Hottest cameras from 1982

[kmallick]

Just saw this article and enjoyed reading. I own, use and love half of the ones listed here, all for good reason. I graduated from junior high in 1982 and I was itching to get into photography back then. Nostalgic!

https://petapixel.com/2021/08/31/10-of-the-hottest-35mm-cameras-you-could-buy-in-1982/

 

[kshapero]

Lot of fun to read.

 

[CMur12]

I enjoyed that, too. Thanks!

- Murray

 

[markjwyatt]

Mamiya C220f came available that year too. I think I bought one around '83 as a back-up to my C330f. Of course the article (not mentioned in the thread title) is about "35mm cameras".

 

[CMur12]

Mamiya C220f came available that year too. I think I bought one around '83 as a back-up to my C330f. Of course the article (not mentioned in the thread title) is about "35mm cameras".

Yes, I would have found the Mamiya TLRs more interesting, too. I have a C330f and a C220f, myself.

- Murray

 

[konicaman]

Those were the times 🙂

 

[John Bragg]

I remember it well. I am very surprised that the OM series wasn't mentioned. I have 2 OM1n cameras and they are awesome.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I remember it well. I am very surprised that the OM series wasn't mentioned. I have 2 OM1n cameras and they are awesome.

The OM-1 and OM-2 were nearing the end of their run. The OM-3 and OM-4 replaced them in 1983.

 

[pvdhaar]

I could only dream of those cameras... The hottest camera I could afford back then was a Zenit-E

 

[d__b]

I bought a Leica M4-P about 30 years later. Still one of my favourite cameras.

 

[eckhardf]

I'm not quite sure what 'Junior High" is; but I finished Grade 12 High School in Australia in '82.

I didn't get into photography until at least 10 years later but one of my first and favourite cameras of the time was a 1983 model Pentax Super A with a 40mm f2.8 pancake lens. Loved that set-up; I shot a lot of street pushing HP5+ a stop and developing it in my kitchen sink.

It was the mid 90's then, but 80's gear ruled!!!

 

[Highway 61]

In June 1982 (I was reaching 16) I made a very long railroad trip and I remember that I had taken with me, to read it aboard the train, the last issue of a French photo magazine of that era, in which there was a contest between the Pentax MX and the Nikon FM2 (first version). The journalists didn't like at all the fact that the FM2 lightmeter went off when the 1/200 X-synchro speed was set (they wrote that this just made daylight flash fill-in impossible), and that the interchangeable focusing screens of the new Nikon were the same three dim models as for the FE. All in all, in spite of the incredible 1/4000 of the titanium honeycomb shutter of the Nikon, they rather voted for the MX for its size, its "magical needles" film loading system, its quiet cloth shutter and its green, orange and red LEDs lightmeter in-VF indicator... 😉

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I'm not quite sure what 'Junior High" is; but I finished Grade 12 High School in Australia in '82.

I didn't get into photography until at least 10 years later but one of my first and favourite cameras of the time was a 1983 model Pentax Super A with a 40mm f2.8 pancake lens. Loved that set-up; I shot a lot of street pushing HP5+ a stop and developing it in my kitchen sink.

It was the mid 90's then, but 80's gear ruled!!!

In the United States there are three levels of school that all children are required to attend. Elementary School is grades 1-5. Middle School is grades 6-8, and High School is grades 9-12. Junior High is an old name for what is now called Middle School. Older people like my parents still often refer to it as Junior High because that's what it was called when they were in school.

 

[Vince Lupo]

I’ve had this ad since 1982 and originally had it pasted to my darkroom wall (aspirational I suppose!). The closest I ever came to owning an Everest Edition was a plain-Jane M4-P. Ah well.


Leica Canada by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

 

[jsrockit]

Wow, those are mostly very cool cameras and are still cool 40 years later. I’d love to have at least half the list myself.

 

[p.giannakis]

There was no photographic press in my country until 1989 with the publication of the first magazine dedicated to photography (Φωτογράφος) so 1982 is off my experience timescale. Loads of these cameras were around that time though and throughout the years I managed to get my hands in plenty of 1970-80s cameras. I still have a soft spot for Leica R and Pentax LX - never had any experience with them and those articles evoked those feelings of my photographic youth.

 

[oftheherd]

Interesting to read about those cameras, in Modern and Popular magazines. I spent lots of hours reading them and other magazines, such as Petersons.

I bought a Yashica SLR about 1970 or so having decided I needed a "good" camera, instead of the Minolta 16 and Welti that had been my father's. The US Army did not supply cameras for crime scene photography although they had trained me on a Graphic 4x5, Speed Graphic I think.

Later I again decided I needed another good camera. I consulted the PX catalog again, and my wallet, as before, and purchased the Fujica ST 901. A great crime scene camera believe it or not, at least for me.

About 1979 I purchased a Contax 139Q with 50mm f/1.4 lens. The Fujica and Contax had contests for sharpest lens.

About 1980, my command purchased Canon kits for offices; AE-1 as I recall. I thought that was a terrible idea. Turns out it was a great idea. For an inexpensive camera, it had good lenses and was agent proof. That is, it took a lot of punishment and kept on taking good photos. One of the reasons it is on your list I would guess.

But I thank you for the article. It did bring back fond memories of the times; including the wish for more money to spend, along with the realization (thankfully) that I really had what I needed and didn't need more. I am sure it took a lot of time researching and soul searching between so many good cameras. How nice of you to do that and share it with us. Again, thanks.

 

[Godfrey]

I guess my photographic desires were well established by 1982 already. I was working at a photofinishing lab by the Fall of that year. Fun to see the stuff out there. I remember all of those cameras and such, customers who came to the shop had them.

I already by that time had my Nikon kit, Mamiya 645 kit, and who can remember what else...? Wasn't intentionally looking at much else... LOL!

G

"Equipment is transitory, photographs endure."

 

[jsrockit]

I started photography in 1990. However, to learn about these cameras, I used to read old magazines that were stored on microfiche at the college I was attending at the time. Obviously, it was before mainstream internet use. I wasted a lot of time doing that instead of studying.

 

[Canyongazer]

In 1982 I was entering my 5th year teaching photography to mostly eager teen to twenty-something students.
Looking at responses above in 2021 leaves me feeling rather old. 😱
Thanks for the link...nice to see those familiar camera "faces."