Most disappointing cameras?

Voigtlander Prominent rangefinder. Massively overpriced today and equally overrated. I do like the Ultron lens. After that, it's all downhill.

I have to say that I've enjoyed all of my other cameras.

Jim Jones said:

The iiif ... was like a surgeon's scalpel compared to the machete-like M series.

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Wow!

Never thought I'd see a Leica M compared to a machete!

I've never used a IIIf, but they are beautiful: https://www.cameraquest.com/3frdst.htm

LarryP said:

With me it has to be the Pentax ME. Honestly it's disappointment born out of frustration. It just felt a little too small and what really got to me was loading film. Never got the hang ofthe ' magic fingers' slots,it was a fight to load it every time for me.And I will admit the only reason I never wanted an LX was the same d&*@# fingers.

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I really like my ME Super, but I have to admit I had to check out a video tutorial on YouTube first to learn how to load film with this device on the right.

And the size is the whole idea of the ME series. Otherwise go and get a LX or something like that ;-)

Pentax H3v. Only my original one. Was originally used by someone with a hook for a hand, so, obviously was pretty abused. By the time I got it, the camera intermittently wouldn't go past frame 14 without jamming (even after having it overhauled), flash synch went out of spec probably five rolls after being serviced, etc. It still took good photos, but, I was much happier to shoot with my father's old Nikomat FTn that he passed onto me just before the H3v locked up.

I've had three more H3v/SV bodies since that one. All of them worked. That said, next 'tax I get will probably be a black Spottie II. Not the F with the lens cap "power switch", but the last stop-down metering version.

-J

Minox 35 GL? Purchase new, great lens, silent, small, unreliable.

Minox 35 GL? Purchase new, great lens, silent, small, unreliable.

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I have come across numerous complaints about the Minox 35s. The 35EL was my go-everywhere pocket camera for 25 years and it never let me down. I guess I must have been lucky.

Charles Wass said:

I have come across numerous complaints about the Minox 35s. The 35EL was my go-everywhere pocket camera for 25 years and it never let me down. I guess I must have been lucky.

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Yeap, just because someone had a problem with a camera, it doesn't necessarily mean all cameras of the same model will be the same. Or will have the same problem.
The same goes for the complains about the Nikon EM.
Some complains are from people who couldn't be bothered to read the manual or simply abused the camera. So, they complain the model instead of themselves for their ignorance.
Some complained about the plastics on the top and bottom, but they couldn't read the manual and the leaflets or open the camera and see the inside body was in the same metal as the Nikon F3. 9 years after the EM appeared, Nikon released a model that had a shell in plastic. The only metal on the outside was the hot shoe, the DOF preview button and the back. That model was the F4. No one complained about the plastic shell.
Some complained about not being able to shoot frame 0, only from frame 1. But, no one complained the F3 was the same and virtually all new cameras released after the EM were exactly the same. The exceptions were the mechanical ones.
Some complained about the EM being Aperture-priority only. But, they forgot that it had a B setting and a mechanical 1/90th sec. Today many photographers use the same AP mode in their "plastic fantastic" D devices or full Program mode, rarely using them in Manual mode. Still they complain about the EM.

The Nikon EM is ideal for what I do: nature and urban landscapes and flower photography. It is small, relatively light and the Series E are ideal companions. Pity Nikon didn't make a true macro lens in the Series E. I have to use a "brutus" macro lens in the shape of a Vivitar 105mm F/2.5.

If you think the above is nonsense, I'll gladly receive your EM or any Series E lens you may have.
I like those so much that at the last count I have 10 EMs and 2 for spare parts. 4 of them are always hard at work.

On the Minox 35's, it seemed to me that the struts and dropping bed would always be in the way of adjusting the lens settings. But, I've never held one, so I could be wrong.

Theo Sulphate said:

On the Minox 35's, it seemed to me that the struts and dropping bed would always be in the way of adjusting the lens settings. But, I've never held one, so I could be wrong.

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Not really, but the camera is pretty small and for a person with big hands it might be a little harder to use. You only set focus using the front edge of the lens and adjust the aperture with the ring and scale behind the feet setting ring. Fairly simple and easy. John W

The only camera I really disliked was the Canon A1. Nasty plastic thing, which froze up in a bit of cold weather one day.

Sold it to a friend and he was happy with it.

The one camera that sticks in my mind is the Olympus OMF that I bought brand spanking new. It was before the real auto-focus cameras, but it had a LED light built in the finder that was used for "focus confirmation". It worked rather well for the times and I really enjoyed the camera. It took 4 A76 batteries to power the meter and focus confirmation light and used about that many per-day. Yes, it was the worst battery hog I have ever owned, but a peach to use. At least back then anyway. John W

I really did not see much magic in the RB67 my buddy has. Seemed heavy and yet fragile. Awkward haptics. P67 seemed much more robust.

This is in the 35mm section so I'll add the FED 3b. The FSU crowd seems to love it for it's improvements over the earlier models and yet it seems like there could be a whole lot more improvements made.

Yes, I know it's much more impressive when you think back to what they did with what they had but for a shooter today? Never would I choose any FSU body willingly.

My IVSB was disappointing too, not much better than the FED for VF/RF, although yet again, some folks love it and think it's a huge step over the earlier models.

Kiev 88 -- only camera I ever owned that needed to be sent back for repair under warranty three times in the first month -- last trip was one-wayt. It literally started falling apart in my hands and, no, I didn't chance the shutter speed before cocking the shutter.

Total crap camera. If you gave me one I might take it, but that's all.

Minox 35 GL? Purchase new, great lens, silent, small, unreliable.

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The complaints about the Minox 35s are generally about the shutter. The camera is so simple that the only things to go wrong seem to be the shutter and metering.

Charles Wass said:

The complaints about the Minox 35s are generally about the shutter. The camera is so simple that the only things to go wrong seem to be the shutter and metering.

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Yes, the shutter is an electro-magnetic one and one speck of dust between the contacts and your shutter won't work. I think what upsets most former and current users of the Minox 35's is the fact that you will not know the shutter is not opening and closing until you develop your roll. The sound the shutter makes is exactly the same, at least to my ear, whether it is working or not. Sometimes it is random in nature and you'll get a few frames and then some blank ones. So, you can think you've taken the best pictures of your Grandma that you'll never see again, only to find out later there is nothing but blank frames. Now that pisses people off and they'll never touch another Minox 35 again. John W

Phillips Explorer
The lack of a tripod mount for vertical shots coupled with the non-removable back causes the inability to make some desired images.

Pretty much any pocket/compact 35 - Rollei folder, Minox, Olympus XA - tried most of them in search of a pocket whiz and was utterly disappointed. My solution was an Olympus Pen FT. No flies here.