[frank]

I've played quite a few film cameras, my favorite is the ME Super SE. It's like a perfect combination of SuperProgram and MX to me. I like its small size, big viewfinder, diagonal split screen, and easy of use. It's built quality isn't as good as MX or LX, but it's a lot easier to carry and use (I use Av mode mostly, don't really care about the manual mode).

[lesmore49]

35 mm:

• Pentax K1000
• Pentax ES 11
• Pentax S1a
  • Leica 11f Rangefinder

Favourite Medium Format:

• Pentax 6 X 7...90 mm leaf shutter lens
• Mamiya Twin Lens Reflex 220 ProF
• Yashicamat 124G

Favourite all time camera and digital DSLR:

• Pentax K10D - in my 40 years of photography...this is the best camera I have ever used.
  I love mine.

[R.N.Brown]

I really like the olympus om cameras. I've had an om10 (my first camera), om4, om4t and still have an om1. I sold my oly gear when I felt the need for autofocus and bought a Pz1 and later an Mz5n. When I took Media Resources in the mid 90s our student cameras were the venerable Pentax K1000. I also relly like the olympus stylus epic...the Timex of point and shoots. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. I carried the stylus in my coveralls pocket when I worked in a shipyard and it took a lot of abuse in some nasty environments and always worked. Nice sharp 35mm lens too. I've used all of these cameras fairly extensively in the past and have nothing but good things to say about all of them. (wish I still had that om4t)

[Pumalite]

The Zuiko lenses are among the finest. Excluding my Super-Multi-Coated 50mm Super-Takumar 1.4

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Last edited by Pumalite; 03-08-2009 at 01:13 PM.

[snappy]

Hassy 501cm.
Konica Hexar RF and AF.

Still drooling on the new Hassy 503cw. Some day I will.

[jgredline]

Great thread!. Always love reading on what folks use.
My favorites that I use most often are as follows.
1) Pentax ME SUPER
2) Canon AE-1
3) Pentax K1000

Other I have but use very little.
Pentax 1000 (Currently it is on a nation wide tour)
Pentax LX
Pentax Spotmatic 1964 model
Pentax 645N medium format system.

[felix68]

...and I will say it again! I love the PZ-1p.

1. PZ-1p
2. ME Super

Sold MZ-5n and MZ-7 bodies when I got the PZip. I really liked the MZ-5n but the PZip is a much better camera IMHO. The ME Super just has a great viewfinder and is compact.
Sold an unused LX, it was worth too much money to keep. Sold off a Spotmatic kit and kind of regret it now. I may get another Spottie at some point.

[felixkh]

Here is mine:

First started out with:
Cosina CT-1 Super, then Chinon CP-7m, together with a Canon AE-1 (Still with me), and moved on to the Pentax PZ-20 (Z-20 in Asia.

Only recently moved back to film by getting from eBay for both my 11 year old son and myself:
Pentax Super A
Ricoh XR-P with 35-70mm F3.5-4.5
Ricoh XR-P with 50mm F1.7 (Accidently won as no one else vied with me for the bid)
Chinon CP-7m (nostalgic about the cam I owned previously)
Pentax PZ-1 SE (from Frank in Here)

Although I still use my K10D . . .

[snkenai]

I really like the olympus om cameras. I've had an om10 (my first camera), om4, om4t and still have an om1. I sold my oly gear when I felt the need for autofocus and bought a Pz1 and later an Mz5n. When I took Media Resources in the mid 90s our student cameras were the venerable Pentax K1000. I also relly like the olympus stylus epic...the Timex of point and shoots. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. I carried the stylus in my coveralls pocket when I worked in a shipyard and it took a lot of abuse in some nasty environments and always worked. Nice sharp 35mm lens too. I've used all of these cameras fairly extensively in the past and have nothing but good things to say about all of them. (wish I still had that om4t)

You sound as if you were almost talking about my past. I have also owned OM-1 and OM-4T, and now have another OM-1n MD. Years ago owned ME. I now also have and still carry the stylus epic (asian version) 35mm 2.8. It's my second one. Makes very nice pics. Now looking at maybe getting a Super, MX or LX. Have enjoyed everyone's favs. Good thread!

Steve

[Nesster]

It seems there's a lot of us old Olympus folks in the Pentax fold these days. There's at least a continuity of philosophy...

I'd still be with Olympus to this day (I mean, why switch?) except here's why I switched -

Olympus abandoned me and people like me.

Sure they put out a high end mf camera for a while. But: they essentially abandoned the SLR in favor of those big bridge cameras with the non interchangeable zooms.

As a result I didn't get an autofocus SLR until... I bought a used ZX-10. I figured it was that or Nikon as the only two makes with any backward/forward compatibility.

I'm glad I did.

[lithos]

Not so much continuity of philosophy, I think...Olympus has a philosophy, while Pentax just does it anyway.

I got my Oly XA from a bloke in Canada.

Really, that is a gem of a camera, a real work of art. How they went to great lengths to put a great lens in it and yet keep it tiny - rather than compromise on both size and cost, Oly put a genius, fast (f2.8!) 35mm in there, made from high-refraction and low-dispersion elements, not just plain old optical glass. How the aperture is controlled by a vertical slider, how it's switched on a beautiful sliding dustcover (the lens was designed to accomodate this feature, and the cover was a must to keep the lines of the camera clean). How both ends of the viewfinder are cover by this cover.



And the lens ain't that bad at all (gets a little weird at f2.8) Ilford FP4+ at 50 ISO, so it's pretty sharp anyway. But still...

Little things like that. How the self timer switch is a little foot that swings out to stabilise the camera on a table - I've never used that feature, but it's the most impressive thing for me. Really, that bit's genius - when are you going to use the self timer on this camera? For self portraits - this is a party camera, a social camera - when you're sitting around with friends. It's not like you're gonna be lugging around a tripod when you're using the XA. It's for sticking in a coat pocket or a handbag.

And did I mention it's the size of a twenty-pack of durries, yet still has a built-in rangefinder? Yep. Smallest rangefinder in the world (will get to small cameras in a moment).

And to top it all off, the finish of this plastic camera is made to feel like stone, something classically Japanese, and beautifully tactile.

Thing's so small I keep the A11 flash on it just to make it easier to use.

Like Nesster, I do wonder what Olympus were thinking (smoking?) during the nineties. I haven't heard much - unlike Canon or Pentax or Nikon, whose workings in the AF 35mm era are easy to stumble upon.

If there were any manual-focus SLR cameras I'd turn for, it'd be the single-digit OM series. They're small, solidly built, and easy to find decent lenses for. From what I hear, the only difference between a pro-grade OM lens and a consumer-grade one was their maximum aperture - ie, the same build, glass and formula went into the f1.8 50mm as the f1.4 50mm. Plus spot metering on the OM2s, of course (do they all take mercury batteries, though?)

My favourite Pentax at the moment would have to be the ME Supers. Cheap, easy to find, but oh what a camera. If Pentax ever needs to do any thinking about how to build a viewfinder for the next DSLR, they should stop - all they need to do is make one exactly like the ME series' VFs. It's not that it's big (easy to do) it's that it's bright. It really is like looking through a window. An open window, to boot. Not to mention LED shutter-speed display and fast metering.

It also makes me wonder why people claim that Leicas are "compact". If you ever get the chance, stick an ME next to an M6 or M7 or MP and gaze upon how the Leica dwarfs the ME. Even including the mirror box, the ME is so much smaller. Also, an ME can do macro and telephoto.

About the only thing that's annoying about the ME Super are the buttons to change the shutter speed. If you can work them while still looking through the VF and without tripping the shutter, you're more dextrous than I.

[k100d]

Really, that is a gem of a camera, a real work of art. How they went to great lengths to put a great lens in it and yet keep it tiny - rather than compromise on both size and cost, Oly put a genius, fast (f2.8!) 35mm in there, made from high-refraction and low-dispersion elements, not just plain old optical glass. How the aperture is controlled by a vertical slider, how it's switched on a beautiful sliding dustcover (the lens was designed to accomodate this feature, and the cover was a must to keep the lines of the camera clean). How both ends of the viewfinder are cover by this cover.

Little things like that. How the self timer switch is a little foot that swings out to stabilise the camera on a table - I've never used that feature, but it's the most impressive thing for me. Really, that bit's genius - when are you going to use the self timer on this camera? For self portraits - this is a party camera, a social camera - when you're sitting around with friends. It's not like you're gonna be lugging around a tripod when you're using the XA. It's for sticking in a coat pocket or a handbag.

And did I mention it's the size of a twenty-pack of durries, yet still has a built-in rangefinder? Yep. Smallest rangefinder in the world (will get to small cameras in a moment).

And to top it all off, the finish of this plastic camera is made to feel like stone, something classically Japanese, and beautifully tactile.

i bought an XA online, unfortunately mine overexposes by a stop almost consistently, and sometimes won't advance film. used XA's are an S.O.B., seems like it's tricky to find a good one, but when you do find it, keep it forever! one thing i did find that it is also easy to get the right hand into the frame and cause some unintended vignetting. i use mines as a day to day camera if i see something interesting on a workday.

i agree, very well built, the back is better than the one on the MZ-S. at f2.8, sometimes the bokeh is kinda funky, almost mirror lens like sometimes, but at the smaller apertures the results are what i would deem as acceptable on my specimen at least.

the rf patch on most camers is rather difficult to see, putting a small piece of tape over the vf window improves the contrast, but i've had difficulty doing this. cutting a piece of tape that small over the rf area is hard. but i basically use it more like a scale focus camera, it's easy enough to guess distances.

If there were any manual-focus SLR cameras I'd turn for, it'd be the single-digit OM series. They're small, solidly built, and easy to find decent lenses for. From what I hear, the only difference between a pro-grade OM lens and a consumer-grade one was their maximum aperture - ie, the same build, glass and formula went into the f1.8 50mm as the f1.4 50mm. Plus spot metering on the OM2s, of course (do they all take mercury batteries, though?)

i am really interested in the old OM 40 pancake and the OM 50 f2 macro, would love the opportunity to try out those cameras. they seem to be like an slr leica.

It also makes me wonder why people claim that Leicas are "compact". If you ever get the chance, stick an ME next to an M6 or M7 or MP and gaze upon how the Leica dwarfs the ME. Even including the mirror box, the ME is so much smaller. Also, an ME can do macro and telephoto.

About the only thing that's annoying about the ME Super are the buttons to change the shutter speed. If you can work them while still looking through the VF and without tripping the shutter, you're more dextrous than I.

leicas are usually more compact because of the lack of the vf hump and also the shorter depth of the body. and because the lenses can stick into the camera, most of the wide lenses are pretty tiny. although in general, they are better constructed and consequently they're not particularly super light.

i got my Super a few weeks ago and i love the buttons. i use the camera in manual mode more often than auto. i wish it would tell me how overexposed i was instead of flashing, but that would be my only criticism.

[gofour3]

I’ve been using a Pentax KX since 1975, so that would be my favorite. I bought another KX & two K2s last year and the K2s are also very good, except for setting the ASA via “the ring”!!

[Blue]

I’ve been using a Pentax KX since 1975, so that would be my favorite. I bought another KX & two K2s last year and the K2s are also very good, except for setting the ASA via “the ring”!!

That ring is "Special" isn't it? I have a Mamiya NC1000 that was released about a year and a half later that also has a ring, but it sets the shutter speed as well. However, the NC1000 is incredibly compact and light.

[Ratmagiclady]

Tough one for me, ...restricting myself to things I know well rather than just would want...

Have to put the Canon F-1N up there, as well as the A-1/AE-1P series-of two. The FT and FTbn.

Dunno if the LX counts, that was kind of an at-first-handling thing, but such a very strong impression. Likewise with the Contax RTS...II, I think it was. Had a brief chance to meet one of those, just ...slid into focus, ...that was what I would have wanted if I had Leica-type money as a teen.

The Nikon FE/FM2/FE2 series, particularly the FE2. Always wished they could put an HP finder on one of those.

The ol' 6x7... for the results, mostly. There was also a Plaubel Makina MF rangefinder I'd have loved.

I think the ME Super actually counts, apart from those darn buttons. They bother me more now than they did when I was younger (Then I always just knew what shutter speed I was on, so it wasn't hard to do by feel. )

Let's see... Bronica SQ-Ai. Nice.