Best built mechanical SLR?

[mikyor1]

I've seen some beautiful SLR's
Nikon F, FM2
Exakta 66
Canon F1

I've been reading that Alpa SLR's from the 50's to 60's were some gems.

What do you think are the best built fully mechanical SLR's?

 

[Robert Lai]

From my experience,
Nikon F, F2
Canon FTb
Probably the Canon F1 also, but I have no experience with it.

 

[Graybeard]

I've seen some beautiful SLR's
Nikon F, FM2
Exakta 66
Canon F1

I've been reading that Alpa SLR's from the 50's to 60's were some gems.

What do you think are the best built fully mechanical SLR's?

The original Leicaflex, the Leicaflex SL, followed by the Nikon F2.

 

[Timmyjoe]

From cameras I've owned, I'd say the best built were:
Nikon F
Canon F-1n

Best,
-Tim

 

[css9450]

Nikon F2..

 

[ray*j*gun]

Nikon F and F2, but also Nikkormat, the early ones are stronger.

 

[mikyor1]

The original Leicaflex, the Leicaflex SL, followed by the Nikon F2.

I've heard these are beasts, but a pain repair because they were over engineered. I have no experience with them though.

 

[narsuitus]

Nikon F2 titanium

 

[rbelyell]

my personal favorite was the Contax AX, a singular engineering marvel. took those awesome contax zeiss mf lenses and made them autofocus! what a brilliant tool.

 

[tunalegs]

Early pre-spotmatic Pentax cameras have an impressive fit and finish. 1950's Exaktas before they began cutting quality and price are also pretty well built. My Contax Super B has excellent fit and finish, but I'm not so sure about its sturdiness.

 

[littleearth]

The Nikon F2AS, Canon F1 and Leicaflex SL2. My favourite would be the small titanium Contax S2 !

 

[Calzone]

I've heard these are beasts, but a pain repair because they were over engineered. I have no experience with them though.

I own a black SL2-MOT that was built from two donor cameras that were combined. The SL2-MOT was a shelf queen with a desilvering prism and a bad CdS cell, but I found a SL2 that had a perfect prism and a working meter that was well hammered but still in total working order.

I had Sherry merge the two, and Sherry told me that Leica went way overboard with over engineering everything on the SL2. She stated that they were difficult to work on almost like once built that they should never come apart.

BTW the chrome SL2 that was the donor saw very heavy severe use. The chrome was worn away, the top plate had multiple dents, and the lens mount was so worn that it was basically worn out and needed replacement.

I'm a big fan of the Nikon F2, owned many, but a F2 can't compare to a SL2.

Cal

 

[bastian a.]

leicaflex, leicaflex sl, leicaflex sl2, leica r6.2
nikon f2, nikon fm/fm2
zeiss ikon contarex

 

[semi-ambivalent]

Nikon F2..

Sover Wong agrees. Better built than the F and so modular he could almost repair one in the field.

-Read in an interview with Sover Wong.

 

[mikyor1]

lets add some pictures to make it count boys 🙂

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Best built? Hard question to answer . . . how would you really measure this?

However: Assume that all perils affect all cameras equally and then look at numbers still in service divided by numbers produced? Go on gut feel? Highest average exposures between failures? Chosen by most war correspondents? Able to pound nails, or muggers, and still work? Plain heaviest?

Cameras I have that are still clicking that I have never had to repair:

Leicaflex
Nikon F
Nikon F3HP
Nikon FM2
Pentax Spotmatic
Rolliflex 2.8, 3.5

Cameras that I broke and had to get fixed:

Pentax LX
Nikon F4
Leica R4s
Retina IIIC
Leica M3/M6

Is the top list "better" than the bottom list? No. The bottom list were my favorites by far. Perhaps I broke them _because_ I used them so much. . . they were out and about and subject to the world's perils.

Let me turn the question back on the OP: what do _you_ mean by "best built"? How do you propose to measure this? If I wanted to compare the Nikon F2 and the Leica R4s, how would I know one was better built than the other?

Not trying to be a jerk about this, just curious what you all mean.

 

[maggieo]

Pentax K1000. So cheap and plentiful that if one is broken beyond repair (highly unlikely), a new one is an easy fix.

Also, lots of great glass to choose from.

 

[xayraa33]

Canon F1

The original one, the improve one and the last one ( F-1 N)

All built like tanks.

 

[x-ray]

Nikon F2

A repair tech confirmed the F2 as the best built they'd ever worked on.

From owning a couple of Leicaflex SL's and an SL MOT I say they were way down the list. They were a source of shutter and meter problems. Imo they were never popular in the professional world for good reasons.

A good friend bought 2 SL's new and used them professionally and loved them but had many meter Problems. In the end when he retired them the meters still weren't working.

 

[nobbylon]

The original Leicaflex, the Leicaflex SL, followed by the Nikon F2.

x2, I still have an SL and F2. There are quite a few but in the end it comes down to these 2 in most discussions.