hap
Well-known
I agree, they are all fun. I'm wondering about Canon "copies"....no love here as much as I thought. A canon IIB or D or IVsb are great cameras...and i have a Nicca 3, and two Leicas.
Leotax, Nicca, And Others Vs Barnacks
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I agree, they are all fun. I'm wondering about Canon "copies"....no love here as much as I thought. A canon IIB or D or IVsb are great cameras...and i have a Nicca 3, and two Leicas.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I just noticed that the sound of the camera differs greatly depending upon which lens I have mounted. I thought my Leotax K was louder than my T2L, but when I changed lenses, the K got quieter. It turns out that my Novoflex Nikon F to LTM adapter (with 2.1cm O Nikkor mounted currently) allows for a much louder sound of the shutter than the collapsible Hexar or a Jupiter-12. I suppose the adapter acts as a bit of a resonance chamber and since it is thinner aluminum, allows for more efficient transfer of sound than the heavier brass Hexar.
But the newly serviced T2L is slightly quieter, just about on par with my Leica M4. Not that any of that matters, as long as the camera works well.
Phil Forrest
But the newly serviced T2L is slightly quieter, just about on par with my Leica M4. Not that any of that matters, as long as the camera works well.
Phil Forrest
neal3k
Well-known
I like all my Barnacks too. My two Canons (IV and IVS) are easiest to load, only because of the take up spools. I like the rangefinder in my Leica IIIf and Zorki 1 just a little better.
But for the most fun of plain and simple shooting, my favorite is the Leica 1. (To make it easy on myself, I don't shoot close-ups with that one since it doesn't have a rangefinder.)
I would like to add a Tower Barnack to my collection since it is the brand (but not model) of the first 35mm I bought, way back in 1960.
But for the most fun of plain and simple shooting, my favorite is the Leica 1. (To make it easy on myself, I don't shoot close-ups with that one since it doesn't have a rangefinder.)
I would like to add a Tower Barnack to my collection since it is the brand (but not model) of the first 35mm I bought, way back in 1960.
css9450
Veteran
A full kit makes a lovely sight...
hap
Well-known
that is quite lovely.
I notice that you are a part Nikonian. I quickly focused on the D750 only because I just purchased one and very excited to receive it in the mail soon.
hap
Well-known
the Canon Barnack copies have some very nice and useable improvements (IMO). The built in magnification RF adjustment is very helpful. They also did a good job in integrating the RF and VF. Mine is easy to focus . Also mention that the shutter winding and the shutter release is the smoothest
and quietiest comapred to any of my Leicas. Maybe that is just random...but there you go. the somewhat later canon copies allow for selecting the shutter speed without winding first.
raid
Dad Photographer
David Hughes
David Hughes
So many, perhaps all, improved on the Barnack designed cameras that I wonder why we call them copies. It doesn't happen with SLRs; f'instance no one posts about K1000 copies or OM-1 copies. Nor, for that matter, do we call them Exakta copy bayonets.
The early FED and the Reid are probably the nearest to being a copy.
A minor puzzle is why Leitz never looked at the "tribute" cameras and thought about the changes.
Regards, David
The early FED and the Reid are probably the nearest to being a copy.
A minor puzzle is why Leitz never looked at the "tribute" cameras and thought about the changes.
Regards, David
David Hughes
David Hughes
So many, perhaps all, improved on the Barnack designed cameras that I wonder why we call them copies. It doesn't happen with SLRs; f'instance no one posts about K1000 copies or OM-1 copies. Nor, for that matter, do we call them Exakta copy bayonets.
The early FED and the Reid are probably the nearest to being a copy.
A minor puzzle is why Leitz never looked at the "tribute" cameras and thought about the changes.
Regards, David
PS If anyone is interested I've an article about - from memory - the launch of the Reid in the 50's. I could find the magazine in the heap if I ever get any spare time...
The early FED and the Reid are probably the nearest to being a copy.
A minor puzzle is why Leitz never looked at the "tribute" cameras and thought about the changes.
Regards, David
PS If anyone is interested I've an article about - from memory - the launch of the Reid in the 50's. I could find the magazine in the heap if I ever get any spare time...
Coldkennels
Barnack-toting Brit.
My issue with the Canons is that all the ones I've held and used don't "feel right"; between the angular ends of the body, the later swing-backs (which I've never liked - they make the camera feel less solid), and the fact that some of the most appealing models on paper (Like the VI-L) have a eyeglass-gouging serrated wheel right next to the viewfinder, I just don't want to use a Canon, no matter how good they may be.
The Leotaxs and Niccas feel like refinements to the Barnack; the Canons feel more like a stepping stone en route to the SLR. Which is fine if you like SLRs, I guess. I don't.
The Leotaxs and Niccas feel like refinements to the Barnack; the Canons feel more like a stepping stone en route to the SLR. Which is fine if you like SLRs, I guess. I don't.
css9450
Veteran
css9450
Veteran
I like the angular ends of the Canons. Maybe it's all in my mind, but I feel like it gives me a more-secure handhold when I am just doing it all by feel (like when I am looking through the viewfinder). I never cared for the soap-bar camera shape of the original Barnacks and the Ms.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Interesting, perhaps:-
from the Miniature Camera Magazine, March 1951.
Regards, David
from the Miniature Camera Magazine, March 1951.
Regards, David
hilltime
Well-known
Kind of off topic, but I will agree the fixed lens Konica's really deliver. I have examples of them all... Konica I, II, III, IIIA, and IIIM. If you believe their early magazine ads " The Lens Alone is Worth the Price", you'll find a solid and wonderfully engineered fixed lens rangefinder camera with some fabulous optics.
rfaspen
[insert pithy phrase here]
I'm in Raid's situation. I like them all. I just feel bad that I rarely use any of them.
rfaspen
[insert pithy phrase here]
The Kardon can also be considered a copy. Possibly a hybrid.
David Hughes
David Hughes
They were still making fixed lens RF's in the 70's; I'm thinking of the C35. It's a neat camera with a very good lens on it but no one seems to mention it. I guess that's because it's fully auto (program mode only).
Regards, David
David Hughes
David Hughes
Thanks I'd forgotten them, mostly because I've never seen one in this part of the world, for understandable reasons; in the same way few FOCA cameras have reached the other side of the Atlantic and so it is almost unknown there.
Regards, David
neal3k
Well-known
I won an eBay auction yesterday for a nice looking and described as mechanically good, Tower Type-3 for $120. I may have to work on a slightly separating cover but otherwise looks great. I mentioned earlier that my first 35mm was a Tower 57-A but now I'm into Barnacks and wanted a Tower to go with my collection.
David Murphy
Veteran
Don't forget the Chiyotax by the "Reise Optical Institute" (and related models of similar name). These cameras were nearly direct copies of the Leica I, II and III screw mount bodies. I own a Chiyotax IIIF and love it. I actually appreciate their remarkable fidelity to the wonderful original Leica models and the incredible manufacturing and mechanical effort it must have taken to achieve that.
They are rare now as the company was not too successful coming to the Leica screw market copy market at the time it was starting to evolve in a more innovative direction. Examples do appear on eBay occasionally today - pricey of course.
They are rare now as the company was not too successful coming to the Leica screw market copy market at the time it was starting to evolve in a more innovative direction. Examples do appear on eBay occasionally today - pricey of course.
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