Do you have a dream camera that you don't own?

[mtnbkr]

Because I've become inured by Internet and photography magazine lore, I really want a Leica LTM or M camera even though I know it won't make my photography better. If I got the LTM, I'd be using the exact same lenses I have now, which are pretty darn good ones (Canon 50/1.4 and VT 35/2.5). Theoretically it could get slightly better with an M if I invested in proper M glass, but that's not going to happen anytime soon and realistically it wouldn't improve at all as there is nothing about my current set up that is holding me back. If I got an M body and used my current glass with adapters, I wouldn't be doing any better than I am with my current camera, so I stick with it.

On the SLR side, I have a Canon New F-1, which is the camera I lusted after in college. Paired with a 50/1.4, 35-105/F3.5, and an FL 28/3.5, I should be set.

Chris

 

[MTGseattle]

It's been mentioned before, but this is one of mine for sheer mechanical craziness. I wonder what the user's manual is like?

 

[chuckroast]

Dunno about a manual but ...

Historical Perspectives: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Compass Camera, An Ultra-Compact 35mm Camera From The 1930s

This is one of the more unusual objects to come out of the famous manufacture in Le Sentier.

www.hodinkee.com

Compass Cameras: Compass Price Guide: estimate a camera value

Compass Cameras: Compass - c1937-1941. Miniature camera. 35mm film or glass plate, rangefinder. Manufactured by LeCoultre & Cie (Switzerland) for Compass Cameras (UK). Lots of features:

collectiblend.com

Compass - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

WAIT! I found something claiming to be the manual:

Compass camera, Compass II camera instruction manual, user manual, PDF camera manual

Compass camera, Compass II camera instruction manual, user manual

www.butkus.org

 

[logan2z]

For some reason, I have a thing for the Plaubel Makina 67. I know they're on the fragile side and servicing could be a problem, but logic has rarely stopped me from making a silly buying decision before

 

[4season]

I owned an Alpa 11el but wound up doing nothing with it, so I sold it. Still got an Alpa 5 in my repair queue. Alpa camera bodies can be had pretty cheaply, but lenses and lens adapters, not so much.

 

[Paul Howell]

That's the reason I've not pulled the trigger on an 11E, the Kern Swiss 50 macro is still fetching a pretty high price, then as a macro I would want a standard 50mm, the Pentax 50 1.4 with the radioactive lens was made in an Alpa mount, then a 28 and 100.

 

[MFstooges]

It's been mentioned before, but this is one of mine for sheer mechanical craziness. I wonder what the user's manual is like?

View attachment 376557

Very nice. Definitely a shelf queen candidate. I wonder if Patek-Philippe also made a camera.

 

[MFstooges]

The Nikon F3 did become my favorite 35mm SLR but when I bought it in 1982 it was a compromise. I liked the F2 better and I had at the time the F2AS and I wanted the motor drive but the cost of the motor drive MD-2 and its battery pack MB-1 would be more than the cost of the F3HP and its MD-4 motor drive. However, after using it for a while it grown on me and it's now my favorite camera.

F3 was my dream camera. Then I bought it sometimes in 2008-2010 and I was turned off by it's silly LCD light. Ended up sold it.

 

[chuckroast]

F3 was my dream camera. Then I bought it sometimes in 2008-2010 and I was turned off by it's silly LCD light. Ended up sold it.

I've owned two F3s. I bought the first new, used it for some years and then sold it.

Bought another nearly NIB about 10 years ago. It joined my Nikkormat, Apollo Photomic FtN and F2. My F3 is nearly perfect and runs flawlessly. But like you, I just hate that little LCD display thing. It's hard to read under the best of circumstances and a real pain in low light. But the shutter is bulletproof and the camera a true pro quality workhorse in the tradition of the original F.

All in, I have the least shooting time with the F2, but I consider it the best film body Nikon ever made. It's essentially just an upgraded F which was bulletproof in its own right. After the F3, I never looked at Nikon film bodies again and added Leica rangefinders instead.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

NO camera, just one (1) lens, then I rest my GAS...

 

[Dustin McAmera]

I’d very much like a Mamiya 645 Pro. It’s by no means unobtainable, so I see it happening in the not so distant future.

I have a 645 Pro, so what I really need is someone, or a machine, to kick me until I go outside and take photos with it.

But I spend too long looking at old cameras on the internet, and at the moment I would like an Ermanox Reflex. It's a fixed-lens (nice f/1.8 lens) Mamiya 645 from about 1926, covered in nice old dark-brown leather. Only it would cost more than my 645 Pro did, and chances are if I had one, the shutter (maybe the whole camera) would disintegrate as soon as I started using it. I'd want to use it; I don't buy cameras as ornaments.

 

[Chan Tran]

F3 was my dream camera. Then I bought it sometimes in 2008-2010 and I was turned off by it's silly LCD light. Ended up sold it.

You meant that little red button? GG designed it for the look not really to press it.

 

[warden]

For some reason, I have a thing for the Plaubel Makina 67. I know they're on the fragile side and servicing could be a problem, but logic has rarely stopped me from making a silly buying decision before

Forget about those Makinas. They're no fun at all.

 

[guangong]

Swiss Alpa 11E.

Me too. When they could be bought new, they were beyond my means. I had a friend who used an Alpa and I liked the advance lever. If I had one now adapters for Nikon F and Leicaflex lenses would be a must.
Another reason: reviews at the time were not favorable regarding mirror bounce.

 

[guangong]

Forget about those Makinas. They're no fun at all.
View attachment 376594

I’m very happy with mine. Not particularly fragil, but one shouldn’t slam the lens out to use.

 

[Paul Howell]

Me too. When they could be bought new, they were beyond my means. I had a friend who used an Alpa and I liked the advance lever. If I had one now adapters for Nikon F and Leicaflex lenses would be a must.
Another reason: reviews at the time were not favorable regarding mirror bounce.

When I was a working PJ there was only guy who shot with Alpa, he was Dutch and shot for a German newspaper chain. He had 2, I think they were 10s, one sliver one black, had 3 or 4 lens. I handled a 11E for a week, a friend mine wife inherited it a long with 2 lens when her uncle passed away. The Kern Swiss is likely the sharpest 50mm of the day, great contrast, no distortion.

 

[MFstooges]

You meant that little red button? GG designed it for the look not really to press it.

Not the button, that is another story.

 

[brbo]

For some reason, I have a thing for the Plaubel Makina 67. I know they're on the fragile side and servicing could be a problem, but logic has rarely stopped me from making a silly buying decision before

We share the same dream.

I haven't handled the camera and I don't expect it to be an ergonomic marvel, but on the other hand it's probably the most beautiful rangefinder camera ever produced, with attention to the detail down to the film gate shape (just look at that curved corners of the negatives from Makina 67, lol).

 

[warden]

I’m very happy with mine. Not particularly fragil, but one shouldn’t slam the lens out to use.

I had the misfortune of dropping mine on a wood floor. (The shoulder strap slipped off my shoulder.) My heart sank as you can imagine. I sent it away for a CLA and to check the rangefinder adjustment and it came back with a clean bill of health. Even the meter kept working, which is the achilles heel of these cameras. Thankfully it fell with the lens collapsed!

 

[logan2z]

We share the same dream.

I haven't handled the camera and I don't expect it to be an ergonomic marvel, but on the other hand it's probably the most beautiful rangefinder camera ever produced, with attention to the detail down to the film gate shape (just look at that curved corners of the negatives from Makina 67, lol).

I recently had a chance to buy one from a local camera shop for what I thought was a pretty good price. I dragged my feet and it sold to someone else. I'll keep looking...

 

[logan2z]

I had the misfortune of dropping mine on a wood floor. (The shoulder strap slipped off my shoulder.) My heart sank as you can imagine. I sent it away for a CLA and to check the rangefinder adjustment and it came back with a clean bill of health. Even the meter kept working, which is the achilles heel of these cameras. Thankfully it fell with the lens collapsed!

Glad it turned out ok. Who did the CLA?

 

[brbo]

I recently had a chance to buy one from a local camera shop for what I thought was a pretty good price. I dragged my feet and it sold to someone else. I'll keep looking...

Makina was always more expensive than Leica M6 (that I'm using less and less). When M6 pretty much caught up in price with Makina 67 and I thought now is the time for a trade I learned that my M6 meter is dead (or pretty flaky at best). Anyone like to trade their Makina 67 with a dead meter for a meterless M6

 

[warden]

Glad it turned out ok. Who did the CLA?

The guy goes by Wizcamera on eBay. I'd use him again now that Makina themselves no longer service these cameras.


Plaubel recommends someone in Hamburg who purchased all Plaubel's spare parts, but I didn't want to send the camera that far for a CLA.

Wiese Fototechnik
Fachwerkstatt- Präzisionstechnik
Leica - Rollei - Sinar - Plaubel
Danziger Str. 47-49
20099 Hamburg

Tel. 040-850 34 90
Fax. 040-8511221

 

[Donald Qualls]

I'd like to get a lightweight 4x5 (or even better 8x10) field camera, but I couldn't afford lenses and film for an 8x10. For 4x5, film isn't too bad (given Fomapan 100 is pretty good stuff). Ideally, I'd like it to use the same lens boards as my Annie Speed and Graphic View II (Annie doesn't have much movements, and the GVII is just too heavy for field use).

 

[logan2z]

I'd like to get a lightweight 4x5 (or even better 8x10) field camera

I've been thinking about a 4x5 camera too. But I don't have an enlarger capable of supporting 4x5 and I don't think I currently have the room for one either. Maybe someday.