Your worst RF camera...

[ruben]

I just cant believe that M2 has been mentioned twice. I am shocked. It's a freaking leica - the goddess of rangefinders! how is this possible?

PS oooh that's my post number 666

The most curious/fetish thread I have ever read. And not only for the M2, but the most widely appreciated cameras line up here ! WOW.

Perhaps I have just been lucky in not buying any camera without a strong appeal to me. It has happened that after I got the camera, other features I disliked. But always it has been just a challenge for me to overcome the problems in order to save the good sides.

True, both the GSN and Konica Auto s2 are biggies. But how comfortable both are to manipulate them because of their big size ! And both with autoparallax compensation!!!! The Konica adding a focusing handle and the GSN a diamond and bright yellow patch enabling wider hoods. And My Konica has the brightest viewfinder from all RF I have.

Not liking the Oly 35SP ????.......including lens performance???? W/NW !!!!
I agree the viewfinder EV scale is rather a liability. But working in auto mode, and because of its ergonomics including a focusing handle, it is my favourite camera for fast shooting, among what I have.

Oly 35 RC ? yes it is too mini including a mini yellow patch. Do you have a worthy rival (both auto and manual) for carrying with you when you are out of surplus space and weight ? Have you noticed its lens sharpness and quiet shutter, making it extremely useful as a "spy" camera ?

Nevertheless in the same way I see no camera to fully dislike, I have no camera including all I want. To each situation its matching camera.

All in all I feel more than pleased for this much original thread, showing we have a lot to talk ahead.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[trittium]

either Fed 5C or Konica C35 or the Argus brick

 

[wintoid]

So far my least favourite is the Bronica RF645. It's well built and the lens I have is fine but it can't focus very close at all, only goes to f/4.0 and has been totally eclipsed by the wonderful Yashicamat 124G I bought at the same time.

 

[jonasv]

When looking at them online and hearing others talk about them, the Yashica Electro 35 series seemed like they'd be my ideal cameras. I acquired four and sold them all, I hated them. Can't say why. There wasn't anything wrong with them, I just didn't like them at all.

They're not so different (size/lens) from my Minolta Hi-Matic 7s which I love, but yet...

 

[pesphoto]

The GSN was my first Rangefinder camera and it got me hooked. Though I soon longed for full manual control. I think the Lynx 14 is the best of the lot, though big.

 

[vrgard]

An interesting thread to read. Many cameras that others have raved about are denigrated in this thread. Just goes to show that beauty is in the eye (and hand?) of the beholder. For myself, I enjoy using a Kiev 4a, a Canonet QL17, a Konica Auto S2 and a Leica M6. Not that they're equally good in all respects (or equally priced for that matter), but I do enjoy different things about each. I love the all mechanical, absolutely no automation, simplicity of the Keiv 4a along with the array of very low cost lenses that go with it. I love the almost pocket size, metered, with easy focus lever of the Canonet QL17. I love the meter display on top, easy to hold size (I have large hands), nice feel of the covering, and very sharp images of the Konica Auto S2. And I absolutely love the great lenses, easy through the viewfinder metering, viewfinder frame lines that change with the lens, medium size and, and, and of the Leica M6. I'm sure there's both positives and negatives of each of these cameras that I'm not recalling right now. However, I do have to say that I enjoy using each camera and while I could rank them in terms of preference I would have a hard time calling any of them my "worst" rangefinder (even if they ended up ranked last on my list) since that implies there's something fundamentally flawed with it. And I just haven't experienced any real flaw or problem with any of these cameras. Perhaps I'm just being a bit more charitable towards those cameras that cost me 1/20th of the Leica? Perhaps I just enjoy the quirkiness of the Kiev? Perhaps I just enjoy the low-key look of the Canonet? Perhaps I enjoy the high-quality feel of the Leica? Perhaps I'm simply unwilling to say anything bad about my beloved rangefinder cameras? ;-)

 

[grizzz]

Zorki 5. Never got that sucker to load a roll of film :bang:

 

[John Robertson]

Fuji 645 "professional!!"
The most unreliable camera ever owned by me.
1. Shutter /wind linkage broke four times. Three times repaired expensively by the importer. Last time by an independant repair shop. The guy told me "sell it as soon as possible, the linkage was designed by an idiot!!"
2. Bellows needed replacing after four years, due to pinholes developing at the corners! At the time my 30yr old Adox Golf was still light-proof!
3. Light leak due to a crack developing alongside the hinge on the opening front.
I wouldn't touch another one with a ten foot bargepole.
I was in the dealers where I traded it for a leica CL, several years later, it was back on the shelf for any offers!!! dealer said "you sold it at the right time, its been a nightmare for us!"
I never said anything! :angel:
PS. I also had the next to useless close up system for it! 😡

 

[BrianShaw]

Canonet QL GIII 17 - http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/1970-1975/data/1972_netg3-17.html

As far as I'm concerned there is no more overrated camera (and I am a serious Canon fan!). Awkward ergonomics and a truely foul meter make for a bad experiance. Only the Argus C-3 comes close and that's due more to the front mounted cocking lever. The rest of the camera is _far_ easier for me to deal with.

William

I hate to say it, folks... but "me too".

 

[howpow]

Annoyingly the Konica Auto S2 drove me up the wall. The picture quality was lovely but it was unnecessarily big (you just don't realise how big one is unti you hold it, the baseplate is identical in size to a Praktica MTL5's). The focus was a pain for me, endlessly overshooting backwards and forwards until the point is finally reached through closing approximations and the shutter release point was vague.

Just goes to show, quality isn't everything. In fact for me picture quality is quite low on the list, handling comes first.

I must say I am suprised that someone in this forum would place picture quality low on his list of priorities. If handling is all important, why bother putting film in the camera at all. Just walk around snapping with an empty good handling camera.

 

[StuartR]

This will probably sound strange to some, but the worst for me was the Fuji G690. It took superb pictures if you could get it to focus right. It was absolutely gigantic, extremely heavy, the lenses were thicker than fence posts and tight, so difficult to focus. No meter, the 180mm close focus was outside of 2m, it was loud, no meter, rough operation and only 8 shots a roll. If you hit focus and exposure right, the pictures were utterly fabulous, but in operation it was a nightmare. When I realized that I would rather carry my 4x5 monorail around with me than use it, I sold it. I switched to a Mamiya 7II which is better in every way other than the size of the negative (though there is still room for improvement).

 

[ErnestoJL]

After reading this thread again, I realized that I had a "new" Canonet QL 19 which I gave three months after buying it to a friend of mine who loves it... something that never happened to me.
I replaced this camera with an "old" Canonet Ql17.
Why? the "new" lacked some slow speeds which the old has, even it´s a bit bigger what makes me feel I´ve a better camera handling.

Besides I still have a Lynx 14, but I never felt it was for me. The VF was fogged allways, the RF patch was a pain (even after a full CLA), the lens is remarkably flare prone... besides is front heavy and to avoid flare I should find a square hood...that´s too much. I´m decided to part with it.

Contax and Kiev? well...I got used to the Contax grip...

Ernesto

 

[Harlee]

Worst RF

Worst RF

Wow, I'm really surprised to see some fine cameras being trashed. I've been into photography since the early 40's when my aunt bought me a box camera. One of my favorite all time cameras being trashed here is the Yashica GS series. I've been shooting them for over 30 years and every one has provided me with excellent service, great sharp pictures and smooth operation. I don't really recall any rangefinder that I didn't like something about , and I've had a bunch of them, or would consider my worst one ever. Maybe I'm just lucky with my purchases.

 

[Ronald M]

My very first camera from 1960, a Waltz Envoy. Nice Nikon lens, but film transport screw up after a year or so. It got me thru college though.

Right after graduation, I got a Pentax Spotmatic and 7 lenses all at one time, all new.

I stayed with that system until I borrowed a M3 in 1982 and found what I was missing.

 

[ARS]

Canonet QL GIII 17 - http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/1970-1975/data/1972_netg3-17.html

As far as I'm concerned there is no more overrated camera (and I am a serious Canon fan!). Awkward ergonomics and a truely foul meter make for a bad experiance. Only the Argus C-3 comes close and that's due more to the front mounted cocking lever. The rest of the camera is _far_ easier for me to deal with.

William

TRUE! Canonet is in my worst list as well!!!

 

[clarence]

PS oooh that's my post number 666

it's too bad you didn't hit your 666th post on the 6th of June, 2006 at 6 o'clock. If you had, Lucifer would have appeared and given you an M6.

Clarence

 

[amateriat]

it's too bad you didn't hit your 666th post on the 6th of June, 2006 at 6 o'clock. If you had, Lucifer would have appeared and given you an M6.

To parpaphrase an old Gary Larson cartoon:

"Welcome to Heaven. Here's Your Leica."

"Welcome to Hell. Here's your Nikkorex"

The worst RF I ever owned was my very first 35mm camera, a yashica 5000E Lynx. That set a personal record for number of breakdowns during 1973, exceeded only by both my new Pentax LX bodies in 1982 (worst SLR/worst overall). Since I was an eager newbie with the Yashica, that camera scores bonus points for pain and suffering, although the LX nightmare comes close, having blown a mint on a pair of 'em, only to end up selling them at a loss less than a year later for a pair of used Nikon F3s.


- Barrett

 

[clarence]

The worst RF I ever owned was my very first 35mm camera, a yashica 5000E Lynx. That set a personal record for number of breakdowns during 1973, exceeded only by both my new Pentax LX bodies in 1982 (worst SLR/worst overall). Since I was an eager newbie with the Yashica, that camera scores bonus points for pain and suffering, although the LX nightmare comes close, having blown a mint on a pair of 'em, only to end up selling them at a loss less than a year later for a pair of used Nikon F3s.
- Barrett

I haven't seen that particular Larson cartoon, though I would like to.

It's strange that you mention the LX, because it has a reputation for its ruggedness, yet you had not one but two defective bodies.

Clarence

 

[RayPA]

Kiev 4a—Hated It ! An OK camera to look at, but I just never got the hang of it. It has completely soured me on FSU cameras.

🙂

 

[amateriat]

I haven't seen that particular Larson cartoon, though I would like to.

I couldn't find it online. As with most of Larson's output, it's a large single frame, this time split diagonally: the upper panel shows a group of people before the Pearly Gates, with St. Peter greeting them as they pass through, saying "Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp." In the lower panel, a group of people are passing though the Gates of Hell, with the Horned One beckoning them thusly: "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."

It's strange that you mention the LX, because it has a reputation for its ruggedness, yet you had not one but two defective bodies.

I had a pair of early-production bodies, and it seems the LX had an early mirror-box/shutter glitch that locked up the works real good, and not just with my examples. They eventually ironed out the glitch, of course, but not soon enough to ease my months of misery (via frequent return visits to their service center on Long Island). Which was sad, because I loved so much about that model (and I gave up my Canon F-1 system en toto for it. Ouch).


- Barrett