Jason's 20 Greatest Cameras of all Time -- Hits? Missess ?

check out his just re-published list from 2018

Does Noteworthy always translate to Greatest?

Why not the Epson RD1 instead of the trouble prone Leica M9?

Why not the Konica Hexar RF as the first of the NON Leica M mounts?

Why not my favorite Canon SLRs - the T90 and RT?

The Pentax K1000? Really? Does best selling = Greatness?

Why not the Hasselblad V?

as the usual suspect greatest cameras duke it out among their fans ...

Stephen
 
Click to expand...
Topcon Super D

Topcon Super D

CharlesDAMorgan said:
I have a Topcon Super D, a rather wonderful and exceptionally solid piece of kit. The metering is so clever - lines etched into the mirror to let the light through to the meter (although mine is somewhat inaccurate). It's one of those cameras I ought to use more, but with the shutter release on the front where I would normally grip, and a film advance that is so macho it always pulls the film out of the capsule at the reel end I need to be alert.

Glass is gorgeous.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Topcon Super D is a great vintage 35mm SLR, and one of my favorites. You have to convert the meter to take silver-oxide batteries and recalibrate it, but then it should be quite accurate. It's CdS so it has the dreaded memory effect and it's not as sensitive as current DSLR meters. Tokyo Optical Co. made great lenses, the 58mm f/1.4 is one of the best for capturing the Vintage Look and it's quite sharp and has gorgeous bokeh. The 100mm f/2.8 Topcor is also very nice. With some inconvenience you can also use old Exakta mount lenses on the Super D. Good shooting!
 
Kodak Brownie in Top 20?

Kodak Brownie in Top 20?

Scrambler said:
Hi Jason. I think that if the general response is that 80% of the choices make sense then you've done pretty well.

I think that the deficiencies were essentially "corrected" at the time by the extra 10 cameras: a total of the top 30.

For all that, I still disagree about the K1000. But I understand your logic though I don't find it compelling. The Brownie would be an essential if the K1000 logic is compelling. And some really serious thought would need to be given to the most popular (if simultaneously invisible) film camera of the last 40 years: the Cosina CT-1 (and its badge engineered children). Every major camera company sold it. My Ricoh version has a school name carved into it, and I wonder if more photography students have used the K1000 or a Cosina CT subtype of essentially any lens mount. And that's before we even consider the CV descendants.


But it is fun to discuss!
Click to expand...

Actually the Kodak Brownie of 1900 which sold for $1 might make a great Best 20 pick since it was certainly the most popular point-and-shoot of its era, but picking one Brownie is really tough. I'm partial to the Kodak Brownie #2 because is shoots 8 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 images per roll of readily available 120 film, but you'd better tape over the red window, and lift the tape only when winding to the next frame in dim light. Don't ask me how I know. Anyway it's a fun camera and I much prefer it to its modern equivalents, the crappy plastic Holga and Diana.
 
Jason Schneider said:
Actually the Kodak Brownie of 1900 which sold for $1 might make a great Best 20 pick since it was certainly the most popular point-and-shoot of its era, but picking one Brownie is really tough. I'm partial to the Kodak Brownie #2 because is shoots 8 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 images per roll of readily available 120 film, but you'd better tape over the red window, and lift the tape only when winding to the next frame in dim light. Don't ask me how I know. Anyway it's a fun camera and I much prefer it to its modern equivalents, the crappy plastic Holga and Diana.
Click to expand...


FWIW, Dufaycolor came with a little metal (?painted) sticker in 120 size; the instructions said use it to cover the little red window. I think I've a photo it somewhere but it would take longer than the lockdown to find...



Regards, David
 
M2 frame counter

M2 frame counter

Pál_K said:
The M2's frame counter is the one thing that has prevented me from buying one. It just looks wrong. After the beautiful one on the M3, I don't understand why they chose that exposed thin disk for the M2.

Now, with your comment, I discover they're not even reliable!

Yet similar ones on my III and IIIf work perfectly.
Click to expand...

De gustibus non est disputandum. I've aways rather liked the Spartan, manually zeroed frame counter on my Leica M2 and it certainly never gave me any trouble in many years of use. I also don't think it is unattractive or looks wrong. The spring-loaded self-zeroing frame counter on the M3 is also quite nice and very reliable but since its mechanism is hidden and the frame counter window is nothing special I wouldn't call it "beautiful" except in terns of its functionality.
 
Jason Schneider said:
De gustibus non est disputandum. I've aways rather liked the Spartan, manually zeroed frame counter on my Leica M2 and it certainly never gave me any trouble in many years of use. I also don't think it is unattractive or looks wrong. The spring-loaded self-zeroing frame counter on the M3 is also quite nice and very reliable but since its mechanism is hidden and the frame counter window is nothing special I wouldn't call it "beautiful" except in terns of its functionality.
Click to expand...


The other thing that makes me like the M2 counter is the optional rapid load spool. I know some people don't like them, but that baffles me. They are my favorite M load system, followed by M5 and them M4 style. With the M3 you have to pop the spool out to reset that counter. No big deal, but I forget that more often than I forget to reset the counter :)
 
Jason Schneider said:
... The spring-loaded self-zeroing frame counter on the M3 is also quite nice and very reliable but since its mechanism is hidden and the frame counter window is nothing special I wouldn't call it "beautiful" except in terns of its functionality.
Click to expand...

An interesting aspect of cameras that I've not seen covered anywhere: frame counters!

What appeals to me both in the M3, and even my Nikkormat FT2, is the little round chrome encircled glass covered window. It has an elegance on these instruments that I find enjoyable.

Anyway, one thing I never see mentioned is the difference in the frame counters of Nikon F3/T's and ordinary F3's. Until I saw an ordinary F3, I thought the frame markings in these cameras were always white, like my F3/T. Years later, when I saw the blue markings on someone's F3, I was surprised.

Looking at my vast collection now, I'm trying to determine which frame counter I find the most appealing...
 
Mark C said:
... With the M3 you have to pop the spool out to reset that counter. No big deal, but I forget that more often than I forget to reset the counter :)
Click to expand...

But the spool on the M3 would need to be removed anyway to attach the film leader (well, that's how I do it).

The only M loading system I know is the M3 and M6, so I'm curious how M2, M4, and M5 load - I didn't realize there were differences among them.
 
Yokosuka_Mike said:
The Canon F1n was my greatest camera of all time for many, many years. I had two bodies and a basket full of lenses. The camera is indestructible; it’s bomb proof. Match needle meter, clear bright view screen, fits perfectly in the hand… heaven on earth.

I sold all my Canon film cameras and lenses when it became obvious to me that because of the digital revolution things would never be the same again. Was that a mistake? Maybe, maybe not, too late now.

In all honesty, the rangefinder film cameras I have now are more collectible things and a good excuse to buy M-mount lenses that I’ll probably only use on my Sony A7 cameras. Sigh, I guess I’m a fake, a phony when it comes to the film photography world now, but, there it is; that’s me. Scanning film (whatever the process) in my opinion sucks. Otherwise I’d still be slinging a Canon F1 over my shoulder like a gun-fighter’s favorite pistol loaded with slide film and ready for a shoot-out!

I have my annual physical tomorrow (ugh), maybe my chest x-ray will count as film photography.

All the best,
Mike
Click to expand...

Mike, So long as you take pictures with whatever cameras you’ve got, you’re not a fake or a phony. The only phonies I know of are poseurs who wear a fancy camera like a piece of jewelry and seldom if ever press the shutter release. I totally agree that the Canon F1n is an awesome camera and many of the Canon FD lenses are topnotch—the 50mm f/1.4, for example.
 
Jason Schneider said:
Yes, the Topcon Super D is a great vintage 35mm SLR, and one of my favorites. You have to convert the meter to take silver-oxide batteries and recalibrate it, but then it should be quite accurate. It's CdS so it has the dreaded memory effect and it's not as sensitive as current DSLR meters. Tokyo Optical Co. made great lenses, the 58mm f/1.4 is one of the best for capturing the Vintage Look and it's quite sharp and has gorgeous bokeh. The 100mm f/2.8 Topcor is also very nice. With some inconvenience you can also use old Exakta mount lenses on the Super D. Good shooting!
Click to expand...

Amusingly I've just bought an Exakta Varex IIB, and found that the Topcon lenses fit that (but manual stopping down required). It is thing of glory - I thought it would be eccentric (it is) but it is joyful to shoot with, exquisitely made and I absolutely adore it - but need to develop my first roll.

img_5594.jpg
 
Does anyone work on Exaktas these days?

The mirror in my old one came loose, fell and smashed. It seems the pre-war ones were held in place by shellac...

Regards, David
 
CharlesDAMorgan said:
Amusingly I've just bought an Exakta Varex IIB, and found that the Topcon lenses fit that (but manual stopping down required). It is thing of glory - I thought it would be eccentric (it is) but it is joyful to shoot with, exquisitely made and I absolutely adore it - but need to develop my first roll.
Click to expand...

I used to have one, i never managed to bond with it but surely it was a thing of beauty and felt great holding it.
Edit: mine wasn't the Varex, i meant i didn't bond with the Exakta cameras in general.

IMG_6630.JPG
 
Sadly the test roll confirmed that the shutter has real issues, so back to vendor it will go. The lens with it, the Pancolar (a nice bit of Zeiss glass) also showed too much stiffness in focusing, which will only get worse.

I did rather love it, but I have an absolute rule that something sold and priced as fully working always goes back if found to be otherwise. I'll keep an eye out for a replacement, but it's not a priority.
 
Ah, those idiosyncratic Exaktas!

Ah, those idiosyncratic Exaktas!

Pál_K said:
Congratulations on your Exakta! I am a total Exakta hound and have used all of mine a lot.

Anyway, maybe you've discovered this site, which is the best Exakta site I've ever found:

https://www.wrotniak.net/photo/exakta/index.html
Click to expand...

I love Exaktas too, but I don't have any illusions about them. They're fascinating, fun contraptions to be sure--if you can live with such inconveniences as external automatic diaphragm (or manual stop-down) lenses, a long throw, left-handed wind lever, an old fashioned lift-and-set shutter-speed dial, etc. Prewar models are nicely made and finished but they used crappy shutter curtain material and abut 40% of them have pinholes and aren't worth repairing. The best (and prettiest) postwar models are the VX and VXIIa, but by the time they got to the VXIIb (a decent camera) the quality of the finish went down notch or two. The best things about Exaktas: They're affordable, have the look of fine machinery designed by engineers rather than stylists, can (with the right lenses) take very good pictures, and they force you to slow down and concentrate on the subject. BTW, you're right--Mr. Wrotniak's site is indeed a phenomenal resource for Exakta fans.
 
Pál_K said:
The M2's frame counter is the one thing that has prevented me from buying one. It just looks wrong. After the beautiful one on the M3, I don't understand why they chose that exposed thin disk for the M2.

Now, with your comment, I discover they're not even reliable!

Yet similar ones on my III and IIIf work perfectly.
Click to expand...

I read long ago that one of the reasons for the M2 was to make a cheaper camera - with Leica quality of course. I once had an early M2 (button rewind) and it seemed evident to me that the interior was painted with a more reflective paint.
 
Any thoughts on the place of the Kodak Instamatic in photographic history?

They seemed as common as rocks in the 1960's. Totally unsophisticated, but it did its main job: boosting camera and film sales. Its easy cartridge loading resulted in huge sales of film and, hopefully, funded research and development into making all film better.

Perhaps more importantly, it allowed people to capture daily family and fun events which otherwise may not have been done with a common 127 rollfilm camera.
 
Pál_K said:
Any thoughts on the place of the Kodak Instamatic in photographic history?

Perhaps more importantly, it allowed people to capture daily family and fun events which otherwise may not have been done with a common 127 rollfilm camera.
Click to expand...

Pal, Lots of family photos were successfully made with the Brownie Hawkeye flash, before the instamatic came into being in around 1963.

download-6 by on Flickr
 
Pál_K said:
But the spool on the M3 would need to be removed anyway to attach the film leader (well, that's how I do it).

The only M loading system I know is the M3 and M6, so I'm curious how M2, M4, and M5 load - I didn't realize there were differences among them.
Click to expand...

Sorry to be so slow responding here - out taking pictures:)

Yes the M2 an M3 load the same, but Leitz later offered an optional Rapid Load kit for them that had of a bottom slotted spool that did not need to be removed. As you point out, it is not all that much of an advantage on the M3, but I sure like it on the M2. The M4 introduced to standard models (I'm sure there is some earlier example Jason knows of) the load system that was used through most of the later models. The M5 took its own path, as on other things. I like that one the best, and it happens to be somewhat like an improved Rapid Load Kit spool. I've seen reviews of the M5 that complained about the change, so people have different preferences.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom