disapointment/overated kit

[DMA1965]

Hasselblad 500CM

Hasselblad 500CM

I longed for a Hasselblad 500CM in the 1980s and 1990s, when you had to mortgage your soul to own a 1 lens kit. I finally got one a few years ago, and a brace of lenses. It was just not at all what I expected. Everything weighs a ton, and the massive mirror means that handheld shots at less than 1/125 of a second suffer from camera shake. The camera is very cantankerous. You have to remember all the weird rules about winding when changing lenses and pulling out dark slides and the list goes on. Once I got a Rolleiflex and a Mamiya 7ii I realized that medium format did not need to be painful.

 

[Bingley]

The Olympus Trip. Shot a film with one, just an average camera, never got it why it has such a big fan club.

This^^^^. Saw lots of great photos on Flickr and Instagram with the Trip, so I got one from Tripman in the UK. Can’t seem to focus the thing correctly. I don’t have this problem with m Rollei 35s. The Oly XA is an infinitely superior camera IMO.

 

[PhotoGog]

disapointment/overated kit

After a year of feverish buying and selling I feel I have something to offer in this thread that also surprised me (the difference between projections after reading online reviews and real world perceptions and preferences).

Nikon F3:
Would love to love it as the best bare bones aperture priority SLR but ... that bloody LCD meter has to be the worst design misstep in camera history. Not only impossible to read quickly, destined to dim or die and unrepairable.

Nikon FM and FE series:
Toy like build. My Canon AE-1 feels better made. The pull-out film was advance lever as on/off switch for meter and shutter is the pits. I think my forehead still has bruises. Awful viewfinders, dark and lack of choice in focus screens. The F2 on the other hand reigns here, but oh, the bulbous heads. How Canon could put a light meter in the body with the F1 (1971) and Nikon could not is beyond me. Ditto what others have said here: Nikkor glass is uninspiring. And big form factors compared to FD or whatever. Owned the wonderful CV 40mm f/2 pancake and would have loved to find a body I could accept for it, but accepted Nikon not for me after much trial and patience.

Pentax SMC 67 55mm f/4:
Perfectly fine IQ but shotgun-like form factor on the already beastly 67. Plus o realised too late that I have no desire to shoot wide angle on the 67, just portraits with the 105mm. Sold it for what I paid for it.

Canon P / Canon L1:
Got really excited about affordable mechanical RF purity (and sexy for the P) with opportunity to fit with some great Canon LTM glass. But then ... no. It all just reminded me of the Leica M feel I was missing.

Billingham bags:
Lovely quality. But screams: steal me. My $5 back pack works well.

Fuji 6x9:
There is a reason why children think you are a clown. Useless for portraits.

Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 ZM:
Say whatever you want, compared shot for shot with the Color Skopar. Could see no difference whatsoever. Bigger. Slower. More expensive. Unnecessary third stop detents. No tab. No thanks.

M6 classic silver:
Looks so great on Instagram. Ah, ****. Black is so much better! Silver chrome nothing like my (now sold) M2 brass, obviously. But was not prepared for how shiny it was and therefore not discreet. Flipped it for a colour exchange. 🙂 Holding both in each hand, the silver looks bigger. Confirmation bias at work!

Kit items I sold and regret:

CV 35/2.5 Color-Skopar:
Bought another. On its way!

Canon F1 original (1971):
For me, the best mechanical SLR ever. But gave up on SLRs for 35mm.

Leica M2:
My baby. Where are you? Hopefully we shall meet again one day.

 

[lxmike]

After a year of feverish buying and selling I feel I have something to offer in this thread that also surprised me (the difference between projections after reading online reviews and real world perceptions and preferences).

Nikon F3:
Would love to love it as the best bare bones aperture priority SLR but ... that bloody LCD meter has to be the worst design misstep in camera history. Not only impossible to read quickly, destined to dim or die and unrepairable.

Nikon FM and FE series:
Toy like build. My Canon AE-1 feels better made. The pull-out film was advance lever as on/off switch for meter and shutter is the pits. I think my forehead still has bruises. Awful viewfinders, dark and lack of choice in focus screens. The F2 on the other hand reigns here, but oh, the bulbous heads. How Canon could put a light meter in the body with the F1 (1971) and Nikon could not is beyond me. Ditto what others have said here: Nikkor glass is uninspiring. And big form factors compared to FD or whatever. Owned the wonderful CV 40mm f/2 pancake and would have loved to find a body I could accept for it, but accepted Nikon not for me after much trial and patience.

Pentax SMC 67 55mm f/4:
Perfectly fine IQ but shotgun-like form factor on the already beastly 67. Plus o realised too late that I have no desire to shoot wide angle on the 67, just portraits with the 105mm. Sold it for what I paid for it.

Canon P / Canon L1:
Got really excited about affordable mechanical RF purity (and sexy for the P) with opportunity to fit with some great Canon LTM glass. But then ... no. It all just reminded me of the Leica M feel I was missing.

Billingham bags:
Lovely quality. But screams: steal me. My $5 back pack works well.

Fuji 6x9:
There is a reason why children think you are a clown. Useless for portraits.

Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 ZM:
Say whatever you want, compared shot for shot with the Color Skopar. Could see no difference whatsoever. Bigger. Slower. More expensive. Unnecessary third stop detents. No tab. No thanks.

M6 classic silver:
Looks so great on Instagram. Ah, ****. Black is so much better! Silver chrome nothing like my (now sold) M2 brass, obviously. But was not prepared for how shiny it was and therefore not discreet. Flipped it for a colour exchange. 🙂 Holding both in each hand, the silver looks bigger. Confirmation bias at work!

Kit items I sold and regret:

CV 35/2.5 Color-Skopar:
Bought another. On its way!

Canon F1 original (1971):
For me, the best mechanical SLR ever. But gave up on SLRs for 35mm.

Leica M2:
My baby. Where are you? Hopefully we shall meet again one day.

what a great post, likewise l regret selling my M2

 

[Michael Markey]

Pentax MX. I really wanted to like this one, as the idea of having a small camera like my beloved OM-1 cameras, but with more advanced Gallium metering cells made the MX seem appealing. However, I found that the MX's shutter action is very unrefined compared to the OM-1, having a good deal of harsh, undampened vibration and being a good deal noisier.

Yep , me as well.
Had two sold two.

I prefer the ME.

 

[PaulDalex]

In 2006 I bought a black Pentax KX in excellent shape with two lenses, out of curiosity (I never had a Pentax before) and because it is beautiful and has good specs, .
I took it on a trip to Ischia, where I went in a failed attempt to improve my aching junctures, along with a Nikon F with the maligned 50 1,4 ZF.
The photos made with the Nikon came out nice, those I made with the Pentax ugly.
Of course it is me: definitely I am not a Pentaxian
Ever since I tried to sell the KX and its lenses but I failed

 

[PaulDalex]

I very much appreciate the anti GAS pills coming from this thread.
It will help me not to waste more money, making other mistakes, like the one of the Pentax KX

 

[mani]

Everything weighs a ton, and the massive mirror means that handheld shots at less than 1/125 of a second suffer from camera shake. The camera is very cantankerous. You have to remember all the weird rules about winding when changing lenses and pulling out dark slides and the list goes on.

Exactly all of this. I really hated the 500CM, and wasted enormous amounts of money on the system trying to like it. I bought an entire kit in really nice condition from the States, but found it clunky and noisy. The camera shake was appalling.

I sold it all at a hefty discount, and when I got the chance to buy new-old stock - everything new-in-box - I paid over the odds again, thinking the new camera would be a lot smoother. It was exactly the same heavy, clumsy, clunky box of noise.

The lenses rendered beautifully, though - the few times I could be bothered to use it.

 

[jamin-b]

Fuji DL super mini. Brought new . Wished I had got the Yashica T5 ( had a T4 but lost it). OR KNEW THE GR1 was about to be released. Lens over hyped, wife's sureshot zoom just as good or better. Time to take photo after shutter pressed toooooooo long, auto focus played up.
Vivatar 75-300MM F5.6 LENS. Nice build, great handling, poor images at all aleragutex apart from f16/22.
Nikon F2as. Finder blind lever digs into eyebrow, really anoying, so sold it. Use a F2s instead.

Really???!! The tiny Fuji DL has been one of my happy surprises. It's so light and tiny I always take it on vacation as an extra film camera and I have so many keepers from it. In comparison the Leica Minilux is the gorgeous girl I want to but never seem to fall in love with...
Goes to show, different strokes for different folks....

 

[Sumarongi]

Nikon FM and FE series:
Toy like build. My Canon AE-1 feels better made. The pull-out film was advance lever as on/off switch for meter and shutter is the pits. I think my forehead still has bruises. Awful viewfinders, dark and lack of choice in focus screens. The F2 on the other hand reigns here, but oh, the bulbous heads. How Canon could put a light meter in the body with the F1 (1971) and Nikon could not is beyond me. ...

Ha, I always had an antipathy to the Nikon FM2n, to be specific since I was in high school --- one of the nastiest of my school mates got an FM2n, and it took me really really long time until I was prepared to try a Nikon SLR!

 

[RObert Budding]

After a year of feverish buying and selling I feel I have something to offer in this thread that also surprised me (the difference between projections after reading online reviews and real world perceptions and preferences).

Nikon F3:
Would love to love it as the best bare bones aperture priority SLR but ... that bloody LCD meter has to be the worst design misstep in camera history. Not only impossible to read quickly, destined to dim or die and unrepairable.

Nikon FM and FE series:
Toy like build. My Canon AE-1 feels better made. The pull-out film was advance lever as on/off switch for meter and shutter is the pits. I think my forehead still has bruises. Awful viewfinders, dark and lack of choice in focus screens. The F2 on the other hand reigns here, but oh, the bulbous heads. How Canon could put a light meter in the body with the F1 (1971) and Nikon could not is beyond me. Ditto what others have said here: Nikkor glass is uninspiring. And big form factors compared to FD or whatever. Owned the wonderful CV 40mm f/2 pancake and would have loved to find a body I could accept for it, but accepted Nikon not for me after much trial and patience.

Pentax SMC 67 55mm f/4:
Perfectly fine IQ but shotgun-like form factor on the already beastly 67. Plus o realised too late that I have no desire to shoot wide angle on the 67, just portraits with the 105mm. Sold it for what I paid for it.

Canon P / Canon L1:
Got really excited about affordable mechanical RF purity (and sexy for the P) with opportunity to fit with some great Canon LTM glass. But then ... no. It all just reminded me of the Leica M feel I was missing.

Billingham bags:
Lovely quality. But screams: steal me. My $5 back pack works well.

Fuji 6x9:
There is a reason why children think you are a clown. Useless for portraits.

Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 ZM:
Say whatever you want, compared shot for shot with the Color Skopar. Could see no difference whatsoever. Bigger. Slower. More expensive. Unnecessary third stop detents. No tab. No thanks.

M6 classic silver:
Looks so great on Instagram. Ah, ****. Black is so much better! Silver chrome nothing like my (now sold) M2 brass, obviously. But was not prepared for how shiny it was and therefore not discreet. Flipped it for a colour exchange. 🙂 Holding both in each hand, the silver looks bigger. Confirmation bias at work!

Kit items I sold and regret:

CV 35/2.5 Color-Skopar:
Bought another. On its way!

Canon F1 original (1971):
For me, the best mechanical SLR ever. But gave up on SLRs for 35mm.

Leica M2:
My baby. Where are you? Hopefully we shall meet again one day.

Yikes! You've gone through a lot of gear. Maybe there is no silver bullet. Or maybe the perfect camera is still out there, waiting to be discovered.

 

[kshapero]

The Olympus OM film cameras and Pentax MX cameras were a disappointment in that the build quality of the Nikon FE/FM series was just so much better.

 

[Sumarongi]

The Olympus OM film cameras and Pentax MX cameras were a disappointment in that the build quality of the Nikon FE/FM series was just so much better.

Haha, PunkFunkDunk and I, we've just stated that Nikon FM/FE is a lousy choice 😀
... but yeah, I confess: I have somewhere in my house (the basement room next the laundry, to be honest, my future «man cave» according to my lovely wife) -- an Olympus OM-2n with motor drive and all that stuff, and an OM-40 I believe. I guess each has one film in it; I suppose, it's still the very first film that I had put in them, and that was errm... several years ago...

 

[RObert Budding]

Haha, PunkFunkDunk and I, we've just stated that Nikon FM/FE is a lousy choice 😀
... but yeah, I confess: I have somewhere in my house (the basement room next the laundry, to be honest, my future «man cave» according to my lovely wife) -- an Olympus OM-2n with motor drive and all that stuff, and an OM-40 I believe. I guess each has one film in it; I suppose, it's still the very first film that I had put in them, and that was errm... several years ago...

I differ on the Nikon FE. Mine worked perfectly when I carried it throughout my travels in Europe when I was a young man. But perhaps you prefer cameras that feel like bricks.

 

[Sumarongi]

I differ on the Nikon FE. Mine worked perfectly when I carried it throughout my travels in Europe when I was a young man. But perhaps you prefer cameras that feel like bricks.

You're right —— among 35mm SLRs, the Leicaflex SL, the Nikkormat FTn have the right size and weight for my hands —— in fact, I would wish the Rolleiflex SL35 would be a tad larger! 🙂

 

[retinax]

Yep , me as well.
Had two sold two.

I prefer the ME.

The noise and shake on an MX only occurs when the mirror returns, as you can hear in bulb mode. What bothers me about these cameras is the stiff shutter speed dial and its placement too near the prism. And the camera is a little too small for my hands. Everything else about it I love, which is what makes it so very disappointing.
Had an ME Super when I was 12 or so, indeed ergonomically more pleasant, but I prefer a shutter speed dial.

 

[zuikologist]

Surprised by this - the MX layout is ok, all controls are precise and it has a superb viewfinder (Cinemascope!) and nearly 1:1 with a 50mm lens, so two eyed shooting is possible.

ME, and KX mentioned further up are also great.

As another poster noted - 70s and 80swere the high point for SLRs!

The noise and shake on an MX only occurs when the mirror returns, as you can hear in bulb mode. What bothers me about these cameras is the stiff shutter speed dial and its placement too near the prism. And the camera is a little too small for my hands. Everything else about it I love, which is what makes it so very disappointing.
Had an ME Super when I was 12 or so, indeed ergonomically more pleasant, but I prefer a shutter speed dial.

 

[FujiLove]

Exactly all of this. I really hated the 500CM, and wasted enormous amounts of money on the system trying to like it. I bought an entire kit in really nice condition from the States, but found it clunky and noisy. The camera shake was appalling.

I sold it all at a hefty discount, and when I got the chance to buy new-old stock - everything new-in-box - I paid over the odds again, thinking the new camera would be a lot smoother. It was exactly the same heavy, clumsy, clunky box of noise.

The lenses rendered beautifully, though - the few times I could be bothered to use it.

Sacrilege! And from (probably) a Swede 😀

 

[gfeucht]

As for Leica stuff, I tried so hard to love the 35mm Summicron ASPH but couldn't. The focus shift was always an issue. I tested 2 samples in a mission to replace my Voigtlander 35mm f1.7 LTM due to the .9M close focus. I expected the Summicron ASPH to be the holy grail, but it just wasn't at all. In the end, I'm keeping my Voigtlander because it's so damn good (despite .9M), and I added a Zeiss ZM Biogon f2 for close focus and razor sharp rendering. Man, those Zeiss lenses: sharpness and pop in every shot. That can be good or bad, but it's there regardless.

 

[PhotoGog]

disapointment/overated kit

I differ on the Nikon FE. Mine worked perfectly when I carried it throughout my travels in Europe when I was a young man. But perhaps you prefer cameras that feel like bricks.

This is true. I love bricks. I forgot to mention in my OP that in fact I owned a FM3A for all of 24 hours. Like The Strokes, I thought ... is this it? I could not care less about its amazing shutter engineering solution. It defined dinky. Feels like an expensive Holga in the hands.