Worst camera designs

lxdude · Jun 4, 2012

Discoman said:
I have a Seagull 4B-1 (I assume, everything else is in Chinese).and it is actually a fairly good design. Very simple, very easy to use. Has a cocking lever to set the shutter, and uses the red window and knob arrangement to advance the film. Very little to go wrong. Sadly, questionable build quality means stuff may go wrong. The focus on mine is pretty out of alignment, to the point the camera doesn't close, and the leatherette is peeling quite badly. Other than that it works flawlessly.
Good camera to introduce someone to MF with.

If it doesn't scare them away!

Roger Cole · Jun 4, 2012

Yeah, a back that won't close and focus that's out is not a good introduction to medium format. I paid $150 for my Yashicamat 124. Better introduction to MF IMHO.

Discoman · Jun 6, 2012

Roger Cole said:
Yeah, a back that won't close and focus that's out is not a good introduction to medium format. I paid $150 for my Yashicamat 124. Better introduction to MF IMHO.

Sorry, let me rephrase that better. The case will not close around the camera, and the lensboard/whatever it is correctly called will not close to the body. I can't at the moment focus on anything more than 20 meters away.
The actual back closes and locks fine, it even has a small latch that needs to be held in to rotate the lock, which is a feature even my rollei lacks.

For the cost of 'almost nothing' I have gotten more out of it than I paid for it.

Good design on paper, could be good if made well, bad camera because they weren't made well.

brianmquinn · Jun 6, 2012

A vote for the Kodak 35
http://sheldonbrown.com/org/cameras/kodak-35.html

E. von Hoegh · Jun 6, 2012

brianmquinn said:
A vote for the Kodak 35
http://sheldonbrown.com/org/cameras/kodak-35.html

Have you ever used one?

John Kasaian · Jun 7, 2012

Holga, spawn of satan. Those cheesy, easily bent tin clips that hold the back on also attach to the neck strap so when (and they will) the clip gives out you also get to experience your camera falling open at your feet and your film rolling off into the sunset. I have left my share of broken Holgas in trash cans in some very scenic areas.
Those new 617 format Holgas are sure tempting, but I'll resist.

lxdude · Jun 7, 2012

Maybe the latest cool accessory will be a big rubber band to hold it together- and it will cost a mere 10 bucks.

DrTang · Jun 7, 2012

Rapid Omegas 100's and 200's

In theory..they should be GREAT..interchangable lenses..rangefinder focusing.. even swapping film backs on the 200 (right??)

but man..what a clunky system that always felt like it was about to fall apart

and that ratcheting that film deal.. it got stck more times than not

I'd still like to have a 200 with a 58 & finder..but.. oy

Vaughn · Jun 7, 2012

andrew.roos said:
Which goes to show you probably shouldn't purchase your cameras at clothing stores...

Or clothes at a camera store...

lxdude · Jun 7, 2012

Except photographers' vests!

Sirius Glass · Jun 7, 2012

lxdude said:
Except photographers' vests!

Ah yes, that latest word in nerdiness in any language or culture.

tony lockerbie · Jun 9, 2012

Sirius Glass said:
Ah yes, that latest word in nerdiness in any language or culture.

Back in the Eighties(remember those) I was given a vest by Agfa(remember them) which was a smart silver grey with Agfa Professional emblazoned on the back. My family said that "you are not going out with that on!" and I never did!

Sirius Glass · Jun 10, 2012

tony lockerbie said:
Back in the Eighties(remember those) I was given a vest by Agfa(remember them) which was a smart silver grey with Agfa Professional emblazoned on the back. My family said that "you are not going out with that on!" and I never did!

Your family protects you well.

Roger Cole · Jun 10, 2012

Why's that? Someone going to shoot you for wearing an ugly vest?

I don't use/wear one but if I thought it would help my photography or make things easier I would, in a heart beat. I don't give a rat's arse if some people think it looks dorky. In fact, in some cases and places, I'd wear something simply because certain people thought that.

lxdude · Jun 10, 2012

Funny thing is, in the right place, they don't look dorky. On a PJ covering an anti-government riot in Lower Slobbovia or wherever it looks cool. IMO, anyway.

I've never had one, but in the field I think it would b a good idea. Takes some weight out of the bag and gives quick access. I saw one which was a mesh with pockets on it that I thought looked better. And somebody makes one that's like a field jacket with sleeves, (Domke?), so at least with the sleeves on it's un-dorkified.

Considering that these days people do all kinds of things to their bodies, with everyone trying to be The Illustrated Man, and with stuff hanging off their eyebrows and out their noses, and those saucers in their ears, a little anti-cool might just be the best statement to make.

Chan Tran · Jun 10, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
My Nikon F really sucks, too. After almost 20 years I still can't find where to put the batteries, nothing in the manual either.

It's in the manual I think! You have to buy a Photomic viewfinder before you can put batteries in. But now it's too late as you can't buy them batteries any more.

ambaker · Jun 10, 2012

But you can get the Wein Zinc/Air batteries, that work quite well. Trick is to save the sticker and seal them back up between uses, if you are going to let them sit.

cliveh · Jun 10, 2012

This must take some beating -

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...2&rlz=1R2GGLL_en-GB&tbm=isch&prmd=ivns&itbs=1

Diapositivo · Jun 10, 2012

Photographers' vests are useful stuff. It's the silver finishing with the AGFA PROFESSIONAL writing on it that is embarrassing. Unless, as said, you are taking pictures of a riot in Palestine and want to facilitate the aim of the Israeli sniper

Steve Smith · Jun 10, 2012

Roger Cole said:
In fact, in some cases and places, I'd wear something simply because certain people thought that.

I like the way you think... Which probably explains my collection of tweed and velvet jackets!

Steve.

brianmquinn · Jun 10, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
Have you ever used one?

Yes, I own a Kodak 35 and and my baby pictures from 1966 were take with the very same camera. It can give nice photos but I can not see how anyone agreed to put a camera like this into production. It could have been much better in so may ways.

E. von Hoegh · Jun 11, 2012

brianmquinn said:
Yes, I own a Kodak 35 and and my baby pictures from 1966 were take with the very same camera. It can give nice photos but I can not see how anyone agreed to put a camera like this into production. It could have been much better in so may ways.

I asked if you used one.

A Kodak 35 was my first real camera. It had a good lens, better than I realised at the time. It also taught me to see, meter and conserve film. You have to know what you are doing with a camera like that; otherwise you don't get pictures.

It's a bit slow to use, but far from the worst camera design ever. Get out and use yours for a few rolls. Don't compare it to other cameras, just use it. You might be surprised what it will do if you give it a chance.

cyberjunkie · Jun 11, 2012

lxdude said:
If it doesn't scare them away!

Of course you can't take a bad/battered/badly mantained camera, as an example of the functionality of a certain model.
The Seagull i owned was a perfectly fine copy of a Rolleicord.
I purchased it NEW on 1976, and i've used it extensively during a road trip from Italy to India (with lots of detours in between), i did on 1977.
Some of the best pictures i've ever done were taken with the Seagull, following sunny-16 rule, or with the aid of a separate selenium meter.
I won't forget how inconvenient and heavy it was, especially during horse rides around Bamyan and Bhand-i-Amir lakes (still remember the camera thumping against my chest, when my poor horse-riding skills soccumbed to the free will of the animal )
If i have to be absolutely sincere, i think that my two best pictures were actually taken during that trip in Afghanist, with the Seagull TLR: one is a portrait of two falconeers with their falcons, and the other.... well, the other is a double exposure done by mistake
I enlarged the two pictures quite a bit, and the quality of the honest f/3.5 tessar copy proved up to the task.
Of course my example had none of the problem reported in other posts.
Not better than a Rolleicord, but on par with other cheap copies made in EU and Japan (and i mean CHEAP, the Yashica 124-G i purchased years later was way better, albeit not as lucky - it was stolen from my house before proving all its worth).

If somebody got curious about the whereabouts of my chinese camera:
it was sold shortly after, only to be substituted by another "communist" camera.
For my second trip to Pakistan, India and Nepal, that took over 6 months, i purchased a Leica copy from a russian jew in Rome.
It was a brand new Fed 5 (with the olympic stamp), with a set of 35mm, 50mm and 85mm.
I wanted a camera that i could afford to break or loose... and with some sort of internal meter.
BTW, not a single picture came out as good as the best ones i shot with the Seagull!

have fun

CJ

Sent from my Android tablet

brianmquinn · Jun 11, 2012

E. von Hoegh said:
I asked if you used one.

Yes, I have used it. I have close to a 100 cameras in my collection and I have used them all. Some are quarky but fun to use. I do not find the Kodak 35 to be a fun camera to use so I have used it for only about a half dozen rolls of film. I much perfer one of my old Argus cameras of the same vintage and find them much more fun to use. I have to agree that it may not be the worst camera but in terms of fun to use I would rate it near the bottom.

E. von Hoegh · Jun 11, 2012

brianmquinn said:
Yes, I have used it. I have close to a 100 cameras in my collection and I have used them all. Some are quarky but fun to use. I do not find the Kodak 35 to be a fun camera to use so I have used it for only about a half dozen rolls of film. I much perfer one of my old Argus cameras of the same vintage and find them much more fun to use. I have to agree that it may not be the worst camera but in terms of fun to use I would rate it near the bottom.

I get a kick out of using an old C3, as well.

Worst camera designs

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