Camera Manufacturers

[Huss]

A more meaningful question might be "which is the most reliable camera at a given price point?"

That's tough too, as I just got this last week for $15 (lens not included) and it works perfectly. And will stand up to reliable cameras at any price point.

 

[blockend]

That's tough too, as I just got this last week for $15 (lens not included) and it works perfectly.

I meant at the original price point, obviously. The market for film cameras in 2016 is very different from 1965 to 1995. Today a compact Japanese fixed lens rangefinder might be worth as much as a top of the range SLR priced eight times more in the 1970s.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Now that the ice has been broken, everyone will jump in with their favorite camera drug of choice. Let the blood letting begin:

Hasselblad
Leica
Nikon
Minolta SR, SRT, ...
Graphic
Graflex​

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... There are some that have not, in my experience, aged well because of materials issues, or whatever. They tend to be all Exakta, the Minolta SRT line, Petri and a few others that do not come to mind at the moment.
...

My experience with Exakta is completely different. I have three Exakta VX's which work perfectly, including the timed and slow speeds. Same is true of my VXIIa, except it caps at 1/1000. Maybe my experience is skewed since I tend to buy only the ones that look very good.

It took a long time for me to find a SRT-101 that was not beat to hell and also working - but it was worth it.

Petri and Kowa 35mm were the dogs that came to mind in my first post, but didn't want to mention them. Never owned one, but I remember others complaining about them even in the early 1970's.

I would have no issue with anyone proclaiming Nikkormat as being the all-time most rugged. I would expect a plain-prism F or plain-prism F2 to be equally rugged, 'cept they're far less common.

 

[Les Sarile]

I can't tell if you're serious, but I'll assume not. People like to make fun of the C3 because of its ugliness and ubiquity, and perhaps because it was intended for the average person to use. But have you ever picked up a C3, the youngest of which are 50 years old, and had it not work?

Yes as the manual I posted came with the Argus C3 that belonged to my buddy's mom. Too bad he couldn't find the meter that it originally came with.

I have a few 50's era cameras that are all fully functional and cosmetically in good shape - good light tight boxes. The selenium meter in the Balda Baldamatic 1 is even accurate.

 

[benjiboy]

Argus of course as it is the only one that I am aware of that offered a Lifetime guarantee . . .

"Lifetime guarantee" means they were impregnated with a deadly poison that was ingested through the skin guaranteeing the buyer doesn't live long enough to collect on it

 

[Chan Tran]

If you could rank the all the major camera manufacturers in terms of quality and reliability with 1 being the highest, what would your list be?

What would your list be? Why do you ask?

 

[elcabezagrande]

I wonder what the lens quality was like on the C3.

The C3 lens is a clone of the Leitz Elmar. Draw your own conclusion from that.

 

[fstop]

+1

++11

all major brands have great cameras. so a list it just pointless opition for the most part. Should be out using those great cameras rather then talking about them.

Good point.Going out to shoot some flowers with my latest F2.

Some such SLRs are good, such as the AE-1, but I suggest avoiding some others such as Minolta's X-series

Just like the X series, the AE-1 is plastic as is the A-1.I have some old Minoltas that have the capacitor problem some has been working for 30 years, so its hit or miss, every AE and A-1 I have had always had the Canon cough.minors problems such as these don't stop me from using them, the X series are quite capable of producing outstanding image quality due to the fact they have aperture priority metering and stepless shutter control combined with great glass.

 

[Paul Howell]

The C3 lens is a clone of the Leitz Elmar. Draw your own conclusion from that.

I thought the Leitz Elmar was a 4 element and the Arugs 50mm was a 3 element based on the Cooke?

 

[elcabezagrande]

I thought the Leitz Elmar was a 4 element and the Arugs 50mm was a 3 element based on the Cooke?

They are both variants of the Cooke triplet.

 

[Alan Gales]

That's easy. It would be most large format cameras. No electronics, no mirrors, no focal plane shutters, no film advances, etc.

Next to that would probably be the Mamiya TLR's.

Of course I'm talking quality with the best reliability.

 

[Alan Gales]

Years ago I was talking to a salesman/friend of mine at the local pro shop. He said that the biggest repair problem with 35mm cameras was the manual film advance.They would jam. When Contax came out with the electronic film advance cameras they were the most reliable and trouble free cameras on the market. Of course today all those cameras are old and you are better off with an old mechanical camera than an old electronic camera.

 

[ciniframe]

Don't forget the Kodak model 124 Instamatic camera that used 126 film. Just about bulletproof.
Sigh, just too sad that no one makes 126 film anymore.

 

[Paul Howell]

They are both variants of the Cooke triplet.

But not a clone, Argus designed it own lens, I have a C33 and it's 50mm is a nice lens and underrated.

 

[Xmas]

But not a clone, Argus designed it own lens, I have a C33 and it's 50mm is a nice lens and underrated.

Yes you have to decide on the set of glasses you use,... and tolerances, but if the patent was still valid you would be in trouble.
So a copy is accurate for most triplets.

 

[Jim Jones]

In my many decades of using 35mm film cameras, Leica was the best engineered and most durable. My Leica M4 has been perfectly reliable since 1970. Nikon and Nikkormat were good, but the two Nikkorex cameras I owned were definitely not. A new Nikon FM-10 ought for a friend developed several problems. So did the new Miranda I owned for several months, although its three lenses were fine. The Argus C3, like the Mercury II, was simple and cleverly designed. I've seen several C3s that had problems. The Mercury was more robust. In American press cameras I prefer the Speed Graphic. Its complete system was extensive and the engineering and construction were fine. The metal bodies of the Busch, B&J, and Meridian had little advantages. Each of those three had features that were sometimes better than the SG, but usually not enough so to make up for their shortcomings.

 

[GarageBoy]

Anything not made in the USSR - unless you like "at gunpoint" workmanship

 

[compasiune11]

Canon
Nikon
The rest

 

[benjiboy]

How do you compare the potential reliability of cameras of unknown history 30+ years old bought off eBay that have most probably not been serviced since they were manufactured however prestigious the brand, it's a crap shoot.

 

[jvo]

I can't tell if you're serious, but I'll assume not. People like to make fun of the C3 because of its ugliness and ubiquity, and perhaps because it was intended for the average person to use. But have you ever picked up a C3, the youngest of which are 50 years old, and had it not work?

In a lot of ways the C3 epitomizes American engineering of its period, reliable, serviceable, and designed to be used, rather than admired. Mechanically they are simple, unsophisticated machines. While it would be hyperbole to praise their design as minimalist, simplicity is their strength, since there's not much to go wrong.

you can read the argus guarantee on the cover of the instruction booklet...

 

[RalphLambrecht]

If you could rank the all the major camera manufacturers in terms of quality and reliability with 1 being the highest, what would your list be?

I don't know of any real bad camera brand but I know about a bunch of good once.Buy the one who's feature you like and then buy the best glass you can afford for it.

 

[fstop]

That's easy. It would be most large format cameras. No electronics, no mirrors, no focal plane shutters, no film advances, etc.

Next to that would probably be the Mamiya TLR's.

Of course I'm talking quality with the best reliability.

This is the 35mm Cameras and Accessories forum

 

[Alan Gales]

The OP asked about all camera manufacturers and did not specify 35mm. Others before me mentioned various medium and large format cameras so I made my post.

You are correct that this is the 35mm section though.

 

[michr]

Somewhere need the bottom of the list has to be the Anscos and Agfas with the grease problem. Most of them are beautiful cameras but with a fatal flaw. A few months ago I bought a near-perfect looking Ansco Super Regent, but because of the grease issue, all it does is sit on the shelf.