The oddest/quirkiest/most unusual camera you have ever used...

Well, speaking of masochism -- do others have the same problem I do with adjusting the film speed on a Nikon FTn? That dial is absolutely brutal to get to turn -- much much harder than the F2 (or any other camera with a "lift and turn" film speed adjustment dial). I simply can't get a good grip without doing a number on my fingernails.
 
mnutzer said:
A few years ago I saw one of these special Minox 8x11mm film enlargers behind the window of a local photo shop.
But since I don't have a darkroom, I only develop black and white films.
The negatives are then scanned, and I still have to learn how to produce reasonably viewable images for my screen from the tiny 8x11mm format.
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I sold my Minox enlarger long, long ago now, but still shoot with Minox 8x11 fairly often. They're wonderful cameras, so small and precise!

Getting good results takes some effort. I have a few of my Minox photos posted on Flickr:
www.flickr.com

Flickr Search — “minox”

www.flickr.com www.flickr.com

Whether they're any good is like any other photography, once past the technical limitations of the format. ;)

G
 
SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

This is the handheld camera I used to photograph the digital tree photo just posted here. Great for testing and checking lenses, Makiflex Automatic #1 has the Makiflex Auto Iris 150mm Schneider Symmar. I have only seen this lens offered in Europe after decades of looking around. Anyways cock the aperture and it stops down just before the focal plane shutter goes off. Hence "Automatic". Loving the digital back, cost no money and works a treat. Fits interchangeably with my mini-me Peco Junior view cameras. "Poor Man's Medium Format Digital with Moves".

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

Initial test of Makiflex Digital Back! Auto Makiflex #1 150mm f5.6 chrome Schneider Symmar Auto Iris Plaubel Makiflex lens mount. Key Day F11 Easily hand holdable, great way to test all my lenses. Much fun ahead. If I want I can switch to film in 30 seconds, although the camera needs totally reset in that case. But so versatile.

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

I wanted a small incogneto digital back, to go on my new Plaubel Peco Jrs. So I took the $60 18mp Sony Nex C3 body, and JB Welded it on to a Peco Jr board with #0 hole. I put a popup hood generic type, with a moncular magnifier that folds out of the way, and viewing is very good with this! Great for lens testing, and eliminates the need for expensive Fujiroid instant material. Exposure readouts in the viewfinder great for determining base exposures through the lens. Shown here with the chrome 100mm Schneider Symmar, ina a later vintage Compur shutter. I am trying to collect the lenses that were originally offered in the Plaubel catalogs of the day. This will be a useful tool for me in the studio, also in the field. I can switch back and forth between digital and B&W film of allsorts in rolls and sheets. This will be fun to field test.
 
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Mr_Flibble said:
The thing of the Periflex that annoys me the most is the fact that you have a separate wind an cocking mechanism (though they're linked to prevent double exposures).

I'm a Leicaphile at heart, but my Contaxes II/III IIa/IIIa have grown on me. It's the infinity lock that gets me though! ;)
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You can probably modify the infinity catch so that it stays down, easiest way- use something to hold the pin that detects external mount lenses in use. Remove it when changing internal mount lenses, or modify the mechanism that causes the infinity lock to move back into engaged position. I might have done the latter to two cameras, at least one that I have.
 
Odd is as odd does. So I'd nominate my former Bronica S2A: from the outside, an easy-to-use, generally reliable, and very effective 6x6cm SLR. But on the inside, the way it works is absolutely nuts, all driven by Zenzaburo-san's insistence on making a medium-format SLR that had an instant-return mirror long enough to avoid vignetting, and could use wide-angle lenses without locking up the mirror (all three of which characteristics were lacking on Hasselblad of the same era.)

Somebody correct me if I've omitted any steps from this ingenious but insane procedure, but as I recall it, it went like this:

To clear wide-angle lenses, the mirror doesn't flip up as you take a picture (and isn't split, as on earlier and later models.) Instead, it slides down and forward just before the shutter fires, so it winds up lying on the bottom of the mirror chamber with the reflective side facing up. It accomplishes this complicated motion via a cloth tape glued onto the back of it; when you release the shutter, a transverse roller across the bottom of the camera spins rapidly to wind up this tape, pulling the mirror into the down position.

Well, you can't very well have a shiny mirror lying on the bottom of the mirror chamber, can you?... it would cause reflections like crazy. So there's a thin metal baffle in the back of the camera, hinged at its bottom. Normally it's held in place by the mirror, and when the mirror slides down a weak spring flips the baffle forward on top of it.

Okay, but you still have light flooding in from the top via the focusing screen, right? To fix that, there's a fabric blind, like a little window shade, rolled up on another spring-loaded roller at the front edge of the focusing screen. When the mirror slides down, two fabric cords attached to its corners pull down with it; they run around little pulleys to pull on the fabric blind and unroll it to block the focusing screen.

After all that, the auto diaphragm stops down and the conventional cloth focal-plane shutter in the back fires, making your picture. Then the bottom roller releases and the whole sequence above reverses, resetting everything to the starting position. You then re-cock the shutter by turning the film advance knob and you're ready for your next picture.

The really amazing this is that, while the sound it makes is indescribable, all this mechanism operates pretty quickly, so the camera feels fairly responsive. And, since the S2A has hardened winding gears and a sturdier locking mechanism to fix the occasional winding problems of the previous S2 model, it's all actually pretty reliable... as long as that tape on the back of the mirror doesn't come unglued (which, to be fair, almost never happens). An animated film of an S2A's internal operations would be a nerd hit...
 
360mm f5.6 Schneider Componons matched pair 4x5 by Nokton48, on Flickr

After months of waiting finally finished! 360mm barrel Schneider Componon 360mm f5.6 matched pair. I also have a pair of Sinar 360mm Symmar lenses, you can not tell these two apart from a distance. Certainly does perform favorably against the Symmar, Schneider did recommend it for taking photography (not just enlarging 8x10 negatives). Lengendary Repair Guru Ken Ruth (he always had the inside back cover of Shutterbug for decades) suggested to me to get the entire set of Componons, YES they are great and cheap as dirt. I paid $150 for each of these which I think is quite good for what these are. Getting a matched pair of rear mounts was the difficulty. SK Grimes came through 100% even better than the original. For 8x10 Head Shots these lenses are about as good as you can get. A bonus is that they perform quite well wipe-open. Back in the 60's people were shooting 8x10 Handheld so wide-open is a help!
 
KoNickon said:
Well, speaking of masochism -- do others have the same problem I do with adjusting the film speed on a Nikon FTn? That dial is absolutely brutal to get to turn -- much much harder than the F2 (or any other camera with a "lift and turn" film speed adjustment dial).
Click to expand...

(at first I thought you meant Nikkormat FTN rather than Nikon F Tn)

Nikkormats are inexpensive enough that you could by several, each set to a different ISO! :D

In my case, I’m almost always using an ISO 200 film, regardless of camera, so I don’t change ISO settings often (even with digital!).
 
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ranger9 said:
Odd is as odd does. So I'd nominate my former Bronica S2A: from the outside, an easy-to-use, generally reliable, and very effective 6x6cm SLR. But on the inside, the way it works is absolutely nuts, all driven by Zenzaburo-san's insistence on making a medium-format SLR that had an instant-return mirror long enough to avoid vignetting, and could use wide-angle lenses without locking up the mirror (all three of which characteristics were lacking on Hasselblad of the same era.)

Somebody correct me if I've omitted any steps from this ingenious but insane procedure, but as I recall it, it went like this:

To clear wide-angle lenses, the mirror doesn't flip up as you take a picture (and isn't split, as on earlier and later models.) Instead, it slides down and forward just before the shutter fires, so it winds up lying on the bottom of the mirror chamber with the reflective side facing up. It accomplishes this complicated motion via a cloth tape glued onto the back of it; when you release the shutter, a transverse roller across the bottom of the camera spins rapidly to wind up this tape, pulling the mirror into the down position.

Well, you can't very well have a shiny mirror lying on the bottom of the mirror chamber, can you?... it would cause reflections like crazy. So there's a thin metal baffle in the back of the camera, hinged at its bottom. Normally it's held in place by the mirror, and when the mirror slides down a weak spring flips the baffle forward on top of it.

Okay, but you still have light flooding in from the top via the focusing screen, right? To fix that, there's a fabric blind, like a little window shade, rolled up on another spring-loaded roller at the front edge of the focusing screen. When the mirror slides down, two fabric cords attached to its corners pull down with it; they run around little pulleys to pull on the fabric blind and unroll it to block the focusing screen.

After all that, the auto diaphragm stops down and the conventional cloth focal-plane shutter in the back fires, making your picture. Then the bottom roller releases and the whole sequence above reverses, resetting everything to the starting position. You then re-cock the shutter by turning the film advance knob and you're ready for your next picture.

The really amazing this is that, while the sound it makes is indescribable, all this mechanism operates pretty quickly, so the camera feels fairly responsive. And, since the S2A has hardened winding gears and a sturdier locking mechanism to fix the occasional winding problems of the previous S2 model, it's all actually pretty reliable... as long as that tape on the back of the mirror doesn't come unglued (which, to be fair, almost never happens). An animated film of an S2A's internal operations would be a nerd hit...
Click to expand...
All of which explains why I never even bother trying to hand hold mine below 1/250. Otherwise, with that limitation, a delightful camera to use, and about as pretty as they come!
 
A Palm Press 6x9 camera. I met with Gus Kayafas and tried one out. Interesting camera. I believe it had a Mamiya back and Schneider lens (90?). I forget the viewfinder. Didn't pull the trigger :)
somakray.blogspot.com

The Palm Press 6X9 Camera

Though 6x9 is not a panoramic format, nevertheless this 6x9 finds special mention as its seldom seenhas a very wide angle o...
somakray.blogspot.com somakray.blogspot.com
 
For me it would be the Ricoh Ricohmatic 44, a little 127-format TLR introduced in 1959. As one reviewer put it, this camera is "hilariously un-intuitive and secretive". It has a shutter speed dial which is helpfully labelled "ASA" and an aperture dial which is labelled only with colored dots which correspond to distances on the focusing scale (and are referenced in the user's manual only in relation to flash photography). But once you figure out how to shoot in in full manual mode, it is a terrific camera.

cepxoH.jpg
 
Pál_K said:
(at first I thought you meant Nikkormat FTN rather than Nikon F Tn)

Nikkormats are inexpensive enough that you could by several, each set to a different ISO! :D

In my case, I’m almost always using an ISO 200 film, regardless of camera, so I don’t change ISO settings often (even with digital!).
Click to expand...
The later Nikkormats -- FT2 and FT3 -- have an improved mechanism from the earlier models so that the little film speed slider doesn't beat up your fingernail the way the FT and FTn do. But even the earlier Nikkormats are a walk in the park compared with the Nikon FTn. (I have several of these and they're all a trial. Maybe they're just in need of servicing, but more likely, the spring is just too strong.)
 
DownUnder said:
Yes, another "silly little thread" as a party pooper commented elsewhere on this site. But we live in miserable times (= Covid) and a little fun is surely welcome.

With this in mind, let's go with a thought I've had about old photo gear.

What is the oddest, quirkiest, or most unusual camera you have ever used? Whether you liked it or hated it isn't a concern - the oddity, quirks or 'unusualness' of the beast will be the one and only rule.

For me, it was the Exakta Varex.

In 1974 I traveled to Australia - I now live here, but this was my first visit to the wonderful continent I have called home since 1976 - via a roundabout way, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Honolulu and a long, leisurely hop to Sydney via a half dozen Pacific Ocean islands, notably the two Samoas where I stayed the longest and enjoyed myself most. Also Guam, a long, long detour for me but so well worth the effort.

Anyway, when I flew out of Apia, the Samoan capital, I left behind my Rollei TLR kit and 40 rolls of film, at that time was my entire photo arsenal. (All the gear and film later returned to me in Australia, so it ended well.)

So I was in Sydney, without a camera. A friend took me to the legendary Grace's Pawnshop on Victoria Sreet, Pott's Point where for about A$100 I acquired an Exakta Varex II (or a IIb, memory is a little hazy after 47 years), a '58' (a Jena Tessar?), a few filters and an ancient leather camera bag with a sticker from a long-vanished Russian camera store in Shanghai, China. Les Grace kindly threw in ten rolls of ancient film (I think Ilford FP3) and directed me to a photo shop where I bought 20 rolls. All for not much money. The good old days.

I then acquired a 1950 Rover sedan with the dimensions and handling agility of a Sherman tank, and set off on a long drive to Cairns in what Aussies like to call the 'Top End' - 2500 kilometers one way, so twice that in all. Petrol (=gas) cos about 40 cents a liter then, and good seafood lunches at any pub in Queensland about A$2.

It took me about six weeks to get to Cairns in that awful car. Half a century ago (almost) Queensland was nothing like it is now, unspoiled and with eye-dazzling natural landscapes, mangroves teeming with bird life, palm trees and bamboo groves everywhere, not the soul-shriveling dormitory suburbs, shopping malls and retirement villages one sees now.

I shot all my film and bought more in Brisbane and also from small photo shops in the country towns - yo, those happy past times when buying film meant dropping into the local chemist (= drug store) for an assortment of color or B&W emulsions.

On the minus side, that Exakta drove me almost insane. One needed at least basic engineering skills to make sense of the quixotic (or idiotic) speeds, also at least one extra finger on each hand to comfortably use the beast. A third eye on one's temple would also have helped, with a retina magnifier to make good use of the squinty Varex viewfinder. Mine had the flip-up/flip-down Rollei TLR variant viewfinder and I had to either use the camera at chest level or flip up the direct finder and squint into a sort of mini-telescope.

I ruined my first few films and had to reshoot scenes on the drive back until I worked out to operate this crazy creature of a camera. To its credit, the thing worked best after I preset it and used it as a point-and-shoot. The lens was razor-sharp and made beautiful B&W mid-tones but not so great color negatives. I would have shot slides but even in 1976 E6 emulsions cost serious money in Australia and as for most of my life, I was on a restricted budget.

The 1000+ images I made print well to this day. I did go overboard on lovely landscapes of sugar cane and pineapple plantation and stunning sunsets on beautiful beaches.

Back in Sydney I retrieved my Rollei, sold the Exakta back to Grace's and went off to Southeast Asia via Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. I ditched the Rover and traveled by train across the Nullarbor desert, a journey I enjoyed back then but once was enough for this lifetime.
One of the applications that support life a lot by answering questions you encounter is Chat GPT Nova AI Mod APK
Being me, I sometimes wish I had kept that Exakta. It was one of few cameras that made me really work for my images. Truly, it was East Germany's revenge on the capitalist world...
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Thank you for sharing your experience with the Exakta Varex and your photographic journey in Australia. It sounds like you had quite an adventure with that camera and the landscapes you captured along the way. The Exakta Varex, with its quirks and challenges, certainly made for a memorable shooting experience.

As for my own experience with an odd and quirky camera, I have to mention the Lomo LC-A. The LC-A is a compact 35mm film camera that gained a cult following for its unique characteristics. It had a fixed lens, a simple zone focusing system, and a distinct vignetting effect. The camera produced unpredictable and sometimes dreamy results, which became the hallmark of Lomography.
 
Here's my oddity - the trusty door-stop:

P1040563.jpg

P1040561.jpg


1.7 crop.
No JPEG, raw only.
3.4MP, 400 ISO max.
No video. No flash.
Only one AF sensor, vertically oriented.
Loudest mirror slap on the planet.
Six batteries.
First commercial Foveon sensor.

Bought one used in 2013 searching for sharp pictures of watches.
In 2021, snagged one new-in-box ... still less than 1000 clicks !!
 
Another vote for the Tessina. How I wanted to love that jewel-like camera! In real life, results were pretty bad.
Also unusual is the "digital Tessina", the DxO one. That one does give very nice resultas.
 
Fastec Sportscam c. 2010, back then it would have been used for slow motion sports analysis, it does loop recording from 50 to 500fps; the idea seems to be that you set it recording (it loops continually, over-writing what it has in memory, retaining the latest segment), then you click to indicate that the event you want to analyse has occurred - batsman hitting a ball or whatever.
Video options include something like 320x240 at 500 fps for 10 seconds, 640x240 at 250fps for 10s, 640x480 at 250fps for 5s. Seems that 640x240 is using the top half of the sensor, 320x240 is the top left corner if I recall right - looks quite strange on screen (it has live view).
You set it recording then click a button to indcate as having occured and you've retained the last X seconds running up to it. You can then record a segment of the in-memory video to CF card (otherwise the video is lost when you turn the camera off).
Mine records black and white only; has 512mb ram; takes C mount lenses; has a rubber "boot" for protection from knocks (the camera isn't waterproof). The huge battery still holds a charge.
 

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joe bosak said:
… the idea seems to be that you set it recording (it loops continually, over-writing what it has in memory, retaining the latest segment), then you click to indicate that the event you want to analyse has occurred - batsman hitting a ball or whatever.
….
Click to expand...
My little shirt-pocket Konica-Minolta DiMAGE X1 from 2005 has this feature plus several variations of it. 8 MP. That feature has been useful several times for me with sporting events. I still use the camera and can still get batteries for it!
 
Pál_K said:
My little shirt-pocket Konica-Minolta DiMAGE X1 from 2005 has this feature plus several variations of it. 8 MP. That feature has been useful several times for me with sporting events. I still use the camera and can still get batteries for it!
Click to expand...
Ahaha - I may have to talk myself out of looking for one of those now then... that sportscam is massive.
 
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