"Rangefinder-like" SLRs

What a beautiful pair. That old Pen F is a classic. The OM-1 is equally a treasure. I'm hoping an E-Pen will raise to their level.

B2 (;->
 
It's probably very obvious, but the Nikon FM/FM2 would fit the bill.

They are small for SLRs, but ultra reliable, smooth workhorses and indestructable. I love mine to death. Of course there is mirror slap, but they tend to get more use than the M2 due to SLR versatility and easy of in body metering.
 
I've developed a soft spot for my Pentax ME Super. Compared to even my D80, it' s tiny...hell, my N8008s feels small compared to the D80.

I still miss my Nikon FE.
 
My line of thinking:

Since we are RF users, and might want a SLR as well, the issue would be about similarity of controls and "feel". As many SLRs were derived from RF cameras, it depends on which RF you use:

Nikon SP or S3: Nikon F
Zorki (bottom-loader) : original Zenit
Voigtländer Bessa R or R2: Bessaflex TM.

I have both R and R2 and also a Bessaflex TM, I use them together and no need to think in terms of translating the mode of operation from one type to the other.
 
Seele said:
My line of thinking:

Since we are RF users, and might want a SLR as well, the issue would be about similarity of controls and "feel". As many SLRs were derived from RF cameras, it depends on which RF you use:

Nikon SP or S3: Nikon F
Zorki (bottom-loader) : original Zenit
Voigtländer Bessa R or R2: Bessaflex TM.

I have both R and R2 and also a Bessaflex TM, I use them together and no need to think in terms of translating the mode of operation from one type to the other.
Click to expand...


Exactly why I moved from Leica M to Nikon S3! Same controls, same direction of everything.

B2 (;->>>
 
No SLR has ever replicated the rangefinder experience for me, but a few have had a somewhat-distant kinship:

- Canon F-1 (first version, with the M3-style film-advance lever): This was my very first SLR, after shooting was assorted Yashica RFs for a few years. That camera's directness and solidity impressed me a lot, and it was my staple camera for about six years. Bigger and heavier than any RF short of an M5, however.

- Nikon F: What Fred said. (F3 comes in a close second.) Similar size/weight issues as Canon F-1.

- Olympus OM-anything (single-digit models, that is): RF-size, check. RF-weight, check. Non-fussy controls? Well, close, even though that shutter-speed rind gave me fits from time to time. (Solution? I've got an OM-2n now...)

- Pentax MX: I agree that the metering readout in that camera may be the best-ever in a manual-metering-only SLR. Mechanically tough little bugger, too (had one along with a pair of seriously buggy LX bodies, but I've told that tales several times already). Control-wise, the MX might have been a bit too tiny for my hands...at the time, I recall saying to a Pentax rep that they might have outdone Olympus in at least one not-so-useful category.

Of course, none of these cameras ultimately kept me from goung back to a real RF.

Hexar les Heros! :)


- Barrett
 
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