Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Notices

Go Back   Film and Darkroom User > Equipment > Cameras - small format

  ***   Click here for the FADU 2015/2014 Yearbooks   ***

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 10th May 2011, 06:02 PM
peterlg peterlg is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: living in Luxembourg
Posts: 507
Default the best 35 without batteries

If any of you - without thinking of the budget - should buy the best of the best 35mm camera purely mechanical, ie. no batteries, which one would you select?
I'm already biased towards a Leica III f or g, but not sure since never had it in my hands.
peter
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 10th May 2011, 06:17 PM
big paul big paul is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: benfleet essex
Posts: 2,284
Default

the camera I have owned the longest and still works as good as when new Is my much loved NIKON F2
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 10th May 2011, 06:25 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Jersey Channel Islands
Posts: 5,433
Default

Werra 3 complete with set of lenses, or perhaps a Retina IIC or IIIc complete with lenses, or Agfa Ambi Sillette, again with Lenses, I have and use the Werra, with lenses, and a Retina IIC, but still looking for the Shenider lenses for it,
Richard
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 10th May 2011, 06:40 PM
cliveh's Avatar
cliveh cliveh is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: West Coornwall
Posts: 937
Default

Peter, for over 20 years I have always used a Leica M2 and thought this to be the best of the Leica range. I sometimes also use a Leica II as I admire its simplicity in design and function. However, several years ago I bit the financial bullet and I bought a IIIg to try and understand why it is so highly priced. I was not disappointed, as it has to be the most compact Leica with a viewfinder as precisely marked out as any in the M series and is a tactile joy to handle and use. The only other camera which I would still like to try is a Reid and Sigrist, but my wife may not understand.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10th May 2011, 06:57 PM
B&W Neil's Avatar
B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: West Cornwall
Posts: 4,264
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by peterlg View Post
If any of you - without thinking of the budget - should buy the best of the best 35mm camera purely mechanical, ie. no batteries, which one would you select?
I'm already biased towards a Leica III f or g, but not sure since never had it in my hands.
peter
Peter,

Best for what ?? Travel, street work, sports, landscape, macro work, sticking in your pocket when you don't want to carry a bag etc, etc.

Neil.
__________________
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Aristotle

Neil Souch

Last edited by B&W Neil; 10th May 2011 at 07:00 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11th May 2011, 08:00 AM
Phil's Avatar
Phil Phil is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Tayside
Posts: 659
Default

Neil has a point - different horses for different courses!
I have been looking for a camera that didn't wear a rut in my shoulder as my Nikon F2 does (it has also developed a shutter fault and the LEDs in the Photomic head are playing up), so I went through the Leica lust and longing thing recently, and could I have afforded it would have gone for either an M4-P or a IIIf. But I couldn't even sniff at the prices . . . so, in the end, I ended up with a Pentax MX with a SMC-M 50mm 1.4. It's all mechanical, incredibly small (smaller than a Canon P rangefinder!) and very light with a solid feel to it . . it does take batteries though . . .for the light meter!
Phil
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11th May 2011, 09:14 AM
DaveP DaveP is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 990
Default

Olympus Trip? Not a bad camera for a fiver.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11th May 2011, 05:09 PM
peterlg peterlg is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: living in Luxembourg
Posts: 507
Default

thanks for your replies, and - yes, Neil has a point; we all have different habits and interests, and what suits one does not necessarily suit the other.
I did not have any specific use in mind and this probably because I'm of the amateurish photographer type who believes the good camera can do all sorts of photos - if the photographer is able. So what I'm looking for is the general purpose, all-round camera I can stick in my pocket (!) knowing that I'll never be let down by a tired battery.
Peter
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11th May 2011, 05:20 PM
cesare cesare is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Brighton
Posts: 350
Default

Peter,

I'd go with a Pentax MX. A sensible SLR, very small and light, and the best viewfinder i've ever seen on a 35mm camera (honest, better than my canon 1d series dslrs which are themselves very good). Very easy to manually focus. Yes, it does take a battery, but the battery is only used for the light meter, and the camera works perfectly well without. The meter is accurate though, and gives a centre weighted pattern.

The shutter is fabric, so like the leicas it isn't going to suffer damage over time from fingers. You get the speed and aperture visible through the viewfinder, and you even get DOF preview (by flicking the timer control the other way, i owned one for years without knowing this). The pentax lenses for this camera are excellent. The 50/1.7 is cheap and lovely. There are nice wider lenses, a 28/3.5 and 35/2 which i've owned. I believe the 85/2 was excellent too, but i've never owned one.

Downside? The max speed is 1/1000th which may mean you need ND filters depending on how you shoot. The other downside is you'll realise that an all metal bodied 1970s camera is better than most other cameras made since and wonder what happened in the last 40 years.

If you want more modern funkier features, and a dependence on a battery, the me super is, well, super as well. For me though the MX was the best and i've still got mine (with 50/1.7)

Cesare
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11th May 2011, 06:30 PM
Steve O's Avatar
Steve O Steve O is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Kelsall, Cheshire
Posts: 379
Default

Another suggestion in the 'battery for lightmeter only' category is the Olympus RC, small but sturdy with a superb lens and excellent handling.

Steve

PS - fits in a big pocket too
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
35mm, camera, choise, mechanical
Support our Sponsors, they keep FADU free:   AG Photographic   The Imaging Warehouse   Process Supplies   RH Designs   Second-hand Darkroom Supplies  

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Camera Batteries - Let that be a lesson for me! Mike O'Pray Cameras - small format 20 9th November 2010 08:13 AM
Bronica SQA/AI Batteries j8kkb Cameras - medium format 9 3rd March 2010 04:50 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:14 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.