Best 35mm SLR?

wblynch said:
Olympus OM-1 is the best 35mm SLR.
I have had my original for 37 years and it still works and takes beautiful pictures....
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I have to chime in here and say that you would probably* have this same opinion about, say, a Minolta if that were the camera that you happened to select 37 years ago...
 
Red -- yes, I have the pre-Ai Nikon 55/3.5 and it is outstanding. I used to use it on the D40 too -- some of the lower end Nikon DSLRs took non-Ai lenses, believe it or not -- and the color results digitally anyway were quite rich and beautiful. I don't know that I've used it with color film. Now that I hear your b/w only warning I'll pay more attention.

And, to further agree with your statement, I'm in the market for the OM f.3.5 macro now. The f/2 is a world-beater apparently but cost more loot than I got.
 
PS At one point I became idly but persistently interested in the reputation of 135 format 50mm lenses, RF and SLR, and did quite a bit of reading, and the OM 50mm f/2 macro was named by half a dozen very experienced and knowledgeable photographers-turned-commentators as the best slr 50 they'd ever used. So I should have put that into my dis of the OM / Nikkor 50s.
 
sparrow6224 said:
PS At one point I became idly but persistently interested in the reputation of 135 format 50mm lenses, RF and SLR, and did quite a bit of reading, and the OM 50mm f/2 macro was named by half a dozen very experienced and knowledgeable photographers-turned-commentators as the best slr 50 they'd ever used. So I should have put that into my dis of the OM / Nikkor 50s.
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Yes, that is a good lens, but their catalog is very spotty. Some are good, some are not. Maybe that's why most prefer Nikkors; at least. that's my impression (I'm not a Nikon guy). But I certainly prefer Leica R over the results of any OM lens I've seen.
 
I love My Minolta's, Great simple cameras with outstanding glass that can be had for not that much. SRT's and X series.

Pretty bulletproof stuff,

That said.....

The Nikon FE i just got a week ago has a "Feel" that strikes with me in the best way possible, I am very impressed by it.

And my Nikon N70 is THE SLR that I go to first when I just run out of the house not knowing where I'm going to end up. Fantastic camera.
 
Thanks to Digital, i've been able to easily acquire many SLR, that were once pride and joy! The one thing i have noted, that there are no bad SLR's. OK one or two could have been better made..
My original Nikon-F was almost perfect.
My Pentax Spotmatic and later, worse made, but still a pro working camera the K1000 and the lenses. Reliable, the meter a really great feature. The only fault was the setting of the viewing for more normal to far sighted people. The meter, data not on same length as ground-glass, causing me headaches.
The Nikon-F relieved this problem, the Nikkors were mostly better lenses.
I've been given or for pennies bought the Canon Ae-1P, Av-1(stunning), Minoltas, Fuji screw mount, Practika,Pentaxes,ME-Super,MG,MX,KM,and finally a Nikon F3. The last camera probably one of the finest smoothest cameras ever. The only fault is that the film advance so smooth, impossible to "feel" if film actually advancing. Ya gotta watch the rewind knob!
Which is best? I don't know!.
Maybe the Nikon F but i seldom use it due to the weight.
It's me not the camera, age and a hurt heart..
 
Leica R6 & R6.2 are pretty much the closest thing to an M. So close, in fact, that when i bring up my R6.2 to my eye, I always mistake it for a rangefinder. And the mechanical feeling is there.
 
biomed said:
The SRT-101 was my first SLR. What a great camera! The only thing I didn't care for was the meter switch on the baseplate. It survived a motorcycle crash that ground most of the front lens element away on the asphalt. We parted ways years ago when I bought a medium format camera (RB67).
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Yes! I have rediscovered the SRT's (after going through just about everything else) and it's a perfect fit for me at this point in time.
 
BobYIL said:
Nikon F... only a hammer can be more reliable.
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🙂 ...

... but then of the 3 Fs I've owned none has every failed and all 3 were press or heavy pro retirees. On the other hand, of the 10 or so hammers I've owned I've had to repair several and one finally was replaced because I couldn't keep it repaired (head wouldn't stay on the handle and being a Craftsman hand tool Sears replaced it free after some 20 years of use).

As to the best SLR, that's tough. My vote wavers between the Nikon F3 and F2 with the poorer handling but supremely reliable F circling and kicking at their shins. I also rank the Pentax LX extremely high on the list; small, reliable, durable, full featured, and comfortable to use.

I have a rather extreme hatred for the OM-1. It suffers from form-over-function failure just the way the original iPod did. Both went through redesigns that addressed my issues proving me correct. They are both painful to use due to excessively sharp corners and edges (mirror lock on the OM-1 and outer edge of the front face on the iPod in particular). If you really want one to use then only consider the OM-1n or OM-2n where the edges are softened. This is also a little bit of an issue with the Nikon F (bottom two corners of the mirror box protrusion), an issue "fixed" in the F2.
 
Ricoh XR-P - probably not the best ever, but very good and capable. Runs on current batteries, and don't suffer from current draw like some more hyped models 🙂
 
My favourite SLRs are: Leicaflex SL2, Leica R6.2, R7 and R8 (R9).
The ergonomics and built quality of these Leicas are best for me. And of course there are great Leica R lenses, too.

I tried a lot of different manually focussing SLR systems (Pentax, Contax, Nikon, Olympus) but all in all it's the Leica system which I prefer. The only negative aspect is the price 🙂
 
besk said:
Get a Yashica FX3 for a back up for those lenses.
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That's what I did shortly after I got my Contax 139Q. Good thing as the electronics eventually died.

Greyscale said:
Call me crazy, but this is the camera that I keep coming back to:


Chrome Yashica TL Electro X ITS by Greyscale3, on Flickr
(this one is a hybrid, the ITS version didn't come in chrome)

Yashica TL Electro X ITS with Yashinon DX 50mm/1.7 lens by Greyscale3, on Flickr

Fully manual, with a stepless electronically controlled shutter, wonderful, accurate metering if you get a good one, mirror lock-up, metal Copal square shutter, big and heavy and solid. Perhaps Yashica's only real "professional" body. I love the Nikon FM2N, and I have a Nikomat FTN that is growing on me. The Nikomat makes a better weapon, and has a better viewfinder, but nothing fits my hands better than this old Yashica.
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I have been a fan of Yashica for a long time. I bought one of their movie cameras while on Okinawa in the early 60s. That along with price helped me pick a TL Super while in Vietnam about 1971 or 72. Since then I have acquired about 3 TL Electros. They are indeed nice, but I really don't use them much any more. The Yashinon lenses are quite good, and especially for the price.

bwcolor said:
I started this thread long ago. I really like Zeiss glass and decided to stay with manual focus, so I dabbled in Contax gear. Here is what I found:

Aria: I got a few rolls through the camera before the electronics got confused and I don't know how to fix it. It won't detect DX and I can't set EI/ISO. The controls that do so will only bring up the custom functions. The camera is light and viewfinder bright. The size reminds me of the OMs. Didn't use enough to really say much.

RX: Solid and smooth. The focus confirmation is useful from time to time. The camera is heavy, but comfortable to use.

RTS III: Heavy, smooth, large bright viewfinder, vertical shutter release and.. well.. it doesn't work. Mirror hangs, metering was questionable and so I didn't use it much. A few weeks ago I sent it to Tocad and they sent it to Japan for repair and CLA. I received a message saying that it would cost $230 to repair... reasonable. I paid the bill, so I'm guessing that I'll have it back within a month. I look forward to getting this one back. I think that this will be my favorite of the bunch.

LENSES:
Zeiss 100-300mm .. Great lens. Using it for Soccer. Have adapter for NEX-7

Zeiss 100mm Makro .. One of the sharpest lenses that I have ever used. Expensive... I found one NIB and wow .. what a lens.

Zeiss 50mm Planar .. enough said.

Zeiss 45mm Tessar .. The weak lens of the bunch, but right size for Aria

I also have two Contax flashes. One is from my G2 kit and the other is their larger hotshoe mount flash. Both flashes work as advertised.

The best advice above was to stay with Canon, but I've a weakness for lenses that have aperture rings, even the old Canon ones. I just picked up a canon zoom for shooting NEX-7 soccer video.
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As I reread this thread, I was interested to note all the Contax cameras that people have had trouble with. I already mentioned my Contax 139Q had died on me, but in truth, that may have been due to surviving a house fire (acids in smoke).

But it does seem that a lot of people have had trouble with the electronics. I don't hear that about the Yashica brands that I always considered just Contax cameras with Yashica branding.

Certainly Kyocera had problems with the coverings of the Contax and contemporary Yashicas. Has anyone heard anything about the Contax or Yashica cameras having a higher than normal problem with the electronics? I still think the Contax T* lenses are some of the best available, and the otf flash metering was really accurate.
 
How about the X-700 ?

x-700.jpg


I don't know if they are "the best" but they are very reliable and dirty cheap at the moment as they are very underrated. Value for money is excellent.
 
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