Chris101
summicronia
Hey Roger,
You know that they called DSLRs affordable too. Or at least they did in 2001 when I bought my D100 for over two thousand bucks.
Livesteamer
Well-known
The Pentax SV was called the H3v on this side of the pond. It came just before the Spotmatic. I'm with Roger. The SV/H3v is ergonomically wonderful. It has an excellent focusing screen and wonderful lenses available cheaply. I have several and love them.
The Exakta line was a system camera but never took off as the Nikon F did. The F is easy to use and solid. I like Exakta's but they are a pain to use. Just my opinion. Joe
The Exakta line was a system camera but never took off as the Nikon F did. The F is easy to use and solid. I like Exakta's but they are a pain to use. Just my opinion. Joe
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I think there are many influential cameras out there that are hard to not notice.
How about Epson's effort in producing a digital rangefinder against all odds ... the M8 stole the limelight ultimately but Epson and Cosina had the cajones to do it first and Leica should be thankful that they did. Eight years on people here are still using the RD-1 and firmly believe that it's the better camera and deserved to go on and and claim the full frame mantle.
Or the current obsession ... the X100. The world's first combined optical and electronic viewfinder in a consumer point and shoot.
How will we look back on these two phenomenons I wonder?
How about Epson's effort in producing a digital rangefinder against all odds ... the M8 stole the limelight ultimately but Epson and Cosina had the cajones to do it first and Leica should be thankful that they did. Eight years on people here are still using the RD-1 and firmly believe that it's the better camera and deserved to go on and and claim the full frame mantle.
Or the current obsession ... the X100. The world's first combined optical and electronic viewfinder in a consumer point and shoot.
How will we look back on these two phenomenons I wonder?
NickTrop
Veteran
- Minolta Himatic AF - First auto focus. Definitely has to be on the list.
- Polaroid... Arguably has to be on the list.
- Sony A55 - Definitely has to come off the list.
- Polaroid... Arguably has to be on the list.
- Sony A55 - Definitely has to come off the list.
emraphoto
Veteran
I agree about the 5D.
I think I want an f100...
I think I want an f100...
Luddite Frank
Well-known
When I was in high school ( about 30 years ago ), I was into the early Polaroid Land Cameras, and was fortunate enough to still be able to buy the "roll-film" for the original large series folding cameras - the 95 and 850 series. I longed for the 110 series, which employed a Compur-type shutter and Wollensak lens, but they were too dear.
At that time, the only film I could get was their ASA 3000 B&W film, which developed in a mere 10 seconds, and then had to be coated with a special squeegee that smelled vaguely like horseradish. You got eight prints to a "roll". It was expensive then... I think a "roll" was something like $10 in 1980.
But, the idea of a camera that produced a positive image on the spot (originally in 60 seconds ),without a darkroom or chemicals, was certainly significant, if not influential. And by the 1970's, Polaroid was producing SLR instant-print cameras: the SX-70.
Ultimately, Polaroid's instant print system might have been a dead-end, but I think it was "influential" on how people took pictures. I certainly remember all the aunts & uncles having them in the 1970's, at family gatherings...
Changing horses, I think the Kine-Exakta deserves to stay on the list: again, even if the Exakta package quickly became outdated, it was the "first" system SLR 35mm camera...
Going back about six or seven years, I used an Exakta VX-II exclusively for almost two years, even though I had a perfectly good and functional Minolta XG-1 kit with motordrive and several lenses.
My biggest complaint about the Exakta is probably the slow lenses, due to small mount / body opening.
But, Ihagee blazed this trail some 15-20 years before other makers entered the SLR market.
Are there "better" ( "more refined" ) SLRs ? Certainly. But I don't think that lessens the "influence" of the Exakta.
At that time, the only film I could get was their ASA 3000 B&W film, which developed in a mere 10 seconds, and then had to be coated with a special squeegee that smelled vaguely like horseradish. You got eight prints to a "roll". It was expensive then... I think a "roll" was something like $10 in 1980.
But, the idea of a camera that produced a positive image on the spot (originally in 60 seconds ),without a darkroom or chemicals, was certainly significant, if not influential. And by the 1970's, Polaroid was producing SLR instant-print cameras: the SX-70.
Ultimately, Polaroid's instant print system might have been a dead-end, but I think it was "influential" on how people took pictures. I certainly remember all the aunts & uncles having them in the 1970's, at family gatherings...
Changing horses, I think the Kine-Exakta deserves to stay on the list: again, even if the Exakta package quickly became outdated, it was the "first" system SLR 35mm camera...
Going back about six or seven years, I used an Exakta VX-II exclusively for almost two years, even though I had a perfectly good and functional Minolta XG-1 kit with motordrive and several lenses.
My biggest complaint about the Exakta is probably the slow lenses, due to small mount / body opening.
But, Ihagee blazed this trail some 15-20 years before other makers entered the SLR market.
Are there "better" ( "more refined" ) SLRs ? Certainly. But I don't think that lessens the "influence" of the Exakta.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Holga, now that's influential. It gave birth to the whole hipster photography movement 
Also Nikon D700, as the only camera that gets more expensive as it ages :bang::bang::bang:
Also Nikon D700, as the only camera that gets more expensive as it ages :bang::bang::bang:
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
This is my main reason for arguing against Polaroids being 'influential'. The camera and system--while unique, significant, and popular--didn't really impact the development of camera manufacturing, design, or trends. I think the author excluded Polaroid from the list for the same reason.
I don't see this.
I don't think it changed how we took pictures. We all knew back in Polaroid's heyday (and I attended high school around the same time as you) that the instant print was great fun, but we all (young and old) also knew the limitations of a one-off print. And it was great to not have to wait for prints, but the wait was just an accepted part of the process (until the one-hour lab came into existence--talk about a game-changer!). We had a Polaroid in our house, but my parents intentionally used a film camera to record my (and my siblings) graduation from high school. Within our family photo albums there are very few Polaroids. I think Polaroid had a bigger impact on how professional (commercial and industrial) photographers worked./
Polaroid was affordable enough for a 10 year old with a Lawn Mower in the late 1960s. Model 104 Polaroid, shot 108 and 107 film. You could pick up some of it out of date for 1/2 price. Picked up a Model 350 when I got a paper route.
and Polaroid was Influential. Instant gratification in seeing the image right after taking it. The success of Digital Photography owes Polaroid for demonstrating how important instant gratification is to most people.
and Polaroid was Influential. Instant gratification in seeing the image right after taking it. The success of Digital Photography owes Polaroid for demonstrating how important instant gratification is to most people.
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Luddite Frank
Well-known
I guess then further deliniation would be appropriate in terms of distinguishing the type of photography being influenced: the casual family snapshot or professional / art photography...
An I believe for a while, there was a Polaroid instant-print ID camera that had four lenses, and took four "thumbnail" images on one print, for use in creating passports / ID badges...
I was the only one in our household to own and use Polaroids, and that stemmed from interest in old cameras...
Dad had his Nikon S and that was all the camera he needed; Mom had a Kodak 110 camera with a built-in telephoto selectible lens, and she was quite happy with that until she began taking a photography course at the local community college, and she got a Canon AE-1 Program SLR...
And as late the the early 1990's, when I was working at a community dinner theatre, after every performance of a childrens' show, there were "photos with the cast", where your child could get a photo taken with some of the characters in costume, shot in glorious color with a Polaroid One-step or 600... only $5 each !
I think the influence was in the convenience / immediate gratification factor... not so much the photographic excellence or archival permanance realm.
charjohncarter
Veteran
I can remember some immediate gratification shots. But like you I enjoyed Polaroid up until today. One of my first shots; 1964:
Ken Smith
Why yes Ma'am - it folds
Seriously - I think you've all missed the boat here.
While the rest of the world is in the middle of a digital age where images are facsimilies of the real deal and people count pixels - you count inversions of a hand held tank. You work with focused images of light on chemicals spread over a backing. Many of you have cameras with no batteries what so ever. I would have thought the most influential camera is the one that brought you to this point in time when a generation walks the face of the Earth that hasn't a clue that cameras weren't always digital.
For me it was a simple Kodak Pony 35mm, a box of Kodachrome, and the exposure guide printed on the instructions. I was a kid. Most vibrant colors I had ever seen and I can still remember holding them up to the light and seeing them for the first time. Most were taken out of an airplane window - vibrant blue sky and white clouds from above. Heck - I didn't even know what a light meter was, I just followed the simple exposure guide. Took me a lifetime to get back to here.
That's an influential camera.
While the rest of the world is in the middle of a digital age where images are facsimilies of the real deal and people count pixels - you count inversions of a hand held tank. You work with focused images of light on chemicals spread over a backing. Many of you have cameras with no batteries what so ever. I would have thought the most influential camera is the one that brought you to this point in time when a generation walks the face of the Earth that hasn't a clue that cameras weren't always digital.
For me it was a simple Kodak Pony 35mm, a box of Kodachrome, and the exposure guide printed on the instructions. I was a kid. Most vibrant colors I had ever seen and I can still remember holding them up to the light and seeing them for the first time. Most were taken out of an airplane window - vibrant blue sky and white clouds from above. Heck - I didn't even know what a light meter was, I just followed the simple exposure guide. Took me a lifetime to get back to here.
That's an influential camera.
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RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
Strappy
Newbie
One glaring omission for me is the Canon T90. The first ergonomically designed SLR, unfortunately released just as the world moved to auto-focus. Still, would DSLRs look like they do today without it?
(Yes, I'm biased, I'm still using one)
(Yes, I'm biased, I'm still using one
)
tunalegs
Pretended Artist
One glaring omission for me is the Canon T90. The first ergonomically designed SLR, unfortunately released just as the world moved to auto-focus. Still, would DSLRs look like they do today without it?
(Yes, I'm biased, I'm still using one
That's kind of like saying the Renault Le Car was great because it was the first to have plastic bumpers...
Strappy
Newbie
That argument only stands up if every other manufacturer copied the design of the Le Car though.That's kind of like saying the Renault Le Car was great because it was the first to have plastic bumpers...
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
That's kind of like saying the Renault Le Car was great because it was the first to have plastic bumpers...
And it was... Influental != Great.
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
I wonder how it correlates to Adorama's used inventory store.
NickTrop
Veteran
I can remember some immediate gratification shots. But like you I enjoyed Polaroid up until today. One of my first shots; 1964:
I love this shot! So 1964. Pretty lady too - if you don't mind my mentioning