Your pick - The greatest film camera of all time
Discussion
Has to be the Hassey 500 series , i mean, what can beat its history of the moon landings iconic looks and photographing every top model there ever was.
Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
Im a luddite so posting pictures takes tooo much effort if its not cut n paste, but if you dont know what a Hasselblad looks like then your no photographer;)
Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
Im a luddite so posting pictures takes tooo much effort if its not cut n paste, but if you dont know what a Hasselblad looks like then your no photographer;)
satans worm said:
Has to be the Hassey 500 series , i mean, what can beat its history of the moon landings iconic looks and photographing every top model there ever was.
Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
Im a luddite so posting pictures takes tooo much effort if its not cut n paste, but if you dont know what a Hasselblad looks like then your no photographer;)
Yes, this is a solid answer. They have never quite floated my boat somehow… I should research this more but we’re Nikon F2 ‘Apollo’ associated with the moon landings as well? A version of my choice, the F4, was used on the space shuttle I believe with a primitive digital back. Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
Im a luddite so posting pictures takes tooo much effort if its not cut n paste, but if you dont know what a Hasselblad looks like then your no photographer;)
satans worm said:
Has to be the Hassey 500 series , i mean, what can beat its history of the moon landings iconic looks and photographing every top model there ever was.
Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
You're thinking of view cameras, upside down. Hasselblad's are right way up but are left right reversed, unless you use a prism. Horizon no problem with a grid screen.Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
Reason: I've used them for years and still own a CX, CW, SWC and ELX. Which is good, because I can't believe the asking prices for a dog like this...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284884862915?chn=ps&...
Honourable mention to Leica M series, although I've never owned a film M.
A friend started as a professional and did a lot of weddings. His assistant/wife was ill one time and he asked if I could assist.
Mamiyaflex C3s - TLR. They felt great to use. It was an occasion everytime you looked through the groundglass screen.
Three weddings in one day. He and I took some pictures on the first one. I then returned to his darkroom and started developing and printing. The technical quality of his images were superb, and masking of the 6x6 negs gave lots of opportunities for layout.
The cameras was smooth to use, film wind-on being particularly satisfying. Loved the camera.
I bought a Yashicaflex G24 (probably) and while the difference in quality was obvious, it still had that special feeling.
Never used a Hassleblad TLR.
Mamiyaflex C3s - TLR. They felt great to use. It was an occasion everytime you looked through the groundglass screen.
Three weddings in one day. He and I took some pictures on the first one. I then returned to his darkroom and started developing and printing. The technical quality of his images were superb, and masking of the 6x6 negs gave lots of opportunities for layout.
The cameras was smooth to use, film wind-on being particularly satisfying. Loved the camera.
I bought a Yashicaflex G24 (probably) and while the difference in quality was obvious, it still had that special feeling.
Never used a Hassleblad TLR.
Bacardi said:
satans worm said:
Has to be the Hassey 500 series , i mean, what can beat its history of the moon landings iconic looks and photographing every top model there ever was.
Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
You're thinking of view cameras, upside down. Hasselblad's are right way up but are left right reversed, unless you use a prism. Horizon no problem with a grid screen.Plus looking down into the ground glass seeing an image upside down and confusing the crap out of you trying to get the horizon level
Reason: I've used them for years and still own a CX, CW, SWC and ELX. Which is good, because I can't believe the asking prices for a dog like this...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284884862915?chn=ps&...
Honourable mention to Leica M series, although I've never owned a film M.
I have the M7 as well, which is uber cool to look at, but im not in love with it to be honest
Honorable mention to the Polaroid SX 70, only SLR glass lens polaroid that folds down flat and also looks cool, even if todays polaroid films are not a patch on the old ones
Finally, my current fav to use is the Fuji G617 that gives a mighty 6 X 17 medium format film negative that allows for in the region of a 400mega pixel drum scan if one want to make a large print, a very large print, beat that digital!
Just keeping to the space theme while I think over the greatest film camera question.
I give you the Ansco Autoset (re-badged Minolta).
Purchased by John Glenn prior to his flight and modified by NASA to make it space/glove friendly (worth a wiki moment).
Not sure if the Russians provided anything for Gagarin so this is potentially the ‘first in space’ as the label suggests (Ansco conveniently forgot about the Leica 1G also taken up!).
I give you the Ansco Autoset (re-badged Minolta).
Purchased by John Glenn prior to his flight and modified by NASA to make it space/glove friendly (worth a wiki moment).
Not sure if the Russians provided anything for Gagarin so this is potentially the ‘first in space’ as the label suggests (Ansco conveniently forgot about the Leica 1G also taken up!).
Ok, I’ve had a think about it - the Nikon F
I’ve had a few over the years and the passion really grew from their go anywhere qualities. Used and abused in war zones across the 60’s and 70’s and taken to the moon.
The camera equivalent of a Land Rover (in the 60’s and 70’s!!!).
Incredibly reliable, great lenses and a doddle to fix if they do wear out.
Hasselblad 500cm comes in second and a Leica M6 third in my book.
I’ve had a few over the years and the passion really grew from their go anywhere qualities. Used and abused in war zones across the 60’s and 70’s and taken to the moon.
The camera equivalent of a Land Rover (in the 60’s and 70’s!!!).
Incredibly reliable, great lenses and a doddle to fix if they do wear out.
Hasselblad 500cm comes in second and a Leica M6 third in my book.
I still have an OM1n. Light, ergonomics up with the best, that lovely mechanical shutter, the wonderful sound of the clockwork self-timer, a great choice of accessories, and that huge range of Zuiko lenses.
I still love it, just need to use it!
Next to a contemporary pro SLR like a Canon F1 it really is diminutive.
I still love it, just need to use it!
Next to a contemporary pro SLR like a Canon F1 it really is diminutive.
Elderly said:
Fuji GX680III.
Multi-format, movements, motor drive and iirc it even imprinted the exposure info on the frame edge of the film.
Interesting you mentioned that, im on the cusp of pulling the trigger on one , really like the idea of of the bellows movement it has. Its kinda a huge medium format camera or a small large format camera depending on your stanceMulti-format, movements, motor drive and iirc it even imprinted the exposure info on the frame edge of the film.
My only hesitance is its size, made for a studio id like to take some New York scenes with it but i hate attention and that thing is not subtle!
I always wanted an OM-1, or even better an OM-4, but never got around to it. I'm of the autofocus generation however, my first camera was an EOS 850, and it was the size and quality of the OM that really appealed, more than the actual using.
When I was a local paper staff photographer I was using my own EOS 5 and EOS 3s (couldn't afford an EOS 1) for the first couple of years, until they finally got me a pair of Nikon F5s and a full set of 2.8 lenses (wide, standard and long zooms, and a 300mm). I hated it. Solid and very well built I grant you, but really frustrating to use and it felt primitive compared to the EOS 3. Even doing 8-10 jobs a day I never came to like it or get used to its quirks.
Greatest film camera is hard to say however - my favourite I've owned was the EOS 3, but what I really wanted was an EOS 1n or v. I have a Leica M4 also, which is a lovely thing to use, but not the all rounder an SLR is. I've never been much of a medium format user, but always enjoyed using the single Mamiya RB67 we had at college, so much nicer than the plasticky 645s with horrible porroprisms that we had loads of in the college stores.
When I was a local paper staff photographer I was using my own EOS 5 and EOS 3s (couldn't afford an EOS 1) for the first couple of years, until they finally got me a pair of Nikon F5s and a full set of 2.8 lenses (wide, standard and long zooms, and a 300mm). I hated it. Solid and very well built I grant you, but really frustrating to use and it felt primitive compared to the EOS 3. Even doing 8-10 jobs a day I never came to like it or get used to its quirks.
Greatest film camera is hard to say however - my favourite I've owned was the EOS 3, but what I really wanted was an EOS 1n or v. I have a Leica M4 also, which is a lovely thing to use, but not the all rounder an SLR is. I've never been much of a medium format user, but always enjoyed using the single Mamiya RB67 we had at college, so much nicer than the plasticky 645s with horrible porroprisms that we had loads of in the college stores.
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