james_kennedy2 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 prefer? I have never held a Leica SLR. I have owned, used, or borrowed the following: Voigtlander vito b, vito III, vitomatic II and IIa, CLR, vitessa L and T, prominent, Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35, Retina IIa and IIIc, Konica auto S2, Canon FT-QL, FTb, F-1, T90, and Nikon Fmn2. I think the Leica threadmounts are among the most elegant rangefinders ever built and I have been pleased with the photo quality, but if Leica had never existed, I think my first choice among the cameras I have experienced would be (1) rangefinder - Kodak Retina IIIc and (2) SLR - Canon T90, based on how they feel in my hand, quality of workmanship, portability, flexibility, and the images they produce. I guess I prefer the era of 20 to 40 years ago, but I also preferred me during that era. I have yet to experience a Contax IIa or III, or a Nikon F2 or any classic Nikon rangefinders. If I had, they may have risen to the top of my list. I would be interested in reading on how you would rank your favorite non-Leica cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boris_brecelj Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Since I do not have any experience with the "old" rangefinders... Nikon F3 regards, b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luisarguelles Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Non-Leica rangefinders: Contax G system. Although viewfinders aren't their stronger point, Zeiss glass is incredible. About focusing problems, except in a very few cases, it's always a question of users not understanding the focusing systems of the Gs. The Konica Hexar AF is an incredible camera, also. </p> 35mm reflex: Nikon F2 and probably Olympus OM-1. </p> 6x6: A TLR Rolleiflex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_. Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 If there had never been a Leica there might never have been any of the other 35mm rangefinder cameras, in fact it's hard to say if 35mm photography and the whole amateur-fueled shutterbug explosion of the post-WWII-era would have happened. However for the sake of hypothesizing, I would have probably ended up with an Olympus OM system for travel photography as it was the smallest around and lasted until just a couple years ago. Otherwise I'd own all the same cameras I currently use for other purposes than travel: Nikon F, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, EOS. And if there had never been a Leica I would still have the thousands of dollars I lost flushed down the toilet on the R system and would not have had all that aggravation and stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kastner Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Nikon F2A or F3, <b><i>NOT</i></b> an F2AS or 4 or 5. <br>Nikonos II or III, <b><i>NOT</i></b> a IV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy m. Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Why not the F2AS? I have owned and F2A, but always understood that the F2AS had a more reliable meter, which, by the way, died on my F2A.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiblanke Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 For me it would be a nice 2.8 Planar Rolleiflex and a Contax SLR, either the 159mm or the Aria. Over the last months my Leica is gathering a bit of dust, since I got a 'new' 2.8e and a nice 200/3.5 Tele Tessar for my old Contax RTS. <p> Rangefinder ? Are there any other rangefinders than Leicas ? If I needed to choose on, maybe the Olympus 35 RD that is sittin around somewhere on my shelves ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel_utting1 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Pentax screwthread. Great bodies and beautiful lenses (try the 105mm f/2.8, sharp as a pin) for silly-cheap prices. Nigel. http://www.m-fortytwo.info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Way back it would've been the Canon F1 and black FTB that were my first "real" cameras. Today, I'd just be without a rangefinder. Tried and hated all the others other than Leica M. (except the Hasselbad X-Pan or Fuji counterpart, which maybe I'd have if there was no M system) Other than that, I have all the cameras I'd use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kastner Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Andy, I preferred the F2A over the AS because (at least for me) the F2A's needle position <i>movement</i> (left, right, or center) being possibly continuous was more visible or convenient than the AS, whose LED somehow rather <i>stood or sat</i> left, right, or center (sort of like my M6 TTL). Whew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_evans4 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 <p><em>Nigel. http://www.m-fortytwo.info</em></p><p>The opening page makes this site look promising, but it's utterly unusable for those who don't have Java installed. This seems both sad and -- since the huge majority of sites don't require Java for navigation -- surprising. Incidentally, while Mozilla tells me that I need a plug-in, Konqueror doesn't even tell me this. I'll bet a fair number of visitors just think "This site's broken" and turn away.</p><p>As for the SP500, that was my first "serious" camera too. Unfortunately it was stolen a couple of decades later, but I still have the 55/2 lens that came with it; I can use this on my Canon F-1.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy m. Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Michael, I know what you mean about that. I love the F2s, probably the best built SLR camera ever. <p>I have subsequently found out that the photomic meters can almost alway be fixed. The mechanical parts aren't going to wear out in a hurry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karim Ghantous Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Nikon, definitely Nikon. The rangefinders and the F series SLRs. I'm going towards a Nikon kit this year I think. I look forward to it. I hope I'm right and that my attraction to Nikon is not just novelty. Well, it can't be all novelty since I've been wanting Nikon SLRs since I was in my late teens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTC Photography Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Riga Minox. The format is unrelated to the existance or non existance of Leica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volume12 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 I'd probably go for the Xpan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 It might be fun to still have the Exakta VX-IIA that I once owned. I traded it for a Miranda DR with an adapter to take auto Exakta mount lenses. I liked the 90/2.5 Angenieux but the 20 and 25mm East German Zeiss Flektagons were FANTASTIC lenses and the 180/2.8 and 300/4 could certainly hold their own against the competition. Big and heavy, but without the adapters for Exakta or Pentax/Practica they worked on the Pentacon-Six and most other East German 6x6 SLR's of the era. Miranda had the sexiest ads in the business in the 60's. I wonder what they'd be like now if they were still in business... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christian_hilmersen1 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 For SLR the T90 is still my choice - maybe Leica SLRs are as good. Well, and the Hexar RF would still be my choice too - so no change really ;-) (For MF, I regrett buying Mamiya and not Hassy...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis1 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Al, I have no idead what you just said ;) how's fishing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_elwing Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 y'all flock in like flies around something dead when this sort of thing comes up. We loves it. If there had never been a Leica, my favourite 35mm camera now might be something like a Russian Zenit 3M with non return mirror and pre set lens, because that's about as far as 35mm photography might have advanced by now, or maybe my Rolleiflex TLR digital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n1664876959 Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 My Nikon F3 system. Indestructible. <br><br> Karim: Take a look at the <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond70/">D70</a>. Nice! And it will use my manual Nikkors!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msitaraman Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 My dad & mom's Contax IIa, which they had the great good sense to buy a year before I was born. After college, I got a Nikon FM (that I still use), which is a whole different beast. But I loved that Contax, and the collapsible Tessar 50. Alas, it was stolen in NYC in 1979,then a mean and dangerous place . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_. Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 if it ain't a leica, it ain't a camera. serious, I would probably be happy with my nikon F but only the original F. Of course at the end I will still get into digital when the film dies...ops, here we go again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreas_t Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Nikon F, FM2 and of course, Hasselblad. Never used any RF but Leica, so I can't judge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_kastner Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Again, me too, yes I liked old Nikons. Maybe even the best things about an ol' F or F2 or F3 (as well as my old, long-gone) FM or FM2 were the facts that they too were (a) indestructable (I think) and (b) that their VF's framings/sizings were really 100% ON (I KNOW that). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans_beckert Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Miranda.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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