Your favourite film camera
wide angle rolleiflex, plaubel67, nikon f5 or f3.....contax rts, and last but by no means least a contarex "cyclops" and I know im giving my age away with that little lot
My favourite has to be either...
The Kodak Brownie Cresta that started me off (remember the slide that changed between cloud filter and close-up lens?).
Or the Halina A1 TLR that I bought when I sold my electric train set in 1958.
Or the Pentax 67 that I made most money with as an amateur freelance in the 1980s.
****...there really were no BAD cameras in those far-off days of our youth.
The Kodak Brownie Cresta that started me off (remember the slide that changed between cloud filter and close-up lens?).
Or the Halina A1 TLR that I bought when I sold my electric train set in 1958.
Or the Pentax 67 that I made most money with as an amateur freelance in the 1980s.
****...there really were no BAD cameras in those far-off days of our youth.
Just some cameras I've met over the years..........
Pentax ME super
Pentax K1000
Canon AE1
Canon EOS5
Mamiya RB67 (I slept with this one, it was so good!)
Nikon F3 (or was it the F5............one of those anyway.)
Pentax ME super
Pentax K1000
Canon AE1
Canon EOS5
Mamiya RB67 (I slept with this one, it was so good!)
Nikon F3 (or was it the F5............one of those anyway.)
Olympus PEN EE
Pentax ME Super
Canon EOS 10
All brilliant in different ways
Pentax ME Super
Canon EOS 10
All brilliant in different ways
Some great memories here. 
Minolta 9000 (spaceman and chavender) - yes, a ground-breaking camera which I believe enjoyed a loyal following from quite a few professionals. I'm not sure now, but I believe the 7000 and 9000 were Minolta's first two (and very successful) AF SLRs, with body-integral AF. The Dynax 7000i built on the success of the 7000, albeit in a for-the-time rather unusual-looking body (elegantly curvaceous and with a satin/gloss finish). But the 8000i (slightly more glossy) was certainly not a replacement for the 9000, which I think soldiered on for a while longer. Again, my memory may be wrong but I believe the next Dynax model aimed at the professional and semi-pro was the 9xi?
Contax 139 (fraser) - I remember it, although it was way out of my price range!
Quote:****...there really were no BAD cameras in those far-off days of our youth.
Oh yes there were! Well okay, there would have been nothing wrong with the camera when it was new I dare say, but my first camera was a Kodak Brownie Vecta which my father bought for me from the local junk shop. And I do mean junk shop - it was the kind of place where you could have bought a disused gas meter, a couple of forks, and the left foot of shop-window mannequin! As I recall, it had it's first and last use in my possession on a family trip to Longleat, and the shutter release kept sticking. I think it was replaced by a much more reliable Instamatic from the same shop pretty much right after that trip. You really don't need all that many blurred photos of your Dad's nose, or the inside of the car roof (as he tried to unstick the shutter release!)
Minolta 9000 (spaceman and chavender) - yes, a ground-breaking camera which I believe enjoyed a loyal following from quite a few professionals. I'm not sure now, but I believe the 7000 and 9000 were Minolta's first two (and very successful) AF SLRs, with body-integral AF. The Dynax 7000i built on the success of the 7000, albeit in a for-the-time rather unusual-looking body (elegantly curvaceous and with a satin/gloss finish). But the 8000i (slightly more glossy) was certainly not a replacement for the 9000, which I think soldiered on for a while longer. Again, my memory may be wrong but I believe the next Dynax model aimed at the professional and semi-pro was the 9xi?
Contax 139 (fraser) - I remember it, although it was way out of my price range!
Quote:****...there really were no BAD cameras in those far-off days of our youth.
Oh yes there were! Well okay, there would have been nothing wrong with the camera when it was new I dare say, but my first camera was a Kodak Brownie Vecta which my father bought for me from the local junk shop. And I do mean junk shop - it was the kind of place where you could have bought a disused gas meter, a couple of forks, and the left foot of shop-window mannequin! As I recall, it had it's first and last use in my possession on a family trip to Longleat, and the shutter release kept sticking. I think it was replaced by a much more reliable Instamatic from the same shop pretty much right after that trip. You really don't need all that many blurred photos of your Dad's nose, or the inside of the car roof (as he tried to unstick the shutter release!)
Quote:Single handedly it changed the way SLR cameras look and handle, previously no other manufacturer had thought about the ergonomics of its cameras
Hmm the ergonomic came about years before with the release of the OM1
I've still got some my film kit up in the loft an AE-1 and a T-70 and a small selection of lenses, never had the heart to sell them on. I've also still got my very first camera a Kodak Brownie 127 given to me as a child secondhand, and still in working condition, worth just a few pennies now I guess. But again can't bear I can't bear to part myself from it.
Ade
Ade
I'd forgotten about the EOS 3's eye-controlled focus! And as for changing the look of SLRs, redsnappa mentioned the T90, but the T70 was also a very different-looking beast. I seem to recall feeling slightly irritated at the photo magazines raving about the push-button shutter speed control on the T70 - often the same reviewers who had criticised push-button shutter speed control on the earlier Pentax ME Super as "fiddly". 
T70
Does anybody remember the Olympus IS-1000 (and other cameras in that range? My father had one for a time. He had at one time owned an OM-1, which unfortunately he lost when it was stolen from him. The iS-1000 was a nicely built piece of kit, but not a patch on an OM. Also the AF was slow and uncertain compared with the leaders at the time, especially Minolta and Canon, and despite Olympus' conviction that non-interchangeable zoom lenses was the way to go in SLR design, I think most people felt that it was too limiting, potentially.
Another bold idea was the Yashica Samurai range. It looked and handled more like a small camcorder, and used 35mm film in half-frame format.
T70
Does anybody remember the Olympus IS-1000 (and other cameras in that range? My father had one for a time. He had at one time owned an OM-1, which unfortunately he lost when it was stolen from him. The iS-1000 was a nicely built piece of kit, but not a patch on an OM. Also the AF was slow and uncertain compared with the leaders at the time, especially Minolta and Canon, and despite Olympus' conviction that non-interchangeable zoom lenses was the way to go in SLR design, I think most people felt that it was too limiting, potentially.
Another bold idea was the Yashica Samurai range. It looked and handled more like a small camcorder, and used 35mm film in half-frame format.
35mm, has to be Olympus OM1. My favorite camera of all time.
Medium Format: Mamiya C330, loved the bellows focussing but was a beast to carry all day at weddings. Superb optics.
I also had a Ricoh XR-X which, like the T90 mentioned ealier, was way ahead of it's time.
Medium Format: Mamiya C330, loved the bellows focussing but was a beast to carry all day at weddings. Superb optics.
I also had a Ricoh XR-X which, like the T90 mentioned ealier, was way ahead of it's time.
An Olympus OM20 was my first camera - took some great pics (with the Olympus/Zuiko lenses) and was easy to use. Never had a problem with it and it's still upstairs.
My first AF camera was the Canon EOS 600. The AF was quick and ideal for my favourite photographic subject (at the time) - motorsport. But it suffered from the sticky shutter problem. Lasted about 20 years though before it was consigned to the bin.
I also had a Bronica ETRISi - the quality of pics was up another level and I thoroughly enjoyed tinkering in the darkroom developing both B/W and colour pics (although I never really got great results with colour printing).
Ahh....the good old days....
My first AF camera was the Canon EOS 600. The AF was quick and ideal for my favourite photographic subject (at the time) - motorsport. But it suffered from the sticky shutter problem. Lasted about 20 years though before it was consigned to the bin.
I also had a Bronica ETRISi - the quality of pics was up another level and I thoroughly enjoyed tinkering in the darkroom developing both B/W and colour pics (although I never really got great results with colour printing).
Ahh....the good old days....
My first serious camera was a Zenith, I suspect along with many on EPZ of a certain age. I then graduated to a Yashica FXD. Brilliant SLR but the film camera I have a real soft spot for was my little pocketable Minox with the fold-out lens. Superb little thing with a great lens.
The Olympus OM-1 was (and still is) a thing of beauty, both aesthetically and in terms of engineering. A true classic, in my opinion. If I didn't buy a Pentax ME Super for old time's sake, I think one of the OM range would be the most likely to attract my cash. And not just because I now have an OM-D E-M5 !
Ah, sweet memories!
My first 'real' camera was an OM-1n, bought from Dixons (as was) in Plymouth c 1981 using the dreaded HP. Had it for 8 years but it was nicked from my workshop when I was self employed.
In 1991, I bought an OM-3 from a funny little s/h shop in Detmold, Germany when I was working there. The OM-3 is now very rare and I regret selling it as it was a superb camera (had spot metering).
Switched to medium format around 1993 and used s/h Bronicas (645) and a Mamiya 645. In 1994 (or thereabouts) I bought a s/h Mamiya C330 and 55mm and 80mm lenses which I still have to this day. Bought them for a song from an old man living in Poole, Dorset.
This thread has made me want to dig out the old C330 and stick some film in it
My first 'real' camera was an OM-1n, bought from Dixons (as was) in Plymouth c 1981 using the dreaded HP. Had it for 8 years but it was nicked from my workshop when I was self employed.
In 1991, I bought an OM-3 from a funny little s/h shop in Detmold, Germany when I was working there. The OM-3 is now very rare and I regret selling it as it was a superb camera (had spot metering).
Switched to medium format around 1993 and used s/h Bronicas (645) and a Mamiya 645. In 1994 (or thereabouts) I bought a s/h Mamiya C330 and 55mm and 80mm lenses which I still have to this day. Bought them for a song from an old man living in Poole, Dorset.
This thread has made me want to dig out the old C330 and stick some film in it
Quote:The Olympus OM-1 was (and still is) a thing of beauty, both aesthetically and in terms of engineering. A true classic, in my opinion
That was a work of pure genius, how many other slr`s come with both the aperture and shutter speed dial close to the lens
