Manual Camera Classics

[astral]

<p>PS <em>"Don't quote me, but . . . "</em> a plain prism <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/glyptolith/NIKON-F2">Nikon F2</a> and a Pre-AI lens or two is a real 'class act'.</p>

 

[dave_a4]

Alan, after your response I don't know what to think :-)

Now I LOVE that Kodak retina IIIc, I'm definetly going to consider that. I hope I can find one here in my city. :-)

[mwmcbroom]

<p>Wow, 4 pages. Well, Dave, let me take a stab at it. Scanning quickly through the responses and your responses to the responses, I noticed one very popular system that was consipicous by its absence: Canon FD. Not EOS, mind you, because then you get into AF and battery dependence and all, but the old manual-focus FD line of cameras and lenses. Canon built a few mechanical FD workhorses that are worthy of note. For some of the most bang for the buck that you'll ever find, there is the FTb. This camera is reliable as the day is long. Mechanical, with the meter being the only thing powered by the battery (the now defunct 1.35v mercury batteries, but the 675 hearing aid battery will work, plus it's <em>cheap!) </em>Clean FTb's can be found on the used market these days in the $40-50 range. Add about a hundred bucks to this price and you can pick up one of the best 35mm cameras ever made -- the original, mechanical Canon F-1. This is a system camera with interchangeable finders, focusing screens, motor drives, backs, etc. Now, what I really like about both the FTb and the F-1 is the way they meter a scene -- just the central 12% or so of the scene is metered, indicated by a rectangle visible through the viewfinder. Nothing outside that rectangle is recorded by the meter. This selective area focusing system is very useful for critical exposure, especially when shooting slides. It is much better than the bottom-centerweighted pattern Canon employed with their A-series cameras.</p>

<p>Now, a word or two about the FD lenses. Canon's FD glass is finally getting the praise it has deserved all along. Back in the 70s and 80s, Canon's optics' excellence sort of got lost in the glare of the Nikon hegemony. But these days, thanks in large part to their being used on digital cameras, people are finally realizing just how good Canon's FD (and FL, far as that goes) optics are. Used to be, FD and FL glass was cheap. Not so much anymore because of the MFT and Mirrorless crowds buying up some of the better quality items, causing the prices to increase. But they're still a bargain compared to the new AF equivalents.</p>

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