Top Five "Evil" SLRs of All Time

Top Five "Evil" SLRs of All Time

  • Nikon F (F//F2//F3/F4...you get the idea)

    Votes: 223 61.1%

  • Canon F-1

    Votes: 66 18.1%

  • Contax RTS (I, II, but especially III)

    Votes: 45 12.3%

  • Minolta XK/XK Motor

    Votes: 14 3.8%

  • Olympus OM-1/2/3/4 (and variations thereof)

    Votes: 134 36.7%

  • Leica SL/SL2

    Votes: 29 7.9%

  • Exakta System

    Votes: 8 2.2%

  • Pentax (especially LX)

    Votes: 34 9.3%
  • Total voters
    365
  • Poll closed .
IMO

Nikon F# because these were the first real pro system cameras (F) and kept this status for several decades (up to F3)

Olympus OM because they changed the look of SLRs from massive bulky to smaller and more ergonomic. All single-digit models have been a breakthrough in time of introduction.

Canon EOS because with the EF lens line-up they are the best system available today
 
Keith said:
Aside from the mechanical shutter with a top speed of 1/4000 I read that the FM2 has the ability to do multiple exposures via a lever setting!

I do love my OM's but .......... 😱
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Which means that you can also fire a frame fully stopped down @ 1/4000, with the lens cap on and not leave the shutter cocked, which is handy.

The lever is also in the most functional place.

Pure Nikon. +1!
 
chippy said:
i wonder if the nikons results are influenced as sentimental favourite (i.e. i used that camera for years in the ol days and was faultless) and/or opinion/vote on what is perceived as the best ...which is ok of course, just that we cant tell by looking

but it would be interesting to know whether they have as many people actually using the old nikons today, as there appears to be (by looking at number of pictures posted on RFF) people using OM's on regular day to day basis

i'm not so much talking about the few people left that still shoot (paid or regular) a wedding with film SLR, or nature or sport using film--those people will likely use the AF EOS or F5 or F6 for speed of loading, dx coding, frame rate and data info , etc etc
Click to expand...

I only voted once, but I have 5 Nikon bodies: F3P; F3 nonHP; F3 HP; and two F2AS's.

The reason I own so many bodies is that I shoot fast primes, I love my manual focus lenses, and not having to change film or bodies works for me.

There is a certain amount of sentimentallity, because I have owned F2's and F3's for a long time. I'm so old that F4, F5 and F6 are too advanced. Call me old school.

Calzone
 
What, no Leica M + Visoflex?

I traded my Canon AE-1 for an M3 in 1991. I have owned and sold or used Pentax Sv, Olympus OM2, Nikon F3 etc. since, but never figured out how to like an SLR enough to want to keep it.
 
Keith said:
Maybe I was a little hasty there! 😱
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I don't know about that. If more people had of gotten an OM1 when it first came out then the results may have been different. I have just gotten an OM1 and if I had not gotten into Nikon so many years ago I think I could easily be in the OM1 camp in the voting. The only problem I have with the OM1 is that the controls are so bass acwards to what I am used to. Not the cameras fault at all just a matter of being conditioned to a different placement.

Bob
 
I vote for Nikon F with plain prism and FM2n. This is what I use and I love them very much.
I have to say I also have a thing for om2n...not sure why but it feels right in my hands and I still have a unused one in my collection. I used to have om4ti but didn't really like it.
 
It has to be the Nikon F for me. I've been using them since the mid 1970s. But I do prefer the F2 range of cameras, my favourite being the F2sb. Mechanical perfection!
 
What, no Chinon Memotron CE-II to choose?

M42 lenses (open focusing and on-shot stopdown with ALL M42 lenses)
STEPLESS aperture priority shooting from 1/1 to 1/2000th, so 2001 possible shutter speeds (!)
Full manual control as well
Mirror lock (with self timer trick)
Double exposure provision
Exposure compensation
Viewfinder blind

And all that in a black laquer body that is brass underneath. Leica body quality in SLR shape. Bright finder too.
 
I tried Olympus. An OM-1md, the curtain strap broke, and an OM-2p, the electronics drained the battery within an hour. I gave up and sold the lenses, a 35 and 135 picked up for $60 at an antique shop and a 24/2.8 picked up for $60 at a camera shop. Lenses first, added the bodies to try to use the lenses.

I almost bought an Olympus FTL when it came out...
 
Actually, looking at the poll results the OM's figures are remarkable. Nikon are and always have been a prolific camera manufacturer and if you placed all the SLR's they've made end to end they'd probably reach Alpha Centauri! 😀

Our little Oly's are very dear to us and Maitani is our god! 😛
 
For me, all I have to do to see which are the most popular cameras of all time is to go to one of the larger used camera shops. In this case, Nikon dominates. A large part of in-demand used gear is Nikon, followed rather closely by Canon. Pentax, Minolta, Olympus, and the various other makes vie for third through fifth place.

My personal top 3 are the Nikon F models, the Canon F1, and the Olympus OM. I own all three makes (Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, and Canon F1), but if I had to choose between them, I would have to go with my OM kit.
 
F2, then the Nikkormat FTn. My F2 has been dropped in sea water, has body damage to its shutter curtain, been to mountain tops, 40000 feet, the Dead Sea, the West Bank, Reikjavik, Helsinki, Beirut, across the US, in -25°C, +45°C, worn out one aperture drive, one motor drive, three finders, snow, rain, sand and is still clicking away. It got new light seals the other evening and now it's happy again. I only wish someone would modify one of those data backs and fit a FF digital sensor so it could live forever. In the mean time my 5DII is using most of the F2's favorite glass.

I suspect the Canon EOS DXX's will be up there in a few years' time too. If only for the head start they have given DSLRs.

- Børre
 
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