Does such a camera exist?

Billy_wiz

Billy_wiz

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I'm old school and I liked my 35mm film camera's with manual focus with the depth of field band on the lens, manual exposure, however I prefer the ease of the digital image. Therefore my question is, is there a digital camera out there with just the features I wish to use no additional features that I wouldn't use.

And yes I prefer a car with analogue dash and clocks.
 
The current trend with cameras is to add more and more features with ever increasing complexity of menus - BUT you can always just turn the mode dial to 'M', and the focus to manual if you wish.
I you are not looking to shoot in lower light, you may find that going for an older FF DSLR will suit you best - my knowledge is with Sony/Minolta as that's what I use, and could get an A900 (which came out in 2008 and has a superb Optical Viewfinder) and a bunch of top Minolta A-Mount lenses for a fraction of their original price these days. The only downside of an old model like that if using manual focus/exposure is the max ISO is ~3200 before noise gets a bit much) and the dynamic range, while good for the time, is about 12-13 stops, rather than the 14-15 of modern cameras.
I'm sure others can suggest similar options from Canon / Nikon.
 
Like Lee, I would suggest the Fuji X Pro series. While I was always faithful to Nikon since the early 1970s, I remember having a fun stint with the X-Pro 1, then the X-Pro 2, before I got tired of the inferior performance of the crop sensor.

Leica is indeed the other obvious option, but one has to be prepared to face the otherworldly prices.
 
Why do you consider it a problem if the camera has features you won't use? I think all my cameras have features I don't use (video mode for example) Having extra unused options is only an issue if the menu system is badly designed.

When I adapt legacy glass to my digital cameras the lens has all the features you desire but the DOF scale needs considerable interpretation as the shots are no longer viewed as small prints, Viewing on screen or as an A4 print (I very rarely prints smaller than that now) requires more precise focus than you can get away with on a 6x4 print (the standard for 35mm commercial processing back in the 70's)
 
Sigma Bf just launched sounds exactly what you are looking for. Obviously a lot of money and that's without any L-mount lenses. but seems to be a rather nice piece of kit.
 
Canon TS-E lenses have a DoF scale. They should be suitably manual for you!
 
I use an X-Pro3 with the older 23mm f1.2. Which does what you need. It’s obviously got a lot of features you don’t need but just ignore them.
 
Nikon ZF/ZFC. There’s a whole raft of 3rd party manual lenses
 
Thank you for all your comments I'm sure they will be more, I'll take these on board and look at them.
 
Petrochemist said:
Why do you consider it a problem if the camera has features you won't use? I think all my cameras have features I don't use (video mode for example) Having extra unused options is only an issue if the menu system is badly designed.

When I adapt legacy glass to my digital cameras the lens has all the features you desire but the DOF scale needs considerable interpretation as the shots are no longer viewed as small prints, Viewing on screen or as an A4 print (I very rarely prints smaller than that now) requires more precise focus than you can get away with on a 6x4 print (the standard for 35mm commercial processing back in the 70's)
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If you didn't limit yourself to the features you only want - then a Pentax K-3 variant or a K-1, with 'FA' 'F' or 'A' film era glass. Manual exposure is straightforward on these cameras, and like equivalent Nikons there is an abundance of legacy glass you can use. I would steer towards Pentax because of the brighter viewfinders.
 
Billy_wiz said:
And yes I prefer a car with analogue dash and clocks.
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And a lever on the steering wheel to advance the ignition timing? Manual choke to start? And a crank handle to start it?

But seriously, most modern cameras can be used fully manually, but you can’t expect manufacturers to build a camera that 99% of people won’t buy. So you won’t get something manual only.

I’d love a retro styled camera, and I shot fully manual for decades…

But nothing would make me want to put in so much effort into simply focussing and exposure, when a modern camera does those things automatically for me (often better than I did). And that leaves all of my brain power left over to ‘make interesting pictures’. Which I consider to be the whole point of the exercise.
 
welshwizard645 said:
I would steer towards Pentax because of the brighter viewfinders.
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I liked the Pentax S1a, Sv and Spotmatic models when I used them in the 1970s.

If they built a digital system into an exact copy of any of those, I'd be at the nearest retailer with my card held out. Mind you, they'd have to do it before Nikon started selling a digital F! ;)

Pentax Spotmatic with Rikenon f1-2 lens Nikon F 1996-20_23.jpg
 
Most modern cameras can manually focus, and mirrorless have a lot of focussing aids to help with manual focus. However, most modern lenses have fly by wire focussing so it feels a bit 'detatched'. Very few have range markers on the lens.

You can of course adapt old MF lenses to digital cameras where you get all the benefits of the MF lens plus the focus aids of the mirrorless cameras.

Lastly Leica are your best bet if you want a truly 'vintage' experience. If you want a fixed lens camera the Leica Q series is worth looking at.
 
The Nikon manual lenses work with all the full frame and almost all high end APSC DSLRs. The better quality screw drive lenses generally have depth of field scales to.

How about a D700? No video. A bit chunky and heavy but you can make that as basic as you like.

A D300 in APSC is smaller but needs a flash in low light.

Something like a D600/610/750 would be lighter and feel a bit more like a late (plastic body) film camera.

A DF would probably be the nearest Nikon to a film SLR but they are expensive as they have not dropped in value.
 
LeeRatters said:
Leica M mount?
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Yes - eg a typ240, or even better an m10 - if you had the loot. The M10 is something of a modern classic and very simple in operation with compact menus & without bells & whistles. The focussing of course is entirely analogue, by the rangefinder, but only with lenses that register mechanically via their mount, which rules out adapters ...

And I find the following very pertinent:-

Erty said:
The Nikon manual lenses work with all the full frame and almost all high end APSC DSLRs. The better quality screw drive lenses generally have depth of field scales to.

How about a D700? No video. A bit chunky and heavy but you can make that as basic as you like.

A D300 in APSC is smaller but needs a flash in low light.

Something like a D600/610/750 would be lighter and feel a bit more like a late (plastic body) film camera.

A DF would probably be the nearest Nikon to a film SLR but they are expensive as they have not dropped in value.
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I'm very in accord with all that, having used mf lenses happily on digital Nikons for quite a few years. I found focussing without aids on the 'ground glass' of the viewfinder worked well, almost as well as with the film bodies previously. I think you need the less budget bodies though to be able to set up & select your focal lengths and apertures in-menu, and get metering enablement.

Yes, D series Nikons have all the menu options and controls of most digital cameras - but in essence you just set up the camera when you get it to your own tailored subset, and thenceforward ignore the rest. Mostly in the digital era, that's as good as it gets, and doesn't really hurt that much, even if it might offend ideas of elegance and purity.

On a similar basis many seem to embrace Fuji and the rest of the mirrorless brigade, but since that strays into evf territory you are losing the immediacy of an ovf, & becoming less tactile.

So apart from the Leica option (and not everyone likes a rangefinder, curiously!), I think the basic choice is between mirrored or mirrorless, in either case biting the bullet with the menus but as I said, having a good set-up session in the beginning then ignoring most of the options thereafter.

It can be a pain to have a plethora of controls on a camera, that you don't require - I feel that. I also find myself pressing things by accident sometimes ... but hey, soldier on, don't we all? :)
 
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