davidnewtonguitars
Family Snaps
Finally! Someone willing to maintain some discipline in their own thread.
Mine is an M2 & 3.5cm lens.
Mine is an M2 & 3.5cm lens.
What is your one favorite camera as of right now?
- Thread starter jsrockit
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Ccoppola82
Well-known
MP240 + 50mm Sonnar/ 28mm Cron combo lately.
Bill Blackwell
Leica M Shooter
Leica M-P 240 + 50mm Asph Summilux-M
Canyongazer
Canyongazer
Nice Tiltall beneath your RB, narsuitus.
narsuitus
Well-known
pesphoto
Veteran
the original Ricoh GR digital..
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I don't know what I put when I first replied to this thread but currently it is my"new" to me Konica Autoreflex T4. Maybe it's just the honeymoon period though. In 16mm, I absolutely love my Bell and Howell 70DR. I wish I could afford to feed it more film...
Phil Forrest
Phil Forrest
back alley
IMAGES
ditto...except using a fuji xe3
jwc57
Well-known
I've managed to return to Olympus OM film cameras and I am just in love with the OM-2.
peterm1
Veteran
You know this is kind of a harder question to answer than one might think it would be. its like having children I suppose - you love one a bit more for one reason and you love another a bit more for a different reason. But overall you love them all. So I have made a distinction between my favorite "user" and my favourite camera "jewellery".
The camera I perhaps use most frequently these days, is an an "optioned up" Olympus OM D EM5 (i.e. with supplementary hand grip, + battery grip etc). The basic camera is too small for my hands on its own but with the extra grips (for some reason - maybe economics - Olympus made the accessory grip in two separate parts) it is just right with nice balance and handling. And it looks cool. Just like a baby Nikon D800 or something. It is a very nice camera to use with brilliant 5 axis vibration reduction, its only significant fault being that it does not have focus peaking (in the Olympus line that came later in their line of cameras). This is the child which is smart, good at almost everything and you know will grow up to become a doctor and discover a cure for an otherwise incurable disease.
On the other hand, having had a love/hate relationship with my Leica M8 for quite a while, I have recently had a resurgence of love for it. And I might be inclined to say it is my present "emotional" favorite, if that makes sense. At least for now. I still struggle to focus adequately with its antiquated rangefinder system (and my antiquated eyes) but I am presently enjoying trying. Its main flaw I have decided is that on the one hand it is difficult to focus fast lenses well, especially if you like standard and longer lenses as I do. Which forces you to stop down but because it has a CCD sensor, it lacks the ability to ramp up the ISO to compensate when shooting in adverse light. This is the child I love because it is beautiful and sweet, but know in my heart of hearts that it is as dumb as a bundle of sticks.
Oddly my renewed love of the M8 may have something to do with the fact that I recently lashed out and bought a Leica Q. The camera is superb, it has a superb lens, a very nice/competent sensor which produces excellent IQ and quick and competent AF. But I quickly found that the very things I love about the Leica Q are the very things I dislike about it. That is, I can rely on the camera for most things - all I need to do is point, and shoot. I do not need to think much about what I am doing.
Years ago psychologists were conducting experiments on rats. They found that if you rewarded a rat with food when it pushed a button it kept pushing that button. This is no surprise. But they then also found that if you only SOMETIMES rewarded a rat with food when it pushed the button the rat went ballistic and become addicted to pushing the button like crazy. My hypothesis is this is what happens with humans who become addicted to poker machines in Vegas. It is also my hypothesis that it is what happens with photography aficionados when we use Leica M8s and their manual focus lens - we sometimes get results and that intermittent feeling of gratification is so pleasurable we keep on pressing the (shutter) button like crazy.
Least that is what I think. 🙂
The camera I perhaps use most frequently these days, is an an "optioned up" Olympus OM D EM5 (i.e. with supplementary hand grip, + battery grip etc). The basic camera is too small for my hands on its own but with the extra grips (for some reason - maybe economics - Olympus made the accessory grip in two separate parts) it is just right with nice balance and handling. And it looks cool. Just like a baby Nikon D800 or something. It is a very nice camera to use with brilliant 5 axis vibration reduction, its only significant fault being that it does not have focus peaking (in the Olympus line that came later in their line of cameras). This is the child which is smart, good at almost everything and you know will grow up to become a doctor and discover a cure for an otherwise incurable disease.
On the other hand, having had a love/hate relationship with my Leica M8 for quite a while, I have recently had a resurgence of love for it. And I might be inclined to say it is my present "emotional" favorite, if that makes sense. At least for now. I still struggle to focus adequately with its antiquated rangefinder system (and my antiquated eyes) but I am presently enjoying trying. Its main flaw I have decided is that on the one hand it is difficult to focus fast lenses well, especially if you like standard and longer lenses as I do. Which forces you to stop down but because it has a CCD sensor, it lacks the ability to ramp up the ISO to compensate when shooting in adverse light. This is the child I love because it is beautiful and sweet, but know in my heart of hearts that it is as dumb as a bundle of sticks.
Oddly my renewed love of the M8 may have something to do with the fact that I recently lashed out and bought a Leica Q. The camera is superb, it has a superb lens, a very nice/competent sensor which produces excellent IQ and quick and competent AF. But I quickly found that the very things I love about the Leica Q are the very things I dislike about it. That is, I can rely on the camera for most things - all I need to do is point, and shoot. I do not need to think much about what I am doing.
Years ago psychologists were conducting experiments on rats. They found that if you rewarded a rat with food when it pushed a button it kept pushing that button. This is no surprise. But they then also found that if you only SOMETIMES rewarded a rat with food when it pushed the button the rat went ballistic and become addicted to pushing the button like crazy. My hypothesis is this is what happens with humans who become addicted to poker machines in Vegas. It is also my hypothesis that it is what happens with photography aficionados when we use Leica M8s and their manual focus lens - we sometimes get results and that intermittent feeling of gratification is so pleasurable we keep on pressing the (shutter) button like crazy.
Least that is what I think. 🙂
cary
Well-known
For many years it was the Nikon F, now it's a Leicaflex SL, I like having a built in meter.
adamr1699
Established
Mamiya 7 for sure, has been for over a year.
steveyork
Well-known
My favorite remains the Leicaflex SL, great viewfinders, really effective braking system, but after 900 or so rolls of exclusive use over 7-8 years, I'm totally burned out on them. It's like listening to your favorite song (or band or composer) over and over. Variety is good; keeps things from getting boring. That's why in the last couple years I've shot so many other different cameras -- rangefinders, SLRs, folders, TLRs. For now, it's hard not to like M mount cameras. Really living in the golden age of rangefinder optics with the offerings from Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander. Giant circle really for me -- I started with a Leica rangefinder in the 1990's and now I'm back.
Having said that, there are so many "good" cameras systems out there, with their own strengths and weaknesses, and many very affordable. Just not enough time in the day to shoot (film).
Having said that, there are so many "good" cameras systems out there, with their own strengths and weaknesses, and many very affordable. Just not enough time in the day to shoot (film).
zuiko85
Veteran
Right at this moment it is the only one I have film in, a Minolta 16Ps.
As Ross Perot might have said "Now I think that's just sad."
Maybe tomorrow it might be different.
PS, Make that 'probably different.'
As Ross Perot might have said "Now I think that's just sad."
Maybe tomorrow it might be different.
PS, Make that 'probably different.'
Dan
Let's Sway
Been enjoying my x-e1 and the 35mm 1.4 for many years and it has become the camera I can just pick up and shoot with without having to reaquaint myself to the technology involved. Humble, simple, quality.
dtcls100
Well-known
I love all of my 30+ cameras. My favorite changes day to day and I typically cycle through most of my digital and film cameras. Even how I like to configure the cameras frequently changes. For a couple of years, I always liked to use my digital cameras with optional battery grips and my film cameras with motor drives for their ergonomics and always having the camera ready to shoot multiple photos in rapid sequence. Recently, I have taken to leaving the grips/motor drives off in the interest of compactness and simplicity.
David Murphy
Veteran
I've been enjoying my Praktina IIa lately - especially with my Zeiss Flexon F2 prime mounted on it.
Archiver
Veteran
Favourite pocket camera: Sony RX0
Favourite ILC: Leica M9
Favourite film camera: tie between Contax T3 and Pentax ME
Others in the running include the Fuji X100 classic, Ricoh GXR, Ricoh GR.
The other day I was shooting my 5D Mark II with the Voigtlander Ultron SL 40mm f2. This was kind of fun, but I had to use liveview many times to be able to focus properly (manual focus and crappy MF capabilties of the stock screen). I always find myself coming back to the M9 with its superb image quality and colours.
I'm in love with the compactness and look of the Pentax ME. It was the camera I learned photography with as a kid, and Dad gave it to me as an adult when I came into photography properly. If it wasn't for the loud shutter/mirror slap, I could use it for all my film needs with the SMC 50/1.4 and 28/2.8. I love my Contax T3, but I'm afraid of using it too much/too hard. The Pentax is relatively easy and inexpensive to replace if anything goes wrong, although mine is in mint condition because Dad babied it.
The Sony RX0 is the best balance I've found between convenience, robustness and image quality. 24mm is my favourite general focal length, and the tiny RX0 goes in a pocket and you hardly knot it's there until you want it. Image quality is excellent.
Favourite ILC: Leica M9
Favourite film camera: tie between Contax T3 and Pentax ME
Others in the running include the Fuji X100 classic, Ricoh GXR, Ricoh GR.
The other day I was shooting my 5D Mark II with the Voigtlander Ultron SL 40mm f2. This was kind of fun, but I had to use liveview many times to be able to focus properly (manual focus and crappy MF capabilties of the stock screen). I always find myself coming back to the M9 with its superb image quality and colours.
I'm in love with the compactness and look of the Pentax ME. It was the camera I learned photography with as a kid, and Dad gave it to me as an adult when I came into photography properly. If it wasn't for the loud shutter/mirror slap, I could use it for all my film needs with the SMC 50/1.4 and 28/2.8. I love my Contax T3, but I'm afraid of using it too much/too hard. The Pentax is relatively easy and inexpensive to replace if anything goes wrong, although mine is in mint condition because Dad babied it.
The Sony RX0 is the best balance I've found between convenience, robustness and image quality. 24mm is my favourite general focal length, and the tiny RX0 goes in a pocket and you hardly knot it's there until you want it. Image quality is excellent.
Canyongazer
Canyongazer
Originally Posted by jsrockit 
I meant for you guys to pick one camera ...
But me, I added one.
That will teach me to go back and read the first post on a 5 year old thread rather than jump right back in.
Delete my post #136 if you like, John.
I meant for you guys to pick one camera ...
But me, I added one.
That will teach me to go back and read the first post on a 5 year old thread rather than jump right back in.
Delete my post #136 if you like, John.
Current fave is the black Leica M-D 262 with a 3.5/50mm collapsible nickel Heliar. This camera is so nice to use, every time I set out to use it I'm delighted all over again...
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