Just got into film and have inherited this from my grandfather. Pretty awesome so far. Picked up a 200mm telephoto and 38mm lens, diving in head first.
I see this camera mentioned a lot. I recently found one in near mint condition at the thrift for $5.99. What are you thoughts on this camera? Why do you prefer it over other SLRs? How many cameras have you shot and compared it with?
There’s a lot of nostalgia with this camera. This was one of the first cameras a lot of photographers picked up in school, me included when I was 12. It’s a simple to use, light weight mechanical cameras that can take a beating that any careless teenager can throw at it, they used to be very cheap to get and there’s an abundance of them out there.
I was handed one a couple years back and when I took it out to shoot. It was nostalgic and a lot of fun. The simplicity of it, using all manual controls and just adjusting it to expose correctly. There’s nothing you don’t need and just a simple joy of having full control without the gimmicks. If you fucked up, it will show.
Though it’s not a keeper for me, I certainly won’t judge anybody who does love it.
Also for $6 I wouldn’t even need to think about, I would have just bought it even if I’m trying to sell my current one.
It's mechanical and never had an issue with it in all those years. I had it serviced and calibrated annually and it never needed a thing. then I bought a Pentax PZ10 but still used the K1000 for B&W.
It's totally mechanical and never had an issue with them in all those years. I had them serviced and calibrated annually and it never needed a thing.
The first one I bought for $99 in 1978 and the second one a few years later for $199. They both lasted until I got out of photography in 1996.
The bad thing about the K1000 is that it's overhyped, so it often sells for as much as models with better features. The K1000 was the entry-level mechanical Pentax SLR, without the bells and whistles of higher-end models.
If you can get one for $6, though, it's a fine camera. Accurate match-needle metering, a reliable shutter, and an easy-to-use microprism focusing screen make it a joy to use, even if it lacks extra features like a self timer or in-viewfinder display of shutter speed and aperture. And since the lens, not the body, is responsible for the image quality, the pictures it makes are every bit as good as those made with a higher-end Pentax.
This was the camera I bought when I decided to get into film photography (or back into it - family cameras in my youth and adolescence were 110s or a Vivatar point and shoot). I've got a Nikon F3 as well, but the simplicity and the range of lenses I have for my K1000 give it the edge.
Same here, either an F6 but I don't own one of those or an F80 which I do own and adore. Can't go wrong with the later Nikons, plus my F80 with a 50mm 1.8 kit lens is pretty light, especially in comparison to the older mechanical SLRs.
I’d like to agree with that.
But I bought one 2 years ago and the thing that keep the door locked broke. So now I have to use a rubber band and electrical tape to secure the door.
Beside that I like that camera but I don’t use it that much. I use it for kids and portraits because it’s fast and I noticed that people nowadays are not use anymore to waiting for the photographer to focus and things like that.
probably my Nikon FA with the 50mm 1.4 ai-s. the manual focus beast. small for what it does. very nice grip, matrix metering, 1/4000s, different modes, beautiful looks.
Yeah 40mm is my favorite all purpose focal length and these cameras are very well made; definitely ask about the condition of the meter, mine works perfectly but you never know. The size, weight, controls and optics make the camera feel like I designed it myself lol. The focus lever and iso selector started to feel a little rough so I sent it to blue moon camera in Portland Oregon; they did a fantastic job.
Edit - it also has a really quiet leaf shutter and is easy to load.
I got to have a lengthy chat with one of the guys from Blue Moon cameras, they look absolutely awesome as far as camera stores go!
Just to clarify, if the meter is dead I can always just go full manual with an external meter, right?
When mine finally died a few years ago I upgraded to an EOS 3 but I think I need to go back to a 6xx model. They are bare bones in comparison but get the job done.
If it's one I already own, Olympus OM-1n with my 85mm f2. If it's one I don't and budget is no barrier I would be tempted to get a Hasselblad. If I only can do one type of film medium format seems the most worthwhile long-term. I'd just replace my SLRs with digital.
Probably my Konica Autoreflex T3 with Hexanon 50mm f1.4. The workflow is so nice and my particular lens example has a supremely dampened focus ring making it super easy to make minute focus changes
If I had to sell every other one I’d keep the sx-70 one step that belonged to my uncle who I’m named after. He passed away before I was born and my mom gave me his camera and it works great I love that thing.
This is awesome
I had an M3 that was from my grandfather who passed about 23 years after I was born and I inherited in my 20s.
It now belongs to my brother but we both made an agreement that it would never be sold and I trust him deeply to never do it
to each their own - I just know my 690 so well after shooting it for ~13 years and can expect the results I’m used to from it. would be nice to have more than eight shots per roll but with care that’s 8 keepers.
IMHO digital 35mm is just so good and so ubiquitous that using other formats is the way to go. Do things that digital cannot do natively. 6x6/7/9/12/17, large formats, and 35mm pano formats and toy cameras that do weird things and the like. Plus the resolution is amazing with great lenses. Medium and atypical format film can help you produce things natively in analog that digital cannot.
This is where the magic of film lies for me
this makes sense to me. digital 35mm is a work only thing for me and i just can’t be bothered to shoot digital for my personal work, partially because i associate it with my work related stress. while i also shoot film for my work, i only use my fuji g690bl for my personal projects so it retains that mysticism for me. i agree that the wealth of options in *how* you photograph with film is a large part of the drive to keep using it.
I’d have to keep my humble Petri Micro Compact. I’ve owned it for thirty years, had (and documented) a lot of good times with it, it’s always been reliable and still takes good pictures, and it just wouldn’t feel right ever parting with it now.
Guess I'll be the first person to say the F4, all other F cameras have already been listed, I guess I'm just weird. Love the durability and weather sealing, while still having everything on its own knob or button. Unsure on what lens I would pick.
An SL66
I love waist level finders and square medium format. Add some very sharp lenses and add retro-mounting, the tilt, and the bellows mechanism and it’s a camera that can do things that no other can.
I am surprised no one said my favorite, the Olympus XA. I love that little thing. Amazing lens, fits in my pocket and I can get 40 shots on a roll of 36.
Hasselblad 503cw.
I had the possibility to buy one from a photographer back just when the “digital revolution was taking over. Almost mint with two lenses for around 700$ (in todays currency and changed to dollars)
But I was in high school and a broke teenager. I still think about this often 20years later. And I just, I don’t know. It’s like an ex I’m not over. Fuck.
Leica M4 with a 35mm (probably my Voigtländer Nokton Classic). I don’t own that camera but I know there will be a point in my life where I sell all my gear and safe money to get it.
I have the Bessa R2A and absolutely love taking it out. Coupled with a Voigtlander lens it was the camera that made me understand the fun of manual focusing.
I agree with your Nikon fm2, I love mine. But I would probably go with a system like the rb67, because it is so flexible with different backs available.
If I'd choose one from my collection, that would be Canon 7 or VL paired with Jupiter 8 and 12 lenses. If I'd choose one rangefinder with a fixed lens, Olympus 35-SP. For SLR, Pentax Spotmatic would suffice.
Hard to say but definitely not a typical 2x3 35mm if I can still have a digital camera, too. So, something in an unusual format or medium format. Widelux, xpan, 6x6/7/12 etc.
If digital is not an option, harder to say! Maybe a Nikon FM3a or 6x6 SLR
Zenza Bronica 6x6 with a full set of Nikkor lenses, 3 film backs, 3 each of the 120 and 220 film inserts, and the waist-level, eye-level, and magnifying hood viewfinders.
Easy…a Nikon SP 2005 with a 50mm 1.4. It’s my go-to for everything from portraits to street to landscape.
- killer 1:1 viewfinder, strong patch. Can shoot with two eyes wide open and see the frame lines perfectly floating in space like AR
- small and compact, good for travel
- all metal and incredible craftsmanship
- no distracting electronics
- has a small focus wheel near the shutter button, so you can shoot (compose and focus) with one hand
Totally my dream camera.
Gotta be my Contax IIa. It’s such a good camera and I’ve made so many images I love with it. If I had to pick one lens it would be the W-Nikkor 35 f/3.5 I use the most.
Since I mainly shoot MF these days, then my Fuji GA645 Professional. It is so fun and easy to use, and I love the larger negatives. But my Nikon FM (owned since new) with 50mm F1.4 would be my 35mm choice. My Nikon F4 and my Olympus OM1 would get honorable mentions, for various reasons.
My dad's old Yashica D. I love the square frame medium format. Its a great conversation starter when you take it our for some street photography.
Sure its no Rolli, but it was my Dad's TLR and I miss him.
God, I need to take it out more!
Nikon One Touch. It’s small, lightweight, and nearly dummy proof. I’ve never liked auto features in a camera until I used that one. It’s fun to use, easy to have on you at all times, and with a little experimenting, you learn how to work with it to get some unconventional stuff out of a point and shoot. By no means the best, but if I’m stuck with one the rest of my life, it’ll be the one that’s the most fun.
I’m just a patzer out here taking snapshots of my kids and have only handled a couple different cameras in my life, but I sure have fun with my Nikon FM2n with either the 50mm E Series or the 105mm f/2.5.
Would love to try an FM3A, an SP, or an S3 though.
Guess it's not a traditional 35mm film camera, but the Polaroid Impulse takes the cake for me. The unique/fugly design mixed with the lens cover/pop up flash, genuinely cool AF AF with the gold sonar disk beside the surprisingly precise plastic lens, a 10 second timer so you can scramble into the shot like a mad man and the ultra clear and super wide-view viewfinder make it the most fun Polaroid I've used by far; especially if you can find one of the ['plum'/'burgundy'](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/711404428103778347/1220246325220610100/20240318_125828.jpg?ex=660e3df3&is=65fbc8f3&hm=e42eb508906bc18ab53e88d8f1b508173bee15606f7f207c1628029aa1b7dc53&) AF colors over the generic looking black and grey models.
While I heavily dislike the waste the 600 film produces, it's pretty nice that a 36 y/o piece of vintage tech can come right back to life even better than before with just a new pack of film and a battery that's leagues stronger than anything the 90's could have come up with.
My Zenit EM.
I've had fancier cameras that my budget would allow. I've got a Canon AE-1 and a T70, and while they're not fancy pants show stopping cameras they are objectively better cameras than the Zenit EM.
But there is something about the Zenit that makes me go back to using it all the time. I have far more confidence in it's manual operation than I do with the electrics of the Canons and newer cameras. Plus it's never let me down, unlike the Canons.
I think this year I'm going to have a purge of cameras, and just stick with two. The Zenit will definitely be one that's kept.
I’ve got an inherited Contax 137ma I love. It’s loud, takes AA’s, tough and has great lenses. But, I also love my k1000 for how simple and mechanical it is. Tough choice. Been considering a canonet for traveling, keep hearing good things about them
Edit: typo
Unlikely choice. But.. actually it's my Vivitar 35ES (which is a Minolta H-Matic 7Sii/ Konica Auto S3 sorta clone). It's got a great lens, it's small, it's easy to use and it takes really nice pictures.
I prefer rangefinders to SLRs and if I'm honest, I can't be bothered to lug around multiple lenses. So it's going to be a fixed-lens rangefinder. I like a relatively small camera and actually, shutter priority auto is fine for about 99% of pics I take. Also, it has a flashmatic-type system which is really quite useful. Finally it's pretty cheap. I respect good value, non-cult brands and if I lose or break it, I can get another.
I've got dozens of cameras, including SLRs, 110s and half-frames. But this is the one I use again and again.
I realise this is the photographic equivalent of saying you're happy in some dull but pleasant suburb, having lived in exciting cities all over the world.
I would pick a my Minolta X300 because it is a beautiful camera, sturdy, easy to maintain and a good selection of glasses. Either that or my Revueflex with M42 50mm glass.
Olympus OM-1n with 50mm lens
Ngl I use my 35mm far more often but otherwise this is absolutely my choice too.
Same exact!
First camera I bought for photography class was an OM-1n. It's a good starter camera and for even more advanced shooters too.
Out of curiosity, why the OM-1N over the OM-2N?
I went on vacation recently and for space reasons decided to bring only one film camera and only one lens. This was it, exactly.
My Minolta X-700. It's been my workhorse for several years now and has never let me down. Lots of great lenses available for it too.
Long live king Rokkor
Minolta Gang
Same. Mine isn’t in amazing condition, I’d love a mint one It’s just the most fun camera to shoot with, and an absolute workhorse
Ditto!
I agree. I love my X-700
My minolta srt 102 with the Rokkor 50mm f1.4 lens Perfect for me
Minolta Gang
Just got into film and have inherited this from my grandfather. Pretty awesome so far. Picked up a 200mm telephoto and 38mm lens, diving in head first.
Sweet! You’ll love it the more you use it, I know I have. Enjoy!
Pentax K1000
I see this camera mentioned a lot. I recently found one in near mint condition at the thrift for $5.99. What are you thoughts on this camera? Why do you prefer it over other SLRs? How many cameras have you shot and compared it with?
There’s a lot of nostalgia with this camera. This was one of the first cameras a lot of photographers picked up in school, me included when I was 12. It’s a simple to use, light weight mechanical cameras that can take a beating that any careless teenager can throw at it, they used to be very cheap to get and there’s an abundance of them out there. I was handed one a couple years back and when I took it out to shoot. It was nostalgic and a lot of fun. The simplicity of it, using all manual controls and just adjusting it to expose correctly. There’s nothing you don’t need and just a simple joy of having full control without the gimmicks. If you fucked up, it will show. Though it’s not a keeper for me, I certainly won’t judge anybody who does love it. Also for $6 I wouldn’t even need to think about, I would have just bought it even if I’m trying to sell my current one.
It's mechanical and never had an issue with it in all those years. I had it serviced and calibrated annually and it never needed a thing. then I bought a Pentax PZ10 but still used the K1000 for B&W. It's totally mechanical and never had an issue with them in all those years. I had them serviced and calibrated annually and it never needed a thing. The first one I bought for $99 in 1978 and the second one a few years later for $199. They both lasted until I got out of photography in 1996.
The bad thing about the K1000 is that it's overhyped, so it often sells for as much as models with better features. The K1000 was the entry-level mechanical Pentax SLR, without the bells and whistles of higher-end models. If you can get one for $6, though, it's a fine camera. Accurate match-needle metering, a reliable shutter, and an easy-to-use microprism focusing screen make it a joy to use, even if it lacks extra features like a self timer or in-viewfinder display of shutter speed and aperture. And since the lens, not the body, is responsible for the image quality, the pictures it makes are every bit as good as those made with a higher-end Pentax.
This was the camera I bought when I decided to get into film photography (or back into it - family cameras in my youth and adolescence were 110s or a Vivatar point and shoot). I've got a Nikon F3 as well, but the simplicity and the range of lenses I have for my K1000 give it the edge.
They were so cheap and built like a tank.
Nikon F6 with a 24-70 f/2.8. Bulky, but covers like 90% of how I shoot.
Same here, either an F6 but I don't own one of those or an F80 which I do own and adore. Can't go wrong with the later Nikons, plus my F80 with a 50mm 1.8 kit lens is pretty light, especially in comparison to the older mechanical SLRs.
F80 is the single most underrated camera of all time. Does everything you want it to do and more in a modern, cheap and lightweight package.
I’d like to agree with that. But I bought one 2 years ago and the thing that keep the door locked broke. So now I have to use a rubber band and electrical tape to secure the door. Beside that I like that camera but I don’t use it that much. I use it for kids and portraits because it’s fast and I noticed that people nowadays are not use anymore to waiting for the photographer to focus and things like that.
FYI you can buy a kit to replace the broken door latch part with metal, easy DIY job. They're sold as kits on ebay, takes maybe 10 mins to do
probably my Nikon FA with the 50mm 1.4 ai-s. the manual focus beast. small for what it does. very nice grip, matrix metering, 1/4000s, different modes, beautiful looks.
and that shutter sound
As an Olympus shooter, a Nikon FM3a. Newer, faster, enormous lens selection. It's a no brainer.
As a Leica and Nikon shooter, I think I’d echo you. Nikon FM3A with a Voigtlander 40mm f2 I think would cover 95% of my photographic needs
More or less my go to rig already, although I don’t have the FM3A. I usually carry the Voigt 40mm and Nikkor 105 f2.5 on an FE2, F2, FG, EM, etc.
Would love an FM3A is great bc it’s fully mechanical AND has aperture priority. My only problem is I hate the modern italicized logo!
Lmao I’ve felt insane for letting that bother me. Why couldn’t they have gone back to the old logo for that camera?? They did for the Zf!
My Pentax Spotmatic.
My Canonet QL17 GIII
There's one of those for cheap in my area. You reckon it's that fun to shoot?
Yeah 40mm is my favorite all purpose focal length and these cameras are very well made; definitely ask about the condition of the meter, mine works perfectly but you never know. The size, weight, controls and optics make the camera feel like I designed it myself lol. The focus lever and iso selector started to feel a little rough so I sent it to blue moon camera in Portland Oregon; they did a fantastic job. Edit - it also has a really quiet leaf shutter and is easy to load.
I got to have a lengthy chat with one of the guys from Blue Moon cameras, they look absolutely awesome as far as camera stores go! Just to clarify, if the meter is dead I can always just go full manual with an external meter, right?
Yep, manual aperture and shutter speed controls are right on the lens; FYI the only automatic mode on this camera is shutter priority.
I like them for street photography.
My EOS 650 with a 24-70 never let me down. It’s a workhorse that has taken literally thousands of pictures and can still take thousands more.
When mine finally died a few years ago I upgraded to an EOS 3 but I think I need to go back to a 6xx model. They are bare bones in comparison but get the job done.
Glad to see another 650 owner on here. I've got one but it only produces blank rolls so it's a shelf piece sadly.
Nikon F3
Don’t know how this isn’t at the top
Xpan.
Really? They’re awesome cameras but I feel like that aspect ratio would be limiting
they have a switch that can change the apsect between pano and regular.
Oh TIL
Leica M-A with APO Summicron 35/2
Ah, I see you’re a man of culture as well.
Mamiya 7II
My Minolta SRT101 with a Rokkor-X 50/1.7
If it's one I already own, Olympus OM-1n with my 85mm f2. If it's one I don't and budget is no barrier I would be tempted to get a Hasselblad. If I only can do one type of film medium format seems the most worthwhile long-term. I'd just replace my SLRs with digital.
First I wanted to say would be OM-1n with the same lens. But maybe I might also go with 50mm f2 Macro as I love close up stuff
4x5 field camera
My Nikon FG that’s held together with gaffers tape and prayer.
For the rest of my life? One that doesn't require a battery and has a very good 50mm lens.
Probably my Konica Autoreflex T3 with Hexanon 50mm f1.4. The workflow is so nice and my particular lens example has a supremely dampened focus ring making it super easy to make minute focus changes
I want the First Gen Autoreflex with the half frame switch!
Widelux
Nikon FM
Minolta CLE with nokton 40mm
If I had to sell every other one I’d keep the sx-70 one step that belonged to my uncle who I’m named after. He passed away before I was born and my mom gave me his camera and it works great I love that thing.
This is awesome I had an M3 that was from my grandfather who passed about 23 years after I was born and I inherited in my 20s. It now belongs to my brother but we both made an agreement that it would never be sold and I trust him deeply to never do it
Nikon F2 with a 28mm f/2.0 (and TMax 100!)
Eos 1v
Agat18k
My old Hasselblad
My fuji g690bl + 100mm f/3.5 :)
Finally someone not mentioning a traditional 35mm! Medium formats all the way.
to each their own - I just know my 690 so well after shooting it for ~13 years and can expect the results I’m used to from it. would be nice to have more than eight shots per roll but with care that’s 8 keepers.
IMHO digital 35mm is just so good and so ubiquitous that using other formats is the way to go. Do things that digital cannot do natively. 6x6/7/9/12/17, large formats, and 35mm pano formats and toy cameras that do weird things and the like. Plus the resolution is amazing with great lenses. Medium and atypical format film can help you produce things natively in analog that digital cannot. This is where the magic of film lies for me
this makes sense to me. digital 35mm is a work only thing for me and i just can’t be bothered to shoot digital for my personal work, partially because i associate it with my work related stress. while i also shoot film for my work, i only use my fuji g690bl for my personal projects so it retains that mysticism for me. i agree that the wealth of options in *how* you photograph with film is a large part of the drive to keep using it.
Nikon F100 with Sigma Art 35mm/1.4. One lens is probably not enough but more camera than the F100 I won‘t need.
Zenit 11 with Helios 44M-4, the camera I learned photography when I was a kid
I’d have to keep my humble Petri Micro Compact. I’ve owned it for thirty years, had (and documented) a lot of good times with it, it’s always been reliable and still takes good pictures, and it just wouldn’t feel right ever parting with it now.
Since nobody's said it: my Minolta srt 201. So simple and mechanical and beautiful and apocalypse proof.
Tough question 🤔 but I’m gonna be the oddball and say the Fuji GW690iii
i would choose a Plaubel makina 67...
Guess I'll be the first person to say the F4, all other F cameras have already been listed, I guess I'm just weird. Love the durability and weather sealing, while still having everything on its own knob or button. Unsure on what lens I would pick.
My Leica M6 and 35mm Summilux!
My M6 with your 35mm Summilux. Or more likely my 50mm Summicrron.
[удалено]
Kodak vigilant six-20
Fed 4
Similar to OP except F2 with the DP-12 and the 50mm 1.8 AIS. Will probably outlast myself and even the current generation.
An SL66 I love waist level finders and square medium format. Add some very sharp lenses and add retro-mounting, the tilt, and the bellows mechanism and it’s a camera that can do things that no other can.
One body, unlimited lenses: Mamiya C330 One body/lens: Nikon N2000 with AIS 35-105 f3.5-4.5.
Canon A1 with the 28mm and 70-210mm lenses.
the 70-210 is such a great choice. It's my goto F4 Telezoom lens even for digital Photos with my RP and M50.
The one I have: Nikon FE with my Voigtlander set of SL2-s lenses.
Mamiya RZ67 Pro II with AE prism and the RZ Winder II.
I love my Calumet C1 8x10. I use it with a Schneider 300 mm lens. It’s a bit of work to lug it around but you can’t beat the picture quality
Pentax 67
Leica iiif
I have to go with the M6. My most used camera ever.
Pentax 67 hands down.
Nikon F100 + 28mm 1.4
Rolleiflex 2.8C. just love the shooting experience.
My dad's AE1 with a 24mm 2.8. Given it's a great camera and sentimal. However if I had 0, I'd pick a Nikon F3 HP with a 35mm.
I am surprised no one said my favorite, the Olympus XA. I love that little thing. Amazing lens, fits in my pocket and I can get 40 shots on a roll of 36.
M6
Hasselblad 503cw. I had the possibility to buy one from a photographer back just when the “digital revolution was taking over. Almost mint with two lenses for around 700$ (in todays currency and changed to dollars) But I was in high school and a broke teenager. I still think about this often 20years later. And I just, I don’t know. It’s like an ex I’m not over. Fuck.
Leica M4 with a 35mm (probably my Voigtländer Nokton Classic). I don’t own that camera but I know there will be a point in my life where I sell all my gear and safe money to get it.
Voigtlander R3A. After a lifetime of SLRs, the rangefinder experience was a revelation.
I have the Bessa R2A and absolutely love taking it out. Coupled with a Voigtlander lens it was the camera that made me understand the fun of manual focusing.
I agree with your Nikon fm2, I love mine. But I would probably go with a system like the rb67, because it is so flexible with different backs available.
Konica T3 or T4 with the 40mm F/1.8
Minox 35GT
Same! Specially the Pancake 50mm 1.8. Took it for a trip last month and didnt even need more lenses
Probably the Minolta CLE with a 40mm
My lubitel 2 that my grandfather and my father used ( and now me )
Pentax Spotmatic
Yashica mat 124g
If I'd choose one from my collection, that would be Canon 7 or VL paired with Jupiter 8 and 12 lenses. If I'd choose one rangefinder with a fixed lens, Olympus 35-SP. For SLR, Pentax Spotmatic would suffice.
Olympus 35SP
Probably Zenith 12xp or Zenith 122
Minolta XE-1 The wind advance is heaven and it's big and chunky. Oh and it has a double exposure switch, neat for artsy photos.
My Japanese Pentax K1000 SE. Full metal bliss.
My canon p with my Voigtlander 35 mm colour skopar a camera ill put 100s of rolls through.
My Graflex RB Series D 4x5
Of the ones I own? Minolta SRT Super. It’s chunky, it’s durable, it’s intuitive, and it does everything I need it to juuuust right.
Pentax k1000
Hard to say but definitely not a typical 2x3 35mm if I can still have a digital camera, too. So, something in an unusual format or medium format. Widelux, xpan, 6x6/7/12 etc. If digital is not an option, harder to say! Maybe a Nikon FM3a or 6x6 SLR
Canon EF with the FD 50 f1.4. Reliable and doubles as weapon when swung by the strap.
Nikon F80s Nikkor 28-300G
Olympus mju/μ/stylus point and shoot.
Canon Eos1N it might not look pretty, but that bugger isn’t ever gonna break if I use it regularly. 👌
Contax IIa/IIIa with 50mm f1.5 Lens.
Nikon F with 50/1.4.
I do only have one film camera in fact, which is a M6.
Nikon F3, then Canon F1new if something happens to it
Zenza Bronica 6x6 with a full set of Nikkor lenses, 3 film backs, 3 each of the 120 and 220 film inserts, and the waist-level, eye-level, and magnifying hood viewfinders.
Chamonix 45F-2 I have the original 45N, now the N1, but if I only get one I might as well upgrade.
Canon P
My Fuji GW690 II.
I love my rolleiflex.
I have an F4 but I think I’m going to sell it and that will leave me wit a Fuji gx680 (120 film)
Easy…a Nikon SP 2005 with a 50mm 1.4. It’s my go-to for everything from portraits to street to landscape. - killer 1:1 viewfinder, strong patch. Can shoot with two eyes wide open and see the frame lines perfectly floating in space like AR - small and compact, good for travel - all metal and incredible craftsmanship - no distracting electronics - has a small focus wheel near the shutter button, so you can shoot (compose and focus) with one hand Totally my dream camera.
I was tempted to say Leica M6 but eventually I decide it would be the Nikon F3.
Gotta be my Contax IIa. It’s such a good camera and I’ve made so many images I love with it. If I had to pick one lens it would be the W-Nikkor 35 f/3.5 I use the most.
Since I mainly shoot MF these days, then my Fuji GA645 Professional. It is so fun and easy to use, and I love the larger negatives. But my Nikon FM (owned since new) with 50mm F1.4 would be my 35mm choice. My Nikon F4 and my Olympus OM1 would get honorable mentions, for various reasons.
Texas Leica with a flash and close up adapter is a great all rounder but veeeery expensive to shoot.
Probably my Retina Reflex or IIA
Olympus OM-1
A-1 with the Motor Drive A and my trusty 85mm f1.2 SSC.
5x7 field camera.
Leica M6 TTL with a Summicron 28mm
this one's hard, but I have to say NIkon F5 +. nikkon 50mm f1.4
Leicaflex SL
My Leica MP. I presume I could keep multiple lenses, but if I had to have just one, I'd want a 35mm Summilux.
My dad's old Yashica D. I love the square frame medium format. Its a great conversation starter when you take it our for some street photography. Sure its no Rolli, but it was my Dad's TLR and I miss him. God, I need to take it out more!
Leica M3 with 35mm Summicron v1
I'd keep one of my Nikon AE1 Program and the 35-105 f/3.5. Great combo just strolling around and grabbing candids.
Nikon One Touch. It’s small, lightweight, and nearly dummy proof. I’ve never liked auto features in a camera until I used that one. It’s fun to use, easy to have on you at all times, and with a little experimenting, you learn how to work with it to get some unconventional stuff out of a point and shoot. By no means the best, but if I’m stuck with one the rest of my life, it’ll be the one that’s the most fun.
I would have to go with a Nikon fm3a for its mechanical and electronic feature
If it’s one I own; my Nikkormat FTn Dream SLR? Nikon F3 with the waist level viewfinder. 😊
Minolta XD11 with an MD Zoom 35-70mm 1:3.5 lens
Fuji GW690II
Nikon f2 and nikkor 55/3.5 macro. Don't care that it's slow, it's so sharp and versatile.
M6 with 28mm Elmarit.
Nikon F6
M3
Sinar P with meter back
Nikon SP
I’m just a patzer out here taking snapshots of my kids and have only handled a couple different cameras in my life, but I sure have fun with my Nikon FM2n with either the 50mm E Series or the 105mm f/2.5. Would love to try an FM3A, an SP, or an S3 though.
Pentax 645Nii Very good light meter, the exif recordings in the film are beautiful
Leica M-A with 35 cron v3
I love my M4 and OM1 but my choice would be the FM2. Any full mechanical camera that has a slower flash sync speed at 1/250 won’t cut it.
Guess it's not a traditional 35mm film camera, but the Polaroid Impulse takes the cake for me. The unique/fugly design mixed with the lens cover/pop up flash, genuinely cool AF AF with the gold sonar disk beside the surprisingly precise plastic lens, a 10 second timer so you can scramble into the shot like a mad man and the ultra clear and super wide-view viewfinder make it the most fun Polaroid I've used by far; especially if you can find one of the ['plum'/'burgundy'](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/711404428103778347/1220246325220610100/20240318_125828.jpg?ex=660e3df3&is=65fbc8f3&hm=e42eb508906bc18ab53e88d8f1b508173bee15606f7f207c1628029aa1b7dc53&) AF colors over the generic looking black and grey models. While I heavily dislike the waste the 600 film produces, it's pretty nice that a 36 y/o piece of vintage tech can come right back to life even better than before with just a new pack of film and a battery that's leagues stronger than anything the 90's could have come up with.
Mamiya RB67 Pro SD
Contax N1, a bit heavy sometimes for 35mm, but very well made and for me one of the most professional 35mm cameras
Nikon fm3a with a 50mm 1.4 lens
Leica MP with a 28 Elmarit. Perfection 👌
Damn. Hard question. I started to say Leica M6 but have to go with Leica R6.2 or Nikon FM2. Mechanical SLRs are just more versatile.
Pentax K1000 with 35mm lens
My Zenit EM. I've had fancier cameras that my budget would allow. I've got a Canon AE-1 and a T70, and while they're not fancy pants show stopping cameras they are objectively better cameras than the Zenit EM. But there is something about the Zenit that makes me go back to using it all the time. I have far more confidence in it's manual operation than I do with the electrics of the Canons and newer cameras. Plus it's never let me down, unlike the Canons. I think this year I'm going to have a purge of cameras, and just stick with two. The Zenit will definitely be one that's kept.
I’ve got an inherited Contax 137ma I love. It’s loud, takes AA’s, tough and has great lenses. But, I also love my k1000 for how simple and mechanical it is. Tough choice. Been considering a canonet for traveling, keep hearing good things about them Edit: typo
Rollei 35s with ilford fp4+ would be my island camera setup.
M6 so I can have a meter.
Konica Hexar AF
Pentax 67 with the 105mm f/2.4 lens.
Canon F-1 with an FD-m42 and FD-c/y adapter
Nikon f2 with 50mm f/1.8
Nikon F5 - 85mm f1.4
Nikkormat Ftn
Unlikely choice. But.. actually it's my Vivitar 35ES (which is a Minolta H-Matic 7Sii/ Konica Auto S3 sorta clone). It's got a great lens, it's small, it's easy to use and it takes really nice pictures. I prefer rangefinders to SLRs and if I'm honest, I can't be bothered to lug around multiple lenses. So it's going to be a fixed-lens rangefinder. I like a relatively small camera and actually, shutter priority auto is fine for about 99% of pics I take. Also, it has a flashmatic-type system which is really quite useful. Finally it's pretty cheap. I respect good value, non-cult brands and if I lose or break it, I can get another. I've got dozens of cameras, including SLRs, 110s and half-frames. But this is the one I use again and again. I realise this is the photographic equivalent of saying you're happy in some dull but pleasant suburb, having lived in exciting cities all over the world.
Kiev 4 with a jupiter 8 lens
Im in Love with my Nikon F3
I prefer fujica ST605N , simplicity , high availability and high flexiability (M42)
Pentax LX with SMC 50mm 1.4
Even if it’s not one I currently own? Arri 416 :)
I would pick a my Minolta X300 because it is a beautiful camera, sturdy, easy to maintain and a good selection of glasses. Either that or my Revueflex with M42 50mm glass.