Thinnest mechanical slr with 28-35 or 50mm

[tunalegs]

Any camera which is synchronized for flash will have some sort of electrical stuff in it... Which basically leaves you with a Praktiflex.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Looking for the thinnest good quality and build (like oly om-series) with an attached 24-60mm lens without electricity and just plain mechanical. The Om series is nice, but have rather long flange and i cant find nor afford the 40/2 lens for it.
No electricity is due to gas-rules (explosion risks) at work.
Is my old rf M2 with good old MIC 35Lux still my best bet here?
CANT BE ANY ELECTRO BUILT IN.

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex I
SLR: check
24mm to 60mm lens: check
No electrical components: check

Measured front of lens (infinity) to camera back: 63.2 millimetres
Cheers
Brett

 

[sevo]

Any camera which is synchronized for flash will have some sort of electrical stuff in it... Which basically leaves you with a Praktiflex.

A unused cable and switch in a device without power source is not electrical, it merely has the potential to be used for electricity. Any camera made from metal will be electrically conductive. Which would leave you with some all plastics disposables, if you really believe that the opposite of "electrically operated" is "entirely non-conductive"...

 

[Peter_wrote:]

fujica st-605 or any other of the fujica st-series without loading a battery + industar 50-2

without any batteries/loaded capacitors should be ok. otherwise i agree with sevo.

 

[locheeboy]

Zenit 3 or 3M, with Industar 50mm? A pretty wee package. Ah have both Zenits and they're both small cameras (the 3M slightly larger but sturdier as well).

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31085243/Ashampoo_Snap_2013.09.14_09h46m17s_001_.png

Zenit 3 compared tae Oly OM 10 - the Oly's about 2mm wider and 2mm deeper( no lens attached), the Zenit's about 6/7mm taller.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31085243/DSCF2327.JPG

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31085243/DSCF2330.JPG


If ye want very compact, the Olympus 35RC (rangefinder) is the one. Remove the battery (for the cds meter only) and it works fully manual. A very sharp lens...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31085243/DSCF2129.JPG

109 x 70 x 50mm, weighs around 400 grammes.

 

[Scrambler]

Does it need to be full-frame? What about a Pen-F? The early ones had no electrics (and are a little brighter in viewfinder, I've read). About Leica body thickness.

 

[Scrambler]

I think the "with the batteries out" options are going to be vetoed. It's for use in an explosive environment! I suspect it will also need to have brass gears (or does the enclosed body mean this isn't a risk?), and I can't say whether any of the non-Leica options do.

 

[valdas]

Contax S2 plus Tessar 45mm f2.8

134.5x89x51 vs OM1 136x83x50

 

[Roger Hicks]

Alpa Alnea 7. There were even collapsible lenses available: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Alpa_Alnea_7

Cheers,

R.

 

[Peter_wrote:]

I think the "with the batteries out" options are going to be vetoed. It's for use in an explosive environment! I suspect it will also need to have brass gears (or does the enclosed body mean this isn't a risk?), and I can't say whether any of the non-Leica options do.

electronics without power supply is not dangerous. i don't get the point here.
a burning stick is dangerous in explosive enviroment. just a stick isn't.

 

[sevo]

I think the "with the batteries out" options are going to be vetoed. It's for use in an explosive environment!

If requirements are as high as that, the device will have to be on a list of certified equipment the security inspectors have been trained on. Which will presumably exclude all cameras made before 2008, leaving only the current bunch of waterproof digital compacts (or rather, those that have a extra diving cover - one thing that I was permitted to carry and use in a similar situation was a Olympus TG-610 in PT-051 case). In the film past, the current Nikonos model (plus maybe the one a generation back) was generally the only permitted camera in similar situations - but these probably have dropped off the list after they were discontinued.

 

[Rodchenko]

It may simply be badly drafted H&S rules. But steel gears are much more dangerous in a volatile environment than a meter circuit with no battery.

The OP has to live with the rules of the workplace, whatever they are, although I think they pretty much preclude the use of any camera if it is as he says.

 

[sevo]

It may simply be badly drafted H&S rules. But steel gears are much more dangerous in a volatile environment than a meter circuit with no battery.

Having shot video in mines, chemical factories and on oil/gas platforms, my experience is that because of that, the actual workings of the device will be irrelevant - what they vet and regulate are the casings, as a simple pressure test can assess the enclosure safety within minutes, while the innards of any camera are too complex for a definitive statement. Indeed, most permitted things (inside) are electronics. But as certificates have to be reasonably new to be still valid, they will usually refuse anything ancient or mechanical as that has not been tested for many years and is not on their currently valid list of tested and permitted devices.

The only thing that matters is that the (water and air proof) enclosure is not only safe, but has been certified to be so by some relevant board, and has provisions for tamper proof sealing (where they often will be perfectly happy if it is possible to stick tamper-proof stickers over the case locks).

 

[Spanik]

Just don't bring in an ATEX environment anything not officially certified.

 

[zuiko85]

SLR's are not "pocketable".

Get over it.

If you want TTL viewing, with a convential mirror reflex system, then the 1/2 frame Olympus Pen F with a 38mm f2.8 pancake lens will be the thinnest. The 38mm pancake is rare and breathingtakingly expensive, if you can even find one. If you can't afford the Zuiko 40mm f2 for OM then you won't like the price on the 38mm f2.8.

Quite honestly your requirments are at cross purposes.

 

[farlymac]

I used to work in a repair and test facility, and the foreman had to insure we were doing our work properly by doing the test himself, after we did our testing. On one particular unit, you had to run the current up to test level, decrease it to zero, open the circuit, close the circuit, reverse the current and run it back up to test level.

I just opened the circuit by flicking the On-Off switch, but my foreman insisted on removing the meter lead to do so (it was an amperage reading in a series circuit). Then he would rap the end of the power lead on the bench top to "knock out all the loose electrons", before putting it back on the equipment being tested.

Ridiculous requirements come from lack of knowledge. I'm just saying.

PF

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

SLR's are not "pocketable".

Get over it.

If you want TTL viewing, with a convential mirror reflex system, then the 1/2 frame Olympus Pen F with a 38mm f2.8 pancake lens will be the thinnest. The 38mm pancake is rare and breathingtakingly expensive, if you can even find one. If you can't afford the Zuiko 40mm f2 for OM then you won't like the price on the 38mm f2.8.

Quite honestly your requirments are at cross purposes.

The problem with making sweeping statements like that, is that someone, somewhere, will sometimes prove you wrong...

Your post made me get my Contaflex I out of the cabinet (again) and change into a pair of jeans. Guess what? The camera fits into the hip pocket with a (little) bit of room to spare. In fact, as I'm sitting here typing this, it is still in my pocket. Yes, I'm conscious of the fact it is in there, but, if I had to wander about for a couple of hours it wouldn't be much of an issue. In fact, now that the well-named Mr Goodman has sent me a replacement prism for it, as soon as I've swapped that and sorted the shutter out, I'm going to do precisely that. I usually have a (larger, later) Contaflex close to hand, anyway, so it could actually make my life easier...

Besides which: how big is the pocket anyway? Nobody has asked that one, until now. The do come on different sizes, you know...
Cheers
Brett

 

[tunalegs]

A unused cable and switch in a device without power source is not electrical, it merely has the potential to be used for electricity. Any camera made from metal will be electrically conductive. Which would leave you with some all plastics disposables, if you really believe that the opposite of "electrically operated" is "entirely non-conductive"...

Which is why the "no electronics, even with the battery out" requirement is interesting.

I don't think it would be possible for a camera to ignite anything with its enclosed electronics anyway, at least not in any environment where it was safe for humans to still be breathing.

As for the rest, I wouldn't want to keep a camera in my pocket anyway - regardless of size.

 

[Pioneer]

There are various companies who build and sell cameras for these applications. There is "intrinsically safe" certification and there is "explosion proof" certification, whether or not the chosen camera meets either criteria would have to be verified by the facility safety engineer.

BTW, none of the cameras identified in this thread meet either standard and I would strongly recommend against trying to use any of them if you are truly working within this type of environment.

And pocketable?? Why?? Are we trying to hide something so we can grab some photos under the table? With an unapproved device?

Please, before you take any action to risk any of your fellow workers I would strongly suggest you reconsider or speak with your safety officer.

 

[Gregoyle]

If you can't have a camera with the batteries out then you probably shouldn't have a camera at all. A mechanical camera with no batteries just has a bunch of wires, no more dangerous than the metallic camera itself.

How about a Canonet with no batteries? Of course, indoors your sunny-16 fu had better be strong 🙂

Oh, there is a 35mm Peliar for sale in the classifieds right now. Your M2 with that lens will probably be the thinnest combo you can find.