The built-like-a-tank SLR of your choice

I have used Nikon FE, FM, FM2, F, F2 cameras, plus a Nikkormat. The best combination of robustness and usefulness (to me) was the F2 and then the FM2.
 
The only method to make someone care for a camera outfit.
Make them pay for it!
Free gifts are never appreciated, in most cases.
My daughter (older now) treated my old Pentax SP like a precious jewel.
Spotlessly clean, battery cleaned of deposit..
I never made her pay for it!
I knew the sort of person she was becoming!
A certain watch company made the Swiss Government pay full retail for each and every gift to foreign heads of state.
 
Ste_S said:
For an SLR, another vote for a Nikkormat. They're cheap, mechanical and can also be used as a self defence aid.

Otherwise, I'd recommend an Olympus Trip 35. Cheap, compact and as long as the cell is still working not a lot can go wrong
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Apparently an Olympus OM1 is good for that as well. Many years ago in Korea a GI accosted another GI and demanded his camera. He got it. Swung up beside his head. He decided he didn't want it so much after all and ran away. 😀
 
johannielscom said:
Hey,

Recommend me an SLR that is tough as nails in every aspect and won't break (the bank)?

My backpacking daughter takes SLRs on her trip and even manages to wreck a Chinon Memotron CE-II, which is a pretty tough camera already. So any advice on a tough-as-nails camera that preferably can also withstand a bit of beach sand is very welcome. Student's backpacking budget, so please no recommendations of the top line Nikon or Canon SLR...? Internal meter required and anything else is up for debate except build quality 😀 😀:angel:
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From my own experiences with backpacking tours:
Nikon FM, FM-2, FE, FE-2.
Robust, reliable, compact, light, cheap on the used market (especially the FM and FE).

Cheers, Jan
 
HHPhoto said:
Nikon FM, FM-2, FE, FE-2.
Robust, reliable, compact, light, cheap on the used market (especially the FM and FE).
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Agreed. And having a non-removeable prism gives them an advantage over the oft-recommended F and F2, in my opinion: the compactness and light weight of the FM/FE series vs. the extra weight and bulk (and potential breakage or loss) of the F and F2 metered prisms. Small points perhaps but for backpacking, light and compact is a good thing.
 
css9450 said:
Agreed. And having a non-removeable prism gives them an advantage over the oft-recommended F and F2, in my opinion: the compactness and light weight of the FM/FE series vs. the extra weight and bulk (and potential breakage or loss) of the F and F2 metered prisms. Small points perhaps but for backpacking, light and compact is a good thing.
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Breakage or loss? Really?

Fair points about weight, though surely no-one recommends metered F prisms.

Cheers,

R.
 
I sometimes carried together in a small camera bag an FE and an FM (or FM2). I would never (ever) carry together an F2 with an F.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Breakage or loss? Really?

Fair points about weight, though surely no-one recommends metered F prisms.
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Well, I did say it was an opinion. 🙄

The OP wants a camera with a meter. I wouldn't recommend an F, but at least five different posters did so that is why I mentioned it. Maybe its more indicative of just MY F, but the prism attachment of my F2 and F3 are greatly improved over that of my F. And when people are discussing which camera is going to survive rolling around in a backpack, the F prism just sounds like the first item that is going to come loose.
 
css9450 said:
Well, I did say it was an opinion. 🙄

The OP wants a camera with a meter. I wouldn't recommend an F, but at least five different posters did so that is why I mentioned it. Maybe its more indicative of just MY F, but the prism attachment of my F2 and F3 are greatly improved over that of my F. And when people are discussing which camera is going to survive rolling around in a backpack, the F prism just sounds like the first item that is going to come loose.
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Fair enough, but that's why I suggested a meterless F and learning to guess exposures. I've never had a F prism come off in over 40 years, including TTL heads, but I have to admit that by the time I was treating 'em rough (early 80s) I'd switched to plain prisms.

Cheers,

R,
 
Personal anecdotes do not count as science. BUT, years ago I accompanied my archeologist wife when she was recording a Viking age export industry (Soapstone bowls). On the hills we were surprised by an intensive downpour. No waterproof kit at hand. Her OM-1 prism became cloudy, the light meter conked out, but the lens survived. The repairers said that the camera had to be discarded. My M3 continued to work, but I took it to the Leica importers for service, believing that at least the timing must have gone off. Nothing wrong with it.

Never happened to have my Alpas along in such weather, but they seem to be quite sturdily built.

Nowadays I use digital equipment and carry a plastic bag.

p.
 
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ph. said:
Personal anecdotes do not count as science. BUT , years ago I accompanied my archeologist wife when she was recording a Viking age export industry (Soapstone bowls). On the hills we were surprised by an intensive downpour. . No waterproof kit at hand. Her OM-1 prism became cloudy, the light meter conked out, but the lens survived. The repairers said that the camera had to be discarded. My M3 continued to work, but I took it to the Leica importers for service, believing that at least the timing must have gone off. Nothing wriong with it.

Never happened to have my Alpas along in such weather, but they seem to be quite sturdily built.

Nowadays I use digital equipment and carry a plastic bag.
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Zip-Locs are indeed a magical invention.

But I remember "sealing" my Nikon Fs in the Himalayas during the monsoon with masking tape. You really don't have to keep much rain off.

That year, I remember seeing a 1-metre drainage pipe, just below the road around Thekchen Choeling, spouting out a jet of water a metre in diameter and two metres long.

Cheers,

R.
 
Nikon F2 plain prism or F.

Nikon D3 .

Early Nikormats FT or FT N has same guts as Nikon F with less options a student does not need.
 
Ronald M said:
Nikon F2 plain prism or F.

Nikon D3 .

Early Nikormats FT or FT N has same guts as Nikon F with less options a student does not need.
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As I recall, the Nikkormats had a vertical-travel metal-leaf shutter with a flash synch speed of 1/125. The Nikons F and F2 had a horizontal-travel titanium-curtain shutter with flash synch of 1/60. So, there had to be some fundamental differences.

Not to deny that the Nikkormats were rugged machines, but I remember reading that they weren't designed for the same number of exposures as the F and F2. I remember seeing pro photographers using Fs or F2s as primary with Nikkormats as backup, though I can't testify to every pro doing this.

- Murray
 
ph's story brought this one to mind. I'm sure I've told it before but I'll repeat anyway.

On a Saturday when I was working at the local daily newspaper, I had to cover two football games. The first was at a nearby college. Unfortunately a rain storm started just as the game began. I decided to use my oldest Nikon F because it was the only camera I owned that I felt I could afford to sacrifice. I had no recourse on lenses, I used my 180/2.8 and hoped for the best. After the game, I returned to the lab and dismantled the soaked Nikon, removing back, prism and focus screen and put it and the lens in the film dryer. Once dry, I checked out camera and lens and found them to still be working with no evidence of damage.

That night I had to cover a bowl game. The weather had improved but the field was a mud pit. I used the same Nikon F and 180 and they functioned perfectly although they were occasionally splashed with mud. Neither the rain nor the mud had any lasting effect on camera or lens.
 
Yes, the Nikon F with or without a motor drive and the 180f2.8 was my go to for sports like night football. It was a powerful tool and just goes to show how soft and easy sport photography is today with autofocus and 8-10 fps.

Technology is a wonderful thing. Leica may even be getting on the technology bandwagon.
 
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