Open Mike: My Top 10 Favorite Cameras of All Time*

["Open Mike" is the Editorial page of TOP, which is sometimes off-topic but not today.]

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In no particular order, but roughly chronologically:

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex B. This belonged to my father, who let me use it when I was a kid. It was an SLR with a fixed 50mm ƒ/2.8 Tessar lens, and I believe a leaf shutter. I loved it, especially the shutter sound. I had a job at a Kentucky Fried Chicken stand when I was 14, and left it on the electrical junction box outside when I was unlocking the store one morning to open. I took my bike inside but not the camera. When I finally remembered and went looking for it, it had vanished. I was interested to learn that the cop who took the report was semi-illiterate—he had a lot of trouble writing his brief description of the theft, and I'm sure he didn't appreciate me helping.

Contax 139Q—A budget model, the 139 Quartz was still elegant and even had some cutting-edge tech. Early Contax (brand, not model) cameras had been a clean-sheet collaboration between Germany and Japan in the mid-1970s. Zeiss, which had been chased out of the camera business, made the lenses, and Yashica, a Japanese maker of popular consumer cameras, made the bodies, which featured industrial design by Professor Ferdinand Alexander ("Butzi") Porsche, grandson of the founder of Porsche and designer of the fabled Porsche 911. This was the camera I went through art school with, so of course I used it constantly. I had to change brands when I joined a professional studio after graduation; everyone else used Nikons, and the equipment was effectively pooled. If I had continued to use Contax I wouldn't have been able to borrow equipment from my partners, or lend mine to them.

The Wista 45DXII, designed by Sadamu Wasutake

Wista 45DXII of sainted memory—it was rosewood, and gorgeous. Wista cheapened these considerably through time; recent ones are nowhere near as nice as the one I bought by mail order from an outfit called "Fields and Views" in Old Chatham, New York, in the 1980s. Mine had real leather bellows that had a heavenly aroma. I was never much of a view camera photographer, but I still miss that camera. A significant use of it, for me, was as a teaching aid. It also got me out of being mugged once—I was being threatened by three "inner city youths," and in an effort to get them on my side I let them look through the camera. As soon as the first one saw the miraculous image on the groundglass, he transformed into an excited kid. His two friends started clamoring to see too. I explained to them how everything worked, and the four of us parted friends. Sadly, I had just used my last sheet of the film for the day, so I missed the chance to make a portrait of the three of them, a big regret.

Mamiya 6—One of my earliest writing assignments was reviewing medium-format cameras for the old Darkroom Photography magazine, and it opened up a treasure-chest of toys I would previously have had no access to. I was pleased and amazed when Mamiya sent li'l ol' me their then-new Mamiya 6 with its clever collapsible lensmount, including all the lenses and accessories. It was allegedly the pet project of the then-President of Mamiya, who was a Leica fan. I was an impoverished ex-student living in a shabby Georgetown, D.C. walk-up, and the value of the outfit exceeded my net worth at the time I got to use it. I bonded with it, and even did some good work with it in the short time I had it, and for a long time afterward I wished I could have continued to use it forever. But it was well beyond my pay grade for a long time. I did own one much later, but the moment had passed.

Canon EOS RT—Fascinating story behind this camera, which I'm sure I've written about. I was an insider with Canon for a time, having written a long article called "The EOS Revolution" at the time of the changeover to the EOS lensmount. For the article I got to meet some bigwigs in Canon USA and was loaned all (all) the new equipment. Canon reprinted the article and distributed it for several years (despite my poverty, I refused the very generous payment they offered because I felt it would compromise my editorial integrity). I feel a little guilty here for not naming the Nikon N8008 which I used for far longer, but I was really more enamored of the slick, elegant RT with its pellicle mirror, a wondrous technology that camera makers love and camera buyers do not. I shot one of the only weddings of my career with that camera, and the EF 35mm ƒ/2 lens taught me about bokeh.

Leica M6—I bought this when I quit professional photography around 1992, with 35mm and 50mm Summicrons. It wasn't the first Leica I had used but it was the first one I bought new. It was a wonderful experience—the pictures really did have that special Leica look, the super-solid, tank-like body was a special pleasure to handle, and I was fully susceptible to the lore and legend of the marque, which imbued my appreciation with a luster other cameras couldn't provide. I was very proud of it. Owning it imparted a seriousness to my sense of personal mission and also inspired me to work harder. Alas, a year after my son was born in '93, money had gotten tight again—this was right before I got hired as the Editor of what became Photo Techniques magazine—and I decided I couldn't keep that much cash wrapped up in one possession, especially when I had to drape it on my body and risk losing it by one means or another (cf. several of the stories mentioned above). And away it went.

Olympus OM-4Ti and Zuiko 40mm ƒ/2

Olympus OM-4T—I've realized that in the past I tended to obsess about cameras and lenses as a distraction and diversion from bigger problems in my life. So in the troubled years of early sobriety (today is my 30th anniversary sober, by the way) after my son was born in dramatic circumstances, I obsessed about Olympii like I have no other marque before or since. I learned everything there was to know about Yoshihisa Maitani and the development of the OM system, virtually memorized The OM Lens Handbook, and resolved to "settle down" my camera-nomad tendencies by sticking with my next camera (the Leica's replacement) for a minimum of three years. That camera was an OM-4T, and I ended up keeping it for five years. I had a darkroom in my kitchen, which is probably not ideal from a food-safety standpoint. If I had to pick one camera as the most favorite of all the ones in this list, the OM-4T would be it. (Although, curiously, the OM-2N had everything I needed.)

Sony F-707—My favorite of all my early digital cameras, although I loved the 6-MP Konica-Minolta 7D too. The F-707 had something that camera makers just don't even pursue any more—namely, it was great fun. The camera was early enough that it had a lot of problems, most notably that its noise effectively maxed it out at ISO 400 and reds were oversaturated, but it had a lovely Zeiss zoom, its swivel-body design was very useful, and it even had an infrared mode that allowed you to literally shoot in the dark. Using it was a blast. I've been sorry ever since that Sony abandoned the form-factor, which was really very nice. A modern F-707/F-717 with a square sensor in the 1" size range would be a very successful camera, I'm convinced.

Fuji X-T1—when I got it in 2014, it was Fuji's flagship. And it was my first Fuji. I bought it out of embarrassment! I had requested a review sample from my friendly contact Issac Buchinger at B&H, and when he asked for it back at the end of a month, I had not even used it. So he kindly let me keep it for another 30 days...at the end of which time I still hadn't touched it. Finally, three or four months in, with Isaac pleading with me to return his employer's property, I bit the bullet and bought the thing just to save face. So in the early days I felt like I had kind of backed into ownership. As with my current car, though, it's one of the only possessions of its type I've liked better as more times goes by...usually you like things less as time goes on because the "new" and the "special" wear off. But the X-T1 is extremely comfortable for me. I use it with the largest hand grip, and every feature seems just right to me now, from the easy-to-use AE comp dial to the flip-up viewing screen. And 16 megapixels is fine. From time to time I even consider buying a second one.

So that's the list. You might notice that there are only nine cameras on this top ten list...that's because I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's a particular mental glitch that I've noticed over the years about the way my brain works—if I need to remember a set of things—pretty much any set of things—I'll blank on one of them. I learned, for example, never to go around a class naming each student, because, inevitably, one name, which I otherwise knew perfectly well, would vanish from my consciousness just at the wrong moment. And I almost always return from the grocery story with one item I meant to get missing. So I'm pretty sure that as I think about this list over the next few days, I'm going to have a faceplant "duh!" moment, and one more fondly remembered favorite camera is going to pop into my mind.

If and when that happens, I'll tell you about it, of course.

Mike

*Every writer has pet grammatical and usage peeves, and "...of all time" is one of mine. Things like "Top WWE Hall of Famers of All Time" sound ludicrous to me, in this example because the WWE Hall of Fame has only been around for 27 years (André the Giant, who played Fezzik in The Princess Bride, was the inaugural inductee and the only one I know of). I myself sprang into existence in 1957, which kind of renders moot the numberless millennia and geological eras before that year for purposes of the current listing. Not to mention that cameras themselves are somewhat limited in the reach of time as well. But oh well—people know what you mean by "of all time," so I guess I'll relax and shut up.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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

[Ed. note: Rob's comment below is longer than I would usually "Feature," but I liked hearing about his experiences as a golf photographer. Hopefully you will too.]

Rob Griffin: "I know that you have written about the Canon RT a few times here at TOP. The RT made my working life much more enjoyable. Working in the golf industry, I used to shoot professional tournament golf action quite often. When I first started shooting sports, I was a Nikon guy for sure—a majority of sports shooters were. When shooting tournament golf, one major problem with SLR film cameras is noise. The mirror flopping around and the shutter going off make a lot of noise. In the dead quite that tour players demand while playing their shots, a SLR with a motor drive chugging along at five or six frames a second sounds pretty much like a hay bailer coming down the fairway.

"The rule when taking photos of golfers during a tournament was that you don’t dare press the shutter button until the golf club has made contact with the golf ball. Photographers would try to time the release of the shutter so that the ball would be in the frame just after leaving the clubface. Hit that shutter button just a fraction too soon and you could easily be yelled at by a very angry golfer and his caddy, not to mention that the spectators would let you know what a miscreant you were. Sometimes, even though you had been sure not to fire before the ball was well on its way, the golfer, after hitting a less than perfect shot, would look and point in your direction to let everyone know that it was that camera guy and his noisy camera that caused the errant shot. That was a problem a golf photographer just had to live with.

"The first time I was shown an EOS RT at a camera store, I was amazed. It seemed almost silent, even at five frames a second, compared to any other SLR available at the time. The lack of noise sold me. I bought it on the spot. It became 'my' camera. Life as a golf photographer became much more enjoyable.

"While the quietness sold me, I also found that there was more to like. The RT was a bit smaller and lighter than most SLRs, always a help when hauling two or three cameras and lenses around a golf course for eight or ten hours. The pellicle mirror meant there was no black-out when the shutter fired. I had not realized how distracting the mirror jumping up out of the way of the shutter was. Now, with mirrorless cameras, many photographers can enjoy that benefit.

"I think the lack of viewfinder black-out was the also the reason that I felt that I could hold the RT steady at a full stop slower shutter speed than SLRs I had used before. It's sort of like, in baseball, how a catcher has to learn not to flinch or close his eyes when the batter swings the bat.

"One of the drawbacks to the pellicle mirror was losing about a 1/3 stop of light, so ISO 100 became in effect, ISO 80. I also know that there were concerns that the light passing through the mirror lead to a loss of sharpness. I never felt looking at my photos that that was the case. [I second that —Mike]

"I tried to tell other guys shooting tournament golf what a great tool the RT was for the job but I don’t think I convinced anyone other than myself. So maybe I was wrong about it all along [you weren't! —Mike]. I know that Canon did not sell a whole of lot of them, then closed the model out at a very discounted price. Today, on the used market, I think the price is usually pretty low.

"I still have one RT. With the Canon STM 40mm ƒ/2.8 lens it makes a fairly compact go-anywhere rig. I have been shooting a roll of film every now and then. I also have an OM-2N so I was happy when you mentioned that model in your section about the OM-4Ti. Sorry, I got a carried away a little and this comment got a bit long.

"Oops, one more thing to add: I always wanted a Mamiya 6, but now they are pretty much out of my price range. Rats!"

Mike replies: The Canon EOS RT was the opposite of most products. They're designed to sell, not primarily to satisfy buyers after the point of purchase. The important thing is that the idea of them has to appeal to prospective buyers. They have to check boxes off the shopping list and not appear to have any obvious downsides. The RT had two big turnoffs for prospective buyers, both of which you point out here. But most people who used them learned that they were great. The problem was that you had to use one for a while to understand how great it was. And that the apparent downsides were actually not. So Canon started out convinced that the camera would sell by the bushel, but learned otherwise, as buyers never got to the point of understanding what Canon already knew.

Comments

[Jim Meeks]

What, no Pentax models?

[Dan Gorman]

Congratulations on your 30 years of sobriety, Mike! Very, very well done!

This past May, my wife and I celebrated the 30th anniversary of the night we met. Long ago I came to consider that the luckiest day of my life. That summer of 1990 I met my future wife, left one profession (options trading) that didn't suit me, and began the profession I've loved ever since (higher education).

Here's to turning pages, and writing new and better chapters in our lives :-)

Congrats!
Dan

[Richard Parkin]

Following on from yesterday's post, it seems you started forgetting to take your camera with you at age 14.

Number 10 has to be your iPhone ;-)

[Mark B]

Congrats on 30 sober years! That's an amazing accomplishment!

[William Lewis]

Oh, can I play?
1) Canon AE-1P - first camera owned bought at the px
2) Yashica-Mat 124 - non-G, flea market camera
3) Yaahica Electro 35 GSN - another flea market gem. hatteries were a pain
4) Canon IVSb - why I love Barnacks
5) Contax II/Kiev 4a - glorious underrated system
6) Leica CL - neat camera, meter never worked but the lenses!
7) Canon 7 - same glass I used on the CL but a better body.
8) Speed Graphic - hand held LF with the 127/4.7 lens. Still have it.
9) Leica IIIf - ditto, especially the Summitar :(
10) Nikon D7100 - where I am at now and loving it.

[s.wolters]

If I had to pick ten cameras I need to add some lenses as well.
Canon F1 + FD 24mm f/1.4, Mamiya RB67 + 127mm f/3.8 Sekor C, Nikon 801s + Micro Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-s, Pentax 67 + 105mm f/2.4 Takumar, Contax G1 + 45mm f/2.0 Carl Zeiss Planar, Yashica T4 - 35mm f/3.5 Carl Zeiss Tessar, Mamiya 7 + N 65mm f/4, Rolleiflex GX - 80mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Planar, Fujifilm F31fd - 36-108mm eq. Fujinon f/2.8-5.0, Olympus PEN-F + m.Zuiko 12-45mm f/4.0.

I also got that Olympus OM System Lens Handbook. Even when I did not shoot with that brand at the time it was published I read it several times. Something about it always stimulated me to go out and shoot a roll or two.
Also got annuals from Pentax and Nikon. Really miss that kind of well printed publications in this digital era.

[robert e]

Surprised the GX8 is not here. #10?

[Eolake Stobblehouse]

I'm disappointed that there are not pictures of all of them.

[Patrick D Perez]

On my 50th birthday, Turner Classic Movies was screening my favorite movie of all time in actual theaters. Quite the gift! And when I wrote about it on Facebook, I pointed out that indeed, it included the future. Casablanca. Just about perfect.

Patrick

[Vijay]

Happy 30th Birthday!

[Chris Kern]

Mike: Every writer has pet grammatical and usage peeves, and "...of all time" is one of mine.

Mine is internet (lowercase ‟i”). Even the New York Times is doing this now.

The word ‟internet” is a shortened variant of ‟internetwork.” An internetwork is a network of connected computer networks which use the same communication protocol. Most large organizations operate private internets for internal communication, and attach them through a controlled and monitored connection at one or a small number of points to the worldwide public Internet. Some organizations with unusually strict privacy requirements use a separate internet for restricted communication that does not attach to the public Internet and a less restrictive internet that connects to the public Internet for communication with the outside world.

There are many internets. There is only one Internet. It’s a proper noun. It deserves a capital initial letter.

There. I feel much better now.

[Dan Khong]

Of all the cameras that you have listed, I have the M6 for film and a Fuji (not the X-T1 but the current smaller simpler X-E3).

While the 50 Summilux-M (pre-ASPH) is reputed to have excellent bokeh, Fuji's 35/1.4 (equivalent to 53mm on film) bokeh is impressive too, and at a fraction of the price of M lenses. I use the Fuji lens invariably at f1.4 for street photography.

[Benjamin Marks]

[Open Ben] My own list ('cause, why not?):

1. Leica M6. My main film camera for about 15 years. I have probably exposed more frames of film with this than any other camera. Ergonomically the M6 was designed in a sweet spot for me. All I need for 80% of what I did.
2. Contax G2. I wanted to not like this camera, but the lenses were just so on-the-money-honey. I found the metering programs almost identical in response to the Nikon auto settings of the day.
2. Nikon FM2. Solid, solid, solid. Like the Nikon version of the Leica M6.
3. Pentax LX. My first "professional" camera. Used it working on a newspaper until the film rewind crank fell off somewhere and the country I was in had no Pentax dealership. Switched to Nikon after that. But it was sooo full featured. Mirror lockup made it almost Leica-quiet. And it fit so well in the hand.
5. Hasselblad 500C. Not my first medium format camera, but the one that made me feel like I had found "home." I still have it and the 80mm lens is magic.
6. Rolleiflex 2.8 Planar. Had to try the competition. Plus the brand name is in Joao Gilberto's song "Desafinado," which single-handedly made me reconsider Samba . . .and there is something about mid-century design and chrome which is pretty irresistible. It is like the '64 Aston Martin of cameras.
6. Pentax 67. Started my love affair with big negatives. Eyebrow hairs? Count 'em.
7. Deardorf 5x7. Since bigger is better. My first contact prints that were presentation quality.
8. Linhoff Tech IV. Just so versatile. Maybe not as much as a monorail, but I have used it for 6x12, 6x9, 6x6 exposures, ultra wides with 4x5, portraits on 4x5 film, pounding tent stakes. . . you get the idea. And it folds into a clamshell!

Of the above, I still have all but the Deardorf and the Pentax LX. I sometimes think about selling them, but then I think about the amount of pleasure that comes from having a fine tool right there when you want it. . . and I decide not to. When I look at the list, I notice a preference for manual cameras over automatic ones, which is ironic since all digital cameras are "automatic" to some extent. And I can also write with some sorrow that I haven't developed a negative from any of the above into a traditional silver halide print in over 10 years. Maybe it is getting to be time to do something about that. I still have some 5x7 film in freezer and while the Deardorf may be gone there is a Wisner sitting on the shelf mocking me as I type.

[MikeR]

Good for you for 30 those years!

I've only owned ten cameras when limiting the set to digital. Otherwise, just two nothing special film cameras over the previous almost 40 years. (Oh ... and a Kodak 8x10 that I still wish I hadn't sold in a fit of de-cluttering).

[Andrew Lamb]

Mamiya RZ
Leica M3
EOS 1 or 3
Linhof Technika 5x4
Mamiya 7
Rollei 2.8F with Xenotar
Sigma DP2 Merrill

That’s enough.
Lenses, on the other hand....

[Ned Bunnell]

My favorite cameras.

Film:
Leica M4
Canon EOS 1N
Asahi Pentax SL
Pentax LX
Ricoh GR1v

Digital:
Pentax K5-IIs
Pentax K-1
Ricoh GXR
Ricoh GR
iPhone

[Dogman]

While I've owned way more than 10 different cameras, I don't think I've had 10 I would consider my favorites. There were a lot I liked, but favorites? Let's see, if I start with my film days...

Nikon F2. I thought the F was a great camera but the F2 just simply improved on greatness in every way. A hockey puck with a mirror and shutter.

Leica M6. A no brainer. Everybody who owned one loved it. Or should have.

Canon EOS1n. The first totally reliable electronic camera I owned. Plastic on the outside but it was just a skin covering a full metal body that was tough as nails. And it handled beautifully.

And now we go to digital...

Nikon D700. Overbuilt, heavy as lead. Just enough full frame megapixels to do the trick--12 total, big fat megapixels. Reliable and a joy to use.

Fuji X-Pro2. Speaking of a joy to use, this is a prize. The images might be a tad less pretty than the X-Pro1's but everything else is an improvement. And I still love the X-Pro1.

Okay, I'm pushing it now. But I guess I will include the Nikon D610. Compared to other Nikon full frame cameras, it's a small fry and a lightweight. But it performs like a heavyweight and doesn't give up much to the bigger stablemates.

There have been a lot of others I liked a lot. I've owned several Canon DSLRs but none of them stood out from the pack. Same for Olympus. I like my Ricoh GRII and my Fuji X100S a lot but they aren't favorites (of all time).

At this point, I doubt I'll buy too many more cameras in the future. I've got more than I can use as it is so I think I'll concentrate on making pictures. So that's it. Six total all time favorites. Not bad for nearly a half century of picture taking.

[Ernest Zarate]

Wow! Great job on the 30 years of sobriety, Mike!

We have three shared points of connection (Two solid, one in the ballpark) with cameras. In order of my owning: 1) OM-1. I sold my Canon FTb to get this one with the 24mm and 35mm Zuiko lenses. Great camera, as you state. 2) Leica M6. Courtesy of a settlement from a motorcycle accident. With the 35 mm Summicron lens. The build quality was... astounding. 3) Mamiya M6. This was a camera I bought because of your review, Mike. As soon as I put my hands on it, I knew I had to have it. I only got the 50mm lens - it was perfect, as was the camera (for me). I sold the Leica to get the Mamiya because I could not justify having two extremely expensive cameras at the same time. I had the Mamiya for many years, and sold it to get my first DSLR, the Canon 5D.

Great memories with all of those cameras!

[Kenneth Tanaka]

An interesting list, kinda like peek at the George Eastman House collection.

I’d love to see a posting with your favorite ten or so images you made with these cameras. Wouldn’t you?

[I thought of doing that, but it would be a tremendous rathole because I'm not organized at all. I'm sure I'd find some but not others. It might take two days of work, and after that the pictures would be more disorganized than they are now.

But for each camera, I remember some pictures in my head. --Mike]

[Stan B.]

Geez, ya got me all nostalgic... took out the ol' F3- man that thing is a tank.

Anyway, I too have the X-T1, 18mm set up and I'm not a lens connoisseur such as yourself- as long as the lens does the job, I don't care. But with the 18mm, I find that I often get the shot despite it, instead of because of it. I'm really shocked that Fujifilm has such a mediocre offering for such a popular focal length. Forget that it can it be iffy around the edges as far as resolution, it's the chromatic aberration that can really go off the charts. I'm surprised they haven't come up with an update in all these years, and when they ultimately do, it'll probably be an f1.1, 3.5lb, thousand dollar monstrosity I will have no interest in...

[Stan B.]

Sorry, forgot to add that the 18mm is now my main go to lens- the one in the Ricoh GR, a true jewel of a lens!

[Richard Man]

The Gibellini 8x10 is gorgeous, as is their 4x5. Modern classics.

[Kodachromeguy]

Interesting list! That Wista is, indeed, beautiful. I have an early-1980s Tachihara, which looks very similar to that Wista. I bought it in 1982 or 1983 after reading Fred Picker's newsletters from Zone VI. I recently revived it and have been having a lot of fun exposing Tri-X and GAF Versapan. The knobs on mine are chromium plated but look the same.

For readers who might be interested, The Zone VI Newsletters are on the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/img_20170209_214736_1024/mode/2up

[Peter]

Congrats on 30 years Mike. I have a family member who is approaching her 10 year anniversary, and I can appreciate the cumulative effort It has taken you to get to 30. I hope you can find a way to celebrate your accomplishment

[William Lewis]

"But for each camera, I remember some pictures in my head. --Mike"

Oh, yes. Amen. I have few photos that I know exactly where and when they were made and with which cameras and lenses.

But those ones I do? Thank you, god, for that moment of grace.

The one I'll mention? My son (aged 4) and I were walking home from the park. He was tired and told me to carry him. I told him no, he needed to walk further. He sat down and pouted.

I had my Leica CL, a collapsible Summicron and a roll of Fuji Reala along.

https://tinyurl.com/y22swl6d

Thanks, Mike.

[Robert Newcomb]

Hi,
Well done on your 30 years, that is quite the accomplishment. You have my respect.

The camera you’re forgetting might be the Exakta 6.

Happy trailes
Robert Newcomb

[Hans van der Molen]

XH1?

[Max Young]

Michael can you please write a post on anthropological similarities? My story is Sony F707, X-T1, snooker, Mazda MX5, sobriety. (Do you happen to like aeroplanes?)

Cheers

Max from Down Under.

[Nigel]

Pentax MX - though probably only as I owned it when I was young.

Came across this on the BBC website this morning. Disturbing how many of these I recognised...
The man who owned 3,000 cameras
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53821146

[Crabby Umbo]

As a commercial photographer (non-35mm), I remember the day I bought my own, personal Hasselblad stuff (as opposed to my bosses stuff). Two 500 CM bodies, 3 backs, and 50mm, 80mm, 150mm, 250mm CF lenses. 1985. Still have it all.

I've owned and used for business many cameras of all shapes and sizes, loved some, others...meh. Even today, every thing I own is "in play" at any given time, for the right amount of money; except for my Hasselblads, and my selection of Red-Dot Artar lenses in Compur shutters (8.25, 9.5, 10.75, 12).

BTW, if I had to buy the Hasselblad's today, after 40 years of photography, I could easily get by with the 60mm, 100mm, and 180mm lenses. The 180mm was not available at the time I bought, so I bought the 150 and 250. Today, the 180 could cover it all for me!

[Martin D]

"Here's to turning pages, and writing new and better chapters in our lives." A triple YES! to this beautiful statement from Dan Gorman's comment on your 30 years. True for us all.

[Bob G.]

Interesting list... I have a couple of yours and they’re good choices. My Contaflex is an earlier Super model with the separate diaphragm wheel on the left. The Contaflex B was supposed to have an improved Tessar formula in the lens, as well as the option of taking magazine backs, unusual for cameras at the time. +1 for showing pix of each of you can find them...

[Dave]

Mike,

Like Jim M., I'm also surprised by the lack of a Pentax on the list -- if only because it carried your favored 50 mm film lens.

The Spotmatic and related models were nearly perfect. Very solid: One newspaper photographer told me he had a Pentax like it years ago and said it was "built like a tank". Handles as well as anything without an accessory grip. The Super Takumars have the handy "Auto/Manual" switch which is ideally placed.

The SV I had wasn't quite as sturdy around the lens mount.

My SL (with sturdier lens mount) still looks practically new and is just so nice to hold, compared to bigger, bulkier digital camera bodies. [No dent in the prism cover either. ;) ] No need for batteries either, so there!

Simple to operate and you don't need to worry about white balance unless you're shooting slide film.

With the new body and mirror foam (courtesy of Eric H.), it's good for another 60+ years.

[psu]

I had a Mamiya 6 for a while. Probably took one or two of my best B&W film pictures with it.

I would have kept it if the mechanicals were more reliable, but it seemed to break once a year and was expensive to fix.

I think my favorite more recent camera was probably the D700, even though it was always too big.

My current 4/3rds stuff does almost as well and is much smaller but is not quite as ergonomic.

Of course there is also the iPhone. 🙂

[Eric Brody]

Each one of us has a different list for different reasons. I suspect many have fondness for cameras "given" to them by a parent. I recall leaving my dad's Rolleiflex on a drugstore counter in Key West in the early 50's (that's 1950's) and it simply vanished, perhaps Hemingway's ghost. My own list starts and ends with my beloved Hasselblad 500CM purchased when my daughter was born. I set up a room in our basement with background paper, baby blankets, and studio strobes and made photos of her whenever she was particularly cute, which was often. Sold it last year to a youngster whom I hope will love it as I did. These days I'm more of a lens junkie since cameras have reached a certain level of perfection. My current favorites are the Voightlander 50mm f/2 APO_Lanthar and it's larger sibling the 100mm f/2.5 MACRO_APO. I have never seen such resolution; it seems as if I can see the atoms in the image. We do live in a wonderful tome for photography even if the world is in a pandemic and there are horrible fires just south off my home in beautiful Oregon.

[RayC]

I just ran across the article linked below. I wonder which were his top 10 cameras?
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-53821146

As far as my list, like you, I started with my father's Zeiss Ikon Contaflex b, traded my first motorcycle for a Canon FT with a 50mm 1.2 lens and darkroom equipment. My two favorite non digital cameras however were workhorses: a brace of Nikon fm2's and a Deardorff 11x14 studio view camera on a twin poll "tripod". With reducing backs all the way to 4x5 and a 6ft plus bellows extension all done out in wood it was a joy and I paid 175.00 for it!

Favorite digital camera? I'm not sure I have one. The Nikon D70 was a revelation but but the one I've enjoyed the most was probably a near point and shoot; the Samsung TL350 had RAW file output and was eminently pocketable. I've had many more capable cameras but it is definitely in my top 10.

[Dave Jenkins]

Sorry to be slow about posting this. Just wanted you to know that not many people have been following you as long as I have, beginning (at least) with Darkroom Photography. I remember your piece about the Mamiya 6, and owned one myself around that time. I later subscribed to your newsletter (still have them), read everything you wrote on Luminous Landscape and photo.net, and have been reading TOP from the beginning. Much of my philosophy of photography has been shaped by your writings. (Not my political philosophy, thankfully.)

My own favorite cameras are the Olympus OM-2n (13 years), the Pentax 6x7 (highest rate of keepers), the EOS-A2 (no romance there, but great service, used for eight years), Canon 20D (underrated), Canon 5D (great files, also used for eight years), and the Fuji X-H1 (the new contender for best ever).

Is there any way to contribute to TOP by PayPal, which I much prefer?

[Bandbox]

I've owned many cameras since my first, a Baby Brownie in 1946, and I still have one of the 4X5 Wistas (not the Rosewood), an M6, and an Olympus OM-2 and OM-2n. So, I'm close to three of your cameras. Some other film cameras I've kept are the Rollei 3.5f, the Pentax 67, the basic Hasselblad, Dianas and Holgas, though I haven't used them in years. Everything else film related has been sold or given away. I'll let the kiddos figure out what do with what's left.

[Keith B.]

Between the original Diana in about 1965, through the mechanical Praktica,Pentax, Olympus, Canon, Contax, Leica cameras, and the Nikons and Fuji-X's today, I'd say that the used German Leica M4 I had in the mid-1980's was the nicest camera. Of the SLR's and electronic cams, the Nikon D3 was the only camera, in fact the only computer or computerized device of any kind that never failed, never locked up, never needed to be re-booted, never frustrated me in any way.

[Aaron J]

My usage peeve is news stories where so and so "slams" so and so. What's wrong with "criticizes" or "challenges"? It shows up in reputable news sources which baffles me.

[Robert Stahl]

My favorite ten: Rolleiflex F3.5 Zeiss Planar Whiteface
Leica M6 TTL
Canon F1n
Canon T90
Nikon FM3a
Fuji GW690III
3D World 120 Medium Format Stereo Camera
Fuji x100f
Sony A7III
Sony A7sIII

[Antonio Ramirez]

Here’s my list of favorites:

1. Minolta Autopak 700. A little jewel of a rangefinder made in the 1960s. My grandfather has one that he essentially let me have when I was all of 11 years old. Light meter did not work, so I learned to read the light.

2. Canon AE-1. Bought with paper route money, this one got me through high school and college, until its untimely death by drowning.

3 and 4. Contax G1 and G2. Jewel-like and those Zeiss lenses...

5. Canon EOS 20D. First serious digital camera. Put a (temporary) end to film shooting for me.

6. Leica M9P. Slow, awful LCD, but the image quality was outstanding. Of course, this made me curious as to film Leicas, hence...

7. Leica M6TTL. A beautiful example of how utmost simplicity can be perfect.

8. Rolleiflex MX-EVS. Part of a short lived film revival for me, as was the...

9. Hasselblad 500 C/M. Not much to say here. And my all time favorite...

10. Nikon Z6. The EVF, the handling, and above all, the image quality are outstanding. Quite possibly, the most simpatico camera I have ever owned.

Of the list, I still own the first and the last four. The Minolta is a paperweight now, as 126 format film is not available.

Cheers,

Antonio

[Rick Graves]

I am only a few years younger than you, Mike but I have not owned 10 cameras yet. I started hobby photography in 1983 with a Ricoh XR7 SLR. It had a Pentax K lens mount. Years later I added a Ricoh XR10 SLR. They were manual everything with an aperture priority mode. I was accustomed to them so I stuck with the Ricoh SLRs for close to 20 years. When I switched to digital cameras in 2002 I started with a Minolta DiMage 7Hi which was ok. I stuck with it for 3 years but it was slow and noisy over ISO 100. Great lens, though. In 2005 DSLR prices were finally down to what I wanted to spend so I moved to Canon DSLRs with the Digital Rebel XT. I have stuck with Canon since then including a 50D, a 7D and currently a 5DMkIV. I also have the earliest Canon mirrorless the EOS M camera. In the early 2000’s my father gifted me his Zeiss Ikon Contina (either the II or IIa – I’m not completely sure which variant it is). I had the Zeiss Ikon cleaned and repaired and shot one roll of film with it. While it works fine, I guess I am just not suited to it so it sits safely stored away. So that’s 8 cameras. So by default they are all in my top 10. As a ninth camera I also have my grandmothers Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic Model B folding camera which I have never used. I no longer own the Ricoh SLRs, the Minolta nor the Rebel XT and I really don’t miss them. I guess that I got lucky in that I have not wanted or needed to try a lot of different camera brands and then needing to buy a different brand of the favorite focal length lenses with each camera switch. I believe that I can confidently say that with the newest of my cameras any issues with the photographs are not the fault of the equipment!

[Bradley]

...funny... 2 similarities... right there at the top of the list...
My first camera was a Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super BC. Boy do I wish I had that now, as I have not owned another lens that gave me what that lens did.
The camera that really got me into photography was a Contax 167MT... with a very special Zeiss 18mm lens... and Mike, I really loved that 135mm Zeiss lens that you too liked.

[John Montgomery]

My father also had a Zeiss Ikon Contaflex B, purchased on a trip to Europe in the early '60s. I loved the beautiful workmanship and have it still, although I have not used it in many years.

I also had a Wista 4x5 field camera, in rosewood, the modified version sold by Fred Picker. The materials and workmanship were a joy to behold. I sold mine to KEH some years ago when moving to an apartment and losing my darkroom. Fond memories, both.

[Richard Parkin]

Dave Jenkins wrote “Is there any way to contribute to TOP by PayPal, which I much prefer?”. You can pay Patreon by PayPal, doesn’t that amount to the same thing? I think it’s the PayPal fees that make it uneconomic to pay TOP directly by PayPal.

[longviewer]

"all time" includes the future, so good luck to everyone who works up an all-time list.

[Sid]

Seven Favorites
1 Ricoh GXR...I still have it and often use it
2 Panasonic Lumix GX8...my current system
3 Canon Pellix QL...pellicle mirror
4 Canon EOS RT...pellicle mirror
5 Canon F-1n...rugged
6 Rollei 2.8F...sweet
7 Ricoh GR
Not missed
1 Leica M3 (Rangefinders were not for me)
2 Canon EOS Rebel
3 Canon PowerShot G3 X

[Svein-Frode]

Couldn't agree more about the SONY F707/717. What a great design in terms of usability and handling. Lots of great features as well. Loved the night vision for framing shots when it was dark. So wish they would make a 1" sensor camera out of it - and don't go large as they did with the F828.