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Manual and semi-automatic 35mm camera reviews
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Nikkormat FTN
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-- about 30 years old. A heavy, rugged, all manual camera with a built
in basic light-meter. Takes Nikon AI lenses, which are excellent. I use
this for most of my black and white photos. It is ideal on the copy
stand for old photo reproduction and close-up work. Displayed with
a 135 mm f 2.8 lens, which is good for
portraits. I also have 28mm, 50mm, and 80 - 200 zoom lenses. I sometimes
use macro lenses, and a 2x extension tube. This camera can be purchased
on the used market for $125 to $150 without a lens. I have seen it as low
as $50, with a lens, at a thrift shop. Look around. It has a
self-timer and pc flash cable outlets, one for X and one for M. Shutter
speed from B to 1000. Mirror lock-up feature. ::Review
by Paul Smyres::
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Pentax MG
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-- - an all-purpose
aperture - priority camera. No manual override. Not by any means
expensive, it is easy to use, quite small, and reliable. Many good
lenses are available for it. Shown is a versatile 28 - 205mm zoom
with a 1.4 macro feature. I use this camera for many prints that
end up on the website. Does not have flash cord jacks, but does have a
flash mount. I also have a straight 50mm lens and a 135mm
2.8f. It is almost worn out by now, and I will replace it
soon. The Pentax ME is very similar, but
has more controls, including manual override. ::Review
by Paul Smyres::
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Konica TC
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-- One of the first Auto exposure cameras that was a top
seller. Shutter priority or manual. Flash synch at 1/250,
with both PC outlet and hot shoe. Cloth shutter. Very easy
to use and durable. Many good lenses are available. This one
has a 1.8 40mm. A great student or travel camera that delivers fine
results. ::Review by Paul Smyres::
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Yashica TL-Electro
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Pentax Spotmatic.
Pentax K -1000
Great student cameras. All manual, speeds to 1000, plus
B. The Yashica and Pentax
cameras use 49mm screw lenses, which can often be found very cheap on the
used market. The better ones, such as those by Takumar,
are excellent. Yashica flash synchs at
1/60, plus hot-shoe and PC jack. If you're travelling
to an undeveloped country and don't want to take an expensive camera, get
one like these, then sell or trade it before returning. There are
many similar cameras made from 1950's to 1970's that are good, too.
::Review by Paul Smyres::
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Olympus OM-10
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The Olympus OM-10 is a great little
camera, very light-weight. It uses aperture priority, with an
LED in the viewfinder to indicate shutter speed. Self timer, speeds
from 1 second to 1000, plus B. You can get a manual adapter
for this camera, allowing full manual control. Easy to use,
with a host of excellent lenses available.
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Also recommended:
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Canon A-1 and AE-1 Program. Nikon
F-series. Nikon FE -- etc.
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Electronic 35mm
Very
common today, and most are built very well. Many lenses are
available. Some have fairly complicated controls and others requires dedicated flash for best results.
Best to get one with manual over-ride to electronics. Main
problem with this type of camera is dependence on batteries. No
battery, no picture. Not good. The better ones have
cast aluminum or titanium frames under the plastic. If the
electronics fail, you are out of luck, and it will be sudden, without
warning. I always have a manual camera available.
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Nikon N70
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-- very versatile and durable. Same type
of electronics as some of Nikon's top cameras, yet it doesn't cost a
fortune. Very light in weight, compared to
the F series. Can take older Nikon lenses as well as the new
auto-focus ones. I have a 28 - 80 general purpose auto-focus lens
on it and a 70 - 210. Autofocus is quite fast, and can take around 3 fps. Useful camera
for fast action, slides, and
portraits. Its complex automatic matrix metering system is very
effective. All manual adjustments are available, too. Manual,
shutter or aperture priority, programmable, up to 3 frames per
second. Very versatile and accurate on-board flash. No flash
cord or standard shutter release jack,
unfortunately. Many photo enthusiasts forget than some of the
most famous master photographers built their reputation with cameras that
were primitive by today's standards, with little or no internal metering
for proper exposure.
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Olympus IS-1
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Self-contained autofocus(no manual focus over-ride) with excellent 35-135mm
lens. Can be set to Program, Aperture priority, or manual.
This is a very useful camera, and delivers good results, but it has a few
negatives: No PC outlet, and the hot-shoe
requires a dedicated flash unit. Awkward film loading, and goes
through batteries faster than I would like. Size is also
cumbersome. Autofocus is quite slow, too.
However, its lens and other features, such as adjustable built-in
flash, manual exposure over-ride, and so on make it one I use often for
web photos. Newer versions of this camera have improvements, but I
have not tried them.
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Also good:
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Pentax models, Canon Rebel and EOS
series.
Top of the line is the Leica R-8 and similar
models from Nikon, Minolta, Canon, etc.
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Nikon 8008
Nikon F801
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Nikon 8008, or F-801( European model)
This
is a very popular camera, used as a backup by many professionals.
Very durable.
A host of features, with a top
shutter speed of 1/8000 second ! I use
this camera for all my pet photography.
Although it's built for the autofocus lenses, it takes all AI indexed Nikon
lenses.
Shown with the Nikon Speedlight 25, wide angle TTL flash unit.
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Canon TX
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a basic but well-built camera for which you can
buy many lenses on the used market.
Great student camera. Has an averaging meter with a
match-needle.
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Ricoh 401
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this is a very unusual camera, because it has a
dual view-finder, both waist-level and regular. It is old,
and uses screw-in lens that was once a standard. It's a very
hardy camera, and I use it often. Built-in averaging meter, aperture and
shutter priority, self-timer, both X and M flash outlets.
Seen here with a Mamiya/Sekor F 2.8
28 mm lens and a Vivitar flash unit. This
old camera can produce excellent results. The waist-level
viewfinder is very handy on the copy stand and also for discrete photos,
such as street photography.
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Leica M series or quality range-finders of
classic vintage. All old rangefinders from Leica, Nikon, and Canon, and some others, are highly
collectible. Lenses may be hard to find and very expensive.
Rangefinders are quiet and usually smaller than SLR's, making them
unobtrusive. That is good for press photographers.
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