Oldie Workhorse RF... ( Robot Royal 36 vs Aires 35-V vs Topcon 35L vs Konica IIIa )

[AlexMax]

Hi

I would like to hear about your preferences in terms of a "war capable" RF, in terms of Reliability, Ruggedness, IQ, repairability, etc

Feel free to add some more RFs i did not add, out of my own Ignorance.

PS. I not not consider Leica here, because, although considering them top-notch in all the specs above, i like to keep them out of Harm´s way...

For instance, if I take a walk in Ipanema, RJ, at night, hoping to get some amazing street photos of night life, with my "blingy" M3, with its Summicron 50mm F2 DR, well ... not that i cannot defend myself... but I will be essentially asking for trouble... Unlike if i would be carrying an Aires 35V, or a Canon 7s... get the idea...??

so, the options would be :

Robot Royal 36s
Konica IIIa
Topcon 35L
Aires V-35

...plain steel and glass, nothing more. 😀

Best regards,

Alex

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Alex,

Konica IIIa

The Robot is a better camera, but a LOT more expensive to fix.

Given reasonable condition for all four, I'd not seriously consider the other two (unless price is the only consideration).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Hibbs]

I have a Konica IIIa with the 50mm and can highly recommend this camera. You can easily remove the EV mechanism. The only thing negative for me is that the strap can interfere with the advance/charge lever.

I am waiting for the postman to deliver a Walz 35 Envoy. This camera has a Sonnar lens and I really like this optical formula.

 

[Beemermark]

Not on your list but a camera of the same ilk is the Agfa Ambi Silette. Not sure about repairs but they seem indestructible. Fantastic interchangeable lenses 35/50/90 that are as good at the Leica lenses of that that period. Great VF & RF.

 

[mdarnton]

Isn't the Robot just too heavy to carry around? But it might make a good weapon.

 

[Retro-Grouch]

Certainly the Robot is a capable and very beautiful camera, but I'm under the impression that it's reached Leica levels of costliness. Not something I'd take into a dicey situation!

 

[Glenn2]

When I was in a similar situation my choice was a Barnack. Didn’t want to risk my M4s in dicey locations like down back alleys in Afghanistan.
My first Barnack was a 3g with 3.5 Elmar for $125 , mind you that was 1971. A tiny 3.5cm Summaron and 9cm Elmar made a complete system for minimal expense. Sure Barnack Leicas have gotten expensive, but other LTM cameras can be had very reasonably.
I recently bought a Nicca 3S with a 5cm f/2 Nikkor for a couple hundred just for the lens. Don’t need another LTM body as I’ve got both 3g and a 3f. Like many others, too many cameras, too little time….

 

[ddutchison2]

The Canon RFs, any of them. They're still under-priced and have better features than their contemporary Barnac-Leica counterparts. better shutters, better viewfinders, better loading and they're still at silly low prices

 

[Alpsman]

My humble contribution as a convinced Nikon user:

If money is no object, the Robot Royal 36s because I love mechanical cameras.

If the low price is important, the Konica IIIa because it has a different film transport than the others and because Konica lenses were good.

The Topcon because Topcon built good cameras.

The Aires also has interchangeable lenses like the Robot, but it is questionable whether the light meter still works or still works properly.

The simpler a camera is built, the lower the probability that something will break and the higher the probability that it can be repaired.

The Robot Royal with spring motor will probably be the loudest.

For the price of a Robot you can buy the Konica, the Topcon and the Aires. It is very unlikely that all three will break at the same time.

Do you want to use interchangeable lenses or not?

The difficult decision is ultimately yours.

 

[KoNickon]

Definitely the Walz Envoy 35 and the Ambi-Silette are worthy of consideration. Also, Agfa Super Silette with 50/2 Solagon.

 

[KoNickon]

A thought -- not as full of cachet as the ones already named, perhaps, but a Zorki-6 or FED-2 in good mechanical shape has a very long and accurate rangefinder baseline (for low light) and would be a good choice. Lens? Maybe a Jupiter 8?

 

[skopar steve]

I have a Zorki 3M with Jupiter 8 and 12 for going into sketchy areas. I also have a Fed 2 but it won't accept my Jupiter 12.

 

[seany65]

Not on your list but a camera of the same ilk is the Agfa Ambi Silette. Not sure about repairs but they seem indestructible. Fantastic interchangeable lenses 35/50/90 that are as good at the Leica lenses of that that period. Great VF & RF.

I'd just like to say that the large majority of ambi silettes I see listed have something wrong with the shutters - usually the slow speeds are slow, so f you go for one of those you'll almost certainly have to have it serviced, which these days seems to be getting moree of a problem as there seem to be fewer and fewer camera repairers available.