esoteric camera gear favorites

[aizan]

everybody knows how versatile a leica m with a 35mm summicron can be, or a high end compact camera, or an slr with a full set of primes and f/2.8 zooms, or a medium format camera with several primes, just to name some examples.

but what about all the cameras, lenses, and accessories that are off the beaten track? the stuff that most people wouldn't want to buy.

 

[michaelwj]

Surely there's a reason most people wouldn't want to buy them 😀

 

[David Hughes]

Snobbery, perhaps...

Or, maybe, they don't like to admit that not all their cameras are Leicas.

Regards, David

 

[michaelwj]

Snobbery, perhaps...

Or, maybe, they don't like to admit that not all their cameras are Leicas.

Regards, David

I'm shocked that someone would consider a camera that isn't a Leica to be a camera at all 😀

(I obviously have nothing of value to contribute to this thread, but I look forward to reading others thoughts on the matter)

 

[Roger Hicks]

Alpa 12WA with 38/4.5 Biogon and 44x66mm back -- especially if you don't want to be seen carrying cheap cameras like Leicas!

Cheers,

R.

 

[sepiareverb]

An Alpa 12 WA! Now there is a dream item.

 

[rodt16s]

Alpa also make a holder for the iPhone with a WA converter to use as the Vf
https://www.alpa.ch/en/article/sdh-mk-ii-with-wide-angle-converter
Doesn't look to be in Rosewood though

 

[sebastel]

An Alpa 12 WA! Now there is a dream item.

that would be a horrible nightmare for me. even the compact hasselblad 500 C/M or the little rolleicord Va seem that touch too large for my taste ... (but i like them).

nonono, i'm spoilt by leica IIIa and rollei 35.

 

[css9450]

I'm shocked that someone would consider a camera that isn't a Leica to be a camera at all 😀

Paperweights.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

An Aero-Liberator

 

[xayraa33]

How about Miranda SLRS? ... and not the early collectable quality made ones (Orion) from the mid 1950s, but the clunky mid 1960s ones that look like a Chrysler car from the early 1960s.

W. Eugene Smith used one (a 1966 Sensorex), like the plethora of other camera brands he used, too many to mention.

 

[sebastel]

kodak instamatic.

would a minolta XD5 be considered esoteric?

 

[FrozenInTime]

Used to have a Roundshot 28/220 - 360 degree view rotating camera with 120 film and 28mm Contax lens.
Great fun but sold it once digital stitching became viable.

Still have my minox 8x11 cameras ; they were my every day pocket camera of choice - but the iphone of today means the effort, of cutting my own film, processing and printing it , is too much.

Had a Linhof 612 PC-II with 58 and 135 lenses in the late 90s - sold it when I needed a car after changing jobs.
Out of nostalgia bought a beat up copy of the same last year at a low price.

 

[mich rassena]

Today my carrying around camera is an Industar 50-2 m42 lens attached to a Olympus micro 4/3 camera. That's not exotic is it? Not with the Internet and eBay.

Now for off-the-wall, I have a few, and I like them. The AnscoMark is one I love (I have two of them). I'm always on the lookout for its Japanese-branded counterpart, the Ricoh 999. I'm also partial to the Argus C33, which is an oddball even compared to the C3. But these inexpensive underdogs are commonplace and were produced by major manufacturers. Is anything truly weird these days?

 

[smiling gecko]

here's one...a kalimar sixty-six.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

would a minolta XD5 be considered esoteric?

That's the esotericest thing I have! Love it a lot, though.

 

[Mark C]

Kodak #10 Cirkut Camera. Panoramic photos from negatives 10 inch x about 60 inch. Any length you want depending on focal length and degree of rotation.

The #16 always seemed a little excessive to me though.

 

[oftheherd]

Mamiya Six - esoteric in that it focuses by moving the film plane.

 

[Pioneer]

My little Vest Pocket Kodak is even easier to carry around as my little Barnack, and the negative is bigger.

It may not be quite as user friendly however, though that often is related to how much experience you have with a given camera as it is to design.

 

[Spanik]

Maybe not esoteric but i like the funi g617 and mamiya 16mm cameras. Even take them out regulary.

Otoh i would not call a camera that cannot easily use lenses wider than 35mm or longer than 90mm or domacro "versate".