Which SLR is most like an RF?

I really love digital! It sure has driven the price of film cameras down. I needed to get an SLR for my sister (she wants to take close-ups of flowers) and this thread reminded me of the little Pentax ME. I just bought a ME Super on eBay for $46.

But those second generation Alpas are beautiful. I only was familiar with the later Alpas which are not so nice looking. The second generation Alpas are sweet! How much do they run?
 
Honu-H,

No need to be "assertive" nor tell us you again are "firmly convinced", these are our OPINIONS, and yes, they may "suffer" from being from a smallish sample group, but,... see above, these are _opinions_.... You sound as if you're lecturing me for being "wrong"....Lighten up! 😉
 
Gordon Coale said:
...(snip)But those second generation Alpas are beautiful. I only was familiar with the later Alpas which are not so nice looking. The second generation Alpas are sweet! How much do they run?
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There are many variables including the standard lens (most came with Kern-Switar and later Kern-Macro-Switar, but the lens new cost as much as the camera); a macro Switar alone is ~$650 in nice condition, a 50/1.9 Schneider goes for $200 or so. Silver Model 5 and 6b bodies are ~$1000, less if they are cosmetically "challenged" or need repair. Even the plentiful models were only produced in quantities in the 1000 to 3000 range -- not the kind of numbers to excite Nikon or Canon. The black 6b that I have shown in the picture is one of 43 made -- I honestly have no idea what it is worth. My black 9d is one of ~300 made; I also have no idea of its value, either. Fortunately, Alpa kept impeccable records on every camera made so it is very easy to verify legitimate models from fakes (fakes being repainted or recovered cameras). Genuine colored body coverings are extremely rare -- without the benefit of my books with me I remember only 18 of a dark green model, for instance and they command a great price.
 
George S. said:
Honu-H,

No need to be "assertive" nor tell us you again are "firmly convinced", these are our OPINIONS, and yes, they may "suffer" from being from a smallish sample group, but,... see above, these are _opinions_.... You sound as if you're lecturing me for being "wrong"....Lighten up! 😉
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I meant no offense George -- I responded to your claim that "the OMs can't be beat..." My other comments were general and applied to all claims that lenses of this manufacture or that were as "good as they get, top of the line, second to none," etc. which is simply not true. I think quite highly of OM's, as well as various Nikons, Canons, etc. I think it is important for the benefit of people on the list that may be unacquainted with various cameras and lenses to keep the discussions and assertions accurate. Trust me -- I don't take this too seriously 😀
 
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This thread got me checking out quite a number of cameras that might be a whole lot of fun to play with 🙂 Any thoughts from anyone on the Bessaflex? I'm not very familiar with the M42 screwmount, but it sure sounds like a fun camera...
 
And I AM being accurate when I say to people that my Zuiko lenses (Olympus brand name for their lenses) WERE better than the Nikkors or Canons that I owned, and I have owned their (Nikon and Canon) "cheaper" as well as their best regarded ones. One other thing I like about the Zuiko line is that there were only a couple of lesser expensive and _maybe_ lesser-regarded ones in their lineup, and they were still very good (The 75-150mm f/4 zoom comes to mind). Generally, no 2 or 3 tier line of lenses from Olympus, as others have, and are, doing.
 
FWIW If I were in the market to buy a camera of this type today I'd seriously consider the Nikon FG (or any comparable offering from another manufacturer if you already owned lenses to fit). FG's go for pennies on eBay, they are relatively dependable, have a good metering system with manual over ride, and they accept all the "F" lenses. The small 50/1.8 has always been a good performer and nearly as compact as the more pricey 45mm Tessar copy -- you could get into a system like this for very little money. And then there are always the "E" Series lenses, too. You're not buying a "classic" but you'd end up with a fine performer.
 
I bought a Nikon FG with 50 f1.8E last year at a garage sale for $20 because the seller informed me that it was broken but would look good sitting on a shelf as a display. I took it home, put a new battery in, and it works just fine! That was one of my better buys.
 
Gee, this Nikon FG talk is making me sad... I just "gave away" one to the repair guy after learning it was rusting and corroding from having sat virtually unused in my parents' front closet since I bought it for them in 1983, mere yards from the wet salty shoreline of Puget Sound. Trashed, essentially, without fair use and respectable wear! 🙁

I'm having a hard time wrapping my warped brain around the concept of "which SLR is most like an RF"... Kinda like "the most bus-like dump-truck" or "the most spoon-like chop-sticks"... But it's sure a popular subject! 🙂
 
Doug said:
I'm having a hard time wrapping my warped brain around the concept of "which SLR is most like an RF"... Kinda like "the most bus-like dump-truck" or "the most spoon-like chop-sticks"... But it's sure a popular subject! 🙂
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It probably has nothing to do with RF's but it gives us a chance to wax eloquent about cameras we have known 😀

Gene
 
A testament to the insidious genius of Scott's personality; he quite innocuously found a way to raise our hackles 😀 😀 😀

Before my RF obsession (oops, I meant "interest") I use to carry two FG's everywhere -- one with a 58/1.2 NOCT and the other with a 20/2.8; the little FG's did everything they were asked to do and did it well.
 
Honu-Hugger said:
A testament to the insidious genius of Scott's personality; he quite innocuously found a way to raise our hackles 😀 😀 😀

SNIP!
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"Raise hackles"?! Are you kidding? I'm not even allowed to have 'em in the house!. 😉 😉

😀 /ScottGee1
 
Mea culpa

Mea culpa

Correction of my earlier post regarding serviceability of Oly bodies. I made the mistake of using a post to photo.net as my source and then took that out of context. :bang:

To be specific, the OM-2S, OM-2 Spot / Program and OM-4 no longer have circuits available and that aspect of their operation cannot be repaired.

The Original OM-3/4, OM-10, OM-G (OM-20), OM-F (OM-30), OM-PC (OM-40) are no longer serviced by Olympus but can be overhauled by Camtech.

Their URL:

http://www.zuiko.com/

My apologies for any weeping or gnashing of teeth my error may have caused./ScottGee1
 
I have always liked the early om series Olympus cameras for the compactness and optics. When I was leading a back-country trail crew during the mid 1970's I saw many hikers and climbers who appreciated the size and weight these cameras. I got a nikon FG afew years ago for less than $20 at a local thrift store. They thought it was broken, but it worked fine for me on the manual shutter speed. . I happily paid them. I took it home and borrowed the battery out of my Fe2. All worked fine. I replaced the 50mm lens on the FG with a $5, 28mm/2.5 nikon mount vivitar thriftstore lens.
I have a litte EXA slr which is my 2nd smallest slr. It is has a waist level finder and takes Exacta mount lenses. The mirror acts as the shutter, a design that was abandoned on the later exas. My smallest slr is a Pentax 110, it even has interchangable lenses but emulsion options are limited.
 
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Wow, I have learned a lot about diffrent kinds of camera in this thread! 🙂
 
Penquin,
As enticing as all of this might sound you may want to consider holding with what you have and getting to know your gear so that it truly becomes an extension of your hands -- in spite of all this talk of "Leica this and Contax that" it really comes down to what you are shooting and how effectively you master what you have. Don't go gear crazy, just spend time with what you have.
 
Another good thing with the OM system not mentioned, I think, in this thread, is ergonomics. The camera handles well. For example, you change shutter speed with a ring on the front side, around the lens mount, rather than on top of the camera. Also, the viewfinder is quite bright and with a 50 more or less 1x.

scottgee1 said:
A lot of people obviously like Olympus OM series cameras. Based on past experience, I do too. But Camtech is telling people that they can consistently provide parts for only the 3T and 4T so that's subject for concern. Key parts are simply not available for earlier models. A shame really as Oly meets a lot of the criteria otherwise.
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So many OM's are available secondhand - and they are cheap - that you don't need to worry too mych about getting parts for repair.
 
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