What is, was your favorite Camera?

[ChrisPL68]

Off topic I know, but I have a box of old film I came across cleaning out my moms house. 110, 126, 35mm, 120...the entire gambit. Even some strange film in little cans that is about half the size of 35mm. Anyway, does anyone still develop outdated film?

The link Below is a little out of date (March 2023) but it contains information about locations of places offering film developing.

Where to Get Film Developed Near Me? Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens Compared | The Photography Professor

Since the digital age of photography film photography development stores have become less commonplace as they once were. This has made finding places to have…

thephotographyprofessor.com

 

[ButterfaceX]

 

[Saxonbowman]

Off topic I know, but I have a box of old film I came across cleaning out my moms house. 110, 126, 35mm, 120...the entire gambit. Even some strange film in little cans that is about half the size of 35mm. Anyway, does anyone still develop outdated film?

You might try The Darkroom. They do old film developing.

Need to develop an old roll of film? TheDarkroom.com, 40+ yrs experience.

Easy film developing by mail. Trust The Darkroom to develop your old film, color contrast, density adjust and scan images. We return your negatives too!

thedarkroom.com

 

[Craigbob]

My favorite camera has to be my current daily driver the Pentax K-1. It's got great ergonomics, awesome image quality, and a host of features that no other DSLR has. It fits my photographic needs to a tee.

 

[PCFiend138]

I can't pick one overall, but I definitely have favorites for different types of photography and category of camera. for DSLRs my favorite full frame is the Pentax K-1II, crop sensor is the Pentax K-5II, 35mm film is the Pentax MX, medium format is the Pentax 6x7. And just to show Pentax isn't all I use, it's mostly what I use, but not all, my favorite rangefinder is the Zorki 5 and my current favorite non-Pentax DSLR is the Canon 1DMKIII.

 

[JosephL]

for SLR Minolta XD-11 with MC Rokkor 58mm 1.4, fast, bokeh, and solid. The 58mm 1.4 was the standard kit lens with the SRT, well designed, well made, and relatively plentiful.

 

[psfred]

Olympus OM-2n. Have a 4, several OM-1ns, but the 2n is my favorite.

Don't use them anywhere near as much as I used to, I guess I'll have time in retirement.

 

[Eben Stone]

TLDR; Canon 70D.

When I was growing up my dad was a hobby photographer and now he's an astro photographer. I've always been interested in photography, but I wasn't very good at it until recently.

I've liked almost every camera I've owned, but for different reasons. I've taken some great photos with every camera I've owned, but also missed some shots because the camera just couldn't do what I wanted. Maybe the autofocus was too slow. Or the shots per second was too slow. Or the lens was too slow. Or I didn't know how to compensate for those things.

Here's a little history. I've probably missed a few because they were too boring to remember. I feel like I have to explain how I got to my current favorite for it to make any sense. Without some context, my choice might seem a little too insignificant.

I had a Canon Rebel with the kit lens and the 100-300mm lens. I learned how to change lenses with one hand. I wasn't very impressed with the camera. But I did like the 100-300mm lens.

Got a Canon S1 because I wanted a digital point and shoot and it had a 10x optical zoom with image stabilization. Not bad for a point and shoot for it's time. I loved this camera. It was so fun. Felt like a toy but I was still able to take some great photos with it.

Upgraded to a Canon Pro-1 because I wanted the 2.5-3.4 L lens and faster autofocus. But the autofocus wasn't any faster. And I kinda missed the image stabilizer of the S1.

Upgraded to a Pentax *istD. Heavy. Uncomfortable hand grip. Autofocus wasn't much better than the Pro1.

Upgraded to a Panasonic DMC-L1 because I wanted the 2.8-3.5 14-50mm (equivalent to 28-100 in 35mm) optically stabilized lens. That was an awesome lens. I really learned a lot about how to use a camera because this one doesn't have any modes, just an aperture ring on the lens and a shutter speed dial and iso dial on the body. Using this camera was absolutely the most significant milestone in learning photography. Heavy. Uncomfortable hand grip. Slow auto focus. But that lens. Wow.

I bought a Panasonic G1 to try it out a few years after its release. I liked the small size and low weight but the viewfinder and screen were pretty terrible. I had it for maybe a week or two before I got rid of it.

Upgraded to an Olympus E-510. I loved this camera because all the buttons and dials were so intuitive. I had everything memorized in a few minutes. I could also use the lens from the Panasonic DMC-L1. But the autofocus was still slow.

Tried a Canon M3 because I thought I might want something small and light weight. The battery life was terrible. The hand grip was too small. The only camera I've owned that I hated.

Upgraded to a Sony A77. Finally, I had a camera with a half decent autofocus. I used it with old Minolta lenses I got from ebay. I loved the huge hand grip. It was very comfortable to hold even though it was a bit heavy. I lost some lenses and ended up giving the camera away.

Now I have a Canon 70D with an 18-135mm lens and an 80-200 2.8 L lens. *FINALLY* I have a camera with fast autofocus. And the 7 shots per second isn't too terrible for sports. I love the 2.8 lens but wow its heavy.

Taking everything into consideration, I have to say the Canon 70D is my favorite camera. The fast autofocus and 7 shots per second allow me to capture what I want, the layout of the buttons and dials are very intuitive, the view finder and screen are large and bright, the battery life is great, the hand grip is large and comfortable, and I got mine used in perfect condition cheap on ebay. It gets out of my way and lets me take the photo.

 

[Craigbob]

I can't pick one overall, but I definitely have favorites for different types of photography and category of camera. for DSLRs my favorite full frame is the Pentax K-1II, crop sensor is the Pentax K-5II, 35mm film is the Pentax MX, medium format is the Pentax 6x7. And just to show Pentax isn't all I use, it's mostly what I use, but not all, my favorite rangefinder is the Zorki 5 and my current favorite non-Pentax DSLR is the Canon 1DMKIII.

Nice to see another Pentaxian up here.

 

[RangerReady23]

This has been one of my all time favorite cameras--spun many a roll through my first one, when I was learning the art alongside my dad when he was shooting weddings. The original suffered a battery failure that destroyed the electronics--my current one I picked up shortly thereafter and still use it frequently. Now that Daddy's gone, it feels more like an old friend. (photo courtesy Google, wasn't in front of my unit at the moment)

 

[psfred]

I have the Konica C35 version of that Minolta, very nice camera except that it's auto only and the battery wire is corroded (or the CdS cell is dead). Most likely a broken wire, but I can't find time to fix things these days.

Took very nice pictures when it worked, was one of my favorite hiking cameras.

 

[Garry357]

I started photography in 1989, I bought a Nikon FM2n. I later bought a Hasselblad 501cm kit. All purchased new.
both great cameras.

 

[jfl]

Wow, what a stroll down memory lane.
Favorite camera: Hasselblad 500 c/m, cradle it in my left hand and the index finger naturally lands on the shutter button. Alas, the lenses were just so expensive!
Most used cameras back in the day: Canon F1n and Canon EF (grandfather to the popular AE-1) with prime lenses 17mm, 35mm, 85mm, and 200mm.
Sold all the film cameras since they weren't getting much use. (Foolishly didn't sell my darkroom equipment at the same time! Still need to get rid of it, hint, hint.)
Acquired first digital camera about nine years after selling the film cameras and second digital (Panasonic FZ-200 superzoom) five years after the first.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

My favorite camera was a modern plastic cheap-feeling Canon SLR with auto-rewind and film advance (can’t remember the model). It had an LCD that displayed the shutter speed, aperture, etc and most importantly told me how many shots I had left. It was stupid easy to use and made me focus on the shot and composition with zero digital distractions.

I had a basic 50mm prime lens on that camera and oh my did I take some amazing photos. Fuji True Definition 400 was my favorite film, perfect contrast and saturation.

My Nikon D40 DSLR is really nice but never has given me a shot like the Canon Film SLR did. Film is a pain in the butt yet still totally worth it.

 

[Cafebarian]

most experience shooting Pentax K-mount (k1000, K-50, K-5iis, K-3) but have made the switch to Olympus/OM-systems m43 (em1, em5 mark ii, em1 mark iii)

 

[DesertIguana]

Truth is Camera of today that are part of Smart Phones do a pretty good job capturing snap shots. The other truth today is the person who use to make a good living doing freelance photography is not living high on hog. The internet, cameras in phones, cheap stock photo collections, and Getty Images, have killed off a profession.

 

[Cafebarian]

Truth is Camera of today that are part of Smart Phones do a pretty good job capturing snap shots. The other truth today is the person who use to make a good living doing freelance photography is not living high on hog. The internet, cameras in phones, cheap stock photo collections, and Getty Images, have killed off a profession.

Plus AI generated content and AI computation....

 

[amateur]

Smena - 8M. This is undoubtedly the most affordable camera in the Soviet Union. a camera produced by the LOMO association from 1970 to 1990.



The Smena-8M is considered the most massive camera in the world, the total production of which, together with the previous Smena-8 model, exceeded 21 million copies. According to some sources, a more accurate number is 21,041,191 units (up to and including 1995).



The index "8M" was received by the Smena-9 model in a modified case. The main difference was the appearance of weather symbols on the shutter speed scale and plot symbols on the meter scale, which made it easier to select exposure and focus on sharpness[5]. It became possible to determine the distance by the close-up of the plan: "single portrait", "double portrait", "group shot" and "landscape".