Camera collectors; fave cameras- what's in your 'museum'?

AZ6

AZ6

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Inspired by the Nikon F3 thread, I was thinking about cameras I've liked and wanted, ever since I started taking pictures. And which ones I'd like to own. I already have a small collection, and I hope to one day own all the Nikon F cameras (already have the F4 and F5). But there's loads more, and the wish list seems to grow all the time. So; what are your favourite film cameras, and which ones would you have in your own 'collection', if you could? And why?

I'll start (cameras I own in bold):

Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, F5, F100, F801s, FM2, FM3A, FA, Nikon S rangefinder, perhaps a Nikonos V
Pentax K1000, LX, 67, Auto 110 Super (owned one as a kid, totally useless now but such a lovely little thing with the tiny lenses)
Canon EOS1, F1n, T90, A1
Vivitar V2000 (first ever 35mm SLR bought, took me through college, cheap but an excellent, simple little camera)
Olympus OM4Ti, XA (always loved the design, and they have cracking little lenses), Trip 35, SP 35
Minolta 7000 -first AF SLR, iconic. Plasticky and gimicky, but an extremely important camera.
Hasselblad 503CXi (or a 500 Classic or similar, but the 503CXi is a nice 'Blad. Gotta have a 'Blad...)
Leica 111 of some description, not so fussed, M6.2 (the pinnacle of the Leica M-series imo)
Contax RTS3 (gorgeous, so well built, and CZ lenses!)
Rolleiflex TLR Just because really.
Praktica MTL3 or similar, first 35mm SLR I learnt on.

The list is constantly being revised and added to. Maybe some boring and obvious choices, but they're mine. I also have a few old AF compacts that I need to shift tbh. And some old crap like a plastic Polaroid thing, an original Zenit Lomo (not working sadly cos they fetch silly money on Ebay), and a bright yellow Minolta UW 110 camera.

What would YOU have?
 
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My all time favourite camera is my early Voigtländer Vito B. Cameras I will not be parting with: Asahi Pentax SV, Zeiss Ikon Tenax I, Zorky 4, Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515.
 
my first camera that I got myself was a Vivitar XV-2 back in 1982 I have also Pentax ME Super, Praktica BX20, EOS 1000F N and EOS700
 
Canon A1 - The 35mm SLR camera that first gave the world the PASM (P, AV,TV, M) settings that we take for granted today - a truly historic milestone of a 35mm SLR camera. No 20th century museum camera collection should regard itself as being complete without a Canon A1.
Yashica 635 - launched at the end of the 1950s, this medium format 6x6 TLR could also shoot 35mm roll film with the included adaptor kit. The Yashikor lens was capable of producing very nice results, and the last of these cameras to be produced in 1970 (for around a year) were fitted with the same Yashinon lens as the Yashicamat and Yashica 124G, which adds to their value to collectors.
Ensign Selfix 820 (with Ross Xpres lens) - about as good optically as a 6x9 medium format folding camera ever got, despite what the German opposition (and their fans) might have thought.
Ensign Selfix 16-20 (with Ross Xpres lens) - similar to the above only in a pocket-sized 6x4.5 format.
Pentacon Pentina 35mm SLR camera - an early 1960s East German camera that was capable of producing some very nice results via its Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm lens and Meyer Optik 135mm, etc. lenses, but was of rather unconventional design, which apparently makes them difficult to repair and service these days,
Canon EOS-3 - A beast of a latter-day auto focus 35mm SLR, with a 45 point eye-controlled auto focus points and 21 zone metering system. You just looked at the relevant focus point to select it and focus - yes, it really did track where your eye was looking... but if you couldn't get on with this feature then it could easily be turned off, leaving standard auto-focus performance on those 45 AF points. Check out the spec sheet for this camera as, even by today's standards, it's pretty impressive. However, it's not a particularly small or quite camera, and today's prices seem to reflect its specification and desirability.
Canon EOS 30/30v - a slimmed down, lightweight and lower specification version of the EOS-3, with 7 point eye-controlled AF (a simplified and easier to work version of the EOS-3 system) and 35 zone (yes, really!) metering system. Despite its rather rapid, built-in, 4 frames per second motor drive, it's a very quiet camera to use (by 35mm film SLR standards). The later 30v version (one of the last Canon 35mm film SLRs made) adds a blue backlight to the LCD panel at the press of a button, a slightly improved AF system, and E-TTL II flash capability. Build-quality appears commensurate with equivalent mid-range 35mm SLRs of the era, so treat it with care (particularly the film door opening button/mechanism) and don't expect pro/prosumer durability.
 
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Definitely agree with Mr B about the Ross Ensign, both brilliant cameras.
Voigtlander Bessamatic, a beast of a camera with some fabulous lenses and I defy anyone to find a camera that makes a better noise when winding on or firing the shutter, just beautiful.
Medium format, has to be the Mamiya C330f, superb build quality, fabulous lenses and the only really adaptable TLR.
 
Mr Badger said:
Pentacon Pentina 35mm SLR camera - an early 1960s East German camera that was capable of producing some very nice results via its Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm lens and Meyer Optik 135mm, etc. lenses, but was of rather unconventional design, which apparently makes them difficult to repair and service these days,
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The Pentacon FM was my first camera: a Contax D by any other name. These represented minor improvements to the Contax S: the first SLR with a permanently fitted pentaprism and quite clearly the trend setter for SLR design. The name change was a consequence of the courts forcing the Dresden Zeiss company to give up the names "Zeiss" and "Contax". When I aquired a "Contax S" it turned out to be every bit as unreliable as the Pentacon variant. This was a problem with all the Pentacon branded cameras until the Praktica L series with their Copal Square style shutters solved the majority of problems.
 
Some interesting choices; can't say I know much about older cameras, so don't have any 'faves'. More of a Nikon fan than anything else. I always live in hope that someone wil say 'oh you're into photography; a relative has died and left all this old junk, do you want it?' and it'll contain Leicas, Hasselblads, etc etc....

Also, many of my choices are based on design aspects, rather than purely photographic, so style is more of a consideration than say historical status etc. I have no desire at all to collect stuff like old Box Brownies, they just don't interest me. Something like a Leica 3 does, because they were the camera that helped revolutionise how pictures were taken. And because they're little jewels. I'd love something rare, like an old Moon Landing Hasselblad or NASA Nikon, or a gold FA, or a 'Danish Royal Wedding' Leica. But such things are astronomically (!!) expensive, and I fully intend to use anything I collect, so such things are out really. This is about having something to enjoy, not just store away as an 'investment'.
 
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I couldn't possibly give a list of cameras I like because I love them all, past and present. However, being basically fickle and faithless, my recently acquired Fuji 690W is the best!

As for the future, I think a Gandofi would be my number one desire. Step aside Fuji.
 
This is the one that started it all. (Mine was actually an Autoreflex T.) Shot with one of these through high school and much of college. Picked up this copy at a thrift shop. Can't imagine I paid more than $10 for it. Cleaned up nicely. Made this image of it when I was playing with some new studio lights. (Might mention here, too, that battery-powered LED lights are the best thing that's happened to photography since autofocus.)

IMG_5615_web-2.jpg
 
The only one I'm missing that I "want" is the Canon F-1. Prices were/are just a bit out of my range sadly. I'm also terribad at manual focus with the way MF SLRs focus and that stops me pushing the button too. Give me a rangefinder anyday. I'd quite like an Olympus 35 or a Rollei 35 but that's for when I'm drunk and have been paid and there's not a global pandemic going on.

Can't get on with TLRs. I'd love to, but I just don't get on with them.
Would love to get into Nikons but I find the whole lens family very confusing so it's probably best I steer clear.

In terms of cameras I love that I own... Well, all of them! If the world was ending and someone asked me to pick one to take the final photo, I'd be vaporised still thinking about it. It's the one reason I bought into Peak Design's toggle strap system as I can now have 1 strap and loads of cameras! I'm sure people laugh at me with my instamatic with it's red toggle...

The only camera I have that I felt something close to full on emotion when I fired the shutter, was a Kodak Instamatic. The same model I owned as a 12 year old. I used to borrow my mum's Retina and my Auntie's Rollei, but neither of these had the same connection when I bought them in later life. Every time I look at the plastic piece of crap that is the 56x it makes me smile. I shot a TON of carts through that as a kid. Negs went in the bin when I got them so all I have are half a dozen prints that made it through the years.

Double stroke M3 - Just a beautiful camera at 50mm. Bought when drunk with a Summicron 50 and never regretted it.
Voigtlander Bessa R3M - I love this camera. Love it. It's weight, how it feels in the hand, the shutter sound and the 40mm framelines match the 40mm Nokton perfectly. An amazing combo.
Tomiyama Art Pano - There's everything to hate about it. It's unweildy, it's heavy, it's very easy to screw up, it's ugly and it's primitive. But those 6x17 negs just put a huge grin on my face.

Finally, the pinhole my father-in-law built is up there too. I gave him the instructions, he built it (he's a wood worker). It's basically a glorified pencil box with a slide on lid (if you remember those) and it's not pretty, but it's hand made, and it works.
 
Crap. Am I the only one to un-notify as it'll just cause me to go straight to eBay?
 
Harlequin565 said:
Crap. Am I the only one to un-notify as it'll just cause me to go straight to eBay?
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You don't HAVE to buy anything (Says he who's just bought a waist level finder for his Nikon F4...)! But I know; I've spent far too much over the last year, on stuff I absolutely don't 'need', and it can get out of control. I need to build a display cabinet, and then limit myself to the space it offers. No space for summat new? Sell something then; one in, one out.


drsilver said:
This is the one that started it all. (Mine was actually an Autoreflex T.) Shot with one of these through high school and much of college. Picked up this copy at a thrift shop. Can't imagine I paid more than $10 for it. Cleaned up nicely. Made this image of it when I was playing with some new studio lights. (Might mention here, too, that battery-powered LED lights are the best thing that's happened to photography since autofocus.)

View attachment 272412
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Love this. Cameras which holds a special place in your heart, irrespective of what they are/value/prestige etc.
 
AZ6 said:
then; one in, one out.
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Are you seated?
Bad news my friend, this tactic dunt work …..well it might for a short while 'til GAS takes complete control again.
Tbh, COVID 19 is a pussy compared to GAS :LOL::LOL:
 
This was my favoured outfit in 2006...

Leica IIIc and M3 cameras.jpg
 
AZ6 said:
Inspired by the Nikon F3 thread, I was thinking about cameras I've liked and wanted, ever since I started taking pictures. And which ones I'd like to own. I already have a small collection, and I hope to one day own all the Nikon F cameras (already have the F4 and F5). But there's loads more, and the wish list seems to grow all the time. So; what are your favourite film cameras, and which ones would you have in your own 'collection', if you could? And why?

I'll start (cameras I own in bold):

Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, F5, F100, F801s, FM2, FM3A, FA, Nikon S rangefinder, perhaps a Nikonos V
Pentax K1000, LX, 67, Auto 110 Super (owned one as a kid, totally useless now but such a lovely little thing with the tiny lenses)
Canon EOS1, F1n, T90, A1
Vivitar V2000 (first ever 35mm SLR bought, took me through college, cheap but an excellent, simple little camera)
Olympus OM4Ti, XA (always loved the design, and they have cracking little lenses), Trip 35, SP 35
Minolta 7000 -first AF SLR, iconic. Plasticky and gimicky, but an extremely important camera.
Hasselblad 503CXi (or a 500 Classic or similar, but the 503CXi is a nice 'Blad. Gotta have a 'Blad...)
Leica 111 of some description, not so fussed, M6.2 (the pinnacle of the Leica M-series imo)
Contax RTS3 (gorgeous, so well built, and CZ lenses!)
Rolleiflex TLR Just because really.
Praktica MTL3 or similar, first 35mm SLR I learnt on.

The list is constantly being revised and added to. Maybe some boring and obvious choices, but they're mine. I also have a few old AF compacts that I need to shift tbh. And some old crap like a plastic Polaroid thing, an original Zenit Lomo (not working sadly cos they fetch silly money on Ebay), and a bright yellow Minolta UW 110 camera.

What would YOU have?
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I have a few of these. Never got the RTS3, but have a 167MT - like all the Contax/Yashica cameras solid and very well made, if a bit quirky. I started out with Yashica, so most of my compatible lenses (and a couple of FX-D bodies) are from that system, but I have the excellent Zeiss 50/1.7. A shame that Yashica, an innovative company who made both systems, are no more and their own name has been licensed to a bunch of cowboys who make plastic tat. I also have Yashica's cult compact with a nice lens, the T4, which now goes for silly prices on ebay. Something like the Canon Sureshot Supreme (I picked up a couple recently, one for a friend) gives images of similar quality at a fraction of the cost.

The best all-round Nikon I've used would be the F100, my main camera late in the film era (I imagine the F6 would be best of all). The thought that the plastic catch on the back door might one day fail is the only significant minus. I have an F5, which is a great piece of machinery, but once I put the 8 batteries in the sheer weight is off-putting, it's the size of a medium format camera, and its compensating ability to burn a whole roll of film in a few seconds isn't something I need in the digital age. I also have a rarely used F801, intended as a backup for the F100 - a nice camera with a great finder, but the AF isn't up to much. The F80 I picked up for £50, a baby F100, completes my bag of AF Nikons.

A Praktica (I think mine is the LTL3 rather than the MLT3), bought on a whim in the 90s, has never been used much, nor has an Olympus Trip acquired around the same time (a nice piece of design).

The Leica M6 is probably my favourite film camera (occasional rangefinder patch flare is really the only issue). It's a Leica with a meter - what more could you want? These days it's the film camera I'm most likely to use seriously. But I like the screwmount Leicas a lot. I started with a IIIc, which now needs servicing to be usable, but was at one point the camera I carried around all the time (as I now use a Fuji X100T). With a collapsible lens you can just stuff it in a jacket pocket. An earlier IIIa is still going strong with a very smooth mechanism - someone must have serviced it at some point in the last 84 years! I bought a IIIg quite recently for fun. It was a retro camera even when it was made, and now it's pure hipster cool and an occasional conversation starter (I just need the beard and tattoos to match).
 
Asha said:
Are you seated?
Bad news my friend, this tactic dunt work …..well it might for a short while 'til GAS takes complete control again.
Tbh, COVID 19 is a pussy compared to GAS :LOL::LOL:
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No it doesn't! :LOL: I had a Canon strap lying around, so I bought an EOS 1 and 50mm f1.4 lens, to go on it. :thinking:

AndrewFlannigan said:
This was my favoured outfit in 2006...

View attachment 272443
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Don't. I really, really, really must not get into buying Leicas. I put a bid in on an old IIIc the other day, then forgot to check back. It sold for even less than what I would have been happy to pay. But still several hundred quid. I just wish I'd bought one (or two...) a few years ago, when bodies were at their (relatively) lowest s/h value. It's madness now. As before; anything I buy, I want to be able to use. I'm not spending thousands on ornaments.


Retune said:
I bought a IIIg quite recently for fun. It was a retro camera even when it was made, and now it's pure hipster cool and an occasional conversation starter (I just need the beard and tattoos to match).
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This is what p***es me off. Bloody hipsters buying up old classic cams, just to wear as fashion accessories. Saw a lad with a lovely old Olympus; he literally had it round his neck as just that. He didn't even know how to put film in the thing. :banghead:


Retune said:
The best all-round Nikon I've used would be the F100, my main camera late in the film era (I imagine the F6 would be best of all). The thought that the plastic catch on the back door might one day fail is the only significant minus. I have an F5, which is a great piece of machinery, but once I put the 8 batteries in the sheer weight is off-putting, it's the size of a medium format camera, and its compensating ability to burn a whole roll of film in a few seconds isn't something I need in the digital age. I also have a rarely used F801, intended as a backup for the F100 - a nice camera with a great finder, but the AF isn't up to much. The F80 I picked up for £50, a baby F100, completes my bag of AF Nikons.
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I think the F100 will be the next film cam I buy. Bound to grab a bargain on Ebay at some point, I have had quite good luck recently, mostly. Ditto the comments re the F5; it's an amazing cam, the best ever imo (better than the F6 which is just a bit soulless). But by Christ it's heavy. But then, so are the F4s and EOS1HS. An F100 will be more like my old F801s (sadly now damaged :( ); not too big, but a decent viewfinder and very capable. The F100 is another cam, alongside the F4, I coveted when I was younger.
 
AZ6 said:
Don't. I really, really, really must not get into buying Leicas. I put a bid in on an old IIIc the other day, then forgot to check back. It sold for even less than what I would have been happy to pay. But still several hundred quid. I just wish I'd bought one (or two...) a few years ago, when bodies were at their (relatively) lowest s/h value. It's madness now. As before; anything I buy, I want to be able to use. I'm not spending thousands on ornaments.
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The Leica M prices are a bit mad now, and have easily doubled in the last few years, as have the prices on their lenses. The screwmount prices have been more static (I even see more reasonably priced IIIg bodies than I used to, which is one reason I bought one). If you ever decide to buy one of these sight unseem I'd suggest getting one that's been recently serviced, or comes with a proper 6 month guarantee that it's in full working order. A few dealers like Aperture and Peter Loy advertise cameras in this condition from time to time. Otherwise, a large proportion of these older Leicas, even at reputable dealers, have some issue or other (especially faint rangefinder images and sticky shutters). A service can fix most things, but that's another £150 or so.

AZ6 said:
This is what p***es me off. Bloody hipsters buying up old classic cams, just to wear as fashion accessories. Saw a lad with a lovely old Olympus; he literally had it round his neck as just that. He didn't even know how to put film in the thing. :banghead:
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There ought to be some sort of arrangement where they only buy the unserviceable cameras that have been dropped in a lake, or something.

AZ6 said:
I think the F100 will be the next film cam I buy. Bound to grab a bargain on Ebay at some point, I have had quite good luck recently, mostly. Ditto the comments re the F5; it's an amazing cam, the best ever imo (better than the F6 which is just a bit soulless). But by Christ it's heavy. But then, so are the F4s and EOS1HS. An F100 will be more like my old F801s (sadly now damaged :( ); not too big, but a decent viewfinder and very capable. The F100 is another cam, alongside the F4, I coveted when I was younger.
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Can't really go wrong. Watch out for sticky rubber and any damage to that back catch (and always close the back carefully). The back is no longer available as a spare, though the otherwise largely useless data back turns up sometimes. It still has decent compatibility with modern lenses, though AF-P and electronic aperture 'E' lenses are out. AF-D, AF-S, G and VR etc. are fine.
 
Retune said:
The Leica M prices are a bit mad now, and have easily doubled in the last few years, as have the prices on their lenses.
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I kept the M3 for four or five years and sold it for a 25% profit. It gave me some nice shots along the way...

Leica Hyde Park Coach And Police Motorcycle.jpg

The IIIc was less successful for me but it still provided some decent shots for all I only used the Jupiter 12 lens on it...

Holborn viaduct statue London Leica M3 32.jpg
 
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I have got three film cameras in my collection that I absolutely adore. I have no intentions of selling them or adding to them. Al were purchased as they were cameras I have always had a desire to own and were regarded by many as the pinicle of professional cameras in their day. Spanning the ages from the 1960's to the early 2000's

(1) Rolleiflex 3.5f with Zeiss lens;

Quick write up from the web:
http://www.chromacomaphoto.com/blog/2018/5/25/rolleiflex-35f-maybe-the-best-camera-ever


full


……..and an image from it:

Boat6 by Fraser White, on Flickr


(2) Nikon F3 - my personal favorite enough said on the web about it:

Nikon F3-235 by Fraser White, on Flickr

…….and an image from it:

Milking the tap - Film by Fraser White, on Flickr





(3) last but not least a Rolleiflex 6003 Professional.

Bit of info:
https://www.anatomyfilms.com/rollei-6008-6002-6003-6006/


s-l1600 (1) by Fraser White, on Flickr


and an image:

Match 1 by Fraser White, on Flickr
 
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Nice! Some examples of results using the kit! Great stuff. Love that shot of the match.

Fraser Euan White said:
(3) last but not least a Rolleiflex 6003 Professional.
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I once saw a studio photographer swearing at one of those. He couldn't get it to do something right. Just as well he didn't try using a Mamiya RB/RZ. :eek:
 
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That lens looks like it could do with a bit of a wipe with a cloth...
 
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