NickTrop
Veteran
Lots of cameras, have I. Not nearly as many as some here - and I've gotten rid of a few... Collector? Sure - that's a part of it, but I find more and more I devote certain films to certain types of cameras...
1. Konica Auto S3: Fuji Neopan 1600. This has taken over as my high-speed black and white camera. Its diminutive all black body has "won me over" for high-speed stuff. Load her up with 1600 Neopan, rate it in-camera at its max, 800, and you're good to go. Even though in-camera it doesn't meter at 1600, and it's shutter priority only, it's not a limitation. In "1600 ISO" light, the aperture will simply open to its widest - 1.8, set it to 1/15, and let its magnificent its high-resolution, 62 lpi center res at 1.8 do it's thing. 1600 looks better metered at 800, so the extra stop is just a "buffer" in low light... Its fast lens coupled with Fuji's great high speed film is more than enough for most ambient light situations.
2. Yashica Electro CC: 200 & 100 Speed black and white. I've thought about selling this one as it tends to give over-exposure signals too easily with 400 speed films in daylight, since it has a top shutter speed of only 1/250. This requires to annoyingly use an ND filter outdoors (then take it off indoors) with 400 speed film. Glad I didn't sell it. This camera is a classy-looking well-crafted black beauty with a killer 35/f1.8 lens now devoted to lower speed films. Looking forward to loading her up with Fomapan 200 Creative, and slapping a Y2 filter on her for outdoors-only stuff.
3. Fujica Compact Deluxe: 400 speed black and white. My "all purpose" FLRF. It gets the 400 speed stuff because it's my "default" and most-used FLRF... I just love this lens at f2.8-f4... Shutter priority with all-manual override and a stand-alone meter on top, all in a reasonably compact package...
4. Vivitar 3000S SLR: Fuji 1600 Compact, black, all-manual K-mount SLR made by Cosina purchased in the late 80's - my first serious camera. I prefer SLRs for interchangeable primes over rangefinders because for portraits (especially) and wides I like to see throught the lens. Also, great lenses are available dirt-cheap compared to most interchangeable lenses on RF systems. C'mon, I have a good (not great, but certainly acceptable) Vivitar 19mm/3.5; a 24mm Sigma f2.8 Super Wide II (4.4 on Photodo); a permanently (M42-K-mount) adapted 50/1.4 Super-Tak M (a great 50), and my beloved permanently M42-K-mount adapted Jupiter 9, 85/F2. I mostly use this camera for portraits with the J9 attached. Because I have to shoot at 125 ss with this lens on an SLR, I use 1600 speed Fuji for beautiful B&W portraits. This camera's top shutter speed is 1/2000, so I can rate the film at 800 and shoot outdoors if I wanted to. I have all the focal lengths bases covered with good performers - some would say "classics" in a couple cases, for around $200-300.
Fuji F20 Digital: Color. Sure it's a lowly digital point-n-shoot but this is becoming my color camera. I don't shoot color much but I like to shoot in low and natural light. With color film you get a cast indoors too often - or the color temp changes. Underexposed film prints look horrible. You either live with the cast, or use filters which reduce the speed of the film, defeating the purpose. This camera has a perfectly acceptable /real/ 800 ISO with color. Shoot at its zoom's widest 35mm (35mm equiv) - essentially making it a fixed-lens camera to take advantage of its widest f2.8 (f5 zoomed out - too slow), and manually adjust white balance. This negates the problems associated shooting natural-light with color film, especially indoors in tungsten or florescent light. It's little like a rangefinder, completely silent - it and its F-line brothers are the only digitals I would consider owning. I have gotten great "true candids" with this camera - where subjects had no clue I took a shot, dare I admit more than my film cameras? It's got a pretty darned good black and white mode too that reminds me of Acros.
1. Konica Auto S3: Fuji Neopan 1600. This has taken over as my high-speed black and white camera. Its diminutive all black body has "won me over" for high-speed stuff. Load her up with 1600 Neopan, rate it in-camera at its max, 800, and you're good to go. Even though in-camera it doesn't meter at 1600, and it's shutter priority only, it's not a limitation. In "1600 ISO" light, the aperture will simply open to its widest - 1.8, set it to 1/15, and let its magnificent its high-resolution, 62 lpi center res at 1.8 do it's thing. 1600 looks better metered at 800, so the extra stop is just a "buffer" in low light... Its fast lens coupled with Fuji's great high speed film is more than enough for most ambient light situations.
2. Yashica Electro CC: 200 & 100 Speed black and white. I've thought about selling this one as it tends to give over-exposure signals too easily with 400 speed films in daylight, since it has a top shutter speed of only 1/250. This requires to annoyingly use an ND filter outdoors (then take it off indoors) with 400 speed film. Glad I didn't sell it. This camera is a classy-looking well-crafted black beauty with a killer 35/f1.8 lens now devoted to lower speed films. Looking forward to loading her up with Fomapan 200 Creative, and slapping a Y2 filter on her for outdoors-only stuff.
3. Fujica Compact Deluxe: 400 speed black and white. My "all purpose" FLRF. It gets the 400 speed stuff because it's my "default" and most-used FLRF... I just love this lens at f2.8-f4... Shutter priority with all-manual override and a stand-alone meter on top, all in a reasonably compact package...
4. Vivitar 3000S SLR: Fuji 1600 Compact, black, all-manual K-mount SLR made by Cosina purchased in the late 80's - my first serious camera. I prefer SLRs for interchangeable primes over rangefinders because for portraits (especially) and wides I like to see throught the lens. Also, great lenses are available dirt-cheap compared to most interchangeable lenses on RF systems. C'mon, I have a good (not great, but certainly acceptable) Vivitar 19mm/3.5; a 24mm Sigma f2.8 Super Wide II (4.4 on Photodo); a permanently (M42-K-mount) adapted 50/1.4 Super-Tak M (a great 50), and my beloved permanently M42-K-mount adapted Jupiter 9, 85/F2. I mostly use this camera for portraits with the J9 attached. Because I have to shoot at 125 ss with this lens on an SLR, I use 1600 speed Fuji for beautiful B&W portraits. This camera's top shutter speed is 1/2000, so I can rate the film at 800 and shoot outdoors if I wanted to. I have all the focal lengths bases covered with good performers - some would say "classics" in a couple cases, for around $200-300.
Fuji F20 Digital: Color. Sure it's a lowly digital point-n-shoot but this is becoming my color camera. I don't shoot color much but I like to shoot in low and natural light. With color film you get a cast indoors too often - or the color temp changes. Underexposed film prints look horrible. You either live with the cast, or use filters which reduce the speed of the film, defeating the purpose. This camera has a perfectly acceptable /real/ 800 ISO with color. Shoot at its zoom's widest 35mm (35mm equiv) - essentially making it a fixed-lens camera to take advantage of its widest f2.8 (f5 zoomed out - too slow), and manually adjust white balance. This negates the problems associated shooting natural-light with color film, especially indoors in tungsten or florescent light. It's little like a rangefinder, completely silent - it and its F-line brothers are the only digitals I would consider owning. I have gotten great "true candids" with this camera - where subjects had no clue I took a shot, dare I admit more than my film cameras? It's got a pretty darned good black and white mode too that reminds me of Acros.
