What’s your favourite film camera?

[Tom Axford]

Since porn is officially allowed here is my darling Fuji GW680III



captured with X-E3 plus Porst color reflex 1.2/50 @ 1.2

Those medium-format fixed-lens Fujis were great cameras. And fully mechanical, no battery to go flat. Since we are into porn, here is some hard core:




GSW690 II

 

[jnd]

As a guy who started to investigate the film camera portfolio only some 5 years ago I found several nice cameras but it's hard to pick one favorite. It depends on occassion and style of use.

The ultimate big chunk of gear satisfaction has to be Pentax 6x7. Funnily big, quite affordable for medium format, nice selection of lenses including fast ones, satisfying "kerplonk" sound of the massive shutter + mirror.

For small camera with large and bright viewfinder that is joy to use I choose Pentax ME Super. Maybe LX would be the ultimate one but that commands higher budget so I haven't got it yet. It's available for cheap, has great selection of compact lenses with metal body (K and M series), has accurate metal electronic controlled shutter up to 1/2000, easy to see LED meter in viewfinder. I don't like cloth shutters because they become inaccurate with age and fastest speeds suffer greatly (going too slow which already limits their slow top speed) to the point of overlapping and ruining frames.

For older pioneer type cameras I would choose some Konica F series like FP, FM, or FS, besides the original and too rare F. They represent the highly regarded Japanese workmanship of that time. They are simple but come with the ancestor of all mudern shutters, the Copal Square. I have bought several and they all seem reliable after all those years, being made in 60s, including the 1/1000. They can be slow on 1/4 or longer but that doesn't affect my shooting that much and when on tripod B works every time anyway.

Maybe you noticed lack of rangefinders, so I will mention the honorable contenders: refreshingly simple Fuji GW690 III and it's various brothers, and the ultimate medium format film perfomer of all time, the Mamiya 7 II. It's great but to use it to the fullest extent the lenses offer, you need to have each lens adjusted to match the rangefinder in your body and I don't think many service centers can do that nowadays. And then it can still creep a little away over time. But that 43mm lens is pretty fun to use I have to admit

 

[1cb]

My Favorites are my Canon AE1P, Mamiya RB67 ProS, Canon EOS 630.

With my eyes not as good anymore, I use the EOS630 more and more. I'm very happy with the results.

 

[Just Tim 4]

It has to be a beaten up Nikon F2, I never felt the need to replace or upgrade it until I got the D600. Unfortunately the only things it beats it on are longevity (it still works) and nostalgia (I don't feel for digital cameras)...





It did take a nice photo:









Although a complete PITA to use I still don't think digital can match 5"x 4" for B&W and the Linhof is the one I'm sticking with:





I love the images it makes more than the camera though... ;-)











--

https://timtuckerphoto.smugmug.com/Scotland-1/

 

[dmanthree]

What is your favourite, or what was your favourite? If you accept the latter, my favourite was a Mamiya 7 II, a medium format (6x7cm nominally) rangefinder, which was very satisfying to use and could produce stunningly good images.

Unfortunately, I used it for less than ten years before it was stolen and I moved to purely digital photography. Probably a blessing in disguise as the insurance money was fully used to get digital replacements, which I have never regretted (although it would be nice to still have the Mamiya as well).

Had one, and the only complaint was that the rangefinder needed calibration. More often than I'd care to admit.

 

[dmanthree]

Still have it, still working perfectly.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

It has to be a beaten up Nikon F2, I never felt the need to replace or upgrade it until I got the D600. Unfortunately the only things it beats it on are longevity (it still works) and nostalgia (I don't feel for digital cameras)...



It did take a nice photo:





Although a complete PITA to use I still don't think digital can match 5"x 4" for B&W and the Linhof is the one I'm sticking with:



I love the images it makes more than the camera though... ;-)

The F2 series was the pinnacle of the bunch. I still have my F2as in great condition (I had to replace the foam seals one time). It doesn't get a great deal of use since I use mostly shoot 6x7 for handheld and 4x5 for view, but the F2as clearly has been near and dear to me since 1977 when I bought it in my freshman college year as a photography major.

MFL

 

[dmanthree]

ON2 was an excellent camera! Loved the metering pattern on the shutter curtain.

 

[Winterfrost]

Contax RTS (II), Yashica FR-1, Minolta XD7, for casual XG9, all black of course. ;-)


Minolta XG9, Yashica FR1.

Good Light.

--
"The Best Camera is the One That's with You" ~ Chase Jarvis

 

[pamelamotown]

I was an owner of many Leica cameras, but my favourite - next to the IIIG was the M4-P I bought a well used, but not neglected copy, had it overhauled by Leitz (as it was then) in Luton, and it superb. Intuitive to use, and fabulous results with the 35mm f2 Summicron.

Unfortunately, a Leica faith jolting experience with a Digilux 2 put me off the marque forever. (After all, you don't buy a Rolls Royce, and then expect having to wait by the side of the road for a mechanic , when it breaks down.) But that's another story.

Nontheless, I have fond memories, and the pics. to show for it.

 

[pamelamotown]

Leading on from my earlier comment, my absolute favourite camera was a Zeiss Contax 11a (c1954). After overhaul, it performed beautifully especially with those gorgeous Zeiss lenses.

It had it's foibles, but they were easily accommodated. Small, and not overly heavy, for me it was the perfect companion to hiking and cycling, which, in those days, was my main photo excursion.

Sadly I was temped away by the Leica Lure. I genuinely regret letting it go. Sometimes, I sit at home remembering how much pleasure I got from just holding that camera, and being inspired to leave the house on a photo wander,

Those were the days.

Now I'm using a Fuji X-Pro2, and am as happy as Larry.

 

[Alan_W1]

Probably was my old Pentax LX, although I quickly teamed it up {back then} with the Pentax ME Super....for its higher sync speed.

 

[User1654506667]

I keep a pair of Minolta Maxxum 7's in my bag. One loaded with black and white negative and one loaded with color slide film. When the bug to shoot medium format hits, I haul out my Mamiya C220.

 

[teraflame]

Canonet QL17, it's beautiful, fun to use, and takes great photos.

 

[Smaug01]

I guess I'd say my Nikon F3HP, which I used from 1980 to about 2004 when I finally broke down and purchased a Nikon D70s, and I've had digital ever since then. I traveled a lot and most always shot slide film. I've recently been digitizing my hundreds of slides from this camera, and I have found that I really like the look of photos done on film. I still have the F3HP as well as a slightly earlier F3, and both still work should I decide to use them again.

My first film camera was a 1966 Yashica Electro 35, which was actually quite an interesting camera for its time. It had a lovely but fixed 46mm lens, you would set your desired aperture but the camera controlled the shutter speed....hence the Electro in the name. When I started using it in about 1970, the light meter was already broken (apparently a common problem with this camera), so everything I shot was without a meter. When photos turned out right, they were quite nice. I bumbled along with the Yashica until I got the F3 in 1980.

I can't remember what I did with the Yashica, but I recently bought a minty looking one on ebay for a very low price, just for the nostalgia of it. It looks unbelievably pristine, like it had never been used. Wouldn't you know it, the meter doesn't work! I actually got it to work early on when I was playing around with it, but then after that it never lit up and worked again.

I have my grandpa's Electro 35 GS from 1966 as well!

The issue with them is what they call the "Pad of Death". It's a foam pad against which something rests when it is cocked. That pad wears out over time, sometimes falls off altogether. Google it, it is well-documented and illustrated. Camerasmiths know how to fix it, and there are even step-by-step instructions, if you want to give it a go yourself. One method involves ripping off the front leatherette and removing the lens. Another can be done just by removing either the top or bottom plate, but it's finnicky to get in an do what is needed.

Without this working properly, you only really can count on 1/500s and Sunny 16. Maybe the 1/30 flash setting works as well?

 

[davidevans1]

What is your favourite, or what was your favourite? If you accept the latter, my favourite was a Mamiya 7 II, a medium format (6x7cm nominally) rangefinder, which was very satisfying to use and could produce stunningly good images.

Unfortunately, I used it for less than ten years before it was stolen and I moved to purely digital photography. Probably a blessing in disguise as the insurance money was fully used to get digital replacements, which I have never regretted (although it would be nice to still have the Mamiya as well).

Mamiya 7ii was my favourite too.

 

[joelbolden]

Let's see.....when I go to shoot film do I take the: Minolta SRT201, Minolta X-370, Minolta Himatic 11, Minolta XD-11, Minolta Maxuum 7, Minolta Maxuum 9; or maybe a Pentax MX or Pentax PZ-1P? Usually, I'll take one Manual Focus and one AF. They're all great cameras.

 

[Smaug01]

Since porn is officially allowed here is my darling Fuji GW680III



captured with X-E3 plus Porst color reflex 1.2/50 @ 1.2

Those medium-format fixed-lens Fujis were great cameras. And fully mechanical, no battery to go flat. Since we are into porn, here is some hard core:


GSW690 II

I find it interesting that the Fuji film cameras are branded 'Fuji', while their digital ones are branded 'Fujifilm.'

I always thought 'Fuji' sounded a lot more elegant, and I especially like that old logo, which is gone now, replaced just by the super-boring FUJIFILM stamped in the fake prism housing...

--
-Jeremy
*********
"Rudeness is the weak person's imitation of strength."

 

[Miguel Mealha]

The Leica M6.

 

[Geoffrey Rivett]

Having worked my way, over 40 years, through Leicas, Nikons, Pentaxes, Rolleiflexes and heaven alone knows what else, I always return to my faithful M3, ckiseky followed by a Nikon F2 and a Retina IIIC.

Much depends on the type of photo one wishes to take, and I like portraits of people in their living context, and urban street photography, printing on my Valloy 2 enlarger.

It is always fun to try a new camera, and eBay is full of temptations, and I am currently enjoying a screw thread Leica IIIf.

They are all only tools, but rather sensuous ones.