The Camera you wish you would have bought

[keith alan sprouse]

Well, my first serious camera was an N80, and although at the time it was perfect, for some time I wished that I had an F100. But then yesterday, I traded my N80 in and got one :-)

 

I would love to have a Leica, and sooner or later I'll probably get one, but it would accompany my F100, not replace it.

[scott_warn]

The champagne special edition Nikon F3T with the matching serial numbers on lens and body with the wood presentation box. A local camera shop was closing one out at 800.00 and I always regretted not biting on it. Another that I passed on and regret are a 300.00 S3 in excellent cosmetic condidtion with a poorly aligned rangefinder, the shop would not dicker and I walked away. Also an SP in VG condition for 400.00, I thought the condition merited a lower price and this shop didn't agree, rare as the SP's are they may have been right.

[matt lang]

A Linholf 4x5 portable, with four lenses...

 

I used one a couple times as an apprentice in a studio in 1982... what a great camera. My boss just let me use it whenever I wanted, and being in highschool without wheels, I used to take this case full of equipment and a tripod on the bus in hawaii and go shooting! What a life!

[lex_jenkins]

Just a friendly correction, Dandrew...the OM-1/N has an ordinary metering cell located in the pentaprism where it's a bit vulnerable to error from stray light entering the eyepiece.

 

The OM-2 was the first to introduce off the film metering. The OM-2N added a few refinements. Either is capable of adapting to changes in the light, unlike the F3 metering cell which goes brain dead once that mirror flips up. Often there's little practical difference but it would be nice to have the OM-2/N's more flexible metering system in the F3.

[al_tan]

Hi Abbie,

 

When I started dabbling in photography, I wished I had the Olympus OM4Ti. Why? Because it was always on the back cover of every National Geographic and it looked "cool" then. My uncles had the Nikon FM and the Pentax MX then.

 

But I started with a Yashica FX3, for practical reasons. I was still schooling and it would have taken years before sufficient pocket money was saved. Then I progressed to the Yashica FX103. Some years later, with more savings, I embarked on the Nikon system and got the FG, then later the FA. That was when I lusted after the F3. I must say that the FA was the best camera I've ever used and today, I regret selling that (and all the lenses), having decided to give up the hobby for lack of funds to continue shooting.

 

About 8 years ago, I got itchy again and bought the FM10, which I later traded up for the FM2n and rediscovered the joys of photography. Then I went on to acquire the F80 when I figured I could use the AF (and its other functions) when I needed one-hand operation.

 

Now, I use the FM3A along with the F80 (although to a lesser extent) and am happy I didn't get that OM4Ti.

 

Forgive me for the rambling but in my years of taking pictures, I've come to realise that all cameras are more or less the same, only some are built tougher, some have faster shutter speeds, some have matrix or spot metering and so on.

 

The one thing (ok, two) that really makes the difference is the choice of lens and your brain. It's ultimately how you see and translate everyday things into beauty that eludes the most of us.

[thidglance]

This is an easy question.

 

F3H (Not to be confused with the HP) - The F3H is the high speed version of the F3, made for the Nagino winter olympics I think. Anyway - 13.5 frames per second, pelical mirror, I would enjoy it as much without the motor drive !

[federico2]

I'm only a 20 year old swiss student with no income, so that will remain a dream for a

loooong time, but THE camera i'd love to own is definitely an Alpa 12 SWA. I don't know if

you know about it, but it looks the most awesome camera on earth to me. If you have

never seen it, check it out at http://www.alpa.ch/.<div></div>

[msitaraman]

When I was 20, I was buying a Nikon FM at Olden Camera in NYC. In the time I was deciding between it and a Pentax MX, a guy walked up casually, asked to see a Hasselblad, which I lusted after immediately. He paid for it and a couple of lenses and was gone within 5 minutes. That first encounter with the power of great wealth was extremely discouraging!

 

But seriously, the big regret I have is not buying the Nikon 105/2.5 in the early 80s when, looking back, I could have afforded it. I put it off for years, and never have gotten around to it. There were plenty of portrait headshots that I still wish I had done in those years-many are still in my mind's eye...

 

Instead, I made do with a 28/2.E lens and a Nikkor 50/2.0 for over a decade.

 

I did regret not getting the smaller Pentax MX as well for a long time. My hands are smallish, and they would have liked the smaller, lighter camera more. And Pentax lenses were much cheaper than Nikkors, so I likely would have bought a portrait tele years earlier than I actually did.

 

 

But I am older now, and wiser, so I have abandoned good sense and thrift in purchasing camera gear!

 

:-)

[titrisol]

Rolleiflex SL66 with sport finder and a couple of lenses and a new focusing screen.

 

I may still buy one if I can win lottto :)

[dave wyman]

All those great cameras I might still have owned, had not digital cameras come along. I'm sorry I never owned an Olympus OM1. However, I used the wonderful Pentax MX for many years, which was, I think, slightly superior to the OM1.