Worst camera you ever owned?

[tlitody]

I know we all love our cameras but of all the cameras you've ever owned, which was the worst and why?

 

[Rogier]

Holga but it still takes the most inspiring pictures ;-)

 

[Chris101]

Olympus Auto Eye rangefinder. It was a cool camera, but a real headache to use.

 

[literiter]

The Canon A-1. Froze up in cold weather. A Spotmatic and a Canon FT-B were just fine.

I sold it.

 

[lynnb]

Revue 3 (Fed 3) because it constantly reminds me I should've bought an old user Leica.

 

[shyoon]

I wouldn't say it's the worst camera I ever owned, but I definitely never gelled with the Rollei 35SE. Decent results, but scale focusing, often wide open, coupled with those weird ergonomics always made it hard work to achieve such results.

 

[keepright]

My worst was an Olympus E-510 digital SLR. I should have just stuck with my E-1, which remains an important camera in my collection even after the rest of my Olympus equipment has been sold, but I fell for the "Ooo, shiny" impulse before a big trip.

(Come to think of it, my Canon APS Elph is also a pretty strong contender.)

 

[Darshan]

Interesting poll.
The camera that I hate the most is my Canon P&S, has a gorgeous 35 mm lens but absolutely no manual control (should have known as it is after all, a P&S :bang🙂
Over last few years, I have owned SLRs (Digi & film), RF (film), MF (6x4.5 & 6x6), m4/3, P&S (Digi & film).

 

[Chris101]

The Canon A-1. Froze up in cold weather. A Spotmatic and a Canon FT-B were just fine.

I sold it.

Being as I live in AZ, I never had that problem with my A-1 cameras. So I classify them as some of my best cameras. I can certainly sympathize though.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Contax AX, hands down.
Traded in my RX and the I bought the AX new, had it for 28 days and then it just died. The evening before I was supposed to shoot the 50th anniversary of the nurses of Pearl Harbor. Nothing fixed it.
Went to the shop where I got it a few days later and the Contax rep happened to be there. I told them what happened and how unsatisfied I was. The Contax guy asked if there was anything he could do to keep me as a customer to which I responded "take the AX back for store credit, give me a Nikon F3, a 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 105mm."
Then began a love affair with Nikons.

Phil Forrest

 

[Spyro]

m4:3 (a loaner)
no viewfinder + no way of knowing how far I'm focused + noisy shutter + very basic AF = enough to kill my joy of taking pictures.

 

[Keith]

Pretty well any FSU I've had or still own. Between shutter capping, light leaks and abismal view finders they really are the pits and if they cost any more than they did you wouldn't go near them!

That said I wouldn't be without the two that I currently own because occasionally they remind me that a $4000.00 MP and Summilux or similar won't make me a better photographer.

 

[nikon_sam]

For me it's a Love-Hate thing...
I bought an Aires 35 IIIC about ten years ago or more...it's a beautiful looking camera, heavy, all metal, nice shutter, self-timer, double exposure capable, just an overall cool and interesting camera...I wanted to use this one BUT I could never get the lens focused correctly, it was on the contrasty side, the shutter continues to get oily and will stick for a while...it just doesn't work for me and I hate that...

Oh, I almost forgot...it was a pain to get the film loaded...
I still have it and I look at it here & there and it bugs me that I can't use it...
Maybe I should look for another that needs parts because this one is complete and I would be willing to use it for parts...

 

[will-i_am]

I wouldn't say it's the worst camera I ever owned, but I definitely never gelled with the Rollei 35SE. Decent results, but scale focusing, often wide open, coupled with those weird ergonomics always made it hard work to achieve such results.

I agree entirely with this, its not a bad camera it just didn't work for me.

 

[Crazy Fedya]

I would have to vote for Exakta VX 1000TL I used to own with 35mm, 50mm and 80mm lenses. I just couldn't get used to reversed ergonomics of it. It had to go.

 

[reala_fan]

Mine was an Olympus XAII - see people take good photos with it. But my example was absolutely horrid.

Complete waste of time/film/money.

Threw it in the trash after stomping on it... 🙂


.

 

[Frank Petronio]

An 8x10 DeGolden Busch view camera that literally shed parts as it was moved about. No tracks or movements lined up, it was all Oak with heavy Brass hardware, yet it was wobbly and weak.

I've had a few Russians that were DOA so I can't call them cameras, just junk.

 

[rpilottx]

Early version of M6TTL-would go through batteries in four or five days. Sent in to Leica and they fixed it but for a camera that cost as much as it did, the problem should not have existed in the first place.

 

[Robert Lai]

I agree with Keith about the FSU cameras. I tried them last summer, then got rid of them all. Better to go with a Leica instead!

Nikon Sam - send that Aires to Gass Camera Repair in Mission, KS. He will make it as new for you. He completely repaired and restored an Aires IIIL and a III that I sent to cannibalize parts of. I thought he would make one good camera out of two. Instead, he sent me back two good cameras!

 

[filmtwit]

Sigma GF1 followed by the early Canon D30.