Your Personal Choice: What is your all-time favorite camera?

[Thomas Bertilsson]

My favorite camera is the one I have ready to shoot when inspiration strikes.

All my cameras work really well and without trouble, so I can't say I have a favorite.

The most versatile camera I have owned is a Rolleiflex. Light, quick, quiet, travels well, great ergonomics, strong, reliable, easy to use...

 

[jp498]

Rolleiflex (automat tessar in my case)
Speed Graphic 4x5
Nikon F4s
Nikon D50

 

[flatulent1]

Tough choice between the T90, EOS 1V, and Contax RX/RTS III. I love using all of these.

 

[cjbecker]

Probably the camera that traveled the world with me. rolleicord III

 

[Besk]

My much modified Busch Pressman D is my favorite. Unfortunately it is not suitable for
everything I do.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

For a grab-n-go, it would have to be my Contax G2. Lenses for it are second-to-none, when I'm traveling, I can have an entire system at hand in a small bag, and I'm only ever disappointed by my own shortcomings when I produce a dud image with it. Second favorite would be my Canham field cameras ( I lump them together because I've got three in different sizes, but design-wise they're the same camera ). They're easy to shoot, fold up nice and light and compact, and get out of my way sufficiently that when I'm making images with them, I'm thinking about making images, not about the camera. My old Century Master Studio Portrait camera is similar ( gets out of the way ), but it isn't nearly as versatile.

 

[rakeshmravi]

Two would be: Leica M3 and Nikon F6

It used to be the M3, until few years ago when I got myself an F6 and 3 sharp Nikon lenses. It has become my most used camera now and by far the best 35mm I have ever used.

 

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Bradley;

It has taken a while to consider this. Yes, I do still like the Minolta SR and SR-T cameras, and the Nikon F2 is still an enjoyable camera, but when the actual use of the camera is included, it falls to the Minolta X-700 with the MD-1 Motor Drive. I have large hands, and the X-700/MD-1 combination just fits my hand. Everything is right where my fingers expect to find them.

There are others here in the Minolta line up to the Maxxum 9 or Dynax 9, but the shutter release on it reminds me of the original Nikon F where you must make a deliberate effort to get your finger back to where the shutter release is located.

While there are many factors that may make a camera suitable for one function or another, having a camera that seems to fit you may become evident only after some time period of use. This feeling of "this camera just fits me" has become more important over the years than most of the technical specifications and the special functions.

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays;

Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

 

[JohnMeadows]

For me, the camera that gives me the results I am consistently happy with is my Mamiya M645.

The one that feels the nicest in my hands is a Nikon n90s with the extra grip.

 

[dpurdy]

Rolleiflex for me. I have to keep mine locked in a closet, out of sight out of mind, or I would never use the Pentax 67 or the 8x10.
Every camera has limits as well as unique capability. I wish the Rolleiflex 2.8F could shoot 6x7, I wish the Pentax 67 weighed less and used Schneider or Zeiss lenses.
I wish the 8x10 wasn't such a beast to wrestle with.
Dennis

 

[theoria]

Leica M2
Pentax ME super
Kiev 60 (complemented with some Zeiss Jena glass)

I like them because these are very straightforward, no bells and whistles cameras, that truly deliver. Superb viewfinders, robust and, at least when it comes to the first two in my list, great ergonomics (except for the idiosyncratic Leica film loading mechanism, which is nevertheles compensated by many other advantages, like stealth).

 

[Stuggi]

35 mm SLR: Canon AE-1P, with a squealing shutter and all the seals mostly gone, and I still love it. I can't wait to see it after a complete CLA tomorrow.
MF: Yashica-Mat 124G (this is probably going to change when my Hasselblad 500 C/M arrives)

 

[Dshambli]

My Rolleicord III. I've tried different medium formats, trying to get the next best thing, but until I'm able to drop money on a Rolleiflex, I don't think I'll find anything I enjoy as much.

 

[emjo]

Hard question as I have too many to chose from, not so much GAS as hoarding... But the Fuji GA645Zi I really enjoyed shooting with at the time. I think that is the camera that made me feel at ease with medium format. A special place in my heart!

 

[anfenglin]

I always seem to get drawn back to 35mm cameras, although I am disappointed by the results. Maybe it is down to my scanner (a crappy Epson V500) but most definitely I like the compactness of 35mm cameras. The smaller, the better. My favourite 35mm camera would either be the Pentax ME super I owned for a very long time or my Voigtländer Bessa-R for its simplicity.
In medium format, which I shoot maybe 90% of the time, I love my Fuji GA645 and my Rolleicord III (with Rick Oleson screen and Xenar). Both are very different but I tend to take the Fuji more, the Rollei is for when I am on my own, have time to shoot. I can just take the Fuji and put it in my pocket, with the Rollei I also take the hood, the Digisix and so on. The Fuji fits in the breast pocket of my winter jacket, I can even bring it when I'm out with the family. As a bonus, I can shoot my 220 Orwos in it!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

My all-time favorite is my Rolleiflex 2.8E.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Nearly impossible for me to pick just one. Therefore I will choose among categories:

subminiature:
My Minox B.

pocketable:
My Ricoh GR-1 with the Olympus XA as second choice.

instant:
My Polaroid SLR 690, although I prefer the tonal qualities of the Polaroid Time Zero film in my SX-70.

pinhole:
My Zero Image 2000 6x6; no frills, as basic as possible.

35mm rangefinder:
My Leica M3 (ss, st, pv, with dof indicator in patch) with 50/2 DR Summicron.

35mm SLR, non-electronic era:
My Pentax SP500 (without a battery since I don't like stop-down metering) with Super Takumar 55/2; this is the camera I'm used to since I used it exclusively for 15 years. In the future, I think I'll prefer the Nikon F or Exakta 500. I enjoy the Nikon F2, FM3a, FM, and Nikkormat FT2 as well, but the simpler cameras allow me to concentrate more on what I'm seeing.

35mm SLR, electronic era:
My Canon Rebel G (known internationally as the EOS 500N) with EF 50/1.8 II; lightweight, fast, easy to use and amazingly flexible. Although I enjoy my Nikon F4s, Minolta Maxxum 7, and Canon Elan 7NE, the simpler Rebel G is effortless to use.

Medium format rangefinder:
My Fuji GW690III.

Medium format SLR:
My Mamyia RB67 Pro S with 140mm Macro C. My Hasselblads are of high quality, but I treat them like jewelry.

Medium format TLR:
My Rolleiflex 3.5F.

Large format, technical/field:
My Pacemaker Speed Graphic 4X5.

Large format, monorail:
None -- looking for an 8x10.


...and yet, the one camera I think is the most lustworthy: the Minolta SRT-101 with 58/1.2 MC Rokkor

 

[Sirius Glass]

Like you have to ask me. I enjoy the using the Hasselblads the most, but I also enjoy the Pacemaker Speed Graphic, the Nikons, and WideLux.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Nearly impossible for me to pick just one. Therefore I will choose among categories:
...

“On the eleventh Day, the Word was spoken: ‘Theo, thou covetest Cameras to excess - Man shall coveteth only one Camera and forsake all others. I command thee to choose just One.’

“And Theo underwent much Anguish and gnashing of Teeth and reasoned thusly: ‘to have just One for all Time, it must be handy of Usage and therefore cannot be of large or even medium of Format; neither cannot it be so small that it leaveth the Heart wanting.’ Thus having paired the Flock, Theo further reasoned, ‘to perceive through the Lens is to perceive Truth’. With much Sadness, Theo setteth aside the Rangefinders. Now at the End, Theo lastly spake, ‘with Cameras there are no higher valued Qualities than Robustness, Strength, Versatility, and Simplicity.’

The Sun hath set and Theo hath chosen the Nikon F.

 

[markbarendt]

1 - RB 67
2 - F5
3 - F100

 

[Steve Smith]

From the cameras I actually own, it would be my Rolleicord V.


Steve.

 

[Jim Jones]

A Leica M4 bought new in 1970 and used hard with no problems since then. A Nikon outfit is more versatile, and large format delivers higher image quality, but the Leica is more a part of me.

 

[macfred]

35mm : Konica III
Medium format 120 : FUJI GA645

 

[MartinCrabtree]

Nikon F5

 

[guangong]

Not one but three favorites. An m4 that I bought at the Willoughby store on 48th street in NYC, a new Leicaflex sl with 50mm lense that was sold to me as a dealers special (half list price) by the gracious Vienese owner of Photo View Central, a long ago store located on east 43rd st. and my go everywhere camera, a Minox III, so small it sometimes gets lost in my pocket.