My ideal film camera

ciniframe said:

This is crazy but I'd like to design a small camera to take 16mm un-perfed film. With a frame size of 12X16 and a layout like a Rollei 35 but only 1 inch thick. Two front facing dials, one on each side of the lens with shutter speed on the right and aperture on the left. A fixed 25mm f2.8 Tessar design with front element focusing to 1 meter. There would be available a +1 and +2 close up lenses. A 22.5mm filter thread. A folding viewfinder on the left end that is interchangeable with a reflex right angle finder. The plastic cartridge would be exactly like the Minolta 16 cartridge but without the bridge (I have several Minolta 16 cameras and when the bridge broke on one of my cartridges I removed it entirely and the feed/take-up pair worked fine without the bridge.) A two blade leaf shutter with 'B' and 1/8-1/250 and X-sync at all speeds. With a standard 1/4-20 tripod mount thread and shutter button that takes a standard cable release.

Since I believe (for myself) that film photography should be DIY then I'd wish for Ilford and Kodak to offer 100 ft. bulk non-perfed 35mm film in several B&W types. Then with a slitter one could get two 16mm strips on 35mm with only a 3mm waste strip. Oh, almost forgot, would like Paterson to make 16mm reels for their tanks.

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I'm on board with this, though I'd recommend designing the film chamber to accommodate intact (i.e. with bridge) Minolta and Kiev cassettes (the latter distinguished by a smaller diameter takeup core that would hold 30 frames instead of 20, and an advance cam that compensated diameter for the longer roll, at least with thin base stock). Much easier to load and unload if you can get a nail under the bridge, rather than having to fight to get the empty supply chamber out of the camera. I'd also recommend the Kiev 13x17 or Minolta QT 13x18 frame (both of which were offset on the film, for compatibility with 16 mm single perf movie film loaded with the perfs on the bridge side). In addition to Kodak and Ilford, you should surely bring Fuji on board, too (to give a choice in color films), and be sure to support chromes (including correct opening slide mounts) and see if you can find a work-alike for Agfa Copex Rapid, the best microfilm stock I've seen for scenes and portraits (needs a low-contrast developer, but does a much better job at higher film speed than other microfilms -- virtually grainless even from 16 mm, at EI 80).

I've owned and used 16 mm cameras since I bought my first Minolta 16 II and Minolta 16 MG back in 1981 (when I could still buy preloaded film at most drug stores and any camera store). I've long wished for a hybrid of an Edixa/Rollei 16 (very adjustable, manual camera, but with a cassette-rewind system like a Kodak/Leica 35 mm, only shrunk) and a Minolta (for the quick/easy cartridge load and reloadable cartridge).

My Contarex and Contaflex both have interchangeable backs. They work great. Metering but no autofocus.

An F3 with 1/250 sync.

And a 645 camera with the features and shape of an FM2.

An ideal camera? Since we are dreaming, I'd say an 8x10 camera the size and weight of a Minox.

On a more realistic note and also a 35mm camera, I would say a Contax 139 with mirror lock up, matrix metering and a leatherette that didn't deteriorate in a couple years.

I'd like to see a few different designs:

1. A premium compact with a 35mm f2 lens, decent autofocus, leaf shutter, 1/4000th shutter speed and flash.

2. Something like a Nikon F7

3. Something like the Nikon Fm2n, but brass internals - no plastic anywhere to be seen.

Swordman said:

Something like a Nikon F7

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I wholeheartedly agree! Take the D6, and replace the digital sensor with a film transport mechanism. That would be my ideal film camera!

Owning the F4 and the F6, I would like an F7 that combines the best of the two. An F6 with F4 dials and a very minimal updated modern menu pretty much for manual lens selection.

Personally, I think the Pentax LX is as near to perfection as it can get except for the lack of spot metering in it. Shame since Pentax was first to develop TTL and spot metering in 1960.

A 4x5 camera with Graflok back that is effectively WYSIWYG but could use electronics to get you there. It would predict the result of exposure and you can dial in contrast (for development time recommendation). It could take the characteristics of the film into account and knowing the filter, what the results would look like. You could have interchangeable backs for 120 and 35mm and the system would allow any crop and advancement within 4x5 on that frame. And it could take any lens.