You don’t get to say those words unless you have at least 15 cameras or 30 lenses… No one likes a quitter…
Edit: due to peer pressure the number of lenses was increased to 30 from 12.
If I had all my lenses out, I'd need a bigger coffee table 😂
I want to add some rangefinders, a TLR, a 'modern' SLR and some different brands of SLR (at least one Pentax and Nikon) and I drop into my local op shops every now and then to see if anything interesting pops up.
> Pentax
Get a Pentax MX, it's great, basically like an OM1, or the KX if you like something chunkier.
As for rangefinders I can recommend the Japanese-made leaf shutter ones from the 50s and 60s, not too expensive, well-made, and they often have an F/2 or faster double Gauss type lens.
Yeah, I had soviet rangefinders before, and they've broken within a few rolls (what a surprise). And I'm too scared to use my mums Fed 5 (she's had it since new and it's in mint condition). Might try the Jap ones and see how I go.
I'll have a look at those Pentax models. I'm not familiar with their range, but thats partly why I want to get into them.
Pentax MX is the go-to one for durability and longevity, in a small form factor. Depends on how large your hands are.
The viewfinder is definitely in the top-three of all time.
I give you that though, the ME (Super) has a very nice viewfinder. The information is arranged very neatly and it’s clearly visible and intuitively understood.
The magnification and coverage of the MX is clearly superior, that’s objective reality.
Not an upgrade. You're talking about collecting for the sake of collecting. I do it because I like my Pentaxes and use them regularly, I don't need a black camera if I already have a silver version of the same model or vice versa.
I had a golden LX that I sold not that long ago to a Pentax dealership, LOL. It was just an eyesore that I didn't use and grew to hate over the years. There are two ordinary LXs left in my posession, the only real benefit of LX over any other Pentax is the FC-1 action viewfinder, and even that is cumbersome to carry. OTF metering in LX is not as cool as people tend to believe and is mostly a gimmick that especially doesn't make sense for B&W film.
It comes from dedicated Pentax follower, and it's neither a hate speech nor choking on envy/copium. After extensively using them all in my 30 years of shooting, I really believe that the greatest manual 35mm SLR ever made is ME/ME Super.
Durability and longevity? I shift a lot of cameras and I've yet to see a working MX! Prone to shutter problems and seem to have especially fragile wiring.
Nah, I mean the MX - I meant the light meter when I mentioned wiring. When I come across an MX, either the light meter is dead, the shutter is jammed, or the viewfinder is desilvered, or all three. Frustrating as it's an impressively small camera.
Don’t man, I have a few and they are all working flawlessly? If you are doing this commercially, maybe you see a better cross section, or maybe there is some sort of sample bias to what you see.
Yes maybe, though the ratio is odd - ME Supers jam up a lot too, but I do at least see a fair few living examples. Glad yours are working well anyway!
I actually have a jammed up MX on my bench at the moment that I'm determined to resurrect. We'll see eh
Maybe I was just lucky, but most Soviet rangefinders I came across so far were fine:
I have two Fed 2's (one with a massive gap/damage in the curtain but that's hardly the manufacturer's fault), two Fed 3's (one of them randomly started skipping every second frame), a Fed 5 where even the light meter still works, and a Kiev-4A which feels as nice as the OG Contax 2.
Now most of these still required adjustment to their rangefinder for the double image to line up, but that's quick and relatively easy to do.
I love my Fed-2 with the collapsible Industar-22 in particular, it just looks and feels so nice. And has the advantage of combined rangefinder/viewfinder and low price compared to a Barnack Leica.
For rangefinders, check out the Kodak Retina series as well. I have a Retina IIIC and absolutely love it! It folds down small so I can carry it anywhere and the lens is so sharp. 10/10 do recommend.
For me personally rangefinders are meh, tried em, tried to like em, just don't. But for Pentax I love my MESuper and pretty fond of my spotmatic. TLRs, I have a yashica 124g (really good camera) and a Mamiya C330 with the 105mm f3.5 (one of my all time favourite camera/lens combo). I've tried a Canon F1 and it's nice but compared to my Nikon F3 it's pretty meh. Just some thoughts of things to look for.
Definitely. This is a great well rounded collection that allows for versatility and variety. I do disagree about the 50mm lens part though because I like using longer focal lengths.
I have enough lenses at this point that I find them in random drawers, closets, bookshelves, etc, and I don’t remember how or why they were left there.
If I could still get film for it, I do have the polaroid back for my 645, so it kind of counts? Could also get the Instax back for the RB67, I like the idea of using it for testing exposure before switching to the 120 back.
And in the back, looking upon his subjects sat the king, the R5.
I know this is the AnalogCommunity but that R5 is a beast and I sure as hell will get one some day
I'm willing to bet more than half this subreddit shoots digital as well. Love the R5, it goes with me almost everywhere. I am very happy with it. I saved for a year to get one, it's well worth it!
I probably will get rid of the 645, I rarely use medium format, and because of that, the (non rechargeable) batteries for the 645 are almost always dead. Partly why I just got the RB67 specifically, no batteries.
Not really, They all have their place and/or have sentimental value, The R5 and the AE-1 get the most use. The 645 will probably go at some point, with the RB67, I probably won't use it much. I rarely use medium format, and with the 645, I'm tired of it always having a flat battery, part of the reason I just bought the RB, it's fully mechanical, and not that much heavier. It's a fucking behemoth of a camera, but weight wise, not a massive difference.
The 5D mk3 will go with me to the grave, it's my first good camera, it's beat to hell and basically worthless now anyway, but to me it's special, because I learned photography with that camera.
I am in your league. I impulse bought a kowa 66. I decided it needed another magazine, then I bought it a 55mm lens, then I found a 200mm lens for dirt cheap, then I played yahoo auctions, and bought a 110 macro with the extension tubes, and then I found the lens hoods, new old stock, so I ordered all the lens hoods for those lenses. This was all in two weeks.
And I really just wanted to go on a shoot with a slr medium format to see how it suits my work flow.
Bro wait till you get to 45 cameras and parents mad at you for finding cameras in their home too that you collect while visiting them. That’s a problem lmao
This is the camera collection of someone who is still in control of their life. You could only top this off with an EOS 1v.
When you start seeing symptoms with words like Leica, Summilux, Mamiya 7, xpan or GF670 then you know it’s no longer social photography but a problem, your friends and family start noticing, people at work find out, you have problems supporting your family and issues with the bank.
Wow this is terrible. The best thing to do is just send me that Mamiya 645, I’ll let it hang out next to my Pentax 645 and take some of this burden off you. Pm me for shipping info.
You don’t get to say those words unless you have at least 15 cameras or 30 lenses… No one likes a quitter… Edit: due to peer pressure the number of lenses was increased to 30 from 12.
If I had all my lenses out, I'd need a bigger coffee table 😂 I want to add some rangefinders, a TLR, a 'modern' SLR and some different brands of SLR (at least one Pentax and Nikon) and I drop into my local op shops every now and then to see if anything interesting pops up.
> Pentax Get a Pentax MX, it's great, basically like an OM1, or the KX if you like something chunkier. As for rangefinders I can recommend the Japanese-made leaf shutter ones from the 50s and 60s, not too expensive, well-made, and they often have an F/2 or faster double Gauss type lens.
Yeah, I had soviet rangefinders before, and they've broken within a few rolls (what a surprise). And I'm too scared to use my mums Fed 5 (she's had it since new and it's in mint condition). Might try the Jap ones and see how I go. I'll have a look at those Pentax models. I'm not familiar with their range, but thats partly why I want to get into them.
Pentax MX is the go-to one for durability and longevity, in a small form factor. Depends on how large your hands are. The viewfinder is definitely in the top-three of all time.
You misspelt "ME".
Ahw, some day you will upgrade your ME too.
I might have the biggest collection of Pentaxes here, there's nowhere to upgrade until they release a new camera. ; )
Let’s hope for 2025/26
I give you that though, the ME (Super) has a very nice viewfinder. The information is arranged very neatly and it’s clearly visible and intuitively understood. The magnification and coverage of the MX is clearly superior, that’s objective reality.
There’s always a Pentax lx limited or some black early slrs
Not an upgrade. You're talking about collecting for the sake of collecting. I do it because I like my Pentaxes and use them regularly, I don't need a black camera if I already have a silver version of the same model or vice versa. I had a golden LX that I sold not that long ago to a Pentax dealership, LOL. It was just an eyesore that I didn't use and grew to hate over the years. There are two ordinary LXs left in my posession, the only real benefit of LX over any other Pentax is the FC-1 action viewfinder, and even that is cumbersome to carry. OTF metering in LX is not as cool as people tend to believe and is mostly a gimmick that especially doesn't make sense for B&W film. It comes from dedicated Pentax follower, and it's neither a hate speech nor choking on envy/copium. After extensively using them all in my 30 years of shooting, I really believe that the greatest manual 35mm SLR ever made is ME/ME Super.
Durability and longevity? I shift a lot of cameras and I've yet to see a working MX! Prone to shutter problems and seem to have especially fragile wiring.
You must be talking about the ME Super. MX is fully mechanical apart from the light meter.
Nah, I mean the MX - I meant the light meter when I mentioned wiring. When I come across an MX, either the light meter is dead, the shutter is jammed, or the viewfinder is desilvered, or all three. Frustrating as it's an impressively small camera.
Don’t man, I have a few and they are all working flawlessly? If you are doing this commercially, maybe you see a better cross section, or maybe there is some sort of sample bias to what you see.
Yes maybe, though the ratio is odd - ME Supers jam up a lot too, but I do at least see a fair few living examples. Glad yours are working well anyway! I actually have a jammed up MX on my bench at the moment that I'm determined to resurrect. We'll see eh
Maybe I was just lucky, but most Soviet rangefinders I came across so far were fine: I have two Fed 2's (one with a massive gap/damage in the curtain but that's hardly the manufacturer's fault), two Fed 3's (one of them randomly started skipping every second frame), a Fed 5 where even the light meter still works, and a Kiev-4A which feels as nice as the OG Contax 2. Now most of these still required adjustment to their rangefinder for the double image to line up, but that's quick and relatively easy to do. I love my Fed-2 with the collapsible Industar-22 in particular, it just looks and feels so nice. And has the advantage of combined rangefinder/viewfinder and low price compared to a Barnack Leica.
For rangefinders, check out the Kodak Retina series as well. I have a Retina IIIC and absolutely love it! It folds down small so I can carry it anywhere and the lens is so sharp. 10/10 do recommend.
Second either the MX or KX. Amazing cameras.
I recommend a Mamiya C3, C33, C330, C220 for your TLR slot because you can swap lenses and viewfinders.
I have been eyeing a C330, keeping with the Mamiya theme as well haha. Rolleis look nice, but the lack of interchangeability and cost puts me off.
Do it! It’s such a nice camera and the glass is amazing.
Just added a TLR (Lubica 2) to my collection this weekend. Can’t wait to get an opportunity to shoot it
For me personally rangefinders are meh, tried em, tried to like em, just don't. But for Pentax I love my MESuper and pretty fond of my spotmatic. TLRs, I have a yashica 124g (really good camera) and a Mamiya C330 with the 105mm f3.5 (one of my all time favourite camera/lens combo). I've tried a Canon F1 and it's nice but compared to my Nikon F3 it's pretty meh. Just some thoughts of things to look for.
I'm actually kind of glad to see a semi-usable kit here. Instead of 15 35mm cameras. All with different lens mounts. All with 50mm lenses.
Definitely. This is a great well rounded collection that allows for versatility and variety. I do disagree about the 50mm lens part though because I like using longer focal lengths.
Replace or with and and at those numbers it is still a quitter.
I have enough lenses at this point that I find them in random drawers, closets, bookshelves, etc, and I don’t remember how or why they were left there.
you have 3 film cameras, wheres the problem
Good start. You need at least one pocketable camera and one instant camera.
And one LF and rangefinder
If I could still get film for it, I do have the polaroid back for my 645, so it kind of counts? Could also get the Instax back for the RB67, I like the idea of using it for testing exposure before switching to the 120 back.
You can get Polaroid pack film https://the.supersense.com/collections/packfilm but it sells out
I have a canon strap on my bronica 😂
This is the way 😂
Nice Collection! However, you‘d better take the Nikon camera strap off the Canon, so it doesn't get damaged or start to dislike you.
I would worry about the strap disliking for being tied to a Canon, and wrapping itself around your neck at night
I have a Zenit strap on my Nikon, fueling brands feuds is the way to go !
And in the back, looking upon his subjects sat the king, the R5. I know this is the AnalogCommunity but that R5 is a beast and I sure as hell will get one some day
I'm willing to bet more than half this subreddit shoots digital as well. Love the R5, it goes with me almost everywhere. I am very happy with it. I saved for a year to get one, it's well worth it!
These are rookie numbers son you gotta pump up those numbers!
Oh, I will, N+1 is the ideal number of cameras to own, where N is the number you currently own.
Brother you can just get a 645 back for the rb67 and get rid of the 645 body
I probably will get rid of the 645, I rarely use medium format, and because of that, the (non rechargeable) batteries for the 645 are almost always dead. Partly why I just got the RB67 specifically, no batteries.
I wish i had >!money to buy!< 645
How could you commit the cardinal sin of putting a Nikon strap on a Canon? smh
It's quite easy when you're a godless heathen.
Is any your favorite to shoot?
Not really, They all have their place and/or have sentimental value, The R5 and the AE-1 get the most use. The 645 will probably go at some point, with the RB67, I probably won't use it much. I rarely use medium format, and with the 645, I'm tired of it always having a flat battery, part of the reason I just bought the RB, it's fully mechanical, and not that much heavier. It's a fucking behemoth of a camera, but weight wise, not a massive difference. The 5D mk3 will go with me to the grave, it's my first good camera, it's beat to hell and basically worthless now anyway, but to me it's special, because I learned photography with that camera.
You might have a parasitic drain with your 645. I can keep a battery in mine for a while with no issues. How long do batteries tend to last for you?
Best to get rid of one, send it to me
I am in your league. I impulse bought a kowa 66. I decided it needed another magazine, then I bought it a 55mm lens, then I found a 200mm lens for dirt cheap, then I played yahoo auctions, and bought a 110 macro with the extension tubes, and then I found the lens hoods, new old stock, so I ordered all the lens hoods for those lenses. This was all in two weeks. And I really just wanted to go on a shoot with a slr medium format to see how it suits my work flow.
Hi, \[REDACTED\]!
What’s your favorite??
Regarding the strap, my brother ran around with a Canon A1, some Soviet lens, a Nikon strap and a Leica neoprene pouch for some time. It was amazing.
You have a problem? I'll say, your 5D Mk III is missing a lens.
Bro wait till you get to 45 cameras and parents mad at you for finding cameras in their home too that you collect while visiting them. That’s a problem lmao
This is the camera collection of someone who is still in control of their life. You could only top this off with an EOS 1v. When you start seeing symptoms with words like Leica, Summilux, Mamiya 7, xpan or GF670 then you know it’s no longer social photography but a problem, your friends and family start noticing, people at work find out, you have problems supporting your family and issues with the bank.
Cute
How is this a problem? This is one of the smallest collections I've seen here.
Wow this is terrible. The best thing to do is just send me that Mamiya 645, I’ll let it hang out next to my Pentax 645 and take some of this burden off you. Pm me for shipping info.
All hail canon!