You favorite "socially acceptable" 35mm camera?

[Jesper]

Any camera that doesn't look like a digital camera will be fine. Chrome and old age will make people smile and not fear what web page they will end up on.

 

[film_man]

Socially acceptable film camera at a party? Easy: anything that takes instant film. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, just begs to have their photo taken.

 

[Sewin]

Latest fad at weddings and parties:-

 

[darkosaric]

Leica III with elmar 5cm f3.5.

 

[GarageBoy]

Yeah, I live in Brooklyn too- any self respecting hipster has a contax g or leica m to put next to their macbook at cafes... Which would have been my choice...

The "what webpage are we going to end up on" attitude is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I don't want to be steath, I just want to look not intrusive.

I know my fuji instax gets the reaction I want, but my 210 is too big to pull out at dinner and bars

 

[darkosaric]

Leica III is very very small - for sure you will not look intrusive, only stylish .
Long time I was in search of perfect small manual camera (when M3 and summicron are too big): I tried Ricoh, Rollei, Petri, Minolta, Olimpus ... on the end Leica III with tiny elmar is (for me) perfect solution. If the price is a problem then FED copy with tiny Industar-22 will also do.

 

[1L6E6VHF]

If you can get by without flash:
Kodak Pony or Argus a-four. Small, unimposing bodies with soft edges, non-motorized, non-ratcheted film advance and leaf shutter mean almost no noise at all.
If flash is necessary:
Any small 2.8 lensed compact RF from the 70's (Ricoh 500G is just one example), with a small electronic flash (e.g., Vivitar 252).

If you'll be taking pictures of people, avoid the tiny cameras with a 28mm lens, the pictures will be socially unacceptable.

 

[removed account4]

garageboy
have you looked into rollei 35 camera yet?
my FIL gave me one, nice rangefinder ( BIG VIEWER ) small camera
and it can take a tiny littler flash if you need it, also yeshicaT4
(has a WLF ) only drawback for both is you can't all manual them,
so aside from using a low iso film and setting the meter on high ( for the rollei at least,
the T4 has a dx reader )you can't push or pull ...

 

[mweintraub]

"Socially acceptable" camera ??? You use what you have and make no apologies. The idea is to make pictures. If all you want to do is please people at parties then get a digital or use your phone. Then they can see the results immediately. Now less intrusive is something entirely different. The Nikon F is only a wee bit smaller than a brontosaurus.

Like this?

 

[k.hendrik]

Contax G2 with 28mm; don't even bother to lift it to your eye or even look to your subject, just shoot from the hip. I 'did' Paris that way; übercool

 

[Dali]

Every camera is socially acceptable; some behaviors are not.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Every camera is socially acceptable; some behaviors are not.

Example: Spitting in the punch bowl would not be socially acceptable.

 

[Alan Gales]

Example: Spitting in the punch bowl would not be socially acceptable.

What about spiking the punch bowl?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Every camera is socially acceptable; some behaviors are not.

Example: Spitting in the punch bowl would not be socially acceptable.

What about spiking the punch bowl?

As stated in the movie "Airplane" "That is entirely different kind of ..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wxp-NxJny8

 

[narsuitus]

Example: Spitting in the punch bowl would not be socially acceptable.

This reminded me of the time when I was shooting a birthday party and my clip-on lens hood popped off. I managed to catch it just as it was about to fall into the punch bowl.

After that close call, in order to avoid socially unacceptable accidents, I stopped using clip-on and started using screw-on lens hoods.


Nikon Hoods by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[narsuitus]

I hate being "that guy" who whips out my Nikon F100 during parties and social gatherings- I guess I need something more "socially acceptable"
Any ideas? Olympus XA? Contax G1?

The Canon Sure Shot or the Nikon L35AF compacts are my "socially acceptable" 35mm cameras.


Nikon & Canon Compacts by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[Black Dog]

Contax G2 with 28mm; don't even bother to lift it to your eye or even look to your subject, just shoot from the hip. I 'did' Paris that way; übercool

I've used my Mamiya 330 TLR at many a family gathering-waist level finder, so there's no need to lift the camera to my eye. Also everyone was used to me using it.

 

[OldBodyOldSoul]

"Socially acceptable camera" is a term totally new to me, I don't know what it even means to be honest. In my experience, it is taking of photos that is ok or not ok, while the type of camera only helps the shooter go unnoticed longer, in situations when people don't want their picture taken. The only situations when the type of camera is the question of all questions are large commercial events when really big (D)SLRs are not allowed in the venue. Otherwise, people react the same regardless of what camera I am holding. Of course, if I am using flash or/and always getting in their way then we can talk about "socially (un)acceptable behavior" but that's a whole different story. The type of the camera in my hands won't change people's attitude toward me taking pictures of them, it never has, that's for sure.

With that out of the way, when I want to be as stealth as possible, I try to make people used to me always be around while trying to get out of their way, and use a camera that will not draw their attention away from whatever they are doing. That can be a TLR (I am looking down so nobody cares why) or Hexar AF which is small and fast enough, plus even I can't hear it. Most of the time that doesn't work and people do notice me, then they tell me to go f*** myself, which is when I have to decide whether I want to play dumb or not. That decision is not affected by the camera either.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

I do believe the question was asked tongue in cheek.

 

[frank]

People tend to react differently to different cameras, with the most negative reaction to a dslr's with large lens. "Socially acceptable" in the OP question simply means which camera is most positively received.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Show up to the party in a horse-drawn cart with 8x10 plate camera, tripod, dark cloth, and flash powder. There will be doubt that you are The Photographer.

"I got your megapixels right here, baby."

 

[cliveh]

To be socially acceptable, whenever I attend a party I like to wear my Rodchenko suit, smoking a pipe with a Leica rangefinder round my neck.

 

[Alan Gales]

To be socially acceptable, whenever I attend a party I like to wear my Rodchenko suit, smoking a pipe with a Leica rangefinder round my neck.

I prefer puffing on a big stogie with cheep whisky on my breath and carrying a Speed Graphic. I break the conversation by asking where the body is.

Hey Halloween is coming up. I think we both found our costumes!

 

[Black Dog]

I prefer puffing on a big stogie with cheep whisky on my breath and carrying a Speed Graphic. I break the conversation by asking where the body is.

Hey Halloween is coming up. I think we both found our costumes!

Don't forget the trilby with the Press card ....

 

[Sirius Glass]

and a Fedora.