Old and In the Way

The last post made me curious, and I don't think I've asked this question for a while.

What's the oldest digital camera you shoot with regularly? (Don't neglect to give the year it came out if you can.)

Good topic for a Summer weekend. Bonus question: what's the weirdest, most unusual, or most offbeat camera you own and sometimes even use? (Here's how to add a picture to a comment in case you want to. Make sure the picture isn't more than 470 pixels wide.)

For me, my oldest camera in use is my 2014 Fuji X-T1 (2014 was a very good year for TOP and for me). The answer to the second question is surely my Exakta 66.

Mike

P.S. The post title comes from this, as the Deadheads and bluegrass fans amongst ye knew instantly.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Emil: "I’ve only owned and used one camera since it was released 2011: Fujifilm X100 with its 23mm lens. We make a great team together!"

Dave Levingston: "I have most of the digital cameras I've bought, all the way back to a Sony Mavika that wrote the files to floppy disks, but I pretty much never use any but the most current, which these days are a pair of Panasonic GX8s.

"I have several 'weird' cameras, including a custom-made Fuji Instax Mini camera with a very nice, sharp view camera lens on the front. But the most weird is my 'Speed Holga' which I put together after an argument with a dedicated Holga photographer who was insisting that only a Holga camera could produce the Holga style in photos. I maintained that any crappy camera could take Holga-like photos. I told her I could tape a magnifying glass to the front of a camera and make photos that resembled Holga photos. She was certain that was impossible. So I did it.

"As you can see, no expense was incurred in the building of this camera and lens combo.

"I've taken a number of photos with this setup. The rear shutter of the Speed Graphic makes it easy to use. I used Polaroid and Fuji peel-apart instant film, though sheet film or roll film in a holder would work, but without the quick feedback on exposure, since the 'aperture' is a total unknown.

"Here's one photo done with it. This was grossly overexposed, might have been the first shot I took with it, but that overexposure turned out to be a pretty happy accident."

Andrew Lamb: "I use an EOS 5D II and Nikon D3S regularly for pro work. For personal pics I regularly use a 6x6 Super Ikonta, from 1938, my all-time favourite camera."

Jim R (partial comment): "Jerry Garcia started his musical career playing blue grass in 'jug bands' before making it big with The Grateful Dead, the grandfather of today’s 'jam bands.' I stopped paying attention to the more recent incarnations of The Grateful Dead once Jerry died in 1995. The music just stopped then. I did really like the ties based on his art though. The 'Old and In the Way' stuff is fabulous; thanks for the reminder!"

Comments

[Kurt Kramer]

Canon 5D MkII that I bought in January 2012. The MkII came onto the market late in 2008. So it's a 10½ year old model that I have owned and used for 7½ years.
Shot with it last weekend at the Illinois Railway Museum and their Vintage Car Show on Sunday. Love it still. (In addition I now shoot with an Olympus M5 MkII and Panasonic G9. Like the Oly a lot better.)

[Benjamin Marks]

I think at this point, the vote for oldest-digital-in-current-use goes to the Nikon D3. Super, super camera. The native color rendition with the the 105 DC lens is just beautiful to my eye, and I have never been able to duplicate it in mythical "post processing." Just magic.

No oddballs, really, in my film cameras. Hassie 500 C? Rolleiflex 2.8D? 4x5 Crown Graphic? These days a Contax G2, might count as an oddball. . ..

I do have a Retina IIIC that I bought but never used much. Golden age of US camera design on that one. . .it is sitting on a shelf now, undoubtedly with its lubricants slowly gummifying.

Funny: I spent a lot of this week looking at negatives from 1987, shot with a Pentax K1000 and a 50/1.7 lens. The TMAX 400 negatives show no degradation and scan up well. But the Pentax K1000 was sold years ago to fund the purchase of the legendary Pentax LX, and then the LX was traded on a Nikon F4. The F4, in turn, led to the acquisition of a lot of Nikon lenses, which made the D3's purchase in 2007 almost a foregone conclusion. See? circle of life (or light).

[Olivier]

My oldest camera still in use: Nikon V1 from 2011. It is so simple to use despite its many quirks.

My most unusual camera: the same Nikon V1, because I transformed it to only see near infrared. It is very enjoyable and actually liberating for a colorblind person like me.

The rest of the time, I play with what is your oldest camera, X-T1...

[Mike Potter]

Oldest digital camera that I use regularly: Sony RX-100 (the original model).
Oldest (not really weird/offbeat (at least I don’t believe it to be)) camera I use, at least somewhat: Fujifilm GA645 (released one year earlier than my Contax G2).

[Alan Huntley]

Oldest digital camera used fairly regularly:

Sony DSC-R1

Oldest film camera used fairly regularly:

Zeiss Ikon Mess Ikonta 524/2

(though I wouldn't say this camera qualifies as weird or odd)

[Dean Forbes]

Oldest: 2015 Ricoh GRII. Still a great camera.
Offbeat: Polaroid SX-70 with sonar AF module.

[Jeff]

Oldest digital would be a 2006 Leica M8 that I use to shoot infared images. The most unusual is undoubtedly my 35mm Widelux.

[Anthony Shaughnessy]

Pentax K20D, my first and currently only digital camera. I can't remember how long I've had it but at least ten years. I did get an Olympus OMD-EM10 about five years ago and used that more often but it's no longer functional so I'm back to the Pentax as my only camera. When I was using the Olympus more regularly the Pentax started to misbehave a little but now it's back in regular use it's working perfectly again.
Anthony

[JG]

My oldest camera still in regular use is a Sony RX1, although it has become a challenge to keep the three I have alive and functional as they approach their seventh birthday (thus the reason I have three on hand, because each of them is wounded in one way or another!)

My most unusual camera, besides my other FrankenKameras, is a modified Cambo Actus that I've recently been using to do infrared photography late at night via my full-spectrum modified Samsung NX500 and various film-era Contax lenses:

This combo works well for the urban and suburban street scenes I enjoy photographing and, of course, nighttime photography is still a source of great fun for me more than a decade after the first time I tried it! 8^)

[Bob Sacamano]

Panasonic DMC-LX5. I had to look that up because I forgot it's designation. I just came back from a trip where the Nikon D7000 was fixed to the 85mm 1.4D - the LX5 was the wide-angle to normal and Macro camera, whilst the D7000 did telephoto duty. The Nikon is not exactly a green leaf anymore, but it's my expression of "good enough syndrome" (as Thom Hogan calls it).

I'm sometimes wondering whether my stuff will become obsolete - will that really expensive 85mm remain usable? - but I'm just winging it anyway at this point!

[c.d.embrey]

The oldest digital camera I use isn't a IL Camera. Since I got my iPhone Xs last year, it's all I need. Stills and 4K UHD, it does it all.

Before the Xs, I used a Canon 40D. It was picked up new from Calumet (Santa Ana, CA) at the end of August, 2007.

[Dave Millier]

Fuji X10 (2011) and for quirky, 2006 Sigma SD14 with dust/IR block filter removed for IR photography.

I still have my 1999 Nikon Coolpix 950 in mint condition but I haven't used it since 2001.

[Dirk Bumann]

I've been dragged into this newfangled world of digital kicking and screaming only a couple years ago, when film and developing became too expensive and inconvenient. Then I bought a used Canon 5D (version 1) because the files looked the most film-like to me. They still do, and still look special to me compared to those from other digital cameras.

[Andreas Weber]

I'm still shooting with the Nikon D800 I bought in September 2012, altough I'm shifting slowly towards my m4/3 gear.
The most unusual may be the Sigma DP3 Merrill.

[Kodachromeguy]

Oldest digital camera: Fuji X-E1 in infrequent use.
Weirdest camera: 1957 Voigtlander Vito BL with 50mm Color-Skopar lens (not all that weird and fantastic Tessar-type lens). Great fun.

[R. Edelman]

I an an ophthalmologist, and I do eyelid surgery. Photo documentation is necessary prior to surgery for insurance authorization and for medical-legal purposes. I use Canon S70 (2004) and S90 (2009) models for this. They are quite capable of acquiring the mandatory front, and right and left three-quarter side views. Unlike smartphones, I don’t have to worry about data security.

[hugh crawford]

My 2005 Sony DSC-R1 doesn’t get used a lot but it is still the best for mixing daylight and flash.

[trecento]

I use a Panasonic Gx-7 [2013, 16mp] with the 20mm 1.7 [2009] every day.

My backup cameras, which are actually my kids', are a Olympus E-PL5 [2012, 16mp] and a Panasonic Gf-3 [2011, 12mp].

I don't mind the megapixels, but the noise and dynamic range on the Gf-3 are kind of unpleasant. The viewfinder on the Gx-7 is damaged, so I find that the E-PL5 is every bit as good for most practical purposes. I'm only tempted to upgrade because I'd like to do 4k video of my kids.

My two favorite weird cameras are a Kodak Brownie Starflex, a pseudo-TLR, which uses 127 film, and was my very first camera! I have this hilarious picture my dad took of me carrying it at Disneyland when I was 10, diligently trying to figure out how to parcel out my 12 exposures. I also have the completely blank negative from that trip. Oops! I remember my grandfather, who was a Speed Graphic era pro, teaching me how to use a handkerchief to pull out a hot flashbulb from the reflector. I was super excited to use it, because it was just like a miniature version of his Rolleiflex!

I bought a duplicate a few years ago and ran a couple rolls of film through it, with mixed results.

My other one is a beat up 5x7 wood & brass field camera from the 1920's, a copy of one of the usual suspects from Rochester. (Nickel plated brass, so not as cool as it could be.) I've matched it with a 1890s British, brass, rapid rectilinear, that's totally a re-badged import! So not only retro, but retro off brand! It's in pieces in my basement, but it will totally look cool and be a bit usable someday. Soon. Probably.

[Phil]

I still shoot sometimes with an old beat-up Canon 5D that I use with adapted Oly OM lenses. I looked it up and was surprised to find it came out in 2006! I got it (needing repairs) several years ago from a friend who moved up to newer 5D's.

I guess my weirdest/unusual camera is the Baldinette that I still have but haven't used for a few years now. It was the camera my Dad handed to me, loaded with home-rolled FP4, when I was 16. Here's a sample from a few years after that: https://flic.kr/p/SRXXxp You might notice some banding and spots. I think it's probably from careless development, not from the camera. The guy who developed the film in his basement had terrible attention to detail and, unfortunately, I can say with authority that 40 years later, it hasn't improved ;-)

[John Holland]

Nikon D1X (introduced February 2001). It has great color and its noise is very much like the grain of 35mm slide film. And the camera itself works impeccably; it just gets the shot.

Oddest camera? Probably my Kodak Vigilant Jr., made right here in Toronto Canada:

I shoot B&W 120 film with this thing, and the pictures come out looking like something from 100 years ago:

[Neil Swanson]

My oldest is a bought new 2007 Nikon D3. I’m pretty sure it was 2007. I preordered as soon as I could and waited. Still a beast but overshadowed by a used D4S.
I don’t have anything unusual at this point. I have the D3, D4S and an XPro2.

[Victor Soto]

I picked up a used Olympus c5050 a couple of years ago. I couldn’t afford it when it came out in 2003. So it’s 16 years old. I use it more than my e-600. Raw files along with the Olympus viewer 3 software have been giving me great color. A little work with NIKfx tools and my finished files post and print up beautifully.

[Délon]

My oldest (and only) digital camera is a Panasonic GH4.
My most offbeat is a pinhole camera made from a soda can.

[Francisco Cubas]

The 2013 Fuji X100s, altough I buyed it in 2015, with a 43% discount. I love it, maybe in one or two years I will be able to upgrade to the X100F.

[Nico]

Oldest digital still in use would have been a Nikon D80, purchased in February 2007, except it died recently. So now it's a Fujifilm X-E1.

A somewhat oddball camera I enjoy using from time to time is a Kodak Retina Reflex IV outfit I got off eBay a dozen years ago. Unusual design choices abound on that one, but I genuinely have fun using it when I pull it out. And the Schneider lenses render images beautifully on Tri-X.

[John Krill]

I don't use old electronic cameras. The oler they are the greater the chance of failure. Don't fool yourself ALL electronics fail.

That is why camera companies don't use the word electronics at all. They fail. They call them digital for that very reason.

After three years you're pushing your luck.

That being said I bought a new XPro-2 in June 2018 and plan to use it until it dies.

[James Hildreth]

Oldest is a Nikon D7000 purchased in 2011. I think it came out in late 2010. It's my main camera.
Nothing weird. Waiting patiently for the Nikon Z-? APS-C body.

[David Maxwell]

Pentax K-5. October 2010 release date. Purchased by me maybe three years ago, used, for $250 with two kit type zooms. I like it.

[Hugh]

Canon 50D 2008
Canon G15 2012

Old funnies: still have two EOS RT bodies (pellicle mirror, 9ms shutter lag) in case I want to shoot film again.

Regularly use 21mm f/3.5 OM Zuiko, 50mm f/1.4 Pentax super-Multi-Coated Takumar and Nikkor SP 105mm f/2.5 lenses (average age 50 years or more) on a Canon RP.

[Andrew Molitor]

Nikon D3100, which I acquired in fall of 2010 (the camera was introduced a couple months earlier in the same fall season). It is, coincidentally, also the newest digital camera with which I shoot.

[Dogman]

2012 was a very good year. Both the Fuji X-Pro1 and the Nikon D800 were introduced and those are the two oldest digitals I'm using regularly. Of course, neither were bought in 2012. I bought the X-Pro1 in 2016 and it introduced me to the wonderful world of Fuji gear. The Nikon is a recent purchase. I intend to use it to digitize some of my old film images.

I have several older digital I no longer use, including an Olympus E-P1 outfit. One of the first Micro 4/3 cameras introduced. My oldest camera is an ancient Kodak box camera that has never worked since I've owned it. A deceased aunt had that camera when she was a child. She was born in 1909 and the owner's manual for the camera is copyright 1909.

[Tom]

The oldest camera in my possession is an Agfa which belonged to my father. It is nearly identical in appearance to John Holland's Vigilant and is responsible in a very large part for my life spent around photography. As a child I was fascinated by it's construction, the way it would neatly fold away, the way the sports finder would flick out in an instant and the lovely snick of the shutter. The oldest camera I occasionally use is my Leica M6TTL bought around 1999 and the oldest digital, my Nikon D4 from 2012 which is still my workhorse as I decided to pass on the D5. I still own nearly all of the digital Nikons I've bought, preferring to hang on to them rather than see them go for a couple of hundred pounds once they were surpassed by a newer model. My D3 I reckon I had my money's worth out of and it suffers from the delaminated display and hot pixels which were common in its brothers. It can rust in peace but the camera I hope to return to is my D2Xs. Beautiful colour, the most highly tuned of all Nikons in my opinion and more actual resolution than the D3, despite them both being 12 megapixel cameras.

[Alex G]

Oldest digital is my trusty Fuji X10 that I still drag along on trips now and then. It’s good for 5x7s, but begins to look a little under resolved at 8x12. My oddest camera is a Minox, which I haven’t bothered with in a long time.

[Chris]

My 2006 Pentax K10D still sees a lot of use. I love the CCD sensor look and the 10MP files print rather well. I don't print super large.
No quirky cameras from me other than being a Pentax shooter, which seems rather rare nowadays...

[Randall Teasley]

I'm still using a Nikon D2X that came out in 2005 for copy work. I shoot old family snapshots with it. For that purpose it has plenty of resolution.

[Rodney Yardley]

Oldest digital I use regularly is a Fuji x10. Older than that, and my fave is an Olympus epl1 with an adapter and a Pentax Super Takumar f2. Oldest camera I still use is a medium format Ansco Speedex. Hammer when you need one, screw driver when you need one. Funny thing is, no matter what camera, I do all my post processing on an IPad.

[Mark Roberts]

Pentax K-5 from 2010. Still a great camera. I'll be sad when I eventually have to retire it.

[Alan]

My oldest digital, still used almost daily, is my Canon 5D mk II (2008 release)

My unusual goes to the Fujica Half - although, it has not been used in quite some time. Turn it to portrait orientation to take a landscape oriented image.

[Patrick Pope]

I've been having a lot of fun shooting my 1999 vintage Nikon D1. It's very much like shooting slide film with an F5; low(ish) ISO/ASA, not much room for cropping, limited dynamic range, and no real ability to review images in the field. I use it a couple times a week and it's an absolute blast. The quirky interface clearly shows its first generation split digital/film camera personality which just makes it that much more endearing to me.

I also shoot with a Nikon D2H (2003 vintage) fairly regularly. For paid work I've done a couple sessions this year with my 2008 vintage Nikon D3. I really love the look of the files it produces.

[MikeR]

Not inclined to look up dates, but I'll offer a sort of tie between my Nikon D700 and Lumix GF1, IR converted .

[Rick Graves]

The oldest digital camera that I still shoot with is a Canon EOS 50D. I got the 50D in 2008. I keep the 50D around because in 2015 I had it converted to image in infra red.

Odd?
I have a Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak Model B camera that came from my grandmother. The manual was printed in 1925 so I assume that the camera is about that old too. I have not photographed with this camera.
I also have a Zeiss Ikon Contina II camera that was given to me by my father. When I got it from him, it was not functioning. I took it to the local repair shop where they said it would be about $50 to repair it. When I asked how much the camera was worth, they said "About $50". It got repaired. I shot a grand total of one roll of film with it after the repair.

[Michael]

Leica IIIc circa 1946. It is so simple and works great. I love it.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

The oldest digital camera I’m using? Well offhand I’d say it’s the one newest to me. It’s probably a Hasselblad CFV-50 50Mp (CCD) digital back I bought this summer for use with the Hassy 501 C camera I’ve had sidelined for many years. I think it was introduced in or around 2010. It’s a silly, impractical blast. (It’s also perhaps the most “weird and offbeat” camera I use, too. Or at least in a tie with an original Polaroid Land camera (folder).

[William Lewis]

My oldest digital is my primary ax these days, an Olympus E-P3 from 2011. (shrug) It'll do till I can afford a Pen F.

My weirdest was probably my Kiev 5. Imagine a 35mm camera that makes your Exacta seem svelt and petite... O_O

[Pierre Charbonneau]

My Canon 1ds MK III from 2008 is still used as a the camera for a second set up. Files are nice at base ISO and stand up well against the current lead camera , Canon 5d MK IV.

[Jernej]

Canon 20D from 2004. Still my one and only dSLR.

[Tim Bradshaw]

Oldest digital camera: Ricoh GXR with the 33mm lens/sensor unit (so 50mm-e). Wikipedia claims 2009 but I did not buy it until 2012 (for the M mount, which I never use). It's noticeably laggy to use but I've asked my wife to tell me, every time I obsess about a new digital camera, to look at the B/W from the GXR. It nearly drowned in June (very heavy rain...) but it has thankfully survived.

Most oddball: perhaps the Contaflex Super-B: I have two which I use often enough to keep them mechanically happy. Not very oddball, though. I still have the box brownie which was my first camera, bought for me at a village fête but it was not good enough to jump through whatever hoops are needed to get 620 film.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Oldest in frequent use is a hybrid -- Hasselblad SWC with Phase One P45+ back on it. Got it in 2009 or 2010. Lovely old CCD chip which is bigger (48x36 mm) than the current 44x33 mm models. My first "serious" digitals were an Olympus E-1 and Leica M8. The M8 works, the E-1 would probably work, but it got stolen. And some of my favorite pictures still came from those two. For video, an E-M1.2 with the 12-100mm lens, from about 2015, is still one of the best because of its strong joint IBIS/OIS stabilization.

Oldest camera in frequent use isn't weird at all. An M2 that I got in 1969 and have used continuously since then.

[Mike Ferron]

I own a lot of cameras, many (most) of them not worth a lot. My oldest digital I still use is a Nikon D300 introduced in 2007. 12 years in digital is like 50 in real life. Still keep it under ISO 800 and one still gets really nice images. Built like a tank.

My most unusual camera is the Leica iiif. If one thinks old is simple think again. Hard to load, hard to focus with a fair amount of dials, levers and buttons. 2 shutter speed dials, the main gets set after advancing the film and the 2nd after choosing 30 on the top main dial then select your slow speed (under 1/30) on the front. Easy really :)

[Bruce Alan Greene]

My oldest, and only, digital camera is the Canon 5ds which I've owned for one year. (purchased used)

The oldest camera that I use regularly is my Kodak Retina IIIc, folding rangefinder camera. Superb 50mm f2.0 lens!

I also use Fuji GW690 III (1990s) and Fuji GSW 690 II (late 1980s, I think)

And for scanning the film, a Nikon LS 8000 medium format film scanner from 2002.

Sitting on the shelf: Canon FTb, Moskva 5 (6x9 folding rangefinder) in working condition.

[Tom Hassler]

Seems odd to say it but the oldest camera I still use regularly is a Sony A7R MkII, from 2015. How is that old? It really speaks to the rapid pace of change in the digital era.

As for offbeat, it's a lens, not a camera - the Lomography/Xenit Petzval 85mm, a revived 160 year-old design. It's a Nikon mount and so must be adapted to fit my A7R2.

Submitted for your approval: my "old" Sony with its "new" lens.

[Eric Onore]

Plus one for the Nikon V1. I also use the Sony RX1 and the Fuji XE-1.

[Peter]

Oldest digital is a Pentax DS that I bought in probably 2005. I really like the look of the files from this camera and although it's a mere six mp (horrors), they hold up quite well when printed up to 10X15 or so. I last used it a few years ago on a trip where I wanted a small, two lens package - did very well, even in low light. My granddaughter now uses it, along with an old film Nikon.

Oddest camera is a wooden, 5X7 field camera that my wife bought in Italy. Whole kit, in a big leather case. Not sure if it works, but it's very pretty.

[RubyT]

I've been culling a lot lately, so the oldest digital I have now is the OM-D E10II (2015? I got it in 2017). My current favorite film camera is a Ricoh FF-1. The tiny advance lever never fails to delight me, and this camera is so tiny, I can't help but love it.

[Mark Rouleau]

Oldest camera I use semi-regularly is the Sigma DP2x (2011). It's also the strangest. Use it under the exact right conditions: daylight and low iso, and its 4.7 megapixel images show an astounding clarity and cleanness that I've never seen matched in another camera.

[James]

Nikon D70, 2005.
I carried it as a backup for my main body. A "biggie".
That Main body never actually failed even in Antarctica so the D70 has a low shutter count.
In 2008 I went to two D300 bodies and converted the D70 to infra-red.
It still works. Don't use it often but I just tried it and it is fine.
I can't believe the battery still had juice in it.

[The other Mike Johnston]

I shoot 1 camera - a 2 year old Canon 5d Mk iv.
I like it a log.

[David Brown]

Sony Alpha850 that I bought partly on your recommendation!

[Henning Wulff]

I still sometimes use a Canon 350D converted to IR, from about 2005. 8mp, and it's enough for what I use it for.

My Seitz Roundshot 28/220 with a Nikon 28/3.5 Shift lens still gets some use. I scan the negatives on a flatbed. The main problem is finding 220 film, which is all it will feed on. Just like a panda needing certain bamboo shoots and a Koala certain eucalyptus shoots, that will be its undoing, I'm sure.

[Ben]

Leica M240, released in 2012 I believe?

I also own (and occasionally use) a Zero Image 6x9 pinhole... is that weird enough?

[Steven Palmer]

Canon Powershot A710 - 2006
Panasonic G3 - 2011

Not offbeat but I have a Rolleicord V that is not often seen these days. The camera about 65 years old yet the sliding focus mechanism is still as smooth as silk. I miss the days of such mechanical quality.

[Richard de]

Oldest digital is a Nikon D2X (circa 2004), which my wife uses while on vacation while I usually use an D800e. A close second is a Panasonic DMC-LX2 dating from 2006, which still gets some occasional use, when the newer LX10 is otherwise in use and a small camera is needed. On the slightly unusual side is an un-named 5x7 field camera dating from circa 1920 of which I only have one lens that can fit in the tiny tiny front standard, a 90 mm f8. It gets the looks from bystanders, while no one cares about the digital ....

[Mike Plews]

Last year I retired a D70 I bought new in around 2005. Now the oldest digital camera I regularly use is a Canon S95. It still puts out terrific images provided there is moderate light.
As for film, lots of oddball cameras around the house but the only film cameras I still use (infrequently) are a 2.8f and a Hassy 500c.

[Michael]

My oldest digital camera is my D700 that I bought new in 2010. It also happens to be my newest digital camera. The newest camera I own happens to be a 2014 Chamonix 4x5. Is the current generation of DSLRs or mirrorless a significant improvement over the D700?

[Peter Marquis-Kyle]

My oldest camera in use: Canon EOS 5D (2005), used as second camera in conjunction with my most-used camera, a 5D Mark II (2008).

My newest camera: Fujifilm X-E1 (2012) -- interesting that another commenter listed this as their oldest. Anyway I still like it, and bought a brand new lens for it the other day.

My two oddest/oldest cameras: My father's Foth Derby (1930), and his mother's Kodak 2A Folding Autographic Brownie (1915) -- neither of these is in use, since 127 and 116 film is not readily available.

[Neal Elward]

I have a Mamiya ZD body that was new to me last year and has seen a fair amount of use since then. It's a model that was introduced in 2004 and this copy is likely of that vintage. It's a terribly slow beast when it comes to writing to memory cards and playing back photos, and the screen was a joke even when the camera was new. That said, the autofocus is decent, the lens selection is acceptable for my purposes, and I really enjoy the files. I use it for crazy things like action shots of the kids and the challenge is quite enjoyable. Because my expectations are so low, I often find it more enjoyable than the GFX 50R and Nikon Z cameras that I'm currently considering.

[Antonio Ramirez]

Oldest digital camera in regular use is my Nikon Df, introduced in 2013. I still keep an Olympus E-P1 (2010), Lumix G2 (2010) and Lumix GF3 (2011), but none of those see any regular use. Most unusual would be a Minolta Autopak 700, a fairly full featured, beautifully made classic rangefinder, except it takes 126 cartridge film, which renders it a rather pretty paperweight.

[Rob L.]

My oldest digital in use was, until it met an untimely end via a rogue wave, was my Nikon Coolpix A(2013). great little camera, I deeply wish it was a start of a line, alas. I'm still tempted to grabbed a refurbed one, there's something about the 16mp sensor and the lens in this camera that gives great results, both in visible light and converted to IR.

Most oddball would likely be the Master Technika shooting handheld or the Leica IIIc I'm currently 3d printing an ABLON substitute for, but neither stand out as really weird - I stopped my habit of shooting the really weird cameras when I got fed up with not getting usable shots, so the Mercury Half-Frames and Kodak Vest cameras went on the shelf...

[Bob Gary]

Most all my cameras are experimental tools... and a lot of the digital ones fall into the small sensor/low res area mostly because I either like the color or black and white renditions or the “grain” or texture they give. The oldest is the Olympus C-2500 DL at 2.5 mp. The strangest digital is the Ricoh Caplio 500 SE... I shoot film alongside the digital with the most frequent oldie is my Olympus OM-4T or 2SP... and the current strange one is the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super or my grandfather’s Kodak 3A/C adapted for 120 (6x14).

[Jim R]

I routinely use a Canon 6d circa 2013. Mostly because I have a full set of Canon lenses, and I am more confident it’ll focus accurately in low light vs. my Fuji X-H1. It’s been over a year now and I’m overdue for an outing with my Hexar RF and small collection of M lenses. BTW - Jerry Garcia started his musical career playing blue grass in “jug bands” before making it big with The Grateful Dead, the grandfather of today’s “jam bands” . I stopped paying attention to the more recent incarnations of The Grateful Dead once Jerry died in 1995. The music just stopped then. I did really like the ties based on his art though. The Old and In the Way stuff is fabulous, thanks for the reminder!

[WJW]

Oldest digital would be Olympus E-620 or Pentax K-5 since I think both came out around 2010. What I use the most is my Olympus E-M10 II.

Oldest current film camera in use would be my Yashica-Mat 124G. I own some others that are older but nothing that has been used in the last couple of years

[Ilkka]

The oldest I regularly use is Sony A900. Have been using it every day for the past 2 weeks.
I also use Ricoh Gr3 pretty often and the first model Olympus Ep1.
Most oddball is Shenlong 678. A Chinese made medium format rotating panoramic camera that can shoot a whole roll of 120 film in one shot (thus the 6x78cm in its name) . It is pretty rare also. Probably only a few were ever made.

[Lee Rust]

My oldest digicam in regular use is from 2004...an Epson R-D1.

My oldest & oddest film camera in regular use would be the Mercury II half-frame, from 1946. I just finished a roll of Ektachrome today.

[Kirk Decker]

I have a Nikon D200 (2005) converted to infrared that gets a lot of use. My main portrait camera is a 1975 Hasselblad 500 CM with a 1985 150mm Sonnar and a 2008 Phase One P65+ back. It is not a fast or very user friendly setup, but I really like what comes out of it. The most offbeat camera I have is a 1944 Kodak Medalist.

[Bear.]

Nikon D3 - purchased new mid-2008
Sigma DP1 - purchased new late-2008
Sigma DP2 - purchased new mid-2009
Sony RX1 - purchased new 2011

[Robert]

Oldest digital camera used regularly: Nikon 1
Weirdest: Zone VI (4x5) and Yashica Mat(6x6) I guess that Hassy film and digital do not count as weird, although very expensive.

[Bruce]

Canon 7D, bought 2010, still my workhorse Real Estate camera with the excellent (newer) much-better-than-the-price-suggests Canon 10-18 EFS lens. Have remote radio release, slave flashes, custom setting three stackable exposures per photo, - the older of the two I have has just turned over 120,000 clicks, - it stopped working last year- found the repair on Youtube- loose grounding screw- wonderful workhorse camera--- used also for time lapse sequences at building sites. Will probably not upgrade to anything else for Real Estate work. There's a Digital Rev video where Kai does his best to try to destroy a 7D.... https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/tjzkl/digitalrev_puts_a_canon_7d_through_a_durability/ I don't need full frame. Clients seem happy!

[Peter Williams]

My Nikon D800E from 2012, I've never loved it or loved using it, but the results are excellent.

[Max P.]

I do a lot of street photography with a Lumix GF3 (2011?) coupled with the Oly 17mm or the Panasonic 14mm. It's always with me. Perfect, invisible combo. I still use ocasionally my original Lumix G1 (2009?).A friend loaned me a month ago his Eos 5d Mark 1 and I'm finding myself attached to its color rendition. I do not like its newer iterations, though.

My main camera is a Lumix G7, soon to be substituted by the GH5. Or not: The GH5 is in a crowded price range, with Pentax k1, Canon, Nikon and Sony offerings and I'm finding difficult to decide.

I use quite a bit a Horizon 35mm panoramic camera and a Fujifilm 645W.

Have plenty of cameras unused in a closet, from my times as a semi pro, or bought specifically for a job, that I should probably sell but I do always manage to delay it (Mamiya 6, Bronicas, Certo, Nikkormat, Polaroid 360, a few Pentaxes, Fuji and Oly half frame, etc.) Weird, eh? I'm sure no other TOP reader has the same illness. :-)

[Roger Bradbury]

I have a Pentax K20D, bought in 2009. I bought a K3 a couple of years ago so the K20D doesn't get used so much, but if I need two camera bodies out it comes. Or will when I've bought another battery for it; all the old batteries are kaput. It uses the same battery as the old Konica Minolta 7D you had, Mike.

The K20D is set up for manual focus lenses, with a Katzeye split image rangefinder screen, and a Pentax magnifying eyecup.

[Geoff B]

Leica M9 (2009) which I bought in early 2010, still on its original sensor plus a trio of m lenses which I bought for the M6, which I still have, in the mid 1990s. Then the original RX100 in 2012. I have no desire or need to move on from either. I have an Olympus EM1 but I use that under duress as the menu is horrendous. The M9’s menu is simple and clear. This is a subject that I find missing from most reviews and comparisons as modern camera user interfaces are prehistoric by comparison with current computer and mobile software. This must have some impact on attracting new users of cameras.

[James Weekes]

My Olympus E-M5 from 2012. Still works very well and the files are just as good, for my purposes as any of my more recent micro 4/3 cameras.

[Wayne]

Still snapping away with my 12 year old Canon 5DmkII and occasionally with my 2001 Minolta Dimage 7. My old circa 1940 Argus C3 still gets called into service once in a while and works just fine!

[Peggy C]

The oldest camera I'm currently using is my trusty Pentax K200D. It came out in January of 2008 and I bought one soon after that.

I love it so much that several years ago I bought a used one for my astrophotography.

I don't own any quirky cameras at this time.

[Steve Higgins]

A quick check reveals it to be my Nikon-1 V2, only 7 years old.

I have older cameras that get used (Sony A200), but not as often.

[Sroyon]

I have just one digital camera, but it's kind of old: a Nikon D5200 purchased in 2013.

Of my four film cameras, none are particularly unusual, but the Ihagee Exa has some quirky features.

[Matt]

Nikon D700. Great thing. But I prefer Fuji XT-2 now.

Even though the dslr is more sturdy and more reliable, once you get used to the convenience of instant viewfinder / lcd feedback, there's no going back.

[Dave Rogers]

The oldest digital camera I shoot with regularly is an Olympus XZ-1. I like it so much, I have four of them. 10MP of 1/1.63" CCD. It's light, pretty fast and offers lovely jpegs.

The most unusual is probably the Olympus AO-1 Air, essentially a sensor and image processor without a body or display. Relies on a wifi connection to a smart phone or iPod for the user interface. (It has a button, so you can shoot blind if you're feeling lucky.)

FWIW, my wife and I spent four weeks on a hill just off Cayuga Lake this summer. We've been coming back to the Finger Lakes for the last few summers since we got our marriage license in Ithaca. We love it there. I'm afraid it's going to be "discovered" soon and ruined. But we're booked again for next year.

[Floyd K. Takeuchi]

My main shooter is an Olympus OMD EM5, the original model, which I purchased new in 2012. It's backup is the Olympus Pen EP5 with optional Olympus VF EVF.

Weirdest camera used regularly? I wouldn't call them weird, different maybe, but not weird. I have two: A Mamiya Press Super 23 with the standard Mamiya Sekor 100mm F3.5 normal lens, circa 1968-1970; or the Zeiss Ikokn Contessa 35 from 1955.

[Geoff Morgan]

Leica Digilux 2 (I bought it used a few years ago, but the camera was introduced in 2004). Nice B&W results from it, excellent lens.

[Brandon Price]

The oldest camera I use regularly is the Fujifilm X70, which is only coming up on four years old this month. I love that camera, and I take it with me almost everywhere, but I often grow tired of the 28mm equivalent focal length.

Recently, a friend gave me his Fujifilm X30, which I had been wanting to try for years. I was kind of hoping that it might be my go-to camera when I want a more all purpose zoom in a quality compact camera.

I am so impressed by the camera and how well that little sensor has aged (the camera turns five this week; the sensor is a year older), but I'm having the hardest time actually using it because I know I've got my APS-C cameras standing by. I took the X30 out to a picnic in the park last week and enjoyed shooting with it so much, but when I got home and saw how inflexible the raw files were with all the highlight and shadow splotches in the forest, my heart sank a bit. I'm just not used to that limitation with my other larger-sensor camera bodies.

And yet, when I look at other photographs I made in more even lighting, I'm super impressed. I'm just not sure I can make this my go-everywhere camera when I have the amazing X70 standing by, smaller and lighter than the X30 too.

[Frank Field]

The oldest camera I shoot with is a Nikon D750, circa 2014. I have a pair of these cameras and nothing else digital. I find the files excellent for my chosen genre: landscapes. The oldest digital files I regularly print with come from Nikon D300, 12 MPx circa 2008. I no longer own a D300 but find its files just fine for printing. I would not hesitate to continue to shoot with one. Next oldest files I have come from Nikon D200 bodies, 10 MPx circa 2006 (?). I no longer print with these unless I have something truly unique. The files are noisier and have a lower dynamic range than I want to be using these days.

[Ed Kirkpatrick]

My current and now, long-time camera is my Pentax K5. I do have GAS for the newer K1 but...

Here is an image of my favorite strangest camera I have used, my trashcan pinhole camera. I had 5 of them loaded with 20x24 paper as film and transported them around in the back of my van.

[Steve Jacob]

My Fuji XE2 was purchased march 2014.

My brother is still using the Pentax *istDS that I gave him. Bought that in 2005.

[John Robison]

An Olympus E-410, came out in 07 I think, purchased in 2009 as closeout. Hardly use it at all, some of the buttons are going wonky.
Waiting for a Olympus E PL1 just purchased but not received yet.
Oldest/oddest? Lens from a Kodak folder from late 20’s mounted on a home made 4x5 (130mm f7.7 Kodak Anastigmat and yeah, it covers 4x5)

[Rube39]

Panasonic GF1, 2009.

[Niels]

My most used digital camera is my iPhone, and my oldest and only "real" digital camera is a gold color Lumix GH1.
I probably don't have to say that I bought it because it was cheap - back in 2010 - due to its replacement by the GH2 - and the color didn't add to its value.
I am not especially happy about it but it does its job when I need a little more control of DOF.

The weirdest camera I actually use from time to time is this Contaflex:

It may not look too weird, but total black-out of the viewfinder after each shutter release, awkward film change, strange front element replacement lenses etc. must be impossible for a person that grew op with digital photography to understand.
I love it for the lens, and that everything about this weird thing actually works accurately, even the lightmeter - but I have heard these are overly complicated and expensive to work on, should they break.

[Ricardo Silva Cordeiro]

I think the answer to both questions would be my most recent acquisition: a used but pristine 2015 Olympus Stylus 1s. It's a camera that I dismissed when launched due to the smallish 1/1.7" sensor, but only recently I realized how unique this camera is. It's like a mini OMD, with a EVF and all, very small, light and fast, and with a spectacular 28-300mm equiv. zoom with constant f/2.8! After playing with some downloaded RAW files, I was surprised on how good they compare to 1" cameras files between ISO 100 to 400. A very appealing proposition for travel and street photography, I've been enjoying it a lot lately. Too bad Olympus didn't updated this model, maybe because the 1" sensor cameras are now the trend or, like I read somewhere, because the earthquake disaster that affected their factories at the time this camera was being made.

On another note, I'm curious about what your future decisions lens-wise. Particularly about the 12mm vs 14mm since I have a Samyang 12mm but often think on replacing it for the Fuji 14mm. Also the decision on the 35's, in my case I couldn't really decide, I sold f/1.4 to get the upgraded f/2, started missing the extra stop so sold the f/2 to get another f/1.4, started missing the AF speed and sharp rendering of the f/2 and got a new f/2 again. Now I just keep both and actually got another 35mm to consolidate my normal lens hordering: a Chinese 7artisans 35mm f/1.2, a sonnar design lens with very interesting rendering.

[I tried to sell people on the Olympus 1s when it was new, but no one, or very few people, actually bit. Olympus has some very creative people working there, is all I can say. --Mike]

[Sherwood McLernon]

Oldest camera still used almost daily is my Canon 7D (purchased in 2009 - I have 4 of them) with a Canon 400mm f5.6 L lens for photographing birds. I also use a Sony a6500 almost daily for everything else.

[Robert Fogt]

Hmmm. "Oldest digital camera"......by what measure? My favorite digital camera to date (and I have tried a few newer, 'better' ones) is still my EOS M2. The Voigtlander 35mm viewfinder that lives in the hot shoe is a perfect pairing with the 22mm f/2 pancake lens, and I've been on several overseas vacations carrying nothing but this combination. With the addition of its little Flipbac grip, it is an absolute pleasure to hold and to use.

The camera was released (never in the U.S.) in December of 2013, making it something shy of six years old. But I've lost count of forum comments saying things like "too little, too late", and "the best camera of four years ago", which would make it -- by those estimations -- more like ten years old!

Still the simplest, most fun to use, that I've had in a long time. (And maybe one day I'll figure out how to post a photo.)