Looking for a small camera with manual controls

I recently picked up an Olympus 35RC from another APUG member (thanks, Eric!) for cheap, and it's got a sharp little 5-element lens, and is very compact. Neat that a 1970 rangefinder still works so well. Sample home-processed roll photo attached of my usual new-to-me camera test model (my 4 year-old). If you're looking for a shutter-priority compact rangefinder, you could do a lot worse. Graham

The Olympus 35RC takes really sharp pictures! I just got my hands on an Olympus XA and I am loving it. Unbelievably sharp as well, I wish I had a picture to accompany my post but I am sure there are plenty online.

Some XA stuff...

Hello,

You don't mention price range (or I didn't see it), but I'm guessing you're looking for something inexpensive from the cameras mentioned.

If not, the best option I can think of is the Leica CL. Great camera and of course, Leica glass.

I would suggest some cameras that haven't been mentioned yet - which range from dirt cheap to about $100. I own at least one of each of these, they are all fully manual, and they're easy enough to use that my daughter has been shooting with them (taking GREAT photos, I might add) since she was 7.

Minolta A - great little rangefinder

Minolta A2 - an "improvement" on the A, faster glass

Minolta Super A - originally designed to compete against the Leica M3 (the prototype, called the SKY, actually had an M mount). It has interchangeable lenses and is much more well-made than the other A's and most other RF's in this price range.

Any of these will be cameras you can use for the rest of your life and if you break them, you're not out much. They'll probably need a good CLA to function at their best, but there are plenty of guys (and a few gals) who can do that for you rather inexpensively.

Good luck and let us know what you choose.

I couldn't believe I made it half way through the second page before finding a recommendation for a Barnack type Leica. I'll second 2F for one of those. I'll recommend that if you want to try one out on the really cheap, you can pick up a Zorki I with Industar-22 lens for well under $100. The Leica equivalent to that would be a II-B with 50mm f3.5 Elmar and will run you around $200 or more. They're so small that they can be jammed into a Levi jeans pocket (looks funny, it's uncomfortable, but it can be done).

Dan

Hi Jeff (and others),

I did forget to mention the price range. I probably wouldn't want to spend more than around $100 on the camera, especially if I have to shell out extra for CLA after the purchase. I'll be sure to check out the Minolta A series, thanks for the recommendation.

Hyun.

$100 is about the cost of a professional CLA, too. If you go the Zorki route (or any Russian camera), I'd recommend buying through a real dealer. You can get a camera that is CLA'd for only a little more than an ebay unknown.