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05-19-2012, 08:49 AM   #31
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QuoteOriginally posted by RioRico Quote
Beauty is only skin deep.
Ugliness goes all the way down.

If it works well, it can't be ugly. I don't swallow "form over function" arguments, although the marketing department may think otherwise. Fashionista designers can churn out pretty and awesome packages that just don't function. [Several books on the subject have been written.] If these 'ugly' (currently unfashionable) cameras FEEL right and WORK right, then what's the problem?

I have to agree with this on principal, I am an engineer after all. I openly admit that both my PZ-1P and 67 are indeed ugly, both they both have enabled me to produced some very aesthetic results. Cameras and lenses are after all only tools, does a painter give a damn whether a brush is attractive or not? On the other hand, I ride a Ducati because those crazy Italians manage to create something that is both beautiful, sexy even, and works like mad .

05-19-2012, 08:50 AM   #32
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QuoteOriginally posted by Blue Quote
I had the production model of the first one. At least it had a metal body.
05-19-2012, 09:02 AM   #33
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05-19-2012, 09:08 AM   #34
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QuoteOriginally posted by Blue Quote
From the back, it looks like a giant SLR.
That might be because it IS a giant SLR.

QuoteOriginally posted by magkelly Quote
The fact that just using one can make you nauseous maybe? Aesthetics is a big part of photography.
No camera has made me nauseous. Some have embittered me in other ways, especially those with naked gears hanging on the front: the Argus C3 (The Brick!) and especially the monstrous Kodak 35. [NOTE: I first spelt Argus here as Arbus. I guess the Arbus C3 would make users stick their heads into ovens.]

Aesthetics *can* be important. But nifty aesthetics draped over lousy functionality sucks. (Take my Loewy-designed Anscoflex art-deco TLR. Please.) For me, the tactile properties of a camera trump its prettiness or lack thereof. And sometimes ugliness can be helpful. I'll use a frightful-looking, intimidating setup if I want to capture nervous expressions on the subjects. (The Industar-58, ay yi yi.)

Just wait. So many people will throw out their ugly old cameras that the survivors will be worth a bundle. Ah, the next retro revival...

05-19-2012, 10:15 AM   #35
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QuoteOriginally posted by Blue Quote
"gold LX"
I almost posted this Mr. T golden monstrosity with my first post, but decided not too. It definitely wouldn't be a user camera for me, but it looks perfect around the neck of a thug stepping out of his pearl-coated low rider with matching rims and hydraulics in the hood! I think it's the focus ring that makes me cringe a bit, because I don't think the gold coating alone would be too different from a silver K5, for example.
QuoteOriginally posted by Blue Quote
I think the *ist film body in the original post looks bad because of that lens. That lens would make any camera look bad.
I also agree with this. I don't have a problem with the *ist film SLR, and actually wouldn't mind owning one for my first AF film camera; that or an MZ-S. I also like the 67 as well. I know a lot of people didn't buy it when it came out because it looked like an SLR, instead of more like the odd and bulky 645s. The reasons they gave is because it wasn't a professional 6x7 or a "real" camera, but a toy (we've heard this again recently with a few of the newer Pentax cameras and colors!).
05-19-2012, 12:24 PM   #36
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Basically, everything designed between 80's and early 90's looks awful by today's standards. Cameras are no exception.
05-19-2012, 05:53 PM   #37
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QuoteOriginally posted by hcarvalhoalves Quote
Basically, everything designed between 80's and early 90's looks awful by today's standards.
That includes the software I wrote then. I'll spare y'all the screenshots. [shudder]

05-21-2012, 08:17 AM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by hcarvalhoalves Quote
Basically, everything designed between 80's and early 90's looks awful by today's standards. Cameras are no exception.
I'm offended! I was designed in 1984 and I happen to be a thing of beauty.
05-22-2012, 06:33 AM   #39
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I think my PZ-70 is quite nice.



My only beef is that it's plasticky and feels as hollow as an easter egg.
05-22-2012, 06:39 AM   #40
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Let's not let Ricoh off the hook:



05-22-2012, 06:50 AM   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by ihasa Quote
Let's not let Ricoh off the hook:
Aaaaargh! Kill it!
05-22-2012, 07:35 AM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by ihasa Quote
Let's not let Ricoh off the hook:


ugh that is truly an ugly brick
05-22-2012, 07:48 AM - 1 Like   #43
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QuoteOriginally posted by ihasa Quote
Let's not let Ricoh off the hook:


I feel like speaking to it...

Open the pod bay doors please HAL!
05-23-2012, 05:56 AM   #44
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Had a chuckle the other day and thought of this thread.

The image below is a scan of the sample image in each of the four cheap chinese made metal frames I bought a few days ago. Camera brand is obscured but the camera is one of the early mentioned fuglies in this thread - (I quite like it though but I have long fingers).

05-23-2012, 06:16 PM   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by Arjay Bee Quote
Had a chuckle the other day and thought of this thread.

The image below is a scan of the sample image in each of the four cheap chinese made metal frames I bought a few days ago. Camera brand is obscured but the camera is one of the early mentioned fuglies in this thread - (I quite like it though but I have long fingers).
The weirdest thing is that they had to Photoshop a hat on the kid.
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