What is your go-to camera?

[brian_m.1]

<p>We all have a lot of shoes but most will sit on the shelf. Cameras are perhaps the same. I have 3 SLRs but I tend to gravitate to the little Yashica Fx for a quick outing. It practically fits in the palm of my hand. If it is a one-time event and I cannot leave it to chance, ESO 650 gets the nod. On the RF side, it is either the Minolta Hi Matic E or Canonet, but it is mostly the former. Canonet's slow max shutter speed( I think 1/500) saturates easily in sunny days.</p>

[Matthew Currie]

<p>When getting fairly serious, it's the Nikon F3.</p>

<p>A Nikon FM10 or a Minolta X700 is almost always in a car where it can be grabbed when needed.</p>

<p>When walking around with any kind of pocket handy, an Olympus XA2. Even when using other things, I usually have an XA2, or sometimes an XA, and throw in a couple of insurance shots, and it's often possible that they're the ones I like the most. </p>

[Troll]

<p>Leica CL/40+90.</p>

[craigd]

<p>I don't think I actually have a "go-to" camera. I have my favorites, but I don't really find myself thinking, "This is an important event, I have to use this particular camera." Sometimes I'll choose a camera based on a particular criterion that is important for the occasion, but otherwise I tend to take a camera I haven't shot in a while so as to give them all the occasional workout.</p>

<p>The Canon A-1 allows ISO to be set as high as 6400, whereas most of my other film cameras only go to 3200 or even lower; and my only 200mm f/2.8 lens is the excellent Canon FD SSC. For these reasons, the A-1 is often called up for low-light situations, especially if I won't be able to get up close to things.</p>

<p>The Olympus XA is lightweight and pocketable, and probably the all-around best 35mm film camera of its size and weight that you could hope for. Its downsides are that its highest ISO setting is only 800, its viewfinder isn't all that great (what do you expect, it's a tiny camera), and it has no manual mode (aperture priority only, with a +1.5 stop option). I sometimes carry it on trips as a second camera just so I can have the option of having another type of film ready to shoot (usually the arrangement is B&W negative film in the main camera, and color slide film in the XA).</p>

<p>The Nikon F3 HP is a personal favorite because its extreme friendliness to eyeglass wearers. The Nikon F with the plain prism finder, on the other hand, is a personal favorite because it's a completely mechanical Nikon without even a place for a battery. The Konica I/II/III rangefinders of the 1950s are personal favorites because there's just something about them that really appeals to me.</p>

<p>At any given time, I have a number of mental variables that may be in different states. Do I feel like shooting full manual? Without even a built-in meter? Or do I want aperture-priority mode? Or do I feel so lazy that I want to use program mode? Do I want to switch between prime lenses as needed, or do I want a zoom lens for one reason or another? Do I feel like focusing with a rangefinder? Do I want medium format? And on and on and on... and all of these things affect my choices. Thus, there is no single "go-to" camera.</p>

<p>I have a lot of cameras (around 40), but I actually use all of them from time to time. I do not, however, have a lot of shoes.</p>

[john_robison3]

<p>Like Craig Dickson hard to say. I'll get fascinated with one for awhile and then switch to a different one for a couple of months. This is true even for my odd ball cameras like a subminiature Minolta 16. I have no income from my cameras and do not consider any of my work serious, just messing around with cameras for fun.</p>

[bruce_z._li2]

<p>In the context of classic manual cameras, my go-to camera has always been the Rolleiflex 3.5F. It is utterly dependable, relatively compact and lightweight, quiet, and produce excellent image. And its mode of operation has been engraved into my head and hands.<br /> <br />I've yet to find my ultimate go-to 35mm camera (rangefinder, since SLRs are a bit too bulky). After trying all kind of rangefinder cameras: Vitessa, Contessa, Canon 7, Canon P, Konica IIIM, FED-2, Voigtlander Bessa, Yashica 35GSN, Olympus 35RC & SP, Signet 35, Retina IIIc, Canonet 17QL, I'm still not certain. Maybe a Barnack Leica with collapsible lens will be it.<br>

<br />I don't own nearly as many cameras as Craig, but I'm sure I have more shoes.</p>

[mjferron]

<p>In the end my F3</p>

[dave_s]

<p>Landscape: Mamiya RZ with a 65 or a 110.</p>

<p>People: Canon P with an ancient 50/1.5.</p>

<p>Walking around: Canon T70 or T90 with a 50 or an 85.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I'm partial to my Olympus XA-3, 35 RC and Agfa Isolette folder, since all will fit cargo jeans pockets or jacket pockets.</p>

[tony_lockerbie]

<p>I basically just walk into the spare (camera) room and pick one at random! But for serious stuff I tend to use my 5x4's (Ebony and Technika V) and Hasselblad. For 35mm I usually reach for my Leica M2 or Canon EF and F1.</p>

[steve_mareno1]

<p>I'm not sure how it happened, but my little Kodak Retina Ia w/ Xenar 50 3.5 has become a camera that I could use as my only camera. It's small, pretty light, and takes great photos. A yellow filter helps with it's top shutter speed of only 1/500, but I'd love an orange filter to help w/ skies.</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>We all have a lot of shoes</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

<br>

<br />I have two. One for each foot.</p>

<p>My usual go to camera currently is a black Nikon F usually with the 105mm f2.5 lens which I inherited from my father.</p>

<p>In medium format it would be my Rolleicord V.</p>

<p> </p>

[barryreid]

My choice at the moment would be the nifty little Contax 159MM, ocasionally my Olympus 35DC or RD. I should get rid of

the rest, really.

[soeren_engelbrecht1]

I cycle through about 6-8 classics - all 35mm - but for travels, I always seem to end up with my M3

[frank_skomial]

<p>NEX7 with SEL 24 mm Zeiss for low light or evening/night, or NEX7 with 18-200 SEL Sony, full size lens 67mm filter version - for daylight pictures.</p>

[gabor_szabo3]

<blockquote>

<p>I basically just walk into the spare (camera) room and pick one at random!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>hahaha, same here.... only that I often find myself wasting precious time deciding what to put in the camera bag for the day's outing ! <br>

More often than not the choice is a camera or lens from a recent flareup of G.A.S. (or camera purchases for resale)<br>

I made the switch to Canon DSLR and I've gotten more use out of my ExaKta and M42 mount lenses lately. <br>

Regularly used cameras :<br>

Rangefinder - Voigtlander Prominent<br>

SLR - Nikon FM2<br>

Medium Format - Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar, Speed Graphic 3x4 </p>

 

[gabor_szabo3]

<blockquote>

<p>I basically just walk into the spare (camera) room and pick one at random!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>hahaha, same here.... only that I often find myself wasting precious time deciding what to put in the camera bag for the day's outing ! <br /> More often than not the choice is a camera or lens from a recent flareup of G.A.S. (or camera purchases for resale)<br /> I made the switch to Canon DSLR and I've gotten more use out of my Exakta and M42 mount lenses lately. <br /> Regularly used cameras :<br /> Rangefinder - Voigtlander Prominent<br /> SLR - Nikon FM2<br /> Medium Format - Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar, Speed Graphic 3x4</p>

[dennis_w3]

<p>My little black Olympus SP is a favorite for lightweight carrying for long periods; it's a small camera but big enough for my longer fingers. If I want a longer or shorter lens, its the Topcon Super D. Still my obsession after 35 years.</p>

[allancobb]

<p>So many choices, so little time! For me, it depends on the type of shooting I plan to do and what means are available to me for transportation and the destination environment. Then I start narrowing it down. If I'm traveling and need a light outfit but lens flexibility, it's my Pentax MX and three (or 4) lenses. If I need to minimize equipment size for travel and want to use my super-wide Heliar, then it's the M6. For "serious" landscapes, but need some ease of portability it's the Pentax 67. For static interiors and landscapes where hauling stuff isn't an issue, it's the 8x10. But if I want medium format and pocketability, I reach for one of my Ikonta folders, usually the A (6x4.5) or occasionally the C (6x9) that my Dad gave me.</p>

<p>But then there are my Yashica TLRs (a D and a 44), my Canon rangefinder or my Spotmatic or my Heiland H2 or my TL-Electro..... etc., etc., etc. John Robison put it best, I just get fascinated with one for a while then use that one when the mood strikes!</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

I think Craig D and I fell off the same tree. On one ghand I want to try and rotate so they all get a work out the siutation may dictate. I have lots more camera's than shoes! I hae new shoes. Gabor said ti well too... wasting time trying to decide. ... I can remember spending al,most an hour trying to decide which two cameras 1 MF one 35 becasue I had plenty of film for either!

[brian_m.1]

<p>When one ponders this question a bit you notice which cameras you almost never use. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>My go-to camera seems to be the one I bought most recently, so far as film goes (of course the same could be said of digital as well, I suppose).</p>

<p>Even as I speak, supposedly working, old "new" cameras are winging their way to me.</p>

<p>The ones I go back to for more shooting are also many, but the Canon EOS 3, the Canon T90, the Nikkormat EL, Nikon F and F2, ......</p>

[gerry b.]

<p>In film work, if it is a situation in which there is pressure to come back with something truly usable, a Nikon F2A. Somehow, the metering, the weight of the camera in terms of stability in handling, and the number of lenses I have for it, all make it most reliable as a picture-taker for me. Otherwise, a Leica IIIf, Rollei 35S and a Voigtlander Perkeo II, in that order.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

I will grab either an SRT or my XE-5, whichever has film. For pockets I pick either my Rollei 35, Rollei B35, or Olympus

RC.

[bebu_lamar]

<p>Camera with high ISO setting like 6400 doesn't allow you to meter better in low light. It's only convenient if you use film with such high ISO. When the meter encounters low light and the meter won't read right rasing the ISO setting doesn't help.</p>