What is the most fabulous piece of film gear you've ever owned?

[anfenglin]

I'll second that - my 67II with the 45mm - truly amazing glass.

Oh, and my 55mm 3.5 is not bad either ;-)

 

[RichardJack]

My Argus C4, it's the camera that got me started in photography. Since then I've owned and own so many fabulous cameras and lenses it would be too hard to choose.

 

[colin wells]

My Canon F1 and the FD 50 1.4

 

[polka]

My prefered owned system : a Kiev88 body (tuned by Arax - chrome outside and metal focal plane shutter) with :
30mm Zodiac fish-eye
45mm Mir26
80mm Arsat
150mm Kaleinar
and two backs : 6x6 645

Example attached taken with the standard Arsat 80mm lens

My prefered self-made gear : ExaktPOLKa, a 300° anamorphic pinhole camera using 120 rollfilms

Example attached, winner of a SchwarzWeiss Magazine contest

Paul

 

[chip j]

Wow! Beautiful winner.

 

[Pioneer]

I agree. That is a magnificent pinhole shot Paul. Congrats for the win. You deserved it.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... My prefered self-made gear : ExaktPOLKa, a 300° anamorphic pinhole camera using 120 rollfilms

Example attached, winner of a SchwarzWeiss Magazine contest ... Paul

Excellent.

 

[Minoltafan2904]

I am very happy with my Minolta X-700, even though currently it's dead because i just had the infamous capacitor failure! thankfully it's a easy and cheap fix.

No but seriously, nowadays that everybody has a Nikon or a Canon DSLR, i like standing out a bit, oh and 70s 80s Minoltas are cheap and they have outstanding glass...

 

[BMbikerider]

By modern standards my particular item is quite modest but I have just bought a Contax 111a rangefinder complere with 50mm F2 Sonnar for the extravagant price of £50 ONLY!

It was in an antique shop in the City of York and the shop owner didn't really know what he had. The lens is good and unmarked and focusses smoothly and is one of the later coated ones, also unblemished. Howeverit does have a small touch of fungus on the edge of the front element and there is a fault with the tripod bush on the base. Both are easily corrected. The shutter, known to sometimes give problems operates at all speeds and they sound accurate. I have just sent it off to be serviced and cleaned so I am now on the look-out for 35mm and 135mm lens. I can get Russian copies but they are the last resort, I would prefer genuine Contax or even Nikon ones providing they are not to expensive.

 

[tim_walls]

So, after much thought, I've decided my most fabulous piece of film gear is this:


Yes, it is of course the majestic Ilford/MPP Portable Enlarger. It may not be made by Leica or Durst, and may well not be the highest precision piece of equipment ever made - but if not for this, having emigrated and had to very much 'cut the crap' out of my life (shipping containers are expensive), the chances are I would have given up analogue photography, and certainly printing, entirely. Thanks to my faithful little portable enlarger, I was able to continue in literally the smallest of spaces .

Half of me is now in the market for a 'proper' enlarger again, and some day I'm going to have to bite the bullet because I want to do more than contact print my medium format shots; but the other half of me feels disloyal to this wonderful piece of kit just for daring to think of it...

 

[michr]

My prefered self-made gear : ExaktPOLKa, a 300° anamorphic pinhole camera using 120 rollfilms

Example attached, winner of a SchwarzWeiss Magazine contest
View attachment 183573

Paul

That's a terrific photo. Would you mind posting a photo of the camera you made or some details about it?

 

[polka]

On the F295 forum I was active in describing my 3 anamorphic camera, especially in the following threads :
http://www.f295.org/main/showthread...-definitive-Oberlicht-proto&p=96067#post96067
http://www.f295.org/main/showthread.php?14957-POLKa-II&highlight=exaktpolka
http://www.f295.org/main/showthread.php?14989-After-POLKa-II-exaktPOLKa&highlight=exaktpolka
The third, named ExaktPOLKa, would be easy to build for an average tinkerer

And on a french site, I explained all about them (in french) :
http://www.galerie-photo.com/photographie-anamorphique-stenope.html
Paul

 

[andrewc]

A Canon 7 with the 50mm f/1.4, and my Canon 1vHS; I think it's a phenomenal camera!

Andy