Innovative cameras unrecognised ?

[dee]

I was pondering the 1st Leicaflex the original Zenit simply adding a pentaprism to the original Leica clone .
Indeed any USSR camera updated ,such as the Kiev4 cramming the Contax 3 meter into a post war Contax lookalike . I love it !
Any thoughts ?
Dee

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Lada Niva was first frameless 4x4 and it is originated from model 6 Lada (FIAT). Same as Zenit from Zorki (Leica).

 

[De_Corday]

The venerable Nikon F is kind of just an S with a prism crammed in there...

 

[lynnb]

The Nikon 1 V1 had fewer parts than any previous digital camera as far as I know - Nikon pioneered low cost manufacturing with that camera. Then they massively over-priced it 😱

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

I was pondering the 1st Leicaflex the original Zenit simply adding a pentaprism to the original Leica clone .
Indeed any USSR camera updated ,such as the Kiev4 cramming the Contax 3 meter into a post war Contax lookalike . I love it !
Any thoughts ?
Dee

Perhaps I'm mistaken but I was under the impression that the Kiev 4 was a Soviet replica of the Contax III? I don't want to understate what must have been enormous challenges in essentially replicating Zeiss Contax manufacture in the USSR (with a substantial degree of success from what I know, which includes owning a Kiev 4a and Contax II). But surely the innovating was performed by Zeiss who actually came up with the design, and not the Soviets, who copied it?
Cheers
Brett

 

[Santtu Määttänen]

Kiev 5 is a wonderful example of over engineering, making something that could be RF for the masses after their hay-day was way way over. But it never came to be due to low quality manufacturing, low production numbers and pretty much no marketing to speak of.

Also the variable aspect ratio in Panasonic LX100 / Leica D109 (and what ever other cameras Panasonic placed it in) is a amazing thing. Retains same focal length, but has various aspect ratios to compose in. Makes it easier to work with when your final print is something other then 4/3 or 3/2. Only shortcoming is not offering real panorama format (like 1:2.66).

 

[dee]

Yes the Kiev was a direct recreation of the Contax 2 & 3.
They trained argricultural people to make them .
But Kiev engineers created the smaller meter copying the style of the post war Contax.The metal cover was so thin that early examples dinged so ridges were introduced in 1958 .
The quality of my 1957 examples is excellent prompting me to have a dead Contax 3 body fitted with K4 top plate and meter making it my rave Kontax that it was easy shows how good the Arsenal techs were .

Dee

 

[mpaniagua]

Mamiya C's TLR series was the only one (that I know about) professional grade TLR with Interchangeable lens. I love the idea and its one of my favorites cameras. I suppose that the idea didnt got that popular because most medium format where going the SLR way on that time.

 

[Dralowid]

Canon Pellix. Canon Dial.

 

[Santtu Määttänen]

Mamiya C's TLR series was the only one (that I know about) professional grade TLR with Interchangeable lens. I love the idea and its one of my favorites cameras. I suppose that the idea didnt got that popular because most medium format where going the SLR way on that time.

Only ones in MF world as far as I know. How ever there are examples of LF TLR:s with interchangeable lenses (like Gowlandflex).

 

[rbsinto]

Nikon FA.
At the time of it's release, I was very interested in it mainly because of its LCD readout(!!!). The owner of the camera store I went to see about it really had no idea what the AMP (Automated Multi-patterned Metering) was about and actually dissuaded me from buying one, citing the FE-2 as being a better camera for less money.
This general lack of understanding about what was simply the first of the Matrix Metering systems doomed the FA to commercial failure at the time.
Years later, I bought one and to this day it consistently gives me the best exposures of any of my metering bodies.
And I am convinced that had it been built to the industrial strength standard of the F3, the FA could have and would have been the Nikon pro body of its time.

 

[Greyscale]

Voigtlander-Cosina Bessa rangefinder is a Cosina CT-1 SLR with the pentaprism replaced with a rangefinder.

 

[mpaniagua]

Also, I liked the idea of the Voigtlander plunge rod from Vitessa series (I have the A and T). Probably seems weird but I actually it 🙂

 

[Godfrey]

In the modern, digital camera era, the Ricoh GXR system went mostly unrecognized other than by enthusiasts. It was innovative for its modular design ethos ... lens and sensor "camera units" built together to be an optimized setup and then the 'A12 Camera Mount' made with the best optimized 12Mpixel APS-C sensor to use with Leica M-mount lenses. Excellent controls and features throughout, excellent build quality and image quality ...

I imagine it was a ferociously expensive system to design and manufacture, maintain firmware for, and those costs would only go higher if they'd gotten to the point of building an updated body, updated camera units, etc.

I did a lot of photography with that camera for a couple of years and cannot fault it other than to say it fell behind in responsiveness and EVF quality eventually. It is still the best performer in a digital camera for the Voigtländer Color Skopar lenses (21, 25, 28, 35, and 50 mm) that I've worked with, better with those lenses than the Sony NEX or A7, Leica M9/M-P240/M-D or SL.

G

Another Fine Day At The Tate Modern - London 2011
Ricoh GXR-M + CV Skopar 21mm f/4​

 

[MrFujicaman]

The Chinon CE-Memotron & Memotron-II and CE-3 M42 mount SLR's. Auto exposure with ANY automatic M42 mount lens

Also the CE-3 had the seriously cool PW-510 winder with an intervalometer and 2 frames per second.

 

[flavio81]

Pentax SLRs (1950s-) -- set the ergonomics/shape/conventional layout that practically all later SLRs that followed

Canon AE-1 (1976) --- forever changed the camera industry; first camera with microprocessor control AE, a radical departure in camera construction and materials as well

Mamiya Auto XTL (1971?) -- the most advanced SLR of that specific point in time

Mamiya M645 -- i believe this was the first MF compact SLR

Praktina system -- first true "system" SLR, or in any case the award goes to

Ihaghee Exakta -- first true "system" SLR

Olympus OM-2 -- first camera with TTL OTF metering, surely a radical departure from the metering system used before.

Pentax Electro Spotmatic -- i think it was the first electronic autoexposure SLR

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Dee,

Innovations are not always successfull, though some are.

Periflex (Leica screw mount with reflex focusing but not full viewfinder, British)

Ensign Commando (focus by moving image plane, British)

Envoy Wide-Angle (65mm fixed lens on 6x9 cm, British.)

Alpa 35mm (combination reflex and RF, Swiss.)

Semflex (I think, but this is from memory: can't find confirmation -- first TLR with interchangeable lenses. French.)

Tessina (Swiss 35mm TLR)

More if I think of them.

Cheers,

R.

 

[flavio81]

The venerable Nikon F is kind of just an S with a prism crammed in there...

This is true, and it's impressive that they did it so right the first time, because the finished product is great.

Also the "S" camera had a wonderful, deluxe shutter and that's what you get on a Nikon F (try shooting one with the mirror locked up). Sweet.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Pentax SLRs (1950s-) -- set the ergonomics/shape/conventional layout that practically all later SLRs that followed

Canon AE-1 (1976) --- forever changed the camera industry; first camera with microprocessor control AE, a radical departure in camera construction and materials as well

Mamiya Auto XTL (1971?) -- the most advanced SLR of that specific point in time

Mamiya M645 -- i believe this was the first MF compact SLR

Praktina system -- first true "system" SLR, or in any case the award goes to

Ihaghee Exakta -- first true "system" SLR

Olympus OM-2 -- first camera with TTL OTF metering, surely a radical departure from the metering system used before.

Pentax Electro Spotmatic -- i think it was the first electronic autoexposure SLR

Pentax: cf. Gamma Duflex and indeed Praktina. Also, the Pentax had dual shutter dials. The Nikon F wins for the prototype modern SLR.

Mamiya Auto XTL: What did it have that others didn't?

Electro Spotmatic: No, the first auto-exposure TTL SLR was the Contarex Super BC, about 8 years earlier. Pentax and their fanboys have claimed a LOT of innovations as their own, despite their being borrowed from elsewhere. Cf. ttl metering and even pentaprisms.

Right behind you on Praktina and Exakta, and although you're dead right about OTF metering, it was technically pretty dubious: film reflectivity varies more than seems reasonable.

Cheers,

R.

 

[sevo]

Right behind you on Praktina and Exakta, and although you're dead right about OTF metering, it was technically pretty dubious: film reflectivity varies more than seems reasonable.

That said, patents for the OM-2 OTF metering were allegedly licensed from Minolta, Pentax, Leitz and Pentacon - the idea obviously had a long history and many fathers (none of whom were convinced enough to build it into a production model)...