What is pitbull toughest 35mm camera type?

type: Focal plane, scale focus -- Early Nikonos underwater camera (I had one), few moving parts, completely sealed against elements, extremely thick external case.

next would be an all-mechanical SLR. (Nikon F or F2, with standard prism (meterless))

--W
 
Pentax Spotmatic family. I've been using them steadily since 1962. Never had a single failure. Their Super Takumar lenses are superb and tough. Currently I still have four bodies and ten lenses.

Traveling by back-country bus in Guatemala, I had two bodies and four lenses packed in a brushed aluminum Halliburton case (that I'd spray-painted flat black), I tried taking it onto the bus but the driver snatched it from my hands, proclaiming it luggage, and tossed it up onto the roof rack with the rest of the passengers' baggage. When we arrived at the next town, he climbed up a ladder to the roof and threw everyone's luggage off and into a pile on the street. Nice guy. The Spotmatics were just fine.
The Halliburton was not.
 
Either my Leica M4 that went through 6 months of combat in Fallujah, Iraq or my SFC's Nikon F2 that was thrown out the back of a C-130 at 200+kts.

My M4 traveled with me to Iraq when I was in the Navy, deployed with combat engineers to Al Anbar province. It survived the heat and dust, multiple mortar and rocket strikes, one of which forced me to dive on it & strip out the winder shaft. One of my machinist buddies helped me fabricate a brass collar and press-fit it back onto the shaft after which it worked fine. The M4 survived until I fell off a jetty in the Bay of Cadiz, Spain on assignment during redeployment back to the US. Got it fully refreshed by Sherry back in 2007 and it's been great since.

The Nikon F2 belonged to my Army SFC instructor who was dropped into Afghanistan in late 2001 with Combat Camera. They parachuted in and had gear dropped out the back of a C-130 on drogue chute pallets. One of the pallets came apart. It happened to have most of the photo gear and computers. Everything was destroyed except for an F2 body with non-metered prism.
(NOTE: Pelican cases are not warranted for high velocity impacts after being released from aircraft, FYI)
Phil Forrest
 
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Among mine the medal would probably go to the Robot II - it being little more than a film cavity inside a steel block.

Sevo
 
I'd say any F-Series Nikon. They're indestructible. I have an F4s that I got new when I was a senior in high school 16 years ago. Three weeks after I got it, it slipped out of my hand and bounced across a concrete sidewalk, dropped from shoulder level! It got some scars on the plastic top cover but still worked perfectly. Unfortunately a couple yrs ago it developed an electronic glitch. When set for single frame film advance, it will sometimes fire off a high speed burst, as though it were set to high speed continuous advance. I've been told its probably just a dirty contact but every repair shop I have asked wants $250 to fix it, and I can buy one in better condition than mine for that price :(
 
Slr. In particular, I'm thinking a Canon T90. Despite being electronic, that thing is a damned tank, hence it's nickname 'The Tank'. Ugly as sin, heavy, but with all the features you could want in an slr and incredibly rugged.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
I'd say any F-Series Nikon. They're indestructible. I have an F4s that I got new when I was a senior in high school 16 years ago. Three weeks after I got it, it slipped out of my hand and bounced across a concrete sidewalk, dropped from shoulder level! It got some scars on the plastic top cover but still worked perfectly. Unfortunately a couple yrs ago it developed an electronic glitch. When set for single frame film advance, it will sometimes fire off a high speed burst, as though it were set to high speed continuous advance. I've been told its probably just a dirty contact but every repair shop I have asked wants $250 to fix it, and I can buy one in better condition than mine for that price :(
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I just picked up a F4s for a great price. The plastic of the finder/prism has actually cracked and I can see inside it. But it still works flawlessly! One tough camera, this F4s.

Just for cosmetic reasons, I'm looking for a replacement finder.
 
This looks like it could survive a fair amount of abuse! :D


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Keith said:
This looks like it could survive a fair amount of abuse! :D
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I guess that thing was made for that.
Infact, if I remember well, Cameraquest's article says they used it on the D-day.

I haven't seen anyone suggesting a FSU SLR or RF. I heard the Zenits are tanks. Or they are just a heavy brick with mellow mechanics?
 
Frank Petronio said:
An $8 one-time use disposable camera.
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The most extreme camera situation I have had, a 5 days hike with temperatures between minus 30-35 C, was done with one of these. The camera can be used with gloves. And due to its light weight plastic it is light and will not freeze to your face when using it.
 
Keith said:
This looks like it could survive a fair amount of abuse! :D


320556963.jpg
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Wow Keith. How many people does it take to carry and use that? Was it carried by a 2 1/2 ton truck (lorry to you :D)

Actually, I would love to use one. Except I'm not sure I would want to carry it.
 
pit-bull tough SLR: without any doubt the Nikon F, mine hasn't had a CLA in 30 years, was beaten-up and obsolete in the mid 70s (the super modern OM1 had just arrived) when I bought it cheap as an impoverished art student. It has been all over the world since, often splashed with sea spray - you name it. I hadn't used it for 4 years and the shutter speeds tested a few months ago all checked within tolerance. Forget anything with electronics, it can't cut it over time. Mind, I haven't used an F 'extreme' cold, I'm 'told' they can freeze up when an M will keep on working...
 
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ray*j*gun said:
I second that!!!!!! I still have the one that went with me to Nam.
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I currently use F3s but have to agree with the Nikkormat with it's Copal square shutter. Bullet proof. Nikonos III too. Great camera.
 
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My toughest camera is probably my Ricoh Singlex TLS. I dropped it down a flight of stairs onto the concrete basement floor, and the only damage was a broken strap lug. But really, this probably equates to a virtual vote for the Nikkormat that several others have mentioned, the Singlex TLS is basically a Nikkormat FT with an M42 mount. It is a solid brick of a camera with that nice metal Copal square shutter.
 
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Keith said:
There was an Australian photographer who took a lot of shots in the Antarctic with a Leica screwmount ... I can't remember his name though.

He was impressed that the little Leica could be near encased in ice and snow and still function perfectly!
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I think Australian photographers as a breed must be crazy and determined.:)
In addition to this guy Keith is talking about, there was Frank Hurley who spent 2 winters marooned in the Antarctic with the Shackleton expedition of 1914. This guy worked in truly primitive conditions (living under overturned boats and heating with seal blubber) and yet he brought back truly fantastic pictures using a Kodak pocket camera; so I guess leaf shutters hold up. In spite of this, I would have to go with simple, mechanical SLR's. I think the Pentax Spotmatics are virtually indestructible.
 
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