The lists will be endless. Very much horses for courses. Never mind, here goes.
My Contax G1s (I have four) are surely the most elegant cameras I own and get the most attention. A superb ergonomic design. When they are working properly, they also (almost) always deliver the images I want. What my camera repair man in Singapore thinks of them, however, is unprintable. Steven says he would rather dismantle an old Graflex with tweezers and a jeweller's screwdriver than work on a Contax G. Huh.
My Rolleiflexes and Rolleicord aren't what I would call handsome, but also superb beasts, but the results they produce speak for themselves.If I could have only one camera to play with for the rest of my life, it would be one of my Rollei Ts with and a 16 exposure kit and a Rollei prism (which has been a salvation to my fading eyesight).
Nikons whether DSLRs or film SLRs look good, but are all of a 'unisex' (lovely old 1960s term, this) design. Modern camera designers seem to have adopted a one size fits all attitude and most DSLRs/SLRs all look the same, to the point that one has to look twice at them to spot the brand name. From a distance, they are all clones.
Indeed the only digital camera I've ever had comments about in the field, was a Canon G10. I tried and tried to work with it but I hated the thing and sold it to a friend who soon felt the same and also offloaded it, to a film school student who for all I know may still have it. A friend in Indonesia shoots with an older Canon G9 which has much the same design, but he gets superb results. Go figure. To me, a cute design, too bad about the technics.
Old 120 folding cameras are charmers in looks if at times frustrating in their limited functionality, but in most everyday situations, also produce okay results. My 1950 Zeiss Nettar with its albada finder attracts many glances and comments, but most people wonder more about the Gossen or Weston meters I have around my neck.
What most of us will surely agree on, however, is the classic of classics in the looks department has to be a Leica, whether a Barnack or M model. Again, I've had both (IIIg, M2, M3) and tried and tried, but they just didn't work for me.
My best shooter by far, and also not a bad looker (tho my earlier comment about Nikons in general, also applies here), is a Nikkormat FT2.
In so many words as usual, just sayin'...
