Camera design peak ?

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davethesnapper

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Having had some discussions with my early twenties son who is looking for a 35mm slr it made me think about when did cameras reach their peak as far as what you actually need. To my mind the aperture priority/manual slr with the facility to take a winder/motor drive would be about it. As a dyed in the wool Nikon user the F3, FE, FE2 era would be the pinnacle. I've had AF multimode 35mm cameras and used them mainly in manual mode when working. DSLR's the same the auto modes never seem to get it quite right. As far as I can see it's all just fluff to make you keep buying more stuff you don't need or want. I've worked as an advertising photographer for over 30 years and I'm used to the concept of selling people things they neither want or can afford.

What for you would be the peak ? A year ? A camera ?

Just wondering if I'm the only one

Dave
 
davethesnapper said:
Having had some discussions with my early twenties son who is looking for a 35mm slr it made me think about when did cameras reach their peak as far as what you actually need. To my mind the aperture priority/manual slr with the facility to take a winder/motor drive would be about it. As a dyed in the wool Nikon user the F3, FE, FE2 era would be the pinnacle. I've had AF multimode 35mm cameras and used them mainly in manual mode when working. DSLR's the same the auto modes never seem to get it quite right. As far as I can see it's all just fluff to make you keep buying more stuff you don't need or want. I've worked as an advertising photographer for over 30 years and I'm used to the concept of selling people things they neither want or can afford.

What for you would be the peak ? A year ? A camera ?

Just wondering if I'm the only one

Dave
Click to expand...

I think there would be a few peaks.
For the fully mechanical precision pieces, it would be the late 1950s - early 1960s. Cross-over time when the Leica IIIG was being made alongside the M series, The Nikon SP was also out there with an incredible range of spectacular glass.

For the metered cameras, it would be the later years of the Nikon F2 and its contemporaries, the Canon New F1 and a few others. This period kind of gets gray as it stretches out for a while as new features were added here and there. One might say the electronic era of the Nikon F3 and other cameras of the time, the Pentax LX, etc. may be where it is but here we are 30-40 years on and some of those cameras aren't as reliable as they once were, but good samples can still be amazing.

The autofocus wonders hit their peak with the Nikon F5 and the Canon EOS1V. I'd also argue that for compatibility, the F4 is the best camera you could get, but it's electronic wizardry was paltry compared to the F5.

The digital era has been a bit of rehashing the old bodies and form factors, then the mirrorless explosion, which Nikon, Fuji, Panasonic, and Sony all have absolutely top-shelf cameras.

Going back to the original post though, any one of these could do, but a camera with a good meter and a full range of shutter speeds up to 1/1000 or even 1/2000 with a 50mm lens is all you need. So it can be anything, but a Spotmatic with 50mm f/1.4 Takumar might top the list of mechanical robustness and a fantastic lens.

Phil Forrest
 
This is entirely dependent on the type of photography one does. A sports/action/wildlife photographer would find the fast autofocus zooms of the 90s-00s invaluable. While a slow-paced landscape photographer might say the 8x10 view camera has never been surpassed. It’s all a relative point of view.
 
I was really talking about the 35mm market I suppose. Medium format wise the 500c/m is pretty much all I need. I've got phase one DF+ and to be honest the camera itself is junk the lenses are not as good as the V series and if the do go wrong the repairs are astronomical.
Large format wise lets face it the reason we all love it is because of its lack of automation and ultimate quality. It's just when discussing the merits of differing models for general photography I really couldn't see the point of going further than the mid eighties.
 
Nikon F2. F3 and after it just bells and whistles. F2 will outlast all of them and have all smart photog is needed.
 
Restricting the question domain to 35mm SLR cameras as the OP did, once we get into the era of reliability (nominally, beginning with the Nikon F in 1960), most of the better cameras were "good enough" for most things I did. My Nikon F3 body and the pair of FM/FM2n bodies (all bought used between 1979 and 1983), along with about six or seven Nikkor lenses, were my primary SLR camera system from then until I sold everything in 2002 to buy the Hasselblad 903SWC, and since then the only DSLR that I've stuck with is the 2003 Olympus E-1 (also bought used in 2008). I still have that today, as well as a Nikon F plain prism that was given to me (and which I paid to have completely overhauled).

I did like the F3's aperture priority AE: that feature is a nice convenience. It's basically what I use most of the time today when I'm satisfied that AE will do the job satisfactorily, with any of my AE capable cameras. Most of the rest of the automation features on later models haven't done much for me, including the fast AF, sequence modes, scene modes, and all that other stuff that people now think are "necessary" for sports racing and child photography. Image stabilization is an exception: it helps me hold the camera and lens steady enough when I'm shooting hand-held with long lenses, it's a nice plus in certain those circumstance. (Not something I've done very much of in recent years though.)

Other formats, other needs ... the sky is the limit. Having done my walk today with a Polaroid SX-70 and made 8 lovely B&W instant print photographs, eh? There are other peaks to climb. :D

G
 
Dave, in my opinion the high water mark was the pre-autofocus era. It was an exciting time. In retrospect, the F2 (plain prism and AS) F3, FM/FE, Canon New F1, Olympus OM series, Pentax M & LX series. Brilliant photos were made with them all.
I don't think it's worth the breath to argue over which is best, but your son would do well with any of them.
The F4 was a fine camera, but personally it was the first one i found bulky to handhold. I remember the Canon T90 at the end of that era, being a pretty cool camera & the EOS 1 was bold.
 
The SLR I had the most fun shooting with was my manual-focus Pentax MG with aperture-priority. That little Pentax did everything I needed for the photos I like to shoot.
 
I think the Minolta X-500 is a good candidate for peak of 35mm SLR design. It’s not super high spec., but it is a wonderfully refined camera that is light while being solid, and sports one of the best finders available in an SLR.
 
The question what the "evolutionary peak" is, may be answerable by checking specs tables side by side. But it's a purely accademic and (to me) a bit uninteresting matter. What the "sweet spot" in the 35mm camera evolution is, is a totally different matter that introduces a whole lot of subjectivity. For instance: Are extra features that only some photographers need worth a higher price, larger size and weight? My sweet spot, Leicas aside, would probably be Nikon FM2/3a or FE2, or in fact even F100 .
 
Pentax LX with it's hybrid shutter and lightmdter which went down to -6.5EV. My second vote would be for the Nikon FM2n/3. I own both the LX an FM2 for 3 decades
 
All very subjective, of course. To me, as far as Nikon is concerned: the F3HP and FM3A. Leica: the M6.

If and when buying an analog camera today, I'd be less interested in 'peak' performance in the day, and more with: actual cost; repairability, and the availability of affordable lenses. Cheers, OtL
 
davethesnapper said:
As a dyed in the wool Nikon user the F3, FE, FE2 era would be the pinnacle.

What for you would be the peak ? A year ? A camera ?

Dave
Click to expand...

For Nikon SLRs, I agree, the FE2 is my go-to camera. I bought an FM3a after all the praise it got, but I don't think it really does mush for me that my FE2s can't.

Leica peaked, for me, several times: The M2; the M5, for adding metering; and the M7, for aperture priority exposure.
 
The era where my favourite cameras were made was 1974-1983 which includes the final year of Nikon F in one end and the FE2 in the other - and spans over the F2 and F3. These could likely be substituted by other cameras of the same era - so for me this is the historical peak.
I love my M2 as well, but other stuff that came out of the '50s didn't really do much for me (the Nikon F of 1959 took a little time to mature).
 
With only a very few exceptions I have little interest in 35mm SLRs introduced
after the advent of plastic construction, electronic automation and autofocus.

Chris
 
The peak all-mechanical SLR to me is a Nikon F2AS.

From a technology standpoint, the Canon T90 would be a challenge to top.

Rangefinder-designs hit their peak with the Nikon SP in terms of trying to provide as universal a finder as possible. From just a mechanically fine point the Leica M3 is it.
 
Since it’s now all a used market then think of ‘bang for your buck’. That opens up quite a bit of the field. For instance the Minolta SRT series can often be found working and Rokkor glass is fairly plentiful even today. There would be many other makes that will fit in the category.
Also important to remember is that even if you pay $500 for a professionally serviced top of the line film camera and standard lens the ongoing cost for film and processing will soon dwarf even that amount.
 
My vote for peak design analog manual focus SLR....goes to the Contax Aria.

Lightweight with a built-in motor, auto rewind, 100 grams lighter than an FE2 without a motor. Modern matrix metering as well as spot & average, elegant user interface, fabulous viewfinder with both high magnification and high eye point (perhaps the only camera that excels in both areas), with snappy (interchangeable) focusing screens.

Of course, being released late in the manual focus era (1998 and available til 2004) perhaps gave it an advantage; as other major brands had long since moved engineering resources into autofocus. :D
 
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