# EOY perspective: Past cameras you miss the most



## CharlieB (Dec 25, 2012)

Just thinkin', on a cool Christmas morning.... After reading the "progression of cameras" thread, I got a little wistful for past hardware, wished I still had it.

My top three

1. Nikkormat FT2 with 50/2.0 Nikkor - my first good quality SLR, and I had it for years, took a lot of great pictures with it. It was all I had, one body, one lens, so I learned to make do with what I had, and it taught me to see better, be more creative, take more photographic chances.

2. Not on my "progression" list through oversight, but I had a little Rollei 35 with the Zeiss Tessar. Just a fun camera. Had a little meter battery powered meter built in, made in Germany, black... pseudo James Bond stuff. And the imaging was VERY good... amazingly good in fact.

3. Nikonos III with the 35/2.5 W-Nikkor. I loved that lens. The camera was good, with limited shutter speeds and such, but the lens was fantastic. One of the most detailed photographs I ever took was of a local hospital building, on Panatomic-X film, under-rated by about a stop and a half. That picture really defined "detail" on the 35mm format. I took it with a Nikon S2, with a 35/2.5 W-Nikkor. Take that lens, put some more modern and decent coatings on it (improving it!), and you had the standard lens for the Nikonos.

And runner up - either of the Canon A-1's I owned. Canon's entry into the digital age, first 35 SLR with "program" mode, also had 5fps drive and a nice little grip that could be detached. Most of the FD lenses were "ok", but I never really liked their color rendition compared to the Nikkors of the day... I still liked all my FD system and abused it well, and it never let me down.


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## Daniel Flather (Dec 25, 2012)

IN-BODY AF assist beam from the EOS 5.

BTW it's a cool -26c Christmas morning here.


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## tolusina (Dec 25, 2012)

Pentax LX.
I daydreamed, loved and lusted for one of those much like I currently do for a 6D.


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## TexasBadger (Dec 25, 2012)

Original Canon F-1. My first 35mm camera and still my favorite. I saved all summer and bought it brand new for ~ $500 with a 55mm 1.2 S.S.C lens when I was 15 years old. I think I spoiled myself.


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## Patrick (Dec 25, 2012)

My Canon T-90. Way before it's time in so many ways


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## Sporgon (Dec 25, 2012)

The Pentax ME and MX

When I was at school I can remember the magazine ads for these two, and I lusted over those two beauties 

When I had funds to buy a decent camera I went for a Nikon FM. I often wonder what my camera history would have been if I'd got the Pentax, but I suppose to be honest I don't think even an MX would have stood up to the use I gave the FM. In fact I still have that original FM and it never failed in 30 years of use !


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## distant.star (Dec 25, 2012)

.
For pure nostalgia sake, the Kodak Pocket Instamatic 20. Not that there was anything great about it, but I took some good pictures with it. That prompted me to think I could take even better pictures with a 35mm SLR -- so I went big time with the Minolta SR-T102 -- TTL light metering, ground glass focusing, great stuff. I've been striving to take better pictures ever since!

Happy holidays to all!


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## Jim K (Dec 25, 2012)

Nikon SP (black) with a matching 50mm f/1.4. Wonderful, fast handling rangefinder film camera. I think I'd still have it if it wasn't stolen from my car following a Christmas lighting shoot at a local mall in 1963. Upgrade from my S2 with much a better viewfinder system.

Rolleflex 2.8E twin lens reflex. A whole different way to shoot.


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## Stickman (Dec 26, 2012)

Quite possibly the Canon A2E, it was a leap forward, and then a feature pulled from our hands.


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## Daniel Flather (Dec 27, 2012)

Stickman said:


> Quite possibly the Canon A2E, it was a leap forward, and then a feature pulled from our hands.



+1


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