dave lackey
Veteran
Bill58
Native Texan
My vote for "pocketable" is an EM w/ and E series 35 on it.
The only pocketable SLR is the Pentax 110.
mdarnton
Well-known
That's pretty funny. The first camera I bought with my own money was a Nikkormat FS. It looked cheap to me at the time (which it was, printed scales, and all), and to me it still does. I think of my FGs as little FAs, and truthfully, in comparison they're not missing much except a whole lot of weight. I like them so much, I'm probably going to dump my FA, which I put something like $240 into just a couple of months ago for a complete restoration ($240 = 6 FGs--wish I'd realized that earlier!) However, the bottom line is that I don't think I will ever buy another camera that doesn't have a finger grip. THAT is what makes all the difference to me: usability, not looks.
rumbliegeos
Well-known
I used a Nikkormat FTN as my only SLR for over twenty-five years, and it is indeed a great camera. I also own a 50mm 1.8 AIS, and it is an extremely sharp lens, but at least my copy is capable of producing some pretty jarring bokeh, especially with specular highlights in the background. I don't know how the other Nikon 50mm lenses are in terms of OOF performance, but a 50mm 2.0 has an inset front element that means a hood is less important, and that can reduce the volume of the camera-lens combination quite a bit.
kxl
Social Documentary
I'm also interested in picking up a pancake lens for my FM3A in the near future, I'm undecided between the Nikon 45mm AI-P and the CV 40mm SL-II - to me it's a coin flip and may come down to the first good deal that comes along. For now, I'm good with an AI'd 35/2.0 Nikkor-O.
I just purchased a 45mm 2.8p for my F2. I couldn't resist and they are cheap compared to the Leica crap I'm used to dealing with.
peterm1
Veteran
One of the nicest Nikkor lenses of this era is the 50mm f2. It produces really superb images and goes for little money. I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up one which was factory converted to AI and love using it on my digital Nikon bodies. The lens is considerably smaller than the 50mm f1.4 but I would by no means call it pocketable on the Ftn which is a very substantial camera.