Cult cameras - what is on the list?

[kdemas]

Going retro.... the Kodak Bantam Special (art deco Bakelite).

 

[le vrai rdu]

yashica Mat minolta srt canon AE1...........

 

[Renzsu]

I think film photographers are in their own little cult already and anything they judge cult is lost on the rest.
I'd say maybe Leica's in general since you see them on design blogs everywhere, early Nikon F's because Dennis Hopper used them in Apocalypse Now. Stuff like that.

 

[xayraa33]

I am trying hard to make the Minolta SRT series into a cult camera but it has been a slow go.🙂

 

[Calzone]

My Nikon F3P that was a real press camera oned by the Newspaper "Newsday." I bought it just after it recieved a total overhaul after coming back from Operation Desert Storm.

Leica screwmounts. I own a IIIG with a canon/serenar permanantly attached.

My Tele Rolleiflex and Rolleiflex 3.5F.

Wetzlar M6's

And Mamiya 6's only with 50/4.0 permanantly mounted.

Any Linhof.

Cal

 

[Brian Legge]

I think cult cameras are often based on extremes of a particular attribute - be it quality, size, image appearance, etc. As a result, there are a bunch of them out there. Personally, I tend towards smaller user cameras that produce good images. Here are ones that jump out at me:

XA - Smallest rangefinder
Minolta CLE - Smallest screw mount
Minolta 7sII - Best fixed lens rangefinder glass in a compact package
Yashica GX - Compact aperture priority
Yashica CC - Compact wide
Hexar - Quietest rangefinder
Olympus OM series - High end small SLRs with great glass.
Nikon 28ti - High end wide point and shoot.
Rolleiflex 2.8 - Top end TLR
Anything Leica - Quality, early
Anything rangefinders for that matter. 🙂

I'm actually leaving the Yashica TLRs and Canonets off this list. They are popular but I think that is mostly because there are so many of them out there more than anything. I'm also leaving Holga/LCA/Diane off the list as those are certainly cult-ish but seem more temporal and marketing driven at the moment.

Of these, I only have personal experience with the XA and a small amount with a IIIc. My first experiences with the XA were poor so I'm trying to give it another chance. The IIIc is nice but I'm too cheap to buy Leica glass and am less likely to stumble across it cheap than some of the other gear above. I'm not sure where I'm going with it yet, though I like using the camera.

 

[Sonny Boy Havidson]

Hmm... Many !

The ones that comes to my mind:
- Leicas Barnack and M
- Rollei: Rolleiflex, Rolleicord and 35
- Nikon: F..., FE2, FM...
- Pentax: LX, Spotmatic
- Minolta: Sr-T, XE, XD, XK
- Contax: II & III, T serie, Yashica-Contax SLRs
- Olympus: most of there rangefinders, Pen, OM
- Canon: many of their rangefinders (I hate their SLR)
- Konica: Autoreflex 3, Auto S2 and S3
- Agfa Isolette 3
- KMZ: Zorkis, FEDs, Kievs, Lubitels
- Yashica TLRs
Well...

 

[Roger Hicks]

I think cult cameras are often based on extremes of a particular attribute - be it quality, size, image appearance, etc. .

Dear Brian,

And price!

But I'm sure you've summed it up perfectly about extremes.

Cheers,

R.

 

[kdemas]

A few more.

- Ricoh GR21
- Minolta TC-1
and, for digital fans, the Contax ND.

 

[twopointeight]

From the Olympus Pen line-up, specifically the Pen W.

 

[leicavidom]

And Mamiya 6's only with 50/4.0 permanantly mounted.d M

And Mamiya 6's only with 50/4.0 permanantly mounted.d M

neck and neck with a Plaubel Makina 67W!

 

[porktaco]

I think cult cameras are often based on extremes of a particular attribute - be it quality, size, image appearance, etc. As a result, there are a bunch of them out there. Personally, I tend towards smaller user cameras that produce good images. Here are ones that jump out at me:

XA - Smallest rangefinder
Minolta CLE - Smallest screw mount

screw mount?

 

[kuzano]

Polaroid SX-70 with Time Zero film

Polaroid SX-70 with Time Zero film

Sought by the Birkenstock, Saab, Apple MacIntosh crowd

 

[jasonhupe]

In college at RIT it was the Yashica T4 with the fixed 35mm F/3.5 lens and the super scope. Some amazing color work came from that camera. Our color professor, Dan Larkin, used it for his summer photographs on the cape and they were gorgeous. It seemed by the time I was a senior everyone of my friends had one. I think one of the micro four thirds might be the digital equivalent of it.

 

[johannielscom]

If I buy a cult camera, will I suddenly attain coolness? Or do I also have to wear black?

Hehe, I qualify 😀

Nikon F (in black)
Leica M (in black paint)
Leica IIIc Kugellager
Leica IIIc Grey (no there's a cult for you!)
Contax F, first fixed pentaprism SLR with automatic aperture
Bessa RF, II, III 6X9 folders

 

[Traut]

Minox iiis

If I have room for one more
Kodak Medalist

 

[Matus]

The one I am selling right now - Rolleiflex T

The one I am buying right now - Mamiya 6

 

[maggieo]

Leica M8 and Epson RD-1s.

 

[nakedcellist]

Leica CL? Sold mine, sometimes regret it.

 

[sreed2006]

Canon 5D and 5D Mark II?

There's certainly some very enthusiastic proponents those cameras.