zuiko85
Mentor
I have a couple of the Olympus half frame cameras, an original Sanko Shoji made Pen (subcontractor for the first production run), as well as a Pen F with a small brace of it’s Zuiko lenses.
Absolutely lovely cameras to this day.
Absolutely lovely cameras to this day.
farlymac
PF McFarland
That's quite a list. I'll have to go back through to see how many I have, but there are more that I wish I had. I particularly like the histories you included with each model, instead of it just being a list of camera names. That, to me, is the important part.
PF
PF
David Hughes
David Hughes
Thanks, I enjoyed reading that but may I ask if it was originally published elsewhere?
I was surprised how many I have and have had but, like a lot of us in this part of the world, I'm up against the Rebel; Kiss, EOS, 300 problem in that I don't recognise many of the names.
Thanks again, David
I was surprised how many I have and have had but, like a lot of us in this part of the world, I'm up against the Rebel; Kiss, EOS, 300 problem in that I don't recognise many of the names.
Thanks again, David
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
When I think of the most fantastic camera ever made, then personal bias takes over and the Leica M3 and the Nikon SP come to my mind's eye. I can't decide which of the two is numero uno as I liked them both.
link is broken?
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
I'll easily choose my M3 over my S2.
I dislike the toothed focus wheel and infinity lock on those Nikon rangefinders (I realize you can grip the standard 50mm lens to focus, but there's still the infinity lock).
I also dislike how the aperture ring and index change position as the lens rotates for focus. On my lens, it's difficult to set the aperture with just one hand unless the lens is locked at infinity and won't also turn.
To be consistent, I also dislike the button-style infinity lock on my collapsible 50/2 Summicron.
I dislike the toothed focus wheel and infinity lock on those Nikon rangefinders (I realize you can grip the standard 50mm lens to focus, but there's still the infinity lock).
I also dislike how the aperture ring and index change position as the lens rotates for focus. On my lens, it's difficult to set the aperture with just one hand unless the lens is locked at infinity and won't also turn.
To be consistent, I also dislike the button-style infinity lock on my collapsible 50/2 Summicron.
I disabled the infinity lock on mine. Easy.
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
I don't know, but he M3 is a timeless design that spawned all the other M Leicas, but the Nikon SP was a tour de force in design and clever engineering and coolness factor by the bucket loads. The SP was what the hypothetical Zeiss Contax of the late 1950s should have been`.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Ah. So, to paraphrase Spinal Tap, looking at the Contax IIIa, where can you go from there? Where? Nowhere. So the Nikon SP is what you use when you need that extra push. It goes to 11.
I actually like the IIIa over the S2.
Attachments
farlymac
PF McFarland
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
Rob-F
Likes Leicas
I have had 8 of them. I have two at this point, the Leica II (D) and the Olympus. I don't think I saw the Leica M2 on the list! I think it should be.
Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
Original Olympus Pen by Sankyo-Shoji
Original Olympus Pen by Sankyo-Shoji
I was aware that subcontractor Sankyo-Shoji made the original Olympus Pen for about 8 months starting in 1959 before Olympus began manufacturing it themselves. If memory serves its identifying features are a single strap lug (for the furnished wrist strap) and a 2.8cm f/3.5 D.Zuiko lens which was subsequently changed to a 3cm. I've owned practically every model in the Olympus Pen series at one time or another but the Spartanly simple Original scale-focusing, meter-less Pen with the f/3.5 lens remains my favorite. Aside from what I've already mentioned does your Sankyo-Shoji-made Pen have any other markings or distinguishing features that set it apart from the ones made by Olympus?
Original Olympus Pen by Sankyo-Shoji
I was aware that subcontractor Sankyo-Shoji made the original Olympus Pen for about 8 months starting in 1959 before Olympus began manufacturing it themselves. If memory serves its identifying features are a single strap lug (for the furnished wrist strap) and a 2.8cm f/3.5 D.Zuiko lens which was subsequently changed to a 3cm. I've owned practically every model in the Olympus Pen series at one time or another but the Spartanly simple Original scale-focusing, meter-less Pen with the f/3.5 lens remains my favorite. Aside from what I've already mentioned does your Sankyo-Shoji-made Pen have any other markings or distinguishing features that set it apart from the ones made by Olympus?
phofseth
Established
interesting read with supplemental info on camera genealogy. I missed the Calypso/Nikonos and the Werra. Both design milestones in their fields.
p.
p.
Jason Schneider
the Camera Collector
Thanks for your kind words. 100 Greatest Cameras was published in installments in Popular Photography complete with pictures but not previously as one big compendium. Sorry I don’t have the dates handy but it was in the early 2000s.
tunalegs
Pretended Artist
The inclusion of the Instamatic is good, as I feel it would be overlooked by many. Even so its importance is a little understated. The Instamatic killed a whole genre of camera, the box camera, which it permanently displaced. And not just in Kodak's lineup, but completely, across the whole photographic landscape. It's not surprising that Kodak axed almost all of their box cameras roughly around the time the first Instamatics launched. What is surprising is how quickly almost every other manufacturer dropped theirs. By 1970, the box camera was dead, dead, dead. Only the cheapest, bottom of the bargain barrel models, like the Imperial Delta (3.98 including flash attachment!) were hanging on, and those would be gone too, soon enough.
Of course in turn, the Instamatic would be displaced - but its disappearance would be relatively gradual.
Of course in turn, the Instamatic would be displaced - but its disappearance would be relatively gradual.