Graham Line
Well-known
Worst ever was a Zenit E. Images were far inferior to my previous Argus C3. Tried to give it away but a coworker insisted on paying me $25.
Worst camera you ever owned?
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Ezzie
E. D. Russell Roberts
I find all film cameras I have owned or used have some sort of endearing qualities. And most DSLR´s I´ve had my hands on are in one way or another usable, but most digi P&S I´ve tried are pains in the @rse. They are still way off IQ wise, and therefore any inadequacies they have in other departments are not endearing, just annoying.
nosmok
Established
Just goes to show, one man's junk is another man's treasure. I love the Ricoh R1 and Oly XA. My worst is a Baby Speed Graphic: arrived in fine shape, as soon as I got it out of the box and started pressing things, I froze the rear FP shutter. Got that fixed, now the camera WILL NOT OPEN. I have pressed everything, wiggled what I can, and it's still sealed up solid as a rock, and weighs just as much. Boo. I will get it open, make sure the front shutter works, and then it's bye-bye. May not be a bad camera, but it and me are plainly in an abusive relationship.
The LOMO LC-A is a piece of junk. I took one great photo with mine (out of too many), and sold it. People say "the camera adds 10 lbs.". That lens adds about 25 unless you're dead center in the frame. And there's no way to tell if you're dead center in the frame.
--nosmok
The LOMO LC-A is a piece of junk. I took one great photo with mine (out of too many), and sold it. People say "the camera adds 10 lbs.". That lens adds about 25 unless you're dead center in the frame. And there's no way to tell if you're dead center in the frame.
--nosmok
karlori
Digital Refugee
Canon 50D with noise @ iso 100 same as ilford pan 400 pushed 1 stop... Hated that camera from the very beginning ...
dnk512
Well-known
The double exposure prevention mechanism on both Perkeo and Iskra has not been kind to me.
FrozenInTime
Well-known
A Ricoh GRD : ordered on the first day it was announced.
It's not that it was a bad camera; just that my expectations were too high:
Coming from a GRD1s loaded with Fuji 800 - a camera I could pull it out of a pocket, point in the right direction, fire and get it back in the pocket within seconds and virtually always get a good shot.
The GRD lacked dynamic range and took 10s to write a RAW file, during which time the camera locked up and would not collapse the lens.
Still it had it's good points - and the GRDII and III are each big improvements.
It's not that it was a bad camera; just that my expectations were too high:
Coming from a GRD1s loaded with Fuji 800 - a camera I could pull it out of a pocket, point in the right direction, fire and get it back in the pocket within seconds and virtually always get a good shot.
The GRD lacked dynamic range and took 10s to write a RAW file, during which time the camera locked up and would not collapse the lens.
Still it had it's good points - and the GRDII and III are each big improvements.
literiter
Well-known
It is really a good camera. I think it was not really designed for the -30 C weather. Now I don't go out in -30, so it wouldn't be a problem.
I have a Nikon F3 now and I wonder how it would fare at -30C.
raid
Dad Photographer
Rolleiflex SL2000F .... a disaster in design and quality control.
nobbylon
Veteran
mechanical perfection is a term that can only be applied to a Nikon F2!😀
my MP's slow speed mech was not working properly from new I suspect. Rubbish quality control. Beats me why some will pay 3 times more than an M6 for an M6 with a plain top! The MP has to be one of Leica's greatest marketing success as fanboys and users wax lyrical about them. Still, if you have to have then you have to have! waste of money if you ask this ex MP owner.
Anyway back to the OP. Worst camera, Minolta srt 101. Dim finder, hard to focus even with a 1.4.
Canon AE1 program, was never right out of the box. My main reason for switching to Nikon.
Nikon FM2n. Just never felt like a Nikon, no solidity feel to it. Proved wrong ofcourse by years of dependable use by many but it didn't feel right after using F's and F2's.
nobbylon
Veteran
oh i forgot the Zenit B my dad used to lend me which had a sticking shutter!
Paul Luscher
Well-known
Well, I wouldn't say they were bad cameras, but I did not find using Nikon rangefinders to be a pleasure.
Rangefinder patch too diffuse and dim for the low-light work I do (way too many soft and out-of-focus shots), and the lens-changing method required was just too fiddly.
Rangefinder patch too diffuse and dim for the low-light work I do (way too many soft and out-of-focus shots), and the lens-changing method required was just too fiddly.
sanmich
Veteran
Zorky 4
It was a subtle mix of incredibly rough mechanics, light leaks, unreliable film advance, incredibly poor VF, all that weighting like an adult male hippo.
I still don't get it...
It was a subtle mix of incredibly rough mechanics, light leaks, unreliable film advance, incredibly poor VF, all that weighting like an adult male hippo.
I still don't get it...
TXForester
Well-known
I've got the E-510. Maybe not great camera, but I can get decent work out of it.
For me a Kodak digital P&S. Can't remember the model. Second was Pentax Optio E10.
kdemas
Enjoy Life.
My vote has to go to the Sigma DP-1, which I still own. The camera has amazing output but is slow slow slow to use.
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
Konica IIIa
Konica IIIa
Konica IIIa rangefinder.
I was eager to shoot it because of the Hexanon 48mm 1.7 lens. But the ergonomics were horror, it has a shutter speed and aperture ring that couple on the lens. I never got the hang of that EV-setting coupling, every time I changed a shutter speed the aperture would go as well and the other way round.
Drove me crazy.
In the end I sold it through eBay to a fellow member here who claimed it was partially non-functional and I had to chime in to have it fixed.
Grmpf.
Konica IIIa
Konica IIIa rangefinder.
I was eager to shoot it because of the Hexanon 48mm 1.7 lens. But the ergonomics were horror, it has a shutter speed and aperture ring that couple on the lens. I never got the hang of that EV-setting coupling, every time I changed a shutter speed the aperture would go as well and the other way round.
Drove me crazy.
In the end I sold it through eBay to a fellow member here who claimed it was partially non-functional and I had to chime in to have it fixed.
Grmpf.
Last edited:
cosmonaut
Well-known
Kiev 4 and as much as I loved the mechanics of a Leica IIIA the two finders made shooting so slow. I still miss it though.
_larky
Well-known
I've never owned a bad camera.
Nettar
Member
The Fujita 66, two of which I owned briefly in the 1960s. The focal plane shutters on mine were unreliable in the extreme, with the effective speed (and its homogeneity across the film plane!) depending a lot on the angle at which the camera was held. And the 80mm f/3.5 triplet was not nearly as good as the triplet on my Nettar... Nettar
Ronald M
Veteran
Waltz Envoy about 1958. Nice images, but the transport mechanism went balky after 50 rolls, then I nursed it 2 more years until I finished college.
Had a 50 2.0 Nikkor lens which was pretty decent.
Had a 50 2.0 Nikkor lens which was pretty decent.
murpograph
Established
Worst camera
Worst camera
a Zenith EM. Looking robust. Tricky in handling and absolutely not reliable.
Worst camera
a Zenith EM. Looking robust. Tricky in handling and absolutely not reliable.
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