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What is your favourite camera to SHOOT with, regardless of format/looks

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Seen the title of this thread, I'd probably go for the FED Photosniper...
What else would you use a camera for but to shoot with, to knock nails in with ?
 
Favourite camera EVER to use, disregarding format, film size, aesthetics, price, design faults.

Even if it looks like a brick with a hole in it or even if it IS a brick with a hole in it, what is your favourite camera to USE, that you can shoot all day and never get annoyed at a single feature.

for film,regardless of subject,clearly my Hasselblad 501c.it has become an extension of my mind and I think, it knows what I'm trying to achieve.It's love.:smile:
 
Favourite camera EVER to use, disregarding format, film size, aesthetics, price, design faults.

Even if it looks like a brick with a hole in it or even if it IS a brick with a hole in it, what is your favourite camera to USE, that you can shoot all day and never get annoyed at a single feature.

Well, I spent quite a bit of time this summer with a Kiev 4a and a 35 or 50. A great, quiet unobtrusive camera; I can wrap the bootlace I use as a strap around my left wrist, holding the camera in my left palm by my side - no one notices it and it's instantly ready, also it's nearly inaudible in a street setting, a bar/diner, or a room full of people.
Center-the-needle mechanical Slrs are great too, I have a Nikon system consisting of an F/Ftn, F2A, two Nikkormats F and Ftn and 8 lenses which will do about anything I decide to do with 35mm. A 1930s Rolleiflex Standard, which is a great compact MF to take hiking. My Linhof STIV outfit is great for when I decide to use 4x5, as is my Deardorff for when I want 8x10. Any of the above cameras - and a few more - I can use all day when they suit what I want to do and they all have their idiosyncrasies - that's part of the fun. You'll note that none of them are automatic in any way.

A point of semantics. None of my cameras shoot in any sense whatever. I have an array of firearms for when I decide to shoot something, usually tagets, and they all do different things well too.
It's a 'proper tool for the job thing'. If I tried to do candid street photography with an 8x10 I'd likely end up burning it.
 
Favorite? I love using any of them. But, if pressed, I would probably say either the 500 c/m w/100mm Planar CFT* or one of my Soverized F2s: cameras that are easy and intuitive to use...
 
My first idea was a 500cm and wlf. Hold the camera in my right hand, release with my right index finger, right thumb around the non speed winder, focus with the left hand. It's the way the camera works for me, it does make it a problem using focusing handles and also speed winders, but it does make the camera fast to use.

But the camera that has seen the world with me is a rolleicord III, everything is in the perfect place. Extremely fast to use, It takes a licking a keeps on ticking. The only thing I would like on it is a bigger focus knob.
 
The Hasselbald 503 CX held on the left hand with the index finger on the shutter release.
 
IMGP6368.jpg
Leica IIIb with a 50 Elmar. :smile:
 
My favorite was a Horseman 985 VH-R. I'm not sure why. I guess it's the "tacticool" side of my nature because it wasn't particularly friendly to use nor lightweight vs. a dedicated mini field camera. I realize it's completely illogical but I did love that camera. I never really used the viewfinder/rangefinder.
 
What else would you use a camera for but to shoot with, to knock nails in with ?


It is this term that makes me shiver every time I hear it. (It meanwhile it is getting used in Germany too.)

Thus my hint at the Photo-Sniper.
 
I don't know if I do have a favorite. I enjoy working with a lot of different cameras. However, my Zeiss Ikon ZM is right at the top of the list.
 
My Voigtlander Vitomatic II gets used more than any other camera so I suppose that is my favourite but it does not get used most of the time. For my redundant churches project I need something with a wide angle lens and good exposure meter so I have been using my Canon EOS cameras lately.
 
Favourite camera EVER to use, disregarding format, film size, aesthetics, price, design faults. .... what is your favourite camera to USE, that you can shoot all day and never get annoyed at a single feature.

It's impossible for me to pick a favorite from what I have. But I will say that the one camera that totally surprised me in how fun and capable it was is the Canon Rebel G (EOS 500N).
 
RH Phillips 7x17 Explorer and 12" Dagor.

John Powers
 
I love using my Kodak Master View 8x10. I know it is not versatile, and clunky compared to other formats, but it is such a pleasure to look into that ground glass.
 
When I just want to go off enjoy shooting my favorite camera is my Leica M2.


Best regards,

Bob
CEO CFO EIEIO, Ret.
 
I love shooting with my Yashica D TLR. Doesn't have the sharpest lenses (Yashikor rather than the Yashinon) but it's sharp enough for me. Using it is a joy.
 
Most of the cameras i own, i like to use. Otherwise, i sell them.

My most liked are:
Mamiya C330
Mamiya RB67
Kodak Retina IIIc

As for a 35mm SLR, I can't decide between the Nikon F, F3, and the Canon EF.
 
Hasselblad SWC - looks cool, feels cool, sounds cool, takes amazing photos.
 
One is just too hard, but...

Mamiya 7
Chamonix 8x10
Yashica 44LM

To name a few.
 
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