer the meter on the FE though a little more than the FM.<br>

Have Fun!<br>

Mark</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>I also agree with Craig and Mark, I own a FM2 and a FE2. If I'm not out shooting birds, or high speed action like sports, I really enjoy using those cameras. The light meters although less sophisticated than todays Matrix systems, are more reliable. I particularly like using the match-needle system on the FE2, it's not really that complicated, unless you are running in and out of time zones.</p>

[richard_]

<p>In the 'auto everything' film camera, i love the Canon EOS Elan 7 series cameras. But they have got too many dials and buttons on them,etc. So i prefer the simplicity of my Canon EOS Rebel X. Its all plastic, but smaller and lighter, has a clean back and faster to use,etc. "Second string' camera - I like that Nick...</p>

[maury_cohen]

<p>The Olympus Stylus Zoom and XA were worderful compact camera designs. Loved them both.</p>

[rossb]

<p>I love my F100. It's the greatest. It has a really nice sound when you take a picture. Very satisfying. I love the snap to the focus and I like the balance and weight of it. I love chimping it (I know it has nothing to chimp). </p>

[marc_batters]

<p>We always seem to have a fondness for our first(s), of anything. My first good [new] camera was the Canon AE-1. I was able to take some fairly good shots with that camera straight out of the box, and the shots improved greatly in a very short period of time. <br /> It's the first camera I owned with a built in meter, so I started using it in manual mode with my hand held meter, then slowly began to incorporate more shots using the camera's auto exposure capabilities.<br /> Looking back, the functions/capabilities of the camera were easy to learn, especially when compared to the learning curve of my first digital camera. Sort of sounding like I've got one foot in the old folks home, (newfangled stuff anyhow).<grin></p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Yashica FX-3 2000 and Contax 139 Quartz, because they offer everything the amateur needs to make fine photos, and can accept either the cheaper or more expensive lenses of the Y/C line. The Voigtlander Cosina Bessa cameras and lenses offer the same possibility for an interchangeable lens rangefinder camera, and can also accept more professional lenses (Leica). The Leitz-Minolta CL is also a camera directed to and used by amateur photographers. I have use all these at one time and appreciated their specific qualities. </p>

[mark_pierlot]

<p>It would have to be the Canon A-1, though I must confess I haven't used mine since acquring my F-1's, T90's, and 1V's.</p>

[john_bellenis]

<p>I had a Pentax MX when it first came out and it's the only camera I have ever felt a real attachment to. I have since owned Sinars, Hasselblads, Nikons, Canons, Mamiya RZ67s and Fuji 680s and they have all really just felt like tools, but I LOVED that Pentax.</p>

<p>I sold it to a client along with a winder and four lenses for his daughter to go to college with back in the 1980s (I was definitely sucking up!) and I have regretted it ever since. I'm not a "things" person, but I think there is something about that first real camera.</p>

[User_4136860]

<p>My Canon EF.<br /> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Canon_EF_top.jpg It has the same build quality as my F1, and is a very smooth and pleasant camera to use.</p>

 

[mark_drutz]

<p>In it's day I loved my Canon FTbn, but my all time favorite film camera was my Nikon N80. For digital, I love my D3100. It has IQ as good or better than my D90, and it's noticeably smaller and lighter which has become very important to me.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>Tough call between the FE2, XD11 and D90 - I get so much use out of all of them. They're all top performers in small sizes.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

<p>I agree with Mr. Plumpton that the Yashica FX3 is a rugged little camera that can take some very good lenses. I bought one for my mother to use when she thought she was interested in taking pictures. After a few years she returned it saying it was "too complicated". Since I had the FX3 lenses I bought an FR1 and it too is very nice to use although it is heavier than the FX3. There is something about the ergonomics of the Nikkormats, Olympus Stylus, Rebels and others mentioned that creates the urge to fire the shutter at something with film in the camera.</p>