What 35mm non-Leica do you also enjoy?

[m410]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I didn't know there were "other than Leica" 135 format cameras...

[pgk]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

Are we're talking more along the lines of Sanderson and Gandolfi rather than Sinar and Linhof, Paul?

Philip.

5 x Gandolfis (so far🤔), a Nesbitt and others all wood except for an original Linhof Colour🙄. Been using the 10x8 Gandolfi for step and repeat today. Lots of ancient lenses but I'm getting rid of the less likely to be used at last!

59 minutes ago, craigr said:

Well, now, Paul -- if your "user" black paint M4 is really clapped out and shows a lot of brass you can always combine it with a "certificate of authenticity" certifying that it's a genuine, beat-to-hell Leica and sell the camera for three times what it's worth! 🙂 .

Craig

Judge for yourself😋:

 

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Ouroboros]

 I have no interest in collecting cameras and I have only one Nikon FE left, which is my personal favourite of all the slr's I've owned.  I use it regularly with either a 50mm f1.2 ai-s or a 45mm f2.8p 'cos it's small, cute and a Tessar!

I wrote a bit about my FE here

 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[craigr]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

Thanks to Craig and Graham's above posts I've learned something completely new (to me) today!

88, erm, I mean '73' chaps!...

Interesting to notice the popularity of the offerings from Rollei (especially!), Nikon, Olympus and Contax.

Good idea for a thread, Craig.

Philip.

Thank you for using "73" correctly, Philip. Many amateur radio operators conclude transmissions with "...73s", which, of course, translates to "best regardses".  Many also turn the conversation over to another party with, "over, over" thus redundantly saying the same thing again and again repeatedly.

88, erm, I mean 73 to you, too!

Craig

[Graham (G4FUJ)]

It's the ones that say "over and out" (particularly in films) that bug me.  It's either Over or Out, can't be both 

[craigr]

23 minutes ago, pgk said:

5 x Gandolfis (so far🤔), a Nesbitt and others all wood except for an original Linhof Colour🙄. Been using the 10x8 Gandolfi for step and repeat today. Lots of ancient lenses but I'm getting rid of the less likely to be used at last!

Judge for yourself😋:

 

Looks like a $10,000 M4 to me!  You do need to replace that genuine Leica nylon strap with a piece of parachute cord or, better yet, barbed wire, though.

Craig

[pgk]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

6 minutes ago, craigr said:

Looks like a $10,000 M4 to me!  You do need to replace that genuine Leica nylon strap with a piece of parachute cord or, better yet, barbed wire, though.

Craig

I wish! But I might have just the bit of cord - might even be parachute for all I know😃 (Does anyone know?). Trashed WWII Canadian Binos (but still in collimation).

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[oldwino]

Nikon FM3a. Really enjoy shooting it, especially with an old, AI'd 55/1.2. 

[craigr]

58 minutes ago, Graham (G4FUJ) said:

It's the ones that say "over and out" (particularly in films) that bug me.  It's either Over or Out, can't be both 

You mean, as in: "Roger, WILCO, over and out"...? 

I like "Over to You" from the title of Roald Dahl's collection of WWII flying stories. It seems so friendly and personal.  But then, you Brits are more polite than we Yanks.

[Einst_Stein]

The top one is Rollei 3003: The next is Rollei 35SE. These two happen to be at the two extreme. One is exceptional sophisticated, the other is exceptional simple.

I like particularly the changeable film back and the dual viewfinder of Rollei 3003. I have four film backs, I can switch slide, color negative and B&W at anytime. The fourth is spared for "the other" negative films, normally  a high ISO B&W or color. The waist level and eye level dual viewfinder makes high and low angle composition very convenient. It is particularly  useful  to put the camera on the Leica tabletop on the ground or bug rock in the wilderness, when the full size tripod is not available. 

Rollei 35xx is the other extreme. It has no range finder. But it was my only must carry camera for hiking. I made two marks on the focus ring, one for vertical the other for horizontal. both with my standard composition that have the persons with the preset size. Pure landscape takes the third default focus: infinite. I don't use hyper focal very often, though it should very useful too. 

Kodak Retina IIIc is another sexy toy. It is not as cure as Rollei 35SE, but it has built-in rangefinder and light meter. The lens is simply bo shy by Leica standard. Its folding construction makes it very easy to carry. 

Another not really 35mm camera but I use it a lot to shoot 35mm films, is Hasselblad SWC/M. I acquired it after Leica M240 and SL became my major shooting gears. I load the SWC/M A24 back with 35mm films to shoot panorama (24x54). The SWC/M viewfinder has a smaller frame line, originally for shooting A16s format. The frame is a four pieces bracket. The gap of the brackits fits the 24mm very well.  Together with other A12 film backs, it covers both 6x6 SQ format and 24x54 panorama. I get 24 exps of panorama for each 36exp roll.

Edited July 1, 2020 by Einst_Stein

[250swb]

The answer for me would be an Olympus XA or a Nikon F2 (or Nikon F) without the Photomic head. The Nikon/Leica combination is made in heaven, and for a rangefinder alternative the Olympus XA is as magic as magic can be, a superb lens in a tiny body that is a design classic.

[pippy]

1 hour ago, Einst_Stein said:

The top one is Rollei 3003...I like particularly the changeable film back and the dual viewfinder of Rollei 3003..

Magnificent, intriguing, superb quality and utterly inspired concept.

Where did it go wrong? Right Product; Wrong Time; No High-Profile Commendations?

I only ever had one (two-day) session - when I was still in my assisting days - when I ever used one and I thought it was a fantasic camera.

Philip.

 

[Einst_Stein]

Rollei 3003, Probably the price is the number one issue. I think the lens combination is a bit weak too. I got mine from second hand market. Even so, the price was in the high side.

It also has a bad reputation on the reliability, which I think is not really true. It is definitely more reliable than Leica CL, M5, or R models with electronics when electronics was still new in camera.

 

[ktmrider2]

NIKON F

[skor]

Love my Contax G2 system but as much as the Leica 🤪

[logan2z]

Nikon FM for longer focal lengths  and shooting where I don't want to take my Leicas, but I prefer to use my Leicas. 

[spydrxx]

I still have too many, even after weeding out. My favorite rangefinders besides Leicas include a Nicca and Leotax, and finally a Ricoh 500 (it was my 1st 35mm camera back in the mid 1950s). On the SLR side my Contax RX and Canon T90 are the workhorses, followed by a Nikon F4, Minolta XG-M, Olympus OM2N, Yashica FR-1, and a couple of Pentax Spotmatics. I just can't seem to part with these oldies but goodies.

[andrew01]

I have a small collection of pro-grade 35mm SLRs and enjoy shooting them all.  I like the pro grade cameras because they all have amazing build quality, mechanical precision, excellent viewfinders and are still compact and light relative to the DSLRs I was lugging around a few years ago.  My only digital camera is a Nikon Z6.  

Amazingly the consumer grade film cameras (eg Canon A1, Nikon FE2, Olympus OM1 etc) are now popular and prices can be higher than the pro grade cameras.   I have tried a few consumer grade SLRs including the much loved Nikon FE2.  They all have too high viewfinder magnification which translates to effectively zero eye relief, which is terrible if you wear glasses.

Some of my favourite non Leica cameras in my collection are:

- Nikon F3, I have owned at least one of these since 1992.  My favourite finder is the standard DE2 which has the ‘goldilocks’ finder specs of 0.8x magnification and 100% coverage.  The HP finder has lower magnification which makes it hard to focus.

- Nikon F2AS - a recent acquisition and in the queue for a service by Sover Wong.  The finder on the F2 snaps into focus better than any other 35mm SLR I have used including the legendary Leicaflex SL.  I put it down to a lack of semi-silvered main mirror diverting some of the light to a meter in the mirror box.  The main downside is that the metering leds are counter-intuitive compared to a Leica M6 (need to turn aperture in the opposite direction to what seems logical). I think this camera is destined to be my favourite Nikon.

- Nikon F - beautiful build and iconic.  Mine needs a service so I haven’t shot with it yet.

- Canon New F1 - the most tank-like of all tank-like pro SLRs!  Awesome finder and nice match-needle metering display.  The only downside is a slightly rough film transport feel compared to the Nikons.

- Canon EOS1n.  I usually prefer old school manual focus SLRs, but the EOS1n is incredibly fun to shoot with.  They are practically giving these away on eBay.  Mine is the very latest production from 2000 just before the 1v was released (1v’s cost 4-5x more).  The build is high end plastic, but it is a world away from the consumer grade crap that Canon made in the era.

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by andrew01

[Narsuitus]

On 6/30/2020 at 4:30 PM, craigr said:

Do you have a non-Leica 35mm favorite?

The Nikon F2 is my favorite camera (regardless of format).

The Leica M6 is my second favorite 35mm camera.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Leica M6 & Nikon F2 by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Narsuitus

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Charles Morgan]

As my rangefinders are Leica (M3 and M5) and my SLRs are mostly Leica (SL2, R4S, R7 and R8 - I think the R7 will go when the SL2 is repaired), I keep a couple of Nikons - an FM2n and an EM for the 40mm Voigtlander Ultron and my Nikkor Japanese market 50mm f1.8 pancake, being very light and compact for occasional use. All my other stuff is being disposed of - I've had my experimentation and decided upon a system to get the best out of it.