My New Years Lenses and Nikkorexes

[rick_drawbridge]

michael_goldfarb said:

I am bemused, bordering on annoyed, with how seemingly every young "analog photography" dude trying out a Nikkormat finds both the lens mounting method AND the shutter speed control "difficult", "fiddly", "obnoxious", "uncomfortable", "too complicated", "difficult to remember", etc.

 

It's just an example of the "illusory truth effect" that is beginning to make seeking information on the internet a frustrating pursuit. In short, if the same misinformation is repeated often enough it becomes accepted as the truth. and this seems to be particularly relevant to reviews of and discussions about cameras. Frequently one come across whole passages that have obviously CP'd from other sources and included as assertions in a subsequent review. Of course, patch enough of these statements together and the reviewer appears to be knowledgeable, and a respected source of information. I have several cameras with a shutter sound guaranteed to "frighten the birds out of the trees", and this cute little description appears ad nauseum...

Edited April 9, 2022 by rick_drawbridge

[michael_goldfarb]

Back around 1998 or 99 I wrote a ten-page field guide to the different models of Minox subminiature cameras. As a lifelong user of these cameras (I got my first one back in 1967) and a technical writer, it was fun, something I was doing for my own study. A work friend at the time, another Minox shooter, who had a website (still a rare thing then) published it, and it was online for a couple of years. It eventually came down when he changed hosting services, or something.

 

To this day, I occasionally find statements and whole paragraphs from my document turning up in articles/posts/guides/etc. about Minox cameras! So yeah, I'm quite aware of how stuff, once visible on the web, may never entirely disappear! And how misinformation and opinions can be endlessly cloned.

 

The Nikkormat thing just strikes me as very strange. Nearly ALL 50s-70s mechanical cameras have their own unique kinks and working oddities. Why the Nikkormat is dismissed for its unique design aspects is just weird, especially because they are among the few outstanding cameras of their time that are still plentiful, working, and have remained reasonably priced. And there are lots of great non-AI Nikkor lenses around that are also real bargains. (E.g., I picked up a vintage-1961 Nikkor 13.5cm/3.5 last week, in good working condition... for $36!)