The top ten!

It's that time of year when the lists come out.

The top ten.

Video games, hit records, films, celebrity plastic surgery enhancements!

You could draw a list for the top ten lists.

One I haven't seen.... top ten cameras, ever, well, I'll restrict it to SLR's.

I want your lists because I don't know, I don't have that kind of knowledge or experience. I have only ever owned 4 SLR's and in reverse order.

My first ever and in at No.4 Pentax ME Super
3rd, Nikon FA
2nd, Pentax K100D,
1st, Pentax K7

That's all I know about! But you lot! surely What are the best 10 SLR's of all time.................

MZ

Well I hope my MX gets in there. And above the ME Super

For me it would have to be my old and trusted
Nikon F2AS
Nikon F2
Pentax K-5
Samsung GX-10
That's all the Camera Body's I ever owed and the only reason that the Nikon's are still (just) top my list is that I still learn how to make best use of the K-5.
In my eyes its not the camera really but the lens that is more important.
And right at the end it is the Photographer herself/himself that makes or breaks (as a figure of speech) the picture.
Give someone a £30 Camera and he can make more appealing pictures (forget for the moment the sensor or picture/print quality but just look at the object of the picture taken, be it Portrait, Landscape, Wildlife etc) then give someone an all shiny and do it all £2000 camera and the pictures are still below par.
Top ten's are very subjective and more in relation to personal taste/experience.
I know of a couple of people that have spend well over £2000 on their camera because they thought that the camera must be good as they where to rank in Pro Test but believe in me that the pictures they take are so poor that one even took his camera back to the shop as he thought it was broken. Do they listen to any advise? No way, as they see the Pro's having this or that particular model and therefore it is the right one for them. Even taking a free college DSLR course is above them as the camera is what Pro's are using and that's the end for them.
So, Top Ten's really are very subjective to ones personal knowledge and taste and in some places may give the wrong impression to users.

Top tens are a bit misleading in that they are debateable. Suffice it to say that my favourite Pentax SLRs, in no particular order, have been:

K20D, *istDS, MZ5/3, ME Super, MX, Spotmatic

This may expand to include the K-r and/or K-5, but I'll need to buy one first!

k1000, 6x7ii, k7. Maybe the k5 but same as John I will have to buy one, regards, Ian

Can't think of a top 10 SLR list so here's my top 10 camera list (only from those I've owned and shot - those marked with a "*" have been sold):

1 ) Rolleiflex 3.5E (only 'cos I've never owned a 2.8 model)
2 ) Pentax K10D
3 ) MPP Microflex
4 ) Yashica-Mat
5 ) Pentax Spotmatic SP
6 ) *Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta IV (miss this one)
7 ) *Praktina IIa (miss this one too)
8 ) *Pentax 645 (if I'd owned a 645N it'd probably place higher)
9 ) *Rolleiflex 3003 (huge mistake selling this one)
10) Rolleicord III

So only one digital camera (K10D), five SLR's (K10D, Spotmatic, Praktina, 645 and 3003), four no longer with me and two due to be sold in the new year (Yashica-Mat and Rolleicord).

Hopefully in 12 months there will be new entries for a Pentax 6x7/67, a Rolleiflex 2.8 (any version) and maybe, just maybe, a Pentax K-5.

Strange you haven't got a Minolta Autocord in there Hefty? or a Bronica S2A?

I always found the f/2.8 Rollei's (or any Rollei) too awkward to focus because the adjustment (rack and pinion, like a bellows) is straight in and out, nearest foot at best. The Minolta was just like a normal lens helecoid and allowed a much more precise focus setting. The film if I remember correctly came straight off the spool and wasn't bent through 90deg like it is on a Rollei prior to taking. The Rolliecords had a very poor Tessar lens on them.

My top 10 not in any order.

K20D (not used a K-5)
K2
MX
MEF
SFXn
Z1P
Super A
Minolta Autocord
Bronica S2A very sharp Nikkor lenses
Olympus OM2

A newspaper I worked for years ago used Yashica-Mats and the results were certainly the equal of the Rollei's. Always fancied picking one up for nostagic reasons. Thanks for reminding me, Hefty.

My favourite cameras have been:

1) Samsung GX-20
2) Samsung GX-10
3) Nikon F80
4) Minolta XK)
5) Minolta SRT-101
6) Pentax MZ-M
7) Pentax P30t
Mamiya Press Deluxe
9) Pentax S1a
10) Samsung NV5

Al (Why there's a smilie where number 8 should be is a mystery)

8 ) without the space is code for

One man's meat is another's poison and all that - the main reason I don't rate Autocords is precisely because of their conventional cell focussing - give me a unit focussing lens any day. In my view it's one of the greatest strengths of the TLR design but Minolta (and a few others to be fair) just didn't get it...

I never did like the ergonomics of Bronicas (although I've never used an S2A admittedly). As for poor Tessars on 'cords; mine's been with me 20 years now and has seen off far more illustrious cameras (Hasselblad 501C/M, Linhof Super Technika) in the interim - and that's with a "lowly" Schneider Xenar.


My pleasure!

If there was a chart for value-for-money the Yashica-Mat would be my number 1 without hesitation. I can't think of a single camera capable of even approaching it's image quality that can be picked up for under 50 quid - and I've owned quite a few other cameras to compare it to!

Many thanks. Another mystery of life explained.

Al

I missed off my only 6x7 camera the Koni-Omega Rapid, so I'm removing the OM2 and putting it in in it's place. Probably the most underrated camera of all time. 6x7 Rangefinder, bit quarky and needs tweaking to get the best out of it. Lenses that are as sharp as any 35mm lens.

Some nice scanned shots here.... One guy even asks if it's 5x4 they are so sharp

Last time I used mine the light seals had gone so I put a bit of Blu-Tak on as a temporary solution

Edit: Quote off this site:

I had one. Made some money with it shooting weddings. The 90mm lens is/was the best lens I've ever owned. That includes a lot of brands including Leica, Nikon, Canon, Mamiya TLR, Pentax 6x7, etc. I would welcome one back in a heartbeat.

My list is a bit boring because I've never owned an SLR that wasn't Pentax.

1: K20D **
2: K10D **
3: *istD **
4: *istDS
5: MZ-S
6: MZ-6 **
7: Super-A **
8: MZ-7
9: *ist
10: ME **

** - I still have these models

Can't manage ten, but here are my top five:

1. Nikon F.
2. Pentax Spotmatic.
3. Pentax KX, K1000, KM... They're all basically the same camera.
4. Praktica MTL Series. My first SLR and probably no other has introduced more people to SLR photography. Still millions of them around, still going strong.
5. Nikon FM.

Digital photography is still in it's infancy, so no digi SLRs yet.

There's a camera I'd like to try. I have a feeling though it would be too heavy for me - that's why my Linhof went via eBay.


In all my time on this forum I think that's probably the first I've even seen mention of an *ist - how does it compare to the other film bodies and the *istD?