Bob Monaghan wrote:

yes, ditto my topcon 35mm SLR, with great lenses but a hard to maintain
leaf shutter in body ;-( However, a very large number of 35mm rangefinders
from the 1950s and 1960s had fixed lenses and leaf shutters, provided
flash synch at any speed, but without danger of getting dirt or damaging
shutter during lens changes (as just one fixed lens was used).

But none of these ever reached the image quality levels of Leica, which makes
me wonder if my earlier proposition that focal plane shutters yield sharper
results isn't true.

Personally, I have wondered why nobody has created a MF RF with leaf
shutter and convertible lenses, as with the old contaflex and kodak retina

Why hasn't this approach been used more frequently in 35mm as well? I would
think there would be lens design limitations with this approach. I just saw a
camera on eBay (I forget the brand) that had an integral rangefinder/lens
combination which was interchangeable. That is you pulled off the lens *and*
the rangefinder assembly off of the camera body simultanaously and then
swapped it wiht another lens/rangefinder assembly. Neat idea.
I've always wondered why advanced flash features found on say the Konica Auto
S3 haven't found their way onto MF cameras. Or even Minolta's new "D" lens
range where focusing distance enters into the flash formula? Obviously MF
cameras are used to shoot weddings and parties all of the time. I scratch my
head as to why they don't have the latest and greatest automatic flash
features.