Equipment Survey

The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

2. What do you currently shoot?

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

This is not intended to start a war, just to start a very on-topic
discussion of the pros and cons of systems past and present - and just to
reminisce about some of the old great cameras we all remember.

Walt

OK, I'll start:

"Photodad" wrote in message
...
The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?


My first was a Minolta range finder owned by my high school journalism
department. It was quickly followed by a Konica the yearbook publisher gave
us.

The first camera I owned was a Canon AE-1. It was followed by a Nikon F,
which I still shoot.

2. What do you currently shoot?


I currently shoot a Nikon F and Nikkormat Ft (What can I say, I resist
change).

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?


I'm not sure. I've been checking things out at the local stores and I am
less than impressed with the build quality of the current Nikon lenses. But
the Canon bodies don't thrill me either. So I'll be reading your comments
with great interest, as my eyes have convinced me it is time to go AF.

Walt

"Photodad" wrote in message
...
The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

2. What do you currently shoot?

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

This is not intended to start a war, just to start a very on-topic
discussion of the pros and cons of systems past and present - and just to
reminisce about some of the old great cameras we all remember.

Walt


1. Exacta II
2. Canon A2, 1n, D30
3. I probably wouldn't change anything. I'm happy with the Canons I have.
OTOH, I'd probably be just as happy with Nikon, if I'd gone in that
direction. I find the ergonomics of the Canon bodies fit me better, but I
shot A series Canons for nearly 20 years, so I'm used to them.

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

Photodad wrote:
The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

2. What do you currently shoot?

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

This is not intended to start a war, just to start a very on-topic
discussion of the pros and cons of systems past and present - and just to
reminisce about some of the old great cameras we all remember.

Walt



1. Pentax Spotmatic (Dad's).

2. Rolleiflex SL35-E & SL2000F, Leica M6, Nikon F & F2, Leningrad, Kiev
60, Iskra

3: Contax (maybe - Zeiss lenses, wider choice than Rolleiflex), Leica
SLR (maybe - lenses), Leica M7 (AE has its uses...) with more lenses,
Mamiya 7 (Leica on steroids), Pentax 67 (love the look of it).

Skip M wrote:
"Photodad" wrote in message
...

The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

2. What do you currently shoot?

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

This is not intended to start a war, just to start a very on-topic
discussion of the pros and cons of systems past and present - and just to
reminisce about some of the old great cameras we all remember.

Walt

1. Canon AE-1, Canon A-1. I would have loved that
second-hand Canon F-1N body, however, USD 2,000 was too much
for me at the time :-(
I also used my wive's Minolta X-700, still a wonderful
little beast. However,the Minolta 7000, the first AF camera,
convinced me only for one year and I sold it.

2. Nikon F90X. I changed brand, because Canon changed the
bajonet type and the EOS program was not fully convincing.
Besides, the F90X came with the brand-new 24-120 zoom at the
time when I was shooting weddings :-)

3. Maybe look into a Sinar F or P 4x5"... I always had an
certain yearning for slow, composing photography with f64
and Scheimpflug. Maybe something for my retirement?

Franco

"Chris Loffredo" wrote in message
...
Photodad wrote:
The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to
ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

2. What do you currently shoot?

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

This is not intended to start a war, just to start a very on-topic
discussion of the pros and cons of systems past and present - and just
to
reminisce about some of the old great cameras we all remember.

Walt



1. Pentax Spotmatic (Dad's).

2. Rolleiflex SL35-E & SL2000F, Leica M6, Nikon F & F2, Leningrad, Kiev
60, Iskra

3: Contax (maybe - Zeiss lenses, wider choice than Rolleiflex), Leica
SLR (maybe - lenses), Leica M7 (AE has its uses...) with more lenses,
Mamiya 7 (Leica on steroids), Pentax 67 (love the look of it).

I too started on my Dad's Spotmatic...
Also, I've been looking into picking up a Mamiya 7, and apparently it isn't
a Leica on steroids--its build quality is less than robust, and its
rangefinder isn't easy to focus. Those people succesful with them seem to
be focusing using the focus markings on the lens, and stopping down 2 more
stops than usually suggested. From a tripod. No thanks, I might as well
stick with my RB67!

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

"Photodad" wrote in message
...
The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

2. What do you currently shoot?

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

This is not intended to start a war, just to start a very on-topic
discussion of the pros and cons of systems past and present - and just to
reminisce about some of the old great cameras we all remember.

Walt



1) My dad's Pentax Spotmatic

2) F100 / n8008 / F --all Nikon, plus an RB67.

3) There's lots of stuff I'd like to try, but there's no reason to start
over, as I'm satisfied with the cameras I have.

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

Matt Clara wrote:

I too started on my Dad's Spotmatic...

: )

Also, I've been looking into picking up a Mamiya 7, and apparently it isn't
a Leica on steroids--its build quality is less than robust, and its
rangefinder isn't easy to focus. Those people succesful with them seem to
be focusing using the focus markings on the lens, and stopping down 2 more
stops than usually suggested. From a tripod. No thanks, I might as well
stick with my RB67!


Ouch! Thanks for the heads up! I'll certainly look into that (assuming I
can ever afford one). Maybe the Pentax 67 is the answer (and maybe I
should join a gym for some body building...).


Chris

Matt Clara wrote:

I too started on my Dad's Spotmatic...

: )

In retrospect, it was probably the best way to start. I was was just
horribly fustrated with the 50mm lens (as a focal length), and couldn't
afford to buy any others. To this day I'm not a fan of 50mm (or 28mm or
135mm), but prefer 35, 85/105, 24/25, 200, 20/21 combinations... Early
trauma?

Also, I've been looking into picking up a Mamiya 7, and apparently it
isn't
a Leica on steroids--its build quality is less than robust, and its
rangefinder isn't easy to focus. Those people succesful with them
seem to
be focusing using the focus markings on the lens, and stopping down 2
more
stops than usually suggested. From a tripod. No thanks, I might as well
stick with my RB67!


Ouch! Thanks for the heads up! I'll certainly look into that (assuming I
can ever afford one). Maybe the Pentax 67 is the answer (and maybe I
should join a gym for some body building...).


Chris

Photodad wrote:
The Olympus/Pentax thread has peaked my curiosity. So I am going to ask.

1. What was your first 35mm camera?

My Dad's Kodak rangefinder, then my own Canonflex RM (still in use).

2. What do you currently shoot?

Minolta X-700, Minolta HiMatic-7s (when I need a quiet shutter and fast
lens for low light/no flash), Canonflex RM, Koni-Omega Rapid,
occasionally Minox, Pentax 110, and Minolta 110. A digital P/S for the
odd eBay listing or other online photo and an Olympus P/S that my wife
can use.

3. If you could start over, what would you buy now and why?

A pretty similar set. 35mm auto exposure MF SLR, quiet fast
rangefinder, Medium format / subminiature for fun.