Unpopular Cameras You Like

[Cholentpot]

The T70 gets mentioned.

I use my T50. A camera made for 'house wives' and 'clueless people'

It's all auto except for focus, every last one has a broken battery door, it has no real indicator as to what you are doing, it sounds like a trashcan full of gears tearing down a cathedrals steps.

Dunno, the thing feels good in my hand although the mode switch breaks my nails every time I try to change it. It also has a nice 80's LED that looks like the T1000 hunting down the subject. It does expose on the button every time and keeps eating through the rolls.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... It's the antithesis of a Hasselblad, and took a severe beating with the ugly stick, but that's what actually makes it appealing, you actually feel sorry for it, and want to give it a good life before the inevitable happens.
...

We think alike. I understand this.

I know nothing about Leica.....what was it about the #5 that Made/Makes it less desirable than the other Leicas.?
Thank You

Mostly it was larger. Some didn't like the lolipop meter arm, though I don't know if it was ever a source of problems. For me, the M5 is actually the right size for a rangefinder camera.

 

[4season]

I have a soft spot for the Zenit 122K with 50/2 Zenitar lens as sold by Lomography until recently for 90 USD! Compared to older models, it is lighter (lots of plastic used), focuses a lot closer and viewfinder brightness is dramatically improved. "K" indicates compatibility with Pentax K bayonet mount.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Deciding what camera to carry in the saddlebag of my bike, I eventually settled on the Canon T70. It isn't pampered in that environment, has no case and bounces around with food, clothes, tools and stuff.

When I was heavily involved in long-haul bicycle touring from 1977 to 1998, I carried anything from a Nikon F3HP to FE, FE2, Olympus OM4, Canon T90...others still, in a large Karrimor handlebar bag, suitably cushioned by Mars Bars and cut fruit. The camera was always accessible and safe, much more so than the bizarre idea of carrying a camera in a saddlebag. The biggest of the cameras, the Nikon F3HP with motordrive, caused the otherwise robust handlebar mount of the Karrimor to bend down slightly. And going over bumps without any suspension in those days created a significant whack and rebound that necessitated stopping to re-seat the handlebar bracket!

 

[M-88]

Mmm.. i'll pass then. I'm sorry to hear that. I thought the shutter was going to be excellent.

That shutter was innovative (for USSR) when it was designed, but almost anyone who extensively use Kiev-10/15 had serious issues with shutter. Heck, I passed five rolls through my K-10 and the shutter got bent!!!

 

[blockend]

The camera was always accessible and safe, much more so than the bizarre idea of carrying a camera in a saddlebag

The bag is suspended by the saddle, there's no rack or mudguard for the camera to hit against. It's in its own hammock. I've carried heavy cameras in all the usual places over the years, and don't see the point of a heavy camera on a bike anymore. My last European tour was with an Olympus mjuII.

For extended tours photography is more problematic than ever. In the old days you were never far from somewhere to buy film and have it processed. Now there's more planning involved, or carrying more film in the heat (bad idea), or finding a way of charging digital batteries out in the sticks. I haven't researched solar rechargers because holidays are a chance to get away from screens and I'm not a social media person.

 

[GarageBoy]

I used to say contax slrs, but every model contax I owned after the rts ii has died, and wasted very expensive film...

I vote n2020 - cheaaaap, small, built pretty nicely, and has split prism and af confirmation!

N90 is a lot of camera for $20-30 - a better deal than more "classic" looking nikons going for more (em/fg/fg20)

 

[ColdEye]

The zenit SLR? Forgot the model number. Looked like a boxy camera from the late 80s. It was weird but I loved using it with the swirly helios lens that it came with.