What is your 'camera for life'?

[Archiver]

The emotional experience we got when we had these developed a few weeks ago from a film shot 22yrs ago on a family holiday in Scotland brought a tear to my eye, probably the OM1 but it's not the camera that really counts but the memories associated with it. [These are just phone pics from a light box but look beautiful in the flesh]

This is just one and there's a whole roll of them.

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Treasure those images! You're so lucky to have found those. I made the terrible mistake of opening Dad's SR-T and finding a half shot roll of film inside. That was in about 2007, and the camera had probably not been used since 1981, so I was bitterly disappointed in myself.

I've written about this before: in the 2010s, I found an old Keystone 110 camera that I used in the early 80s, and it had a film cartridge inside. When developed, it revealed four or five very blurry and grainy photos of our old house, and my best friend of that time. It was wonderful.

 

[Leon C]

Treasure those images! You're so lucky to have found those. I made the terrible mistake of opening Dad's SR-T and finding a half shot roll of film inside. That was in about 2007, and the camera had probably not been used since 1981, so I was bitterly disappointed in myself.

I've written about this before: in the 2010s, I found an old Keystone 110 camera that I used in the early 80s, and it had a film cartridge inside. When developed, it revealed four or five very blurry and grainy photos of our old house, and my best friend of that time. It was wonderful.

Sad about the opening of the SRT and I've forgot to check the rewind knob in the past so not alone.

I've bought cameras and they've still had film in and recently had one developed from my 'Bowl Of Mystery' and no idea who is in the pics.

My 'Bowl Of Mystery' is a bowl of about 70 films I've been collecting for 25 yrs and now only just having them developed, the previous pic is from one of those rolls, there's even some Ektachrome E4 in there but that will be a challenge as one of the independant Labs in London that could sort of do it, has now closed!

 

[PatrickT]

If it would last, the camera that has worked the best for me over the years are my Sony RX1 and RX1RII. If I had to choose just one, it would be the RX1RII. The camera almost never fails to deliver images that I absolute adore, mostly stemming from its amazing Zeiss Sonnar lens. I've bought and sold many cameras, and currently own many cameras, but I ALWAYS come back to the RX1RII as a "why don't I just get rid of everything and shoot this?" camera. There are reasons (many of them, actually), but if I were to get rid of everything and just have one camera, that would be it. I often stray to other cameras that are more enjoyable to shoot, but the RX1 always delivers the images that others sometimes don't.

If I wanted to pick a camera that would actually live forever, it would undoubtedly be a Leica MP for its quality, looks, and functionality. Still want one of those even though I mostly gave up film years ago.

 

[Archiver]

If it would last, the camera that has worked the best for me over the years are my Sony RX1 and RX1RII. If I had to choose just one, it would be the RX1RII. The camera almost never fails to deliver images that I absolute adore, mostly stemming from its amazing Zeiss Sonnar lens. I've bought and sold many cameras, and currently own many cameras, but I ALWAYS come back to the RX1RII as a "why don't I just get rid of everything and shoot this?" camera. There are reasons (many of them, actually), but if I were to get rid of everything and just have one camera, that would be it. I often stray to other cameras that are more enjoyable to shoot, but the RX1 always delivers the images that others sometimes don't.

You know, I've wanted a Sony RX1 variant ever since they came out. I briefly tried a RX1 but the colours didn't seem quite right. But the RX1r I tried was much better, so I'm always on the lookout for one of those. As the years have gone by, they have appeared but I haven't had the budget at the time, or I've had the money but correctly priced ones were not available. Maybe one day, eh.

If I wanted to pick a camera that would actually live forever, it would undoubtedly be a Leica MP for its quality, looks, and functionality. Still want one of those even though I mostly gave up film years ago.

Same. I'd pick a MP or M-A as a true forever camera, even though I have an unused freezer drawer full of film.