Best 35mm camera design - or rather - which is your favorite?

brofkand · Apr 8, 2013

In MF, the best 35mm SLR for me is the Pentax LX. I love the layout of the camera, the gorgeous viewfinder, and the metering system.

In AF, it's a tossup between the Pentax MZ-S and Nikon F100. I am a Pentax fan, so I tend to side with the MZ-S. I love how nearly everything can be done on the camera without ever removing the camera from your eye or shifting your grip. It's also small and well built like the LX. I tend to like small cameras and small lenses, so the MF/AF Pentax cameras (namely the LX and MZ-S) are my choices.

Also owned an MX and loved it. I just preferred the LX's metering system, viewfinder, and great exposure counter better (it counts forward and backwards, making it easy to remove film mid-roll if necessary).

jumbosilverette · Apr 8, 2013

I've never owned one, but I always thought the Pentax Spotmatic was a really well-designed camera; same for the Nikon F, sans photomic finder.

LJSLATER · Apr 8, 2013

Les Sarile said:
Is the failure mechanical or in its electronics - or both?

John asked me the same thing on Flickr; mostly mechanical/build quality issues:

The prism lock wore out, so the prism doesn't seat properly; you have to sort of mash it against your face to get the contacts to touch, allowing the body and prism to communicate with each other.

The prism has developed the dreaded LCD bleed.

It took me a while to figure this next one out: you know the lever inside the mirror box that controls the aperture on the lens? I don't know what it's called, but it stopped going down during exposure, leading to over-exposed photos. As a workaround, I jammed the depth-of-field button in so the camera now has permanent depth-of-field preview AND stop-down metering, which I actually kind of like (you simply have to use the old-fashioned "focus wide open, stop down to shoot" method).

One night in the dark, I accidentally yanked on my cable release, and the whole cable release socket on the back of the camera came out!

What eventually forced me to stop using the camera was when the motor drive became unable to advance the film properly. Maybe a stripped gear? I never did open 'er up.

I keep it mostly for sentimental reasons. It was my first pro body, and I used it to shoot my own wedding. The photos I made with this camera remind me of a different time in my life; I only had a single lens at the time (50mm f/1.8D), and I was very inexperienced as a photographer. Good times.

Weasel_Loader · Apr 8, 2013

Really love my Nikon F5. It's very easy for me to switch from my D700 since controls are pretty close and I can use my two favorite lenses (50mm f/1.4G & 70-200mm f/2.8).

cyrano55 · Apr 9, 2013

GKR1 said:
Nikon F4. By far is the best 35mm imho

I'd love to see a digital F4, same layout,everything except a different back.
My favourite SLR by a margin.Ever.

Trevorbray · Apr 9, 2013

My first proper camera was a Spotmatic. Loved it, but...lusted after the Nikon F2 Photomic. Couldn't afford one.

Luckily now I've got a pair. F2AS & F2A. Spotmatic is long gone but not forgotten. Favourite has to be the F2A.
i find I prefer the needle to the LED readout.

Still time and room for a decent spotty though...who knows...

andrewc · Apr 9, 2013

Canon 1v/HS. It's just perfect.

cjbecker · Apr 9, 2013

I think the f2 would be the perfect 35mm camera if it has the same shutter speed dial off the fm fe series but in metal form.

The normal one is too small.

Without metered finder.

viridari · Apr 9, 2013

If my Olympus XA had a brighter / higher contrast rangefinder, I might have to go with it for the shear fact that it's the 35mm camera that I've got no excuse not to carry. So I'm still looking for my perfect 35mm camera.

Robert Liebermann · Apr 9, 2013

That's one thing I really like about (analog) photography: quality

Oh, man! Most all of them are so neatly designed, it's hard to decide. That's one thing I really like about (analog) photography: working with quality instruments, designed to serve and built with pride to last.

I've always liked the ergonomics vs. functionality of the >>Canon A1<<, and like many others, >>spotmatics<< and - my favorite camera overall, >>Nikkormat FTn<< (or is it Ftn, or FTN, PhD, pH, or something else?? - dang I'm getting old, I forget, and I don't care).

Oh yeah (looking above) - the XA, too. And, despite the failure rate, which is high, the Soviet Lomo LC-A (copy of a Cosina with very slight changes) is superb (before the shutter fails). I could take that around with me in the xUSSR in the early 1990s (before the 'lomographics', btw) and make great clandestine street photos with one hand (take from pocket, open, prefocus, shoot, close, return to pocket in a few seconds)...

I like the >>Linhof Color<<, too... And the <<Sinar P>> I just bought seems good, though it makes me want a >>Norma<<... I think I like the <<RB67>>, too - I find it very >>manly<<

cjbecker · Apr 9, 2013

Ive never used a sinar narma but it's a epicenter of craftmenship.

pmller · Apr 11, 2013

I've been very happy with my Contax 139. I'm somewhat certain that the RX and RTS are even more neat but for now supplementing the Contax System with a 'modern' (read: still current) SLR system is higher on my agenda then getting one of those

I.G.I. · May 1, 2013

Well, the 35 mm camera I find most fascinating is Rolleiflex 2002/3003. A daring unorthodox design with fanatical attention to detail and execution. Unfortunately it's not only expensive, but pretty rare as well so, I gather, trying to complement a kit from scratch today will prove both haemorrhaging and an exercise of frustration.

polka · May 1, 2013

No other Minox35 (EL) amateurs here ? this is my prefered minimalist 35mm design, and the camera that was always in my pocket and thus, that shot most frequently. My brother had a Rollei35, but now broken whereas my minox still kicks. And the box is more streamlined thus easier to "slide" into or outof any pocket.

Paul

beegee675 · May 1, 2013

MattKing said:
+1

+2!

elekm · May 1, 2013

I.G.I. said:
Well, the 35 mm camera I find most fascinating is Rolleiflex 2002/3003. A daring unorthodox design with fanatical attention to detail and execution. Unfortunately it's not only expensive, but pretty rare as well so, I gather, trying to complement a kit from scratch today will prove both haemorrhaging and an exercise of frustration.

There is also the Rolleiflex 3001, which is a "budget" version of the 3003. It lacks the waist-level viewfinder and a shutter release for vertical shots. Otherwise, it's a pretty cool camera and can sometimes be less expensive than the 3003.

Yashicano Alemán · May 2, 2013

blockend2 said:
There was an article by a photographer many years ago who bemoaned the fact that Pentax were dropping their Spotmatic range. She had become so in tune with her 'Spots that she could tell what shutter speed and aperture they were set at by the feel of the dials and without taking the camera from her eye. That intuitiveness was a product of the cameras of the era. Most people didn't familiarise themselves with their equipment to the same degree, which lead to AF, matrix metering, sub-menus and the rest of the tricks that made cameras more user friendly to the masses, but encourages less intimacy compared to those willing to put in the time on a manual camera.

Excellent assessment!

blockend2 said:
In this 'post-film', GAS-rich time the chance of building the same relationship with one piece of equipment is less. The compromise I favour are manual focus, lightweight bodied SLR cameras with modern battery systems, late 70s/early 80s stuff fits the bill.

ACK, again. I guess this why I more and more often find myself leaving my RTS III brick on the shelf and packing an FX-D or FX-3 instead. Wonderful 'low-profile' cameras that work with cheap LR44s, small, light-weight yet reliable workhorses. What more should I want to ask for?

Michael

Paul Howell · May 2, 2013

The best rangfinder I have ever used was the M6, 35mm SLR manual focus I like Konica T 3, SLR with motor drive F2, Autofocus Sigma SA 9.

DannL · May 3, 2013

I can say that the Yashica fX-2 is the finest 35mm camera that I own. It's also the only 35mm SLR that I own, and for good reason. It has everything I could possibly desire in a miniature format camera. Film at one end, and a lens at the other. It's a simple camera with no automatic features.

I.G.I. · May 3, 2013

elekm said:
There is also the Rolleiflex 3001, which is a "budget" version of the 3003. It lacks the waist-level viewfinder and a shutter release for vertical shots. Otherwise, it's a pretty cool camera and can sometimes be less expensive than the 3003.

Thanks for the comment, and for adding the nice photo. Heheh... with or without a waist-level finder till one assemble a nice range of lenses, and the necessary accessories the total cost doubtless will skyrocket. Nevertheless, an awesome piece of gear.

lxdude · May 3, 2013

I.G.I. said:
Well, the 35 mm camera I find most fascinating is Rolleiflex 2002/3003. A daring unorthodox design with fanatical attention to detail and execution. Unfortunately it's not only expensive, but pretty rare as well so, I gather, trying to complement a kit from scratch today will prove both haemorrhaging and an exercise of frustration.

2002? I only know of the SL2000 and the 3000 series cameras.

I.G.I. · May 5, 2013

lxdude said:
2002? I only know of the SL2000 and the 3000 series cameras.

Sorry, a typo of mine.

Nicholas Lindan · May 6, 2013

Exakta 500 - if we are talking design and not execution...

It's a nice chunky brick of a camera that fits the hands perfectly.http://www.cameraquest.com/exa500.htm

Unfortunately it has a bit of the FSU 'Tractor School of Design' about it, evident when you wind the film on and hear the gears having "workers' paradise contradictions." But, hey, you can identify the sound of each and every gear -- it's sort of an emotional connection with the camera.

---

I also thought the Miranda Sensomat was neat: A Pentax Spotmatic with a removable finder; the metering cell was in the mirror, a la the Topcon. But again, a triumph of design - Miranda's were not noted for reliability.

gone · May 6, 2013

Literally anything w/ AE and AE-Lock. It has to have both. I have 35mm and MF folders, and a couple of TLR's, but nothing is as quick or as intuitive to use as a camera w/ those two features.

schewct · May 9, 2013

I would take the Canon New F1.

Best 35mm camera design - or rather - which is your favorite?

I.G.I.

I.G.I.

I.G.I.

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