Please recommend a camera with these features ...

[spystyle]

Hello from Maine 🙂

Alright, I'm gonna try film I tell ya, this time I'm really gonna do it!

But I was thinking of a small rangefinder like Cartier Bresson sort of experience, like Leica but without selling any organs to raise the funds, also with "shutter priority" mode.

So, if you would please, recommend a camera that has the following features :

1. Inexpensive or cheap
2. Shutter priority
3. Tiny or small
4. Rangefinder or similar

Thank you 🙂
Craig

 

[Darkhorse]

olympus xa maybe?
i would say the rc but they're selling for odd prices now.

 

[Avotius]

dont hear many people wanting shutter priority, most go for aperture priority but whatever, I think what you want is this http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Canon_Canonet_QL_17_GIII the Canon QL 17 GIII

 

[pagpow]

Hello from Maine 🙂

Alright, I'm gonna try film I tell ya, this time I'm really gonna do it!

But I was thinking of a small rangefinder like Cartier Bresson sort of experience, like Leica but without selling any organs to raise the funds, also with "shutter priority" mode.

So, if you would please, recommend a camera that has the following features :

1. Inexpensive or cheap
2. Shutter priority
3. Tiny or small
4. Rangefinder or similar

Thank you 🙂
Craig

Hi Craig,

Could I ask why you want shutter priority mode?

Giorgio

 

[benlees]

XA fits the bill- except it is aperture priority.

 

[Kevin]

dont hear many people wanting shutter priority, most go for aperture priority but whatever, I think what you want is this http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Canon_Canonet_QL_17_GIII the Canon QL 17 GIII

This would be my choice as well.

 

[hks3sgte]

Canonet QL17

 

[Warren T.]

another vote for the Canonet QL17 GIII. it has a very sharp lens, shutter priority (this is why I sold mine, because I prefer aperture priority if I had a choice), and it can operate in manual mode as well. It's not exactly tiny though 🙂.

--Warren

 

[spystyle]

Thank you all for your time 🙂

I will find myself a Canonet QL17 GIII 🙂

I will post pics from it here 🙂

Hi Craig,

Could I ask why you want shutter priority mode?

Giorgio

I have not shot any film in my adult life, however I have studied photography intensely using manual lenses and autofocus lenses and different dSLR's for over a year. I decided that photography (mechanically speaking) is shutter speed, aperture, and ISO - I decided shutter speed is the most important "mechanical aspect" when photographing people.

I found that if I take casual snapshots of people at less than 1/60 they are blurred. Also if I want to express motion maybe 1/15. Or what if I want to freeze motion at least 1/100. Yes, people tend to move around a lot and that makes shutter speed important 🙂

If I was shooting landscapes or stationary portraits I bet I'd prefer an "aperture priority" camera, but I thought about using this as a 2nd camera at events, like my daughter's elementary school violin concert.

That's my idea so far ... But I am a newb and might be goofy 🙂

Feel free to argue with me 🙂 I might learn something

Cheers,
Craig

 

[petronius]

The Vivitar 35ES or the Ricoh 500G

 

[Kevin]

Ebay seller "interslice" sells a light seal kit for replacing the foam light seals on the inside of the Canonet. If the camera you eventually buy has black sticky gunk where once foam used to be, you have to replace the seals. I've done it twice and it wasn't difficult to do with his precut pieces, wooden tools and some alcohol.

Look at auction 110382075034 ... After having read it I am not quite sure if that kit has enough foam for the Canonet, so ask the seller (Jon Good) if this is the case.

The Canonet is a great camera with a wonderful lens! You'll be quite pleased I am sure.

 

[Mudman]

yup I quite like the canonet myself. I bought mine for $2 at a garage sale last September.

 

[Gaspar]

I started with an om-10 with a standard 50mm. Great wee camera and the results out of the box are excellent!. I can be had on ebay for less than $50

 

[kxl]

The Konica S3 meets your needs - Shutter priority, compact, sharp, inespensive. I think they're going for about $150 to $175 on ebay.

 

[NickTrop]

The following cameras are the main cameras that strictly meet your needs. There are other more obscure entries listed above (Vivitar, Ricoh) as well.

Minolta Himatic 7SII, Konica Auto S3, Olympus RD, Olympus RC, Canon QL 17 GIII, Konica C35

"Cheap" is relative. Most of these cameras in solid working condition cost between $100-$200 on the big auction site with the exception of two - the Konica C35 "family" and the Olympus RC (though prices have been climbing on these too). Konica C35 might be your best bet if you want to spend less. The Oly RC and Konica C35 have slower F2.8 max apertures so they were "down market" due to this spec. That said, by all accounts, their optics - though slower, are reportedly outstanding on both cameras. The Konica C35 is probably the least expensive option that strictly that meets all your criteria. It is also not a hard camera to find on the big auction sites. Of the cameras I've listed, I only own the Konica Auto S3 personally. It's a wonderful camera. However, the others enjoy their own "following". It's hard to go wrong with any of them.

Here's a Konica C35 fan page - lots of info.
http://home.comcast.net/~youngds/Classic35/KonicaC35/KonicaC35.htm

 

[spystyle]

Thanks all who chimed in, I've got my sights set on a few auctions and we'll see what I get 🙂

I will post my results 🙂

Happy shooting!
Craig

 

[NickTrop]

Doh! Actually, the Konic C35 is NOT "shutter priority". It's fully automatic, selects both aperture and shutter, camera does everything. Sorry for the mistake. I read the link I posted. Huh - always thought it has shutter priority but it appears not. Still reportedly a great camera though...

 

[pagpow]

Thank you all for your time 🙂

I will find myself a Canonet QL17 GIII 🙂

I will post pics from it here 🙂



I have not shot any film in my adult life, however I have studied photography intensely using manual lenses and autofocus lenses and different dSLR's for over a year. I decided that photography (mechanically speaking) is shutter speed, aperture, and ISO - I decided shutter speed is the most important "mechanical aspect" when photographing people.

I found that if I take casual snapshots of people at less than 1/60 they are blurred. Also if I want to express motion maybe 1/15. Or what if I want to freeze motion at least 1/100. Yes, people tend to move around a lot and that makes shutter speed important 🙂

If I was shooting landscapes or stationary portraits I bet I'd prefer an "aperture priority" camera, but I thought about using this as a 2nd camera at events, like my daughter's elementary school violin concert.

That's my idea so far ... But I am a newb and might be goofy 🙂

Feel free to argue with me 🙂 I might learn something

Cheers,
Craig

I thought that might be the reason, Craig -- and that is the reason Canon gave when they forst came out with shutter priority.

I found that aperture priority gave me the highest shutter speed possible, assuming infinitely variable shutter speeds, at a particular light level. With shutter priority, I sometimes ran out of aperture, and would then have to move to a lower shutter speed if I wanted to shoot. I've also found with people moving around (grandpa for five years) that control over the aperture gave me a greater chance to get people in focus -- and that has come to be more important than an absolutely frozen moment out of the zone of focus.

YMMV.

 

[shadowfox]

Craig, welcome!

To me, shutter-priority has always seem unintuitive. Because I prefer DOF control over preventing blurred shots. In other words, I'd rather have a slightly blurred (I call it dynamic), but properly exposed shot ...

... than frozen action (I call it static) that is underexposed.

But this is part of the fun, explore, see what works for other that may or may not work for you 🙂

While you're at it, one that hasn't been mentioned above, the Olympus 35 ECR, one of my favorite. It's an all auto camera but with an honest-to-goodness rangefinder. Very compact and small, you'll like it.

Thing is, just with any Olympus rangefinder mentioned above, if you want the best condition possible, send it to John Hermanson (zuiko.com) for a spa treatment.

 

[Ken Shipman]

The reason both aperture priority and shutter priority are available is because both are useful in different circumstances. For the reasons you stated I think your choice of shutter priority is the right choice. But there will be other circumstances, too, where aperture priority is better. Can you find a camera that has both modes? Or maybe you should shoot in manual only and control the aperture and shutter yourself as you see fit.