Small SLR for travel

fred wrote:
Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR where we can
bracket, play with the shutter speed and f stops? Something that we
can still fit in a jacket or vest pocket? I'd rather not bring our
SLRs that we have now just because of the weight and bulk.

I have a feeling I'm asking for too much and may have to bring the SLRs
we have but would love to find out that there is something out there.


My smallest and lightest kit is actually a rangefinder, though, because
of its all-metal construction (Leica M6), the weight savings over a SLR
aren't that big.
You could save some weight & cost by using one of the Voigtländer Bessa
bodies.
One of the nice things about that kit is that the lenses really are tiny
- especially the Cosina/Voigtländer 15mm & 21mm, which together add up
to be about half the size & weight of a compact 50mm.

Other tiny & very sharp lenses I like: The Zeiss 35mm & 85mm f/2.8
versions (I use them on a Rolleiflex SLR, where a good and very small
Mamiya-made 21mm is also available). Your best bet is probably to use
those on a light Contax body.

Other cameras to consider:

The Pentax MX is probably the smallest SLR ever built.

I don't really like Olympus OM cameras, but YMMV...

Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR where we can
bracket, play with the shutter speed and f stops? Something that we
can still fit in a jacket or vest pocket? I'd rather not bring our
SLRs that we have now just because of the weight and bulk.

I have a feeling I'm asking for too much and may have to bring the SLRs
we have but would love to find out that there is something out there.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

fred wrote:
Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR where we can
bracket, play with the shutter speed and f stops? Something that we
can still fit in a jacket or vest pocket? I'd rather not bring our
SLRs that we have now just because of the weight and bulk.

I have a feeling I'm asking for too much and may have to bring the SLRs
we have but would love to find out that there is something out there.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Digital or film?

Old or new?

fred wrote:
Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Take a look at the negatives and see if the washed out areas have
detail in them. A lot of labs don't pay much attention to whether they
are blowing out the highlights in a print. My solution to this was to
get a film scanner and do my own prints. It is amazing how much better
of a print you can get this way.

But film scanning is a pain and takes a lot of time, it is better in a
lot of ways to get a digital camera, and they do make many that are
very small. I even have a DSLR, the Canon 350D, that is pretty small
and light.

Scott

Richard Polhill wrote:
fred wrote:
Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR where we can
bracket, play with the shutter speed and f stops? Something that we
can still fit in a jacket or vest pocket? I'd rather not bring our
SLRs that we have now just because of the weight and bulk.

I have a feeling I'm asking for too much and may have to bring the SLRs
we have but would love to find out that there is something out there.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Digital or film?

Old or new?


Sorry about that - I'm talking about film, not digital. I'd be
interested in old or new, but have been looking mostly at older models
- that could be anything from 5 years and older.

Thanks

Scott W wrote:
fred wrote:
Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Take a look at the negatives and see if the washed out areas have
detail in them. A lot of labs don't pay much attention to whether they
are blowing out the highlights in a print. My solution to this was to
get a film scanner and do my own prints. It is amazing how much better
of a print you can get this way.

But film scanning is a pain and takes a lot of time, it is better in a
lot of ways to get a digital camera, and they do make many that are
very small. I even have a DSLR, the Canon 350D, that is pretty small
and light.

Scott


Scott -

Thanks.

I've thought about scanning and doing our own prints but I'll have to
wait awhile for that. As far as digital cameras go, I don't know - for
now, I'm going to stick to film.

fred wrote:

I've thought about scanning and doing our own prints but I'll have to
wait awhile for that. As far as digital cameras go, I don't know - for
now, I'm going to stick to film.

Well if you are going to stick with film you might want to look at some
of the range finder cameras on ebay. A lot of these are going to take
as good or better photos as a SRL but will be a lot smaller.

Also if you are going to stick with film scanning will improve you
prints greatly.

Scott

In article m, fred
wrote:

We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR
SNIP

For an SLR, you're not going to find anything that's pocketable. One of
the smaller SLRs is the Nikon FM family. I have an FM2n, which is fully
manual, not auto anything. It won't fit in pockets, though.

SLRs are larger because they have a penta-prism on top, they need room
front-to-back for the mirror to swing up, and the lenses are designed
not to intrude into the camera so they aren't hit by the mirror.

If you want a pocketable 35mm camera, I'd suggest sticking with the
range-finder/view-finder style you seem to be using. I don't follow
point and shoot cameras, so I can't offer suggestions on which offer
manual controls.

Googling the phrase
35mm rangefinder
brings

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resour...at_camera/faq_
what_camera_35mm_rangefinder.html
which has brief descriptions and a link to some point and shoot cameras

http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~yue/misc/rangfndr.html

and lots of eBay hits.

Good luck.

--
Phil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL
http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily.

"fred" wrote

point and shoots ... We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Try getting them re-printed, it is pretty hard to overexpose
negative film to the point one can't get a decent print out
of it. Some camera stores have tech's that do know how to
use the equipment, as opposed to Aunt Henrietta at the Rx
DrugMart.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR where we can
bracket, play with the shutter speed and f stops? Something that we
can still fit in a jacket or vest pocket?

A pocketable SLR -- not in full frame. There are the 1/2 frame
Olympus Pen's. And the 110 Pentax - film's a bit of a problem.

If you don't need lens interchangeability there are quite a
few folders to consider: Retina IIA [make sure it works/get return
privileges], Voigtlander Vito III, Zeiss Contessa. Then there are
the compact 1970's cameras: Canon Canonette GL17, Olympus 35SP, Rollie 35.
A bit more modern is the Minox 35GT. The Olympus XA isn't strictly
manual but you can futz the ASA by yourself, I don't like them but some
swear by them.

And then there is a screw mount Leica or Voigtlander with a collapsible
lens.

For superb picture quality consider a 6x6 or 6x9 folder like a
Nettar, Isolette or Ikonta. Fuji makes [made?] a 6x4.5 folder.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.nolindan.com/da/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

fred wrote:
Hello -

I've been through a lot of the posts and still have some questions. My
wife and I have two point and shoots that we bring with us when we
travel - an Olympus and a Yashica. It's the old problem of wanting
more in a camera but not wanting much more in size. We can fit these
in our pockets and normally don't have problems with the pictures. We
got back from Utah though and have a lot of washed out prints.

Is there something about the same size that's a manual SLR where we can
bracket, play with the shutter speed and f stops? Something that we
can still fit in a jacket or vest pocket? I'd rather not bring our
SLRs that we have now just because of the weight and bulk.

I have a feeling I'm asking for too much and may have to bring the SLRs
we have but would love to find out that there is something out there.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.


I highly recommend the Canonet QL17 GIII. It's lens is legendary, some
call it the poor man's Leica. It is small with auto exposure and
manual exposure as well. Manual focusing, and oh so very easy to load
with film. It is an extremely high quality camera, as you will see
when holding it. Here is a link to a better description:

http://www.cameraquest.com/canql17.htm

They can be bought on ebay. But make sure the camera has had it's
light seals changed, as they were made in the early 1970's and back
then they used a type of foam to keep the light out. I bought my
Canonet from an ebay buyer who specializes in Canonets. He cleans
them, puts new lights seals in them, etc. They go for an average of
$130. US
A very good investment.
Good Luck!
Helen