Cameras you don't click with.

BradS · Dec 22, 2022

I started think about the cameras that I didn't click with and pretty quickly realized that for me, the list is pretty much every medium format camera I've ever owned or used - and there have been a few....Mamiya Press, RB-67, C220f, C330, Bronica RF645, YashicaMat 124, various folders and pinholes. I have had brief love-hate relationships with all of these. I still have a couple ZeroImage pinhole cameras around here somewhere and an old folder but all the rest have been sold or given away.

rcphoto · Dec 22, 2022

I forgot about the 124g. I inherited one but I hate using it. It just seems so finicky sometimes.

4season · Dec 22, 2022

My reference standard is a field camera with a whole range of rarely-used movements, all of which need to be locked down before the camera is used, and loosened up again when it's folded for transport. Combine that with a bulky lens which needs to be removed before the camera can be folded.

And then there's the standard 2-sheet film holders, when themselves must have seemed like wonders to anyone accustomed to working with wet plates!

In comparison, pretty much everything else is a paragon of comfort and convenience.

Sirius Glass · Dec 22, 2022

Huss said:
I think the point of this thread is not to air grievances of cameras that you have not actually owned and/or used, but to those mention those that you have!

I didn’t like my Kodak Retina SLR - the one w the wind mechanism on the base plate. Everything seemed in the wrong place and backwards.

Didn’t like my Moscva 5 - after a couple of pics it became literally painful to use. Advance mechanism was very heavy and the focusing was not reliable with vague framing.

Absolutely hated my Widelux F7 and F8. Bought them because The Dood used them and made super pics. But then I realized one reason that his pics were so interesting was because he was able to take pics on set while he was filming his movies. The handling of those cameras were about the worst I’ve experienced, severely limited feature set compared to the infinitely better Noblexes and Horizons, terrible viewing, unreliable. Upside - made money on them when I sold them.

Couldn’t stand my Kiev and Zorki rf cameras - they just made you want to get a better job so you could afford something from Japan or Western Europe. The Fed was ok. Lubitel 166 was garbage too. A super lens that gave unique images wrapped in a camera body that could not focus w any degree of accuracy, and a film advance mechanism that failed after 3 rolls.

Olympus Mju 3.5 - mash in the shutter button, camera would take a pic when it decided it wanted to. insane prices for those little black turds nowadays.

Bessa R3a - just felt clanky and agricultural to use, very weak plastic gear film drive mechanism, with vf readouts that washed out in daylight. More expensive than many Leica Ms nowadays which is nuts.

Zeiss Ikon ZM - ballyhooed as better than a Leica M7. As long as you ignore the flaring finder, the invisible in daylight led readouts, the rf patch that does not move with the frame lines when you focus, the delicate film transport mechanism and the soft metal build. Now same money as an M4…

Lomo LC-A 120. I actually loved this camera but they break. Real quick. Shutter failures. $450 and they last maybe 10 rolls. With two that I had. This camera can give such awesome results that if they charge $1000 for it and it was reliable, I would have one for ever.

Nikon F - looks cool but when you then use an F2 you think, oh yeah, this is much better. Sold off my Fs.

Wouldn't it have been better to do the research before buying and avoid the extra buy and sell cycles?

Sirius Glass · Dec 22, 2022

M-88 said:
Raging Chinese piece of crap was (and still is) what brought profit to so many brands. Market doesn't consist of professionals alone. Nikon made sure to be represented in every segment of it, much like everybody else.

The camera I never got used to is Canon AE-1. I know that shutter priorirty mode was a default automation for rangefinders of the 70s, but that had its reasons. Surely an SLR could benefit more from aperture priority. If only AE-1 wasn't glorified nowadays, pretty much like Pentax K1000. Oh wait, that's another camera I don't click with! It's just too cumbersome. Remids me of Soviet Zenit.

I still prefer shutter priority and only override it when I want aperture priority.

titrisol · Dec 22, 2022

Contax/Kievs
I really wanted to love them but couldn't

miha · Dec 22, 2022

flavio81 said:
Mamiya TLR system: Most of the interesting lenses are very slow and/or throw the camera off-balance.

They can't be made faster otherwise they would be fatter and therefore impossible to stick together as a pair, but I'm sure you know this. Besides, they are not very slow: 4.5/55 mm, 3.5/65 mm 2.8/80 mm, or 4.5/180 mm is fine for most. Mamiya TLR is an ingenious system that works great in the field or in a studio.

miha · Dec 22, 2022

guangong said:
Leica R cameras. Why? Battery dependent.
Also at the top of the list...Minox 35mm cameras. Great exterior design but mine always seemed to die at the wrong time and eat batteries.On the other hand, Minox 8x11 camera’s rugged and dependable.

My R8 runs on the third set of batteries after I purchased it in 2017, but yes I understand the reluctance.

r_a_feldman · Dec 22, 2022

flavio81 said:
Olympus OM-1: Shutter speed control in the wrong place, flimsy film advance mechanics, gimmicky screen that is too big to be useful. And the worst part is the owners -- they're part of a horrible Koolaid-drinking club that thinks this is the ultimate camera system.

Olympus Pen F (pictured):

View attachment 324605
A candidate for the worst SLR camera ever. Horrible mechanics, horrible shutter (reflective!), horrible porroprism finder optics. I pity the technicians that have to work on them. Ugly big "F" letter on their front fascia probably means "F--k you", a message from Mr. Yosihisa Maitaini to mankind.

Olympus OM lenses: Made with "compactness" as priority #1 above all, which means compromised on everything else.

Olympus 35SP: Meter can't be turned off, not even placing a cap on the lens. Loooong shutter button travel and the loudest leaf shutter ever put on a compact camera.
Do you see a pattern here? But some of my favorite cameras are Olympus: Trip 35, Pen S, Pen W.

Nikon F3. Lol. It could have been a great machine. I could write a book on all that's wrong on that camera. I've already written enough here.

Nikon FM2/FE2: The fact that they don't take pre-AI lenses, while their predecessors could, is an insult from Nikon towards its fanbase.

Nikon FM: The FE is a superior camera in every respect.

Nikon EM: It's ergonomically superb, however very poorly made.

Canon EF. Horrible ergonomics due to the stupid ON-OFF switch, and if you don't turn the camera off, the batteries will drain.

Canon T50: Ugly crap.

Prakticas with the vertical shutter: Shutter has very strong vibrations.

Rollei 35: Great optics and cute looking, but a camera for masochists. Controls completely awkward and whichever distance you set into focus will promptly be resetted as soon as you put it into your pocket.

Leica M system: If I had the money for such a system i'd be buying a Mamiya 7 instead.

Contax RTS: Glorified Yashica. I'd buy a Yashica FR instead. Which is a nice camera (!)

Mamiya TLR system: Most of the interesting lenses are very slow and/or throw the camera off-balance.

Mamiya M645: Bronica does it better.

Hasseblad 500C series: Bronica does it better.

That is quite a laundry list. Are there any cameras you do like?

r_a_feldman · Dec 22, 2022

For me, it is more lenses than cameras that I have not clicked with. I do not like physically large lenses. Back in the early 1970s, I got a 70-210 zoom (probably a Vivitar) for my Exakta VXIIa, but it was just too heavy for me. I seldom used it and soon sold it off.

I also had a 200mm Nikkor Q. Same problem — to big and heavy for my tastes.

I do a lot of birding, but shudder when I see the enormous lenses (usually Canon) that I see people trying to carry.

For many years my standard kit was two Olympus OM-1 bodies and a Zuiko 24mm f2.8, 50mm f3.5 macro and 100mm f2.8. They served my needs well.

I now have a Fujifilm X-E1 digital (for color) and Olympus Pen FT (for B&W) and only use manual focus film-camera lenses. Both bodies are physically about the same size and and my lenses have similar effective focal lengths on both bodies, so I can easily swap lenses between them, with the appropriate adapters.

grat · Dec 22, 2022

Huss said:
Personally I have greater issues with film cameras being film dependent than battery dependent. Never had an issue sourcing batteries, and they last a long time. But many films have had, and still have, a serious supply line issue.

No, no no no... if there's one thing that I've learned on this forum, it's that the one in a thousand chance that your battery went flat because you didn't bother checking it before leaving the house and can't be bothered to have a spare, is a reason to avoid any and all electronic cameras.

OAPOli · Dec 22, 2022

Mamiya M645 with prism finder. Very awkward to hold at eye level. Fine with WLF but it precludes portrait orientation.

Arcadia4 · Dec 22, 2022

Nikon FE2. Im a lefty and whilst i am sure the wind on lever out to turn on idea seemed clever, its basically unusable for the left eyed. I cant believe they didnt try this out on some staff first.

Sadly this wipes out the fe/fm/fm3a/fa line which otherwise look to be great cameras and beautifully made, same with the Pentax KX.

waynecrider · Dec 22, 2022

Craig said:
I don't like the FE because the film advamce lever needs to be pulled out to turn the camera on and unlock it. Since I'm left eyed, that pokes me in the eye and made the camera basically unusable.

You could probably turn it upside down if need be.

Sirius Glass · Dec 22, 2022

I was never a fan of the underneath film advance lever.

KerrKid · Dec 22, 2022

Arcadia4 said:
Nikon FE2. Im a lefty and whilst i am sure the wind on lever out to turn on idea seemed clever, but its basically unusable for the left eyed. I cant believe they didnt try this out on some staff first.

Sadly this wipes out the fe/fm/fm3a/fa line which otherwise look to be great cameras and beautifully made, same with the Pentax KX.

That’s what has put me off these cameras and others like it. It’s not a very brilliant design.

mshchem · Dec 22, 2022

Craig said:
Interesting how cameras are perceived by different people. I love my Fuji, it's my most used film camera. The lens is amazing, I have gotten so many great shots with that camera. It's my travel camera that gives near 4x5 quality without the the hassle of 4x5.

I'm with you. TMY in 6x9 Fuji is amazing. My only complaint is the loud click when you trip the trigger. Fits my overgrown paws perfectly. I have a first generation Fujica G617, it's a blast too.

Sirius Glass · Dec 22, 2022

Arcadia4 said:
Nikon FE2. Im a lefty and whilst i am sure the wind on lever out to turn on idea seemed clever, but its basically unusable for the left eyed. I cant believe they didnt try this out on some staff first.

Sadly this wipes out the fe/fm/fm3a/fa line which otherwise look to be great cameras and beautifully made, same with the Pentax KX.

Unfortunately their are few cameras for us left handed people. The Exacta comes to mind as one example of a left handed camera. The Mamiya C series TLRs have left and right handed focusing. The Hasselblad V series fits nicely in the left hand with the index finger on the trigger, but the rest of the operations for the most part are right handed.

flavio81 · Dec 22, 2022

r_a_feldman said:
That is quite a laundry list. Are there any cameras you do like?

Of course, and it's way longer. I'll stick to SLR cameras only to keep the list short. Cameras marked * are the ones that I currently own.

Nikon: F, F2, FE*, EL, EL2, FT2, FT3

Canon: F-1*, New F-1*, A-1, AE-1P, T70*, EOS 5

Pentax: SP, SPF, ESII*, KX, MX, KM, LX*, ME, ME-Super*, 6x7*, 67*

Yashica: FR-1

Bronica: ETRS, ETRSi*

Mamiya: RB67 pro-S*

Zeiss Ikon: Contaflex

flavio81 · Dec 22, 2022

r_a_feldman said:
I also had a 200mm Nikkor Q. Same problem — to big and heavy for my tastes.

I have the 200 Q-C, almost identical. I find it very balanced when used with a F2 or F. And it has a deilcious bokeh! I had the AI 200/4 Nikkor too, but I feel the pre-AI version has nicer rendering.

r_a_feldman said:
For many years my standard kit was two Olympus OM-1 bodies and a Zuiko 24mm f2.8, 50mm f3.5 macro and 100mm f2.8. They served my needs well.

Oh oh...

flavio81 · Dec 22, 2022

OAPOli said:
Mamiya M645 with prism finder. Very awkward to hold at eye level. Fine with WLF but it precludes portrait orientation.

In mamiya's defense, it has a second shutter button to help with portrait orientation.

In your defence, when I tried my friend's M645, i found my Bronica much much more comfortable and sophisticated.

grat · Dec 22, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Unfortunately their are few cameras for us left handed people. The Exacta comes to mind as one example of a left handed camera. The Mamiya C series TLRs have left and right handed focusing. The Hasselblad V series fits nicely in the left hand with the index finger on the trigger, but the rest of the operations for the most part are right handed.

The Konica IIIA has a right-side shutter release, but the cock/advance lever is on the left. The focusing knob tends to be at the bottom of the lens, which I'm not sure how I feel about. No reason you can;t use your left eye.

AnselMortensen · Dec 22, 2022

4season said:
My reference standard is a field camera with a whole range of rarely-used movements, all of which need to be locked down before the camera is used, and loosened up again when it's folded for transport. Combine that with a bulky lens which needs to be removed before the camera can be folded.

This.
I tried a Tachihara/Osaka/Nagaoka or whatever 4x5 once, and wanted to throw it on the ground and stomp on it due to its Excess Fiddly-ness to set up and use.

Now I use a modified Speed Graphic with a modern 150mm lens that fits inside the closed camera.

r_a_feldman · Dec 22, 2022

flavio81 said:
Oh oh...

I happen to like the speed adjustment around the OM-1’s lens mount — I can adjust both the shutter speed and f-stop without moving my left hand from the lens. For the same reason I liked the Nikkormat, which I never owned but had the use of one when I lived in Huanchaco for an archaeological project in the Moche and Chicama valleys in the mid to late 1970s.

4season · Dec 22, 2022

flavio81 said:
Bronica: ETRS, ETRSi*

I wonder what Bronica designers were thinking when they made the multiple-exposure lever so easy to activate, and how many Bronica users covered the lever with gaffer's tape.

Cameras you don't click with.

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