|
|
Post by belgiumreporter on Feb 13, 2015 9:43:39 GMT -5
Here's a selection of the best slr camera's that were on offer in the early seventies, anyone serious about photography had one or desperatly wanted one of these. 1 1971 Nikon F2 : still the ultimate all mechanical camera of that era.( and arguably of all time) 2 1971 Canon F1: canon coming up strong, but no match for the F2 3 1972 Olympus OM1 : a complete new concept of how an slr should look, aimed at the "pro's" but very popular with amateurs 4 1972 Minolta XM : the ultimate minolta way ahead of its time 5 1974 Leicaflex sl2 : pure leica no minolta, at twice the price of an F2 (and much less of a system camera) doomed to fail in sales. 6 1975 Contax RTS : nice porche design and a step toward all electronic cameras... still only a footnote in camera history 7 i would have liked to add pentax but they were still struggeling with the M42 mount and had nothing to compete with the above mentionned, we had to wait until 1980 when the LX was launched.  Once '75 passed everything changed.... |
|
Dave
Lifetime Member
Posts: 124
|
Post by Dave on Feb 13, 2015 10:50:52 GMT -5
I agree that the Nikon F2 about the best manual SLR ever manufactured. I have three, including black one which looks like it survived a major war -- still operating except for the meter. I paid under $50 for it. Although I have many other manual cameras, including the Canon F1, I find it hard not to take the Nikons out when I want to do some "real" thinking. Dave
|
|
truls
Lifetime Member
Posts: 568
|
Post by truls on Feb 14, 2015 4:54:36 GMT -5
Not so common viewing so many top classic cameras in one image - awesome collection!
Those fine systems being top class on its own, hard to pick any winner. Minolta XM not so easy to get hold of, the others are more common.
Nikon F2 may be of technical superior craftmanship, it is a nice camera.
|
|
|
|
Post by philbirch on Feb 14, 2015 9:17:29 GMT -5
Truly awesome collection. I had an OM1 but I'd love any of the others - particularly the F2.
Why the Leicaflex?
|
|
|
|
Post by lesdmess on Feb 24, 2015 17:58:32 GMT -5
My thoughts too so I went and scoured info on the SL2. From what I gather the build quality was on the same level as the Nikon F2 and Canon F-1. I found this interesting bit though -> Nikon F2 R -- Leica R Mount Nikon! |
|
|
|
Post by lesdmess on Feb 24, 2015 18:34:07 GMT -5
Here's a selection of the best slr camera's that were on offer in the early seventies, anyone serious about photography had one or desperatly wanted one of these. 7 i would have liked to add pentax but they were still struggeling with the M42 mount and had nothing to compete with the above mentionned, we had to wait until 1980 when the LX was launched. Once '75 passed everything changed.... Of course Pentax released the K mount in 1975 with the release of the K2, KX & KM followed by the K1000 in 1976. Since you still need a 7th, how about the Olympus OM-2 (1975), Pentax MX (1976) or Minolta XD-11 (1977)? |
|
|
|
Post by philbirch on Feb 24, 2015 19:59:28 GMT -5
So someone changed the mount. I put a Nikon mount on a Praktica and it worked just fine. Easy enough to do if the FFD of the lens is longer than the FFD of the camera body |
|
|
|
Post by belgiumreporter on Feb 25, 2015 3:18:03 GMT -5
Here's a selection of the best slr camera's that were on offer in the early seventies, anyone serious about photography had one or desperatly wanted one of these. 7 i would have liked to add pentax but they were still struggeling with the M42 mount and had nothing to compete with the above mentionned, we had to wait until 1980 when the LX was launched. Once '75 passed everything changed.... Of course Pentax released the K mount in 1975 with the release of the K2, KX & KM followed by the K1000 in 1976. Since you still need a 7th, how about the Olympus OM-2 (1975), Pentax MX (1976) or Minolta XD-11 (1977)? I would vote for the 1973 topcon super Dm as number 7 it is still early seventies ( all the cameras you mention are post '75) it was a very nice camera that could have been up there with nikon and canon sadly, as you all should now by now, i haven't got one to put in the display :-((( furthermore i only think the OM2 would qualify to be put alongside the other six, but there's allready the OM1. I never cared for anything Minolta released after '75 ( well maybe the 7000 but thats for diffrent reasons) and i have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Pentax throughout their complete line of cameras, maybe the love will grow when my LX will arrive later this week, but more on that later... |
|
|
|
Post by genazzano on Feb 25, 2015 4:50:05 GMT -5
That collection is simply wonderous. I must admit that I am partial to the F3 Nikon but that may be due to the fact that I have owned it and used it since 1982.
David
|
|
|
|
Post by belgiumreporter on Feb 25, 2015 6:18:29 GMT -5
Her's the follow up, late 70ties to early 80ties, these are the ones worthy but the count stops at 4  1975 OM2 1980 F3 1980 LX 1981 (new) F1 As you can see my LX has finally arrived, i must say even after a brief encounter it has got a lot going for it, all shutterspeeds available without battery love it ! |
|
|
|
Post by lesdmess on Feb 25, 2015 11:32:18 GMT -5
Of course Pentax released the K mount in 1975 with the release of the K2, KX & KM followed by the K1000 in 1976. Since you still need a 7th, how about the Olympus OM-2 (1975), Pentax MX (1976) or Minolta XD-11 (1977)? furthermore i only think the OM2 would qualify to be put alongside the other six, but there's allready the OM1. I never cared for anything Minolta released after '75 ( well maybe the 7000 but thats for diffrent reasons) and i have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Pentax throughout their complete line of cameras, maybe the love will grow when my LX will arrive later this week, but more on that later... The OM1 & OM2 clearly changed the landscape of SLRs as all of them dropped their existing line of larger bodies to compete with Mr. Yoshihisa Maitani creations. Picture what SLRs were prior to the OM1 & OM2.  However, what the OM1 started, the Pentax MX perfected. The MX was smaller, lighter, larger and full info viewfinder, traditional controls, silicon meter and modern available batteries. The Pentax MX is the smallest full manual SLR with the largest full info viewfinder.  |
|
|
|
Post by lesdmess on Feb 25, 2015 11:36:23 GMT -5
Her's the follow up, late 70ties to early 80ties, these are the ones worthy but the count stops at 4 1975 OM2 1980 F3 1980 LX 1981 (new) F1 As you can see my LX has finally arrived, i must say even after a brief encounter it has got a lot going for it, all shutterspeeds available without battery love it ! Oh sure, just change everything from 7 of the 70's to 4 of the 70's/80's . . .  When batteries die, the Pentax LX only has sync speed and higher and the B mode shutter speeds available. This is the same as the Canon New F-1. Except the battery has to be physically removed from the Canon in order for this to work. |
|
|
|
Post by lesdmess on Feb 25, 2015 11:45:18 GMT -5
i have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Pentax throughout their complete line of cameras, maybe the love will grow when my LX will arrive later this week, but more on that later... I like Pentax because their viewfinder has always been towards the larger and brighter viewfinder. Besides all the technical marvels of the LX especially compared to its peers, I appreciate that Pentax provided a clean and elegant design. Clearly they paid homage to the original Asahi Pentax.  |
|
|
|
Post by rickoleson on Feb 28, 2015 15:54:38 GMT -5
I'm afraid I can't agree about the Pentax MX perfecting what the OM-1 started. Pentax did get all the data sheet points right, it was smaller and had a big bright viewfinder with more information in it, and it was well built and rugged. But I gave up my OM1 system for Pentax MX when I got married in 1981, because my wife had a Pentax and it seemed more practical to share one system. I bought two MX's and was so disappointed in their handling that I got rid of them and used Ricoh XR-7's for several years before finally returning to OM. I won't itemize the handling problems here but there were many. Pentax also missed the point of the "system", in which all OM1 accessories were interchangeable with the OM2... nothing other than lenses was interchangeable from the MX to anything else as I can recall. (on a plus note, the MX focusing screens CAN be used in Olympus cameras!) The MX was a good camera, but it was clearly chasing a benchmark rather than its own definition of excellence, and it had neither the design sophistication nor the professional system vision of the Canon, Nikon and Olympus offerings of the late 1970s.
|
|
|
|
Post by lesdmess on Feb 28, 2015 16:51:13 GMT -5
Rick Oleson of Rick Oleson page? If so then that's good confirmation that the MX is at least a good camera that was well built and rugged. I agree that there is a difference in handling between the two and if you prefer the XR-7 then I can only guess that the shutter select switch position and resistance is one of those handling issues. I can see your point about the "system" interchangeability between the other single digit OM's as clearly an important consideration for that time. There is no denying the influence Mr. Yoshihisa Maitani creations had on the development of SLRs. |
|
